"Born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and an American father in 1997, Christine Mari Inzer spent her early years in Japan and relocated to the United States in 2003. The summer before she turned sixteen, she returned to Tokyo, making a solo journey to get reacquainted with her birthplace. Through illustrations, photos, and musings, Inzer documented her journey. In Diary of a Tokyo Teen, Inzer explores the cutting-edge fashions of Tokyo's trendy Harajuku...

"Joe Johnson Jr. ran away from home at the age of 12, hopping a freight train at the height of the Great Depression. Two years later, he managed to talk his way into the U.S. Army. Seeking freedom and adventure, he was sent to the Philippines. After a misstep with a teenage prostitute, he vowed to right the wrongs he'd done and help the girl have a better life. Yet when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941, his hopes of being with the girl had...

Director Hirokazu Koreeda turns the popularly held conventions of the typical samurai revenge tale on their head with this story of a man whose quest to avenge the death of his father gradually takes a back seat to his emerging role as a key figure in the community. The year is 1702, and young samurai Sozaemon Aoki (Junichi Okada) has arrived in Edo to seek revenge against Jubei Kanazawa (Tadanobu Asano). Kanazawa is the man responsible for the death...

Japan's beloved literary masterpiece brought to life in manga form! Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle-class Japanese society in early 20th century Tokyo. Written with biting wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a rather cynical stray kitten. He finds his way into the home of an English teacher, where his running commentary on the follies and foibles of the people...

After moving to a country town with his mother following his father's death, a young boy befriends a charming, flying, jellyfish-like sprite, only to discover that his schoolmates have similar friends, and that neither they nor the town itself are what they seem to be. Pointedly set in a post-Fukushima world, Murakami's modest-budgeted special effects extravaganza boasts unforgettable creature designs and carries a message of cooperation and hope...

Parents seeking alternatives to unhealthy snacks and school cafeteria lunches will find a treasure trove of ideas within these pages. Dubbed the "Willy Wonka of school lunches," Wendy Thorpe Copley is back with an array of fun and healthy lunchtime options for kids. Follow her lead as she transforms simple, affordable and nutritious ingredients into appealing bento box lunches your kids will ask for again and again! With over 45 themed bento box...

Featuring dozens of color photographs and extensive commentary, this Japanese ceramics guide is an comprehensive resource for collectors and art enthusiasts. For the collector of Japanese ceramics, the chief value of the book will lie in the author's very practical advice on what, where, and how to collect; what to pay; how to choose a dealer; how to distinguish between the genuine and the imitation; and similar matters of importance. For the non-collector...

Yukio Mishima (b. 1925) was a brilliant writer and intellectual whose relentless obsession with beauty, purity, and patriotism ended in his astonishing self-disembowelment and decapitation in downtown Tokyo in 1970. Nominated for the Nobel Prize, Mishima was the best-known novelist of his time (works like Confessions of a Mask and The Temple of the Golden Pavilion are still in print in English), and his legacy-his persona-is still honored and puzzled...

A one-of-a-kind visual reference with sketch studies for 100 different animals. Loaded with hundreds of tips and examples, this sourcebook contains sample sketches of a hundred different animal species--including mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles and fish. In addition to notes, sidebars and anatomical diagrams, there are step-by-step drawing exercises, watercolor painting tutorials and an artist's gallery containing the author's own artworks that...