Japan Books - Page 6

Michelin Guide 2008 Tokyo: Restaurants & Hotels (Michelin Guide Tokyo)

Amazon Price: $14.62 List Price: $14.62 Usually ships in 2 to 3 weeks By: Michelin Travel Publications Amazon Marketplace: 14 new & used starting at $9.34

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Great as always, but no Bib Gourmands! 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Michelin guides are usually quite excellent. This one does not disappoint, with its helpful classifications by star, cuisine, neighborhood, as well as easy-to-read maps of an otherwise maze-like Tokyo, and last but not least, it's surprisingly good bind quality and affordable price.

Normally, I appreciate being able to browse through the hundreds of choices from 1-3 stars, "Bib Gourmand" (value picks), and "Knife & Fork only" (no-star) picks. That gives me the option of mixing in a few star-based restaurants with a handful of more practical choices for my budget.

However!! ...that's where this 2008 Tokyo guide throws me off a bit... In this first edition, all 150 restaurants have stars, which, admittedly, is something to be celebrated -- but instead of having 400+ non-star/value choices to complement the star-rated restaurants, you have, er... none!

This isn't a deal-breaker, but is something one should be very aware of if you're like me and mostly looking for the value picks. Those of you with deeper wallets are unaffected.

Some super-traditional, omakase-only (chef's selection) Japanese restaurants, including some listed, supposedly (according to magazine interviews and TV shows) do not take reservations in English, nor will they serve non-Japanese speaking tourists without a translator -- I found it interesting that the book made no mention of that. Just to clarify (not justify), the restaurant's reasoning is not based on racism, but that they feel they can't take that much money and claim to serve your needs if they cannot communicate with you and understand your wants.

In any event, I'm sure Michelin will be looking to add more non-star/value restaurants in their second edition, at which point, this will be a solid 5-star pick for someone looking for an assortment of great places to dine/stay in Tokyo.

Editorial Review:

The Michelin Guides offer a selection of the best hotels and restaurants in every price category. These establishments are chosen by a team of full-time inspectors with a professional background in the industry. They cover every corner of the countries, visiting new establishments as well as testing the quality and consistency of the hotels and restaurants already listed in the guide.

Moleskine City Notebook Kyoto

Moleskine

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Japanese in 10 Minutes a Day® (10 Minutes a Day Series) (Japanese Edition)

Kristine K. Kershul

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. By: Bilingual Books (WA) Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Japanese in 10 Minutes a Day 3 out of 5 stars.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful.

This is the first Japanese-language book I had ever gotten; the same year as it's first printing, 1998. At this time, I couldn't find nearly as many resources as there are now for Japanese, so this was all I had! It was at the height of my interest in anime and video games that I really wanted to learn Japanese. This book, though it provided the foundation for my continuing interest in Japanese, entirely left out many important points. It wasn't until my later, more serious study of Japanese that I realized what was wrong with this book.
But, first of all, the good points. For one, it has a sensible layout. It starts with pronunciation and from there moves on to key question words, naming locations of objects, rooms of a house, and so on. Every lesson is short enough to not be overwhelmed by (taking about 10 minutes or so to complete and ponder over), and yet provides you with a lot of useful words and phrases. Each lesson builds off of the previous one, so you probably won't forget what you were supposed to have learned before, since it keeps reminding you of certain important phrases (especially the question words). There are many exercises asking you to write each word a few times so you retain it as well as exercises that ask you to answer questions or recall previously learned information. One of the better features of this book is that it comes with over 150 "sticky labels" that you can attach onto objects around your house. These labels will help you to associate the Japanese word with the concept involved (kagami = mirror, for example). There are also flash cards to cut out, a "PocketPal" guide with essential travel phrases, and a cut out "Menu" section listing Japanese words for common foods and drinks.
Now for the bad points. It's first mistake is in referring to the sound system of Japanese as an "alphabet". It isn't an alphabet, it's a syllabary. Syllabaries are based around sounds, not letters. English is written in the Roman alphabet, which contains letters (a, b, c, d, and so on). Japanese is written in hiragana and katakana, which contains sounds (the sounds a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, and so on). The book does self-admit using romaji to represent Japanese; romaji is the use of the Roman alphabet to represent Japanese words. For example, everytime you type Japanese words like "sushi" you are already using romaji. I don't really have so much of a problem with their use of romaji, which is typical for this type of beginner's text. I just find it odd that they don't mention anything about Japanese being syllable-based instead of letter-based, because this is very important. They mention nothing about the writing system, except that "Japanese is written in pictograms"! All of their pronunciation information is correct, however.
Another big problem is that particle words are not explained. The book mentions that: "Japanese has many particle words...Often particle words cannot be translated into English. When these particle words have no English equivalents, they will simply be marked (P)." Though this simplifies the matter of learning basic Japanese, which is what this book was designed for, I really wondered about what these mysterious "particle words" were at the time I first was using this book. It seems that Japanese in 10 Minutes a Day could've at least mentioned that "wa" is a particle word introducing the topic of the sentence, "e" indicates direction, and so forth. They are just short little components of sentences, but they are essential to understanding how Japanese grammar works. I later found that almost all of the "10 minutes a Day" series is structured in the same fashion as the Japanese one, with little consideration for the nuances of each language. With this in consideration, it isn't surprising that the particle words weren't explained better.
I remember a lot of the vocabulary and sentences from using this particular book, but I really didn't "get" Japanese after using it. It is a book designed for someone that really doesn't know very much about Japanese and doesn't really desire to know more than the essential words and phrases, approach it in a "fun" manner, and perhaps it may be helpful for a tourist needing to know some degree of Japanese to get by. While this would be an ideal book to get for a young person with an interest in Japanese (it is rather easy to get into and isn't complicated), it's definitely not for someone who is serious about Japanese.

Editorial Review:

JAPANESE in 10 minutes a day® with CD-ROM is an easy-to-use language kit designed to develop an immediate speaking ability. The illustrated workbook contains 132 colorful pages filled with practical words, built-in study tools and essential categories. The CD-ROM puts Flash Cards, Sticky Labels, a Color Pallet, and Numbers exercises at your fingertips, bringing the book to life on your computer screen. Both PC and Mac friendly. The focus is on success, practicality and fun.

Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures In Japan

Aimee Major Steinberger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Illustrated Fabulocity! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Seriously love this book. It's a fun account of Ms. Major Steinberger's travels in Japan. Not only are you taken through her own experiences as a foreigner, but you're also given little cultural tidbits that are just as interesting. Plus, the illustrations are fabulous. I look forward to more from Aimee in the future.

Fun 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

"Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan" is the "story" (the term is used loosely here) of Aimee Major Steinberger's trip to Japan to visit her favorite doll maker. Along the way she goes to temples, tries strange foods, and does everything a good tourist should do. And she makes notes and sketches of it all, which she puts together into this book.

Aimee's style is distinctive: passionately cute, acknowledging a manga influence without kowtowing to it as so many would-be Japanese imitators do. Although most of the book is done in this cartoony style, a handful of more realistic sketches of people and animals suggest a versatile talent at work.

The book is not, nor is it intended to be, a penetrating social commentary on Japan, but Aimee does have an eye for what makes the country unique, interesting, and above all, fun, and she evokes these things memorably. Readers who are already familiar with Japanese culture will not find many surprises here, but they will find a kindred spirit, and readers without that cultural knowledge will get a personable introduction. In a word, good times all around.

~

Editorial Review:

Join Aimee Major Steinberger on the ultimate fangirl vacation in Japan! This rapid-fire adventure is full of everything fans dream of seeing: cosplay on the infamous Harajuku Street, fantasy restaurants, maid cafes, Tokyo's largest doll store, beautiful shrines, bookstores full of manga, outrageous all-female Takarazuka musicals, cherry festivals, hot springs, special ceremonies, and so much more!

36 Views of Mount Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan

Cathy Davidson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In 1980 Cathy N. Davidson traveled to Japan to teach English at a leading all-women’s university. It was the first of many journeys and the beginning of a deep and abiding fascination. In this extraordinary book, Davidson depicts a series of intimate moments and small epiphanies that together make up a panoramic view of Japan. With wit, candor, and a lover’s keen eye, she tells captivating stories—from that of a Buddhist funeral laden with ritual to an exhilarating evening spent touring the “Floating World,” the sensual demimonde in which salaryman meets geisha and the normal rules are suspended. On a remote island inhabited by one of the last matriarchal societies in the world, a disconcertingly down-to-earth priestess leads her to the heart of a sacred grove. And she spends a few unforgettable weeks in a quasi-Victorian residence called the Practice House, where, until recently, Japanese women were taught American customs so that they would make proper wives for husbands who might be stationed abroad. In an afterword new to this edition, Davidson tells of a poignant trip back to Japan in 2005 to visit friends who had remade their lives after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, which had devastated the city of Kobe, as well as the small town where Davidson had lived and the university where she taught.

36 Views of Mount Fuji not only transforms our image of Japan, it offers a stirring look at the very nature of culture and identity. Often funny, sometimes liltingly sad, it is as intimate and irresistible as a long-awaited letter from a good friend.

A Haiku Journey

Basho Matsuo

List Price: $10.00 By: Kodansha America Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $1.56

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

This translation is laughable! 1 out of 5 stars.
28 of 28 people found this review helpful.

This is the worst translation of Basho that I have ever seen. She makes all the haiku rhyme!!! Ugh! I suppose in Lady Bouchier's idle mind that's how poetry should appear.

Here's a quote: "Life itself is a journey; and as for those who spend their days upon the waters in ships and those who grow old leading horses, their very home is the open road."

Now compare that to Sam Hamill's translation: "A lifetime adrift in a boat, or in old age leading a tired horse into the years, every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home."

This book is embarrassing. Don't buy it.

Don't buy this one! 1 out of 5 stars.
19 of 19 people found this review helpful.

There are several different translations of Basho's Narrow Road extant and without doubt this is the worst generally available. Dorothy Britten's translations of both the text and verse cloy terribly, and betray her shallow understanding of the form. Her translations of some of Basho's best haiku rhyme, which should be enough to put anyone off.

If you want to buy a translation of this wonderful work, I recommend a different Kodansha publication -- the edition featuring Masayuki Miyata's breathtaking illustrations and Donald Keene's somewhat academic but still vastly superior translations. Don't buy this one!

Editorial Review:

"A Haiku Journey" aims to recreate the impressions of Japan's most celebrated poet.

Etiquette Guide to Japan: Know the Rules that Make the Difference!

Boye Lafayette De Mente

List Price: $10.95 By: Tuttle Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $29.75

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Better work on your bow! 5 out of 5 stars.
25 of 26 people found this review helpful.

In Japan, as visiting foreigners keep discovering -- if they're paying proper attention -- "etiquette" means a great deal more than simply knowing which knife and fork to use. (Or, in this case, what not to do with your chopsticks.) Japan has been a deeply and subtly ritualized and mannered society for millennia, and even with the postwar easing of some rituals and the introduction and acceptance of certain Westernisms -- and even though the Japanese are generally tolerant of minor faux pas on the part on non-Japanese -- the foreign visitor still needs to be very aware of the expectations of those around him. However, this book is also an excellent source for the non-visitor who simply has an interest in Japanese society and culture. The author has been both a periodic resident and been otherwise closely involved with Japan for going on six decades, and he's also a very observant and thoughtful writer, which makes him an ideal guide for the westerner on all things Japanese. He not only tells you what to do, what not to do, and what you can get away with, he provides the historical background, the psychological rationalization, which not even some Japanese are really aware of. This will help you to extrapolate your behavior in other situations, and will assist you toward an understanding of why the Japanese are the way they are. Those shallow-thinkers who consider the Japanese simply "inscrutable," alien, and beyond American understanding should definitely read this book.

Editorial Review:

Etiquette Guide to Japan offers an inside look at the social norms of the Japanese-when to bow, how to propose a toast, when to pay the bill, the careful art of gift-giving, how to deal with public transportation, dating, weddings, funerals, and last, but not least, how to say good-bye at the end of your stay. If you want to save yourself from possible embarrassment during your stay in Japan, you will find the Etiquette Guide to Japan to be a much-needed companion.

Japan Travel Map, Second Edition

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Japan is the famous economic miracle of the 20th century, yet it has blended this with a rich culture and history that proves irresistible for many. The fully-updated 2nd Edition of this map provides the very latest information on the country's attraction for visitors by providing the very latest information in an easy-to-use style. This island chain at Asia's eastern edge is home to astonishing scenery, delicate cuisine, and is a fascinating nation. It also boasts several state-of-the-art cities, especially Tokyo, and the delights of these can be explored further by using the detailed city plans. This map is packed with all kinds of practical information and is unrivalled in its clarity and quality of production. It is an essential item to any visitor's travel checklist and will help them to enjoy their trip to the fullest. This Map Features: * 7 fully-updated color maps featuring a comprehensive selection of tourist facilities * Area Maps: Japan 1:2,000,000, Kansai District 1:200,000, Kanto Area 1:700,000, Ryukyu Islands 1:4,000,000 * City Maps: Central Kyoto 1:15,000, Central Osaka 1:15,000, Central Tokyo 1:17,500

Moon Living Abroad in Japan

Ruth Kanagy

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Editorial Review:

Born and raised in Tokyo, Ruthy Kanagy is an expert on Japanese culture and currently works as a travel systems consultant, leading cycling tours of Japan. Ruthy provides insight and first-hand advice on navigating the language and culture of Japan, outlining all the information needed in a smart, organized, and straightforward manner. Moon Living Abroad in Japan makes the moving and transition process easy for businesspeople, students, teachers, retirees, and professionals.

Moon Living Abroad in Japan is packed with essential information and must-have details on setting up daily life including obtaining visas, arranging finances, gaining employment, choosing schools, and finding health care. This relocation guide also includes practical advice on how to rent or buy a home for a variety of needs and budgets, whether it’s an apartment in Tokyo or a mountain retreat in Nagano. All Moon Living Abroad Guides include color photos, black and white photos, black and white illustrations, and maps.

Hitching Rides with Buddha

Will Ferguson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

No book captures the experience of being here better 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Books about Japan by westerners seem to fall into two categories- literary books that talk about Japan in poetic terms and dwell on traditional culture, and comedy books that play up the wacky side of Japanese pop culture for laughs. Somewhere in between is "Hitching Rides with the Buddha"- a book by a foreigner who actually lived here for 5 years, speaks Japanese (as modest as he is about his blunders with the grammar), and really has an understanding of its people and its way of life.

Written as a modern day answer to Alan Booth's "The Road to Sato", this book details Ferguson's cross-country hitchhiking trip from mainland Japan's southernmost point in Kyushu to the northernmost point in Hokkaido, covering thousands of miles and encountering people from all walks of life, from teenagers to senior citizens and from ski bums to college professors.

At first, I was a bit sceptical about reading a book based on a trip hatched, by Ferguson's own admission, while falling-down drunk at a cherry blossom-viewing party in rural Kyushu. What kind of expert could he be?

But speaking as someone who loves Japan and has lived here almost 5 years myself, this book gets to the heart of the experience better than any other I know, and does a great job capturing the joy, delight, confusion and even occasional sorrow that comes when interacting with this amazing culture. Inspired by this book, I sometimes take off on similar hitch hiking trips during breaks at the university I teach at, and even made the same trip from Kyushu to Hokkaido. Every trip is a different adventure, and I'm glad that someone as talented as Ferguson wrote about it.

Editorial Review:

Take a humorist from the Great White North — one part Bob and Doug McKenzie, the other Bill Bryson — feed him lots of sake, and set him loose hitchhiking his way through polite Japanese society. The result is one of the warmest and funniest travelogues you've read. It had never been done before. Not in four thousand years of Japanese recorded history had anyone followed the Cherry Blossom Front from one end of the country to the other. Nor had anyone hitchhiked the length of Japan. And, as Ferguson learns, it illustrates that to travel is better than to arrive.