Japanese Biography

Brought to you by Penguin. Chris Harding's enormously enjoyable new book distils Japan's long, complex and fascinating history into the stories of twenty remarkable individuals. These vivid and entertaining portraits take the reader from the earliest written accounts of Japan right through to...

An extraordinarily vivid and beautifully written first novel exploring the hidden world of the geisha. Memoirs of a Geisha is a rare and utterly engaging experience. The extraordinary tale of Sayuri, a young girl who grows up to become an acclaimed geisha, it spans a quarter of a century, from...

The late Dr. Michihiko Hachiya was director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital when the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the city. Though his responsibilities in the appalling chaos of a devastated city were awesome, he found time to record the story daily, with compassion and tenderness. Dr. Hachiya's compelling diary was originally published by the UNC Press in 1955, with the help of Dr. Warner Wells of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

A 13th-century toxic jungle, a bathhouse for tired gods, a red haired fish girl, and a furry woodland spirit - what do these have in common? They all spring from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki, one of the greatest living animators, known worldwide for films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises. Japanese culture and animation scholar Susan Napier explores the life and art of this extraordinary Japanese filmmaker to provide a definitive account of his oeuvre.

Chanakya's Arthashastra is an unrivalled political treatise that has been used by scholars, academics and leaders across the world. In Chanakya and the Art of Getting Rich, Radhakrishnan Pillai brings out the inherent lessons from Arthashastra to present a strategic and practical way of...

No Longer Human (1948, Ningen Shikkaku / A Shameful Life / Confessions of a Faulty Man) was an attack on the traditions of Japan, capturing the postwar crisis of Japanese cultural identity. Framed by an epilogue and prologue, the story is told in the form three notebooks left by Ōba Yōzō, whose calm exterior hides his tormented soul. Osamu Dazai was a Japanese author who is considered one of the foremost fiction writers of 20th century Japan. A number of his most popular works, such as Shayō (The Setting Sun) and Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human), are considered modern-day classics in Japan.

黒のカリスマと呼ばれプロレス界を盛り上げ、60歳を超えた今も圧倒的な人気を誇るプロレスラーの蝶野正洋。

Makoto Saigo is half-American and half-Japanese in small-town Japan with a set of talents limited to playing guitar and picking fights. With rock stardom off the table, he turns toward the only place where you can start from the bottom and move up through sheer merit, loyalty, and brute force―the yakuza. Saigo, nicknamed “The Tsunami”, quickly realizes that even within the organization, opinions are as varied as they come, and a clash of philosophies can quickly become deadly. One screw-up can cost you your life, or at least a finger.

This highly regarded war memoir was a best seller in both Japan and the United States during the 1960s and has long been treasured by historians for its insights into the Japanese side of the surface war in the Pacific. The author was a survivor of more than one hundred sorties against the Allies and was known throughout Japan as the Unsinkable Captain.

The Brave Japanese is the autobiographical account of an Australian who fought against the Japanese in the desperate struggle to save Malaysia. Ken Harrison’s experiences as a prisoner of war take the listener to the work camps of Singapore, to Thailand “Death Railway” and to the dockyards of Nagasaki. His journey culminates in a visit to the bomb-devastated Hiroshima long before the arrival of the occupation forces.

Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki was a man who succeeded in everything he pursued. From wrestling, ballooning, underwater exploration, and car and boat racing to founding Benihana, Rocky's passion for life infected all around him and accelerated the exchange of Japanese culture and cuisine with America. Rocky's rags to riches story, from dishwasher and busboy to owner of a multi-million-dollar restaurant empire, is an American dream realized unlike any other.

本書を読めば、富を築くことは決して夢物語ではなく、人は望むような人生を送れることがわかるはずだ。お金や名声、報償、幸福は、それを得る覚悟と決意のある人なら、誰でも手に入れられるのだ。

In the late 19th century, after Japan was restored to imperial rule, the samurais were no longer the seat of power. The families who were impacted by this shift lost wealth and power. Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto was the daughter of one such samurai, and had begun her life on a track to become a Buddhist priestess. But as the family lost their position in society, her path changed, and she was eventually sent to the United States to be in an arranged marriage to an American man. A Daughter of the Samurai is her personal memoir.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Read by the author. "A fast-paced debut...Espionage buffs will savor this vibrant account." — Publishers Weekly A U.S. naval counterintelligence officer working to safeguard Pearl Harbor; a Japanese spy ordered to Hawaii to gather information on the American fleet. On...

Scottish-born but a Queenslander to the bone, Jock McLaren was a true Australian hero. As a prisoner, he escaped twice, first from Changi and later from the infamous Sandakan POW camp in Borneo. After paddling a dugout canoe across open sea, he fought for two years with American-led Filipino guerrillas, his exploits so audacious the Japanese put a price on his head.

Masuo Yasui arrived in America in 1903 with big dreams and empty pockets. He worked on the railroads, in a cannery, and as a houseboy before settling in Oregon to open a store, raise a large family, and become one of the area's most successful orchardists. But his family's life changed forever on December 7, 1941, when they were forced from their homes into vast inland camps. Although shamed and broken, the Yasui family would yet endure to claim their place as Americans.

アメリカ現地を取材した迫真のルポの数々 ネットのフェイクニュースなどにより分断化が進むアメリカ。はたしてトランプVSハリスの戦いとなった大統領選挙のゆくえは？

ベストセラー作家・百田尚樹さん大絶賛！「まさか、AV女優の自叙伝で泣かされるとは！」「どうしてＡＶ女優になったのだろうか。時たまふと思うことがある。この仕事を始めるまでの、私の人生は飛び抜けて変わったものではなかった。両親には愛されて育ち、大阪大学大学院（理系）を卒業して、一部上場企業に勤めた。

1957年、わが国初の盲導犬チャンピイが誕生した。文献も資料も何もない盲導犬育成に、文字どおり体当たりで取り組んだ著者と使用者・河相列氏の共同作業である。以来、数多くの盲人たちが、他人の手を借りることなく、安全に自由に歩ける喜びを手にした。 「自立を助けるのが本当の福祉だ」との信念のもと、数々の苦難にもめげず、880余頭の盲導犬を育成し、日本盲導犬史に金字塔のごとく輝く塩屋賢一の真摯で一途な80年の歩み。 犬とは何と素晴らしい動物だろう! 日本の盲導犬育成を切り拓き、数々の苦難を乗り越え860余頭の盲導犬を世に送り出した塩屋と、使用者河相の共同作品。81年東洋経済新報社刊「歩けアイメイト」に加筆訂正したもの。 目次 1 人が失明した時 2 愛犬アスターとの生活 3 国産第一号チャンピイの誕生 4 アメリカの施設を訪ねて 5 犬のしつけ、訓練のコツ 6 盲人の"自立"を助ける 7 挫折の危機の中から 8 新しい訓練センターの完成 9 犬とはなんと素晴らしい動物だろう 10 アイメイトに深い理解を ☆略年譜 〈アイメイト協会と盲導犬育成事業の歩み〉 塩屋...

生まれて、年をとって中年になって、老いて死ぬ。「中年以後」に人生は熟す。醜いこと、惨めなことにも、また手応えのある人生。密度の濃い中年・老人期を過ごすためのバイブル。