Japanese Science

Vampires: murderous creatures in the shape of humans, they stalk the night feeding on the blood of innocents. Seemingly immortal, they can be destroyed only by the use of a stake through the heart, severing of their heads, or exposure to sunlight. By the year AD 12,090, vampires have ruled the Earth for almost 300 years, and it is only these weaknesses that have kept these foul monsters from totally overrunning the world. But what happens when those rules no longer apply?

In the days and months after Pearl Harbor, the lives of Japanese Americans across the continent and Hawaii were changed forever. In this unforgettable chronicle of war-time America and the battlefields of Europe, Daniel James Brown portrays the journey of Rudy Tokiwa, Fred Shiosaki, and Kats Miho, who volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and were deployed to France, Germany, and Italy, where they were asked to do the near impossible. Brown also tells the story of these soldiers' parents, immigrants who were forced to submit to life in concentration camps on U.S. soil.

Journey to where the fog never lifts… Libelle, a city by the sea. Those who venture into its fog are said never to make it back alive—a murderous phenomenon that’s another of the Four Major Human Errors that has ravaged the world. But for Menou, it just may be the solution she’s looking for. To fulfill her role as Executioner, she needs to find a way to murder Akari, the girl who seems to spring back to life whenever she’s killed. Maybe this time, Menou will be successful in carrying out her duty.

Monsters, spirits, fantastic beings, and supernatural creatures haunt the folklore and popular culture of Japan. Broadly labeled yōkai, they appear in many forms, from tengu mountain goblins and kappa water sprites, to shape-shifting kitsune foxes and long-tongued ceiling-lickers. Popular today in anime, manga, film, and video games, many yōkai originated in local legends, folktales, and regional ghost stories. The Book of Yōkai invites listeners to examine how people create, transmit, and collect folklore, and how they make sense of the mysteries in the world around them.

All of the stories you've heard are wrong. They always tell you that starting a new life in a fantasy world is an amazing experience, full of magic, adventure, and true love...but they never tell you what happens when it's over. They don't tell you that it just happens again. And again. By the time you start your third new life in a row, all of that initial amazement wears off. That's where Lux finds himself now: dropped into yet another fantasy world, forced to restart his life all over again. He wants nothing more than to disappear...but it seems the world has other plans for him.

Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji in the 11th century to entertain the other women in the court. It follows the romantic exploits of the title character, an emperor’s son, as he navigates life within aristocratic society and eventually outside of it. Praised for its psychological insight into the characters’ motivations, the book greatly influenced Japanese culture and is widely considered the world’s first novel. In 1882, Suematsu Kencho translated a condensed version of the text into English, allowing this classic tale to reach a wider audience.

Welcome to ikigai, a Japanese mind-set that will change your life. Ken Mogi, a Japanese expert and best-selling writer, reveals all about this mysterious and fascinating miracle that is at the heart of Japan's record-breaking long life, astonishing appreciation of sensory beauty and inherent mindfulness. It is extraordinary that Japanese men's longevity ranks fourth in the world while Japanese women's ranks second. But perhaps this comes as no surprise....

毎日伝えられるニュースには、背景となる出来事が必ず存在しており、それを知らなければ問題の本質は見えてこない。上辺だけを見ていても、焦点はぼやけてしまう。日本の社会が、今後どう変わっていくのかを予測するには、現在起こっているニュースを把握しておくことが重要となるのだ。本商品では、憲法改正や靖国問題、ニートの増加、飲酒運転などの政治・社会的な話題から、温暖化。地上デジタル放送、メタボリック症候群などの身近な話題まで、日本を騒がせているさまざまなニュースをわかりやすく解説している。日本の“いま”と“これから”を理解する一助となれば幸いである。 ※本商品は「日本のニュース賛否両論わかる本」(こう書房刊 現代ニュース研究会[著] ISBN:978-4-7696-0942-1 224頁1,470円(税込))をオーディオ化したものです。(C)gendai news kenkyukai 2007

Giant monsters. Tales of eternal love. The beginning of creation. Pint-sized warriors. Long voyages and insurmountable heroics are only a small piece of the classic myths that have helped shape Japan’s unique and immaculate history. Each story in this audiobook is filled with excitement and adventure that is just waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.

The goals of the budo - the martial arts and ways of Japan - lie in refining the body and spirit. These goals are not always the obvious ones - and are learned only through the guidance and direction of great teachers. The techniques, methods, and rituals of the sensei can serve as guides to a well-lived life - and provide invaluable lessons for today's martial artists.

Tanya has won victory after victory on the battlefield, and still the Empire hurtles toward its destruction. Zettour stands at the helm, a warped sense of patriotism guiding his actions as he prepares the stage. His only goal now is to secure the best possible defeat the Empire can afford, even if it means going down in history as the greatest villain of all time. And to make that happen, he’ll do whatever it takes to shock and awe the world, starting with Ildoa. The time for diplomacy or reason has passed. There is only war.

Banished, isolated, and hunted for a destiny he doesn’t understand, Ryuichi must learn to master the powers he inherited from his mother in order to protect the sacred gates that separate the mortal world from the realm of demons. If he doesn’t, kami, yôkai, and demons who are hell-bent on making humanity suffer will flood the human realm.

Science now confirms what tradition has always known: spending time in nature lowers stress, reduces anxiety, improves focus, and even boosts your immune system. This book is my guide to help you discover it for yourself.

Every moment in our life happens only once, and if we let it slip away, we lose it forever - an idea captured by the Japanese phrase ichigo ichie (pronounced itchy-GO itchy-A). Often spoken in Japan when greeting someone or saying goodbye, to convey that the encounter is unique and special, it is a tenet of Zen Buddhism and is attributed to a 16th-century master of the Japanese tea ceremony, or "ceremony of attention", whose intricate rituals compel us to focus on the present moment.

Time is not on the Empire’s side. It has become painfully clear that simply winning battles will not be enough to turn the tide of this war. Having no interest in sharing the fate of her country, Tanya immediately decides to do the only thing that makes sense—look for a new job! Of course, she’ll have to proceed with extreme caution, because her current employer isn’t some random company but the Imperial Army. As it happens, she isn’t the only one ready to do something drastic when push comes to shove.

The online game Yamada Kenichi had been playing religiously is shutting down its servers, leaving him with a void in his heart. He looks for a new game to fill it, but everything he finds is way too easy. The kind of game he likes—the kind punishing enough to make players want to spend thousands of hours on it—just isn't around anymore.

Japan is the forge of the world’s fantasies: karaoke and the Walkman, manga and anime, Pac-Man and Pokémon, online imageboards and emojis. But as Japan media veteran Matt Alt proves in this brilliant investigation, these novelties did more than entertain. They paved the way for our perplexing modern lives.

From his deathbed, Hero-King Inglis, the divine knight and master of all he surveys, gazes down on the empire he built with his mighty hand. Having devoted his life to statecraft and his subjects' well-being, his one unfulfilled wish is to live again, for himself this time: a warrior's life he'd devoted himself to before his rise to power. His patron goddess, Alistia, hears his plea and smiles upon him, flinging his soul into the far future.

Ex-archaeology grad student turned international antiquities thief Alix - better known now as Owl - has one rule. No supernatural jobs. Ever. Until she crosses paths with Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns and runs the Japanese Circus Casino in Las Vegas. He insists Owl retrieve an artifact stolen 3,000 years ago and makes her an offer she can't refuse: He'll get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead.

The battle between the sixteen shura, the chosen representatives of a world ruled by strength, has begun at last. On one end of the battlefield, the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists seek to use the chaos caused by the Particle Storm to stage an uprising and tip the scales in their favor. Meanwhile, the New Principality of Lithia lights a match under the New Demon King War and threatens to reduce everything to ash. After an age of terror, the world will undergo another massive change, and whispers of the True Demon King will be heard far and wide.