This collection of commentaries and reflections on Japanese culture, first published in 1904, was written shortly after the return of two English aristocrats from five years spent immersed in the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’. Their intention through these anecdotes – some humorous and charming, others tragic and thought-provoking – was to offer glimpses into the "real inner spirit of the native life," and to provide insights into the remarkable idiosyncrasies of Japanese society during a period of unprecedented change. Touching on such diverse topics as sport, religion, music, censorship, drama and bathing, The Heart of Japan will be of particular interest to students of Japanese, as well as to those intrigued by cultural difference and exchange.

This title, first published in 1921, aimed to present for the reader a glance into what the position was in Eastern Asia at the beginning of the twentieth century. This book will be of interest to student of history, politics and Asian Studies.

This book, first published in 1904, aimed to provide an overview of the aspects of everyday Japanese life at the beginning of the twentieth century. This book will be of interest to students of history and Asian Studies.

This edited collection, first published in 1981, presents a discussion of the urban problems faced in the developed world, and addresses the plans and policies devised by governments to solve them. Using a number of city-based case studies, including New York, Tokyo and Glasgow, the authors present a thorough analysis of urban problems and planning in relation to varying economic, cultural and political conditions throughout the developed world. With a detailed general survey from Michael Pacione, this is a comprehensive and relevant guide, which will be of particular value to students and scholars of urban planning and geography.

Ugetsu Monogatari, or Tales of Moonlight and Rain numbers among the best-loved Japanese classics. These nine illustrated tales of the supernatural from eighteenth-century Osaka combine popular appeal with a high literary standard. The author expressed his complex views on human life and society in simple yet poetic language. Akinari questioned the prevailing moral values and standards of his age whilst entertaining his readers with mystery and other-worldly occurrences. This is a reissue of Leon Zolbrod’s definitive English translation of the work, first published in 1974.

The great inter-war depression has long been seen as an unprecedented economic disaster for the peoples of the non-European world. This book, with its detailed assessment of the impact of the depression on the economies of Africa and Asia, challenges the orthodox view, and is essential reading for those with a teaching or research interest in the modern economic history of those continents. Established specialists in the modern economic history of parts of Africa or Asia put forward a number of revisionist arguments. They show that some economies were left essentially unscathed by the depression, and that for many export-dependent peasant communities which did face a severe drop in cash income as world commodity prices collapsed from the late 1920s, there was a range of important responses and reactions by which they could defend their economic welfare. For many peasant communities the depression was not a disaster but an opportunity.

This book, first published in 1990, considers the uneasy relationship between Russia and Soviet Central Asia. Chapters examine both the significance of Asia to the Russian mind and the place that Asia has occupied in Russian geopolitical thinking in the last hundred years, showing that outbreaks of violence are simply a manifestation of a long-standing tension. This is a remarkable and comprehensive study, which will be of great value to those concerned with the history and future of Central Asia and Siberia.

First published in 1993, Japan and the Pursuit of a New American Identity is a sophisticated analysis of the mission of education in a multicultural age. Arguing that American education has been too long constrained by conservative discourse – which positions schools and students as weapons in an international competition with the Japanese – author Walter Feinberg assesses the cultural and philosophical limits of conservative vision as popularized by exponents Allan Bloom and E. D. Hirsch. Feinberg then develops a vision of education which accommodates the growing cultural diversity of American society and American schools. At the heart of Feinberg’s study is a unique philosophical analysis of Japanese and American attitudes towards work and education. Through a series of sensitively developed interview with American and Japanese workers, managers, parents, and teachers who have experienced life in one another’s culture, he examines the implications of our profound cultural differences with the Japanese for the development of a new American, multicultural identity. This book will be of interest to students of education, pedagogy, history and public policy.

Focus: Music in Contemporary Japan explores a diversity of musics performed in Japan today, ranging from folk song to classical music, the songs of geisha to the screaming of underground rock, with a specific look at the increasingly popular world of taiko (ensemble drumming). Discussion of contemporary musical practice is situated within broader frames of musical and sociopolitical history, processes of globalization and cosmopolitanism, and the continued search for Japanese identity through artistic expression. It explores how the Japanese have long negotiated cultural identity through musical practice in three parts: Part I, "Japanese Music and Culture," provides an overview of the key characteristics of Japanese culture that inform musical performance, such as the attitude towards the natural environment, changes in ruling powers, dominant religious forms, and historical processes of cultural exchange. Part II, "Sounding Japan," describes the elements that distinguish traditional Japanese music and then explores how music has changed in the modern era under the influence of Western music and ideology. Part III, "Focusing In: Identity, Meaning and Japanese Drumming in Kyoto," is based on fieldwork with musicians and explores the position of Japanese drumming within Kyoto. It focuses on four case studies that paint a vivid picture of each respective site, the music that is practiced, and the pedagogy and creative processes of each group. The downloadable resources include examples of Japanese music that illustrate specific elements and key genres introduced in the text. A companion website includes additional audio-visual sources discussed in detail in the text. Jennifer Milioto Matsue is an Associate Professor at Union College and specializes in modern Japanese music and culture.

Japan's Demographic Revival shifts discussions about employing immigration as the 'best' or 'sole' solution to assuaging Japan's demographic quagmire to a more systematic approach that identifies structural, organizational and cultural impediments that contribute to Japan's (and other countries') declining demographic situations. This edited volume also sheds light on the plethora of changes required to produce a demographically sustainable Japan.Part One includes chapters explaining the endogenous, ethnocultural and structural obstacles that link ethnocultural understandings of citizenship and nationality. Part Two consists of chapters that provide insight into the societal barriers that exist in Japan to address demographic issues. Part Three shifts its focus away from identifying and analyzing the structural, organizational and cultural factors towards chapters that are policy oriented, linking existing policies as contributing factors behind Japan's demographic challenge.