Perhaps the most beloved of all Japanese folk tales is the story of Momotaro, the boy born from a peach. Momotaro's expedition to the Land of the Demons, accompanied by his faithful companions, the Do
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Sentence Patterns is a fundamental learning tool for all students of the Japanese language, whether they be unblemished beginners or scarred veterans. With both types of
What if Picasso had been a chair maker and Stravinsky a designer of tables? What would have been the impact of such intense creative talent on twentieth-century furniture? Today there is a man with th
A revised, expanded edition of the best-selling Japanese-English character dictionary -- now with all the current Jōyō and Jinmei Kanji With The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary: Revised and Expanded, learners finally have at their fingertips accurate and in-depth information on all the kanji prescribed by the Japanese government. In all, 3,002 characters -- 772 more than in the first edition -- fill its pages, making it the most comprehensive and up-to-date dictionary of its kind. The main goal of the dictionary is to give the learner instant access to a wealth of useful information on kanji, including their meanings, readings, stroke order, and usage in compounds. Compounds pose a special problem for learners. Normally one must memorize them as unrelated units. A unique feature of this dictionary that overcomes this difficulty is the core meaning, a concise keyword that defines the dominant sense of each kanji, followed by character meanings, or specific senses the kanji can have
The Ultimate Japanese Phrasebook is an ambitious new phrasebook for students who want to improve their speaking and listening skills. The book features 1,800 expressions for daily use, in English and
Judo, or the Way of Gentleness, an ideal form of physical exercise and a reliable system, of self-defense, was specially created from traditional Japanese martial arts. This book by the creator of Kodokan judo is uniquely comprehensive and the most authoritative guide to this martial art ever published.Over a hundred years ago Jigoro Kano mastered swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat. Failing to discover any underlying principle, he set about designing a new martial art to reflect the concept of maximum efficiency in the use of physical and mental energy. Today, the concepts and techniques of judo taught at the Kodokan are the ones originally devised by their creator and collected together in this book. Covering everything from the fundamental techniques to prearranged formal exercises for both men and women, the book offers detailed explanations of how techniques are combined in two types of practice: randori (free practice) and kata (the practice of forms). In addition to a discussi
Basho stands today as Japans most renowned writer, and one of the most revered. Wherever Japanese literature, poetry or Zen are studied, his oeuvre carries weight. Every new student of haiku quickly
Basic Connections provides basic information about expressions and usages that facilitate the flow of ideas and thoughts in written and spoken Japanese. It explains how words and phrases dovetail, how
An indispensable tool for acquiring basic communication skills in a limited amount of time.With Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication, even absolute beginners can learn to communicate
Whereas Volume I of the Busy People series introduces the most basic patterns for constructing simple sentences in Japanese, Volume II aims to provide students with the foundational skills for forming
An old bamboo cutter finds a tiny child in the hollow of a bamboo stalk. Thus begins the beloved story of the Moon Princess, whose unearthly beauty brings her fame and would-be husbands from throughou
Long-awaited by teachers and students, Read Real Japanese Fiction presents short works by six of todays most daring and provocative Japanese writers. The spellbinding world of Hiromi Kawakami; the ha
Gichin Funakoshi is a legendary figure and the founder of Shotokan karate, the most popular style of Japanese karate, with millions of practitioners worldwide. In The Essence of Karate, Funakoshi crea
Whether full-time students, business people, or casual readers, all have felt the need for a compact, up-to-date, practical kanji dictionary. Something that would fit into a shoulder bag or briefcase,
There are three types of Japanese script-katakana, hiragana, and kanji. It is possible to read Japanese knowing only a limited number of kanji, but it is not possible with only a limited number of kat
Bento fever has recently swept across the West, fuelled not just by an interest in cute, decorative food, but by the desire for an economical, healthy approach to eating in these times of recession. A
Potential for creating designs in textiles can be seen even in the physical properties of cloth. The simple fact that cloth tightly compressed into wrinkles or folds resists the penetration of dye is
The lineage of the Japanese sword can be traced back over a thousand years, and throughout its long history the sword has emerged as one of Japan's most durable cultural assets. Part of its mythical a
13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese presents tested shortcuts for Japanese language acquisition. Identifying two groups of people who actively and effectively study Japanese to the point of fluenc
A new and exciting approach to basic Japanese for young adultsThe Association for Japanese-Language Teaching (AJALT), renowned for its Japanese for Busy People series, has developed a comprehensive co
