This scholarly book with its magnificent illustrations explores in detail a fundamental fact of Japanese art, a theme also intrinsic to the very "nature" of the Japanese people, and an essential expression of their philosophy and heritage. The book traces the development of this threme through an examination of some 140 objects from the twelfth to nineteenth centuries. The outstanding collections in the United States are represented by works of superb quality. These range from those rich in color and detail to others in which severity of line predominates, almost modern in the results. The wealth of material includes screens, kakemono, makemono, bronze, wood, lacquer, stone, papier-mâché, tsuba, inro and netsuke. The flowers, animals, insets and birds are depicted with great elegance and frequently with humor; several are illustrated by details which bring out the superb draftsmanship, satirical eye and love of beauty that are characteristic of the best in Japanese art.

Originally, it was a divine doctor's holy hands, but unexpectedly, the soul wearing silly girl's body became a happy mother. Therefore, she brought Little Treasure to roam the world, fighting dregs of parents, fighting heart of the lotus, fighting joy endless. Five years ago, she was kidnapped and someone saved her. She was wearing a mask, but her skin was whiter than hers. Her skin was smoother than hers, but she didn't know what was going on. "Beautiful mother, the person who owes you money has left ..." Five years later, he suddenly disappeared and she finally escaped from the golden silk cage. It was just that she had just fought against her father and stepmother, yet he had appeared and shamelessly claimed to be her man. From then on, the path of swindling Little Treasure began. "Father, try applying the medicine..."

It is widely known that such Western institutions as the museum, the university, and the penitentiary shaped Japan’s emergence as a modern nation-state. Less commonly recognized is the role played by the distinctly hybrid institution—at once museum, laboratory, and prison—of the zoological garden. In this eye-opening study of Japan’s first modern zoo, Tokyo’s Ueno Imperial Zoological Gardens, opened in 1882, Ian Jared Miller offers a refreshingly unconventional narrative of Japan’s rapid modernization and changing relationship with the natural world. As the first zoological garden in the world not built under the sway of a Western imperial regime, the Ueno Zoo served not only as a staple attraction in the nation’s capital—an institutional marker of national accomplishment—but also as a site for the propagation of a new “natural” order that was scientifically verifiable and evolutionarily foreordained. As the Japanese empire grew, Ueno became one of the primary sites of imperialist spectacle, a microcosm of the empire that could be traveled in the course of a single day. The meaning of the zoo would change over the course of Imperial Japan’s unraveling and subsequent Allied occupation. Today it remains one of Japan’s most frequently visited places. But instead of empire in its classic political sense, it now bespeaks the ambivalent dominion of the human species over the natural environment, harkening back to its imperial roots even as it asks us to question our exploitation of the planet’s resources.

Time travel mystery for children aged 8+, set in Biddulph Grange, Staffordshire. Four children arrive at a mysterious manor on a community service programme and find themselves caught in a dangerous web of adventure. They discover a hidden Victorian diary and a strange creature sketched on a wall, then step into a world of terrifying secrets. A ruthless Victorian who uses children to pursue his obsession, a fierce band of Chinese warrior monks and a dangerous Guardian to a gateway through time, must all be faced by the children. If they fail in their quest to retrieve the lost Stones of Power, one of them will die.

"Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change" is a 12 x 12'' beautifully illustrated and designed 264 page coffee table book created by conservation photographers Rob Badger and Nita Winter.Illustrations: 190 stunning images of California's diverse wildflowers and their habitats, from high mountain passes in the Sierra Nevada mountains to below sea level in Death Valley National Park.Essays: Sixteen talented and diverse authors and scientists, most of whom are women, wrote 18 storytelling style essays (1,200 to 1,800 words) about nature, conservation, climate change or taking action. The two younger authors write about hope and action, and what people can do to help create positive change. The book has three sections: The Gift of Beauty, The Human Connection and Ensuring the Future.Because people are constantly hearing about all the negative things going on in the world, Nita and Rob believed there was a need for a different, softer approach to grab people's attention and center it on the climate-change story, and conservation and population issues. They engage their audiences by first inviting them to experience the splendor of the natural world through a universal symbol of beauty, the wildflower, and then educate and inspire them to take some of the simple actions they provide to create positive change and a healthier planet. Their goal is to spread conservation and climate change ideas far beyond native plant and nature lovers, and to plant the seeds to foster action."Beauty and the Beast" is a 27 year photographic journey into the public lands of California. Lands we all own, lands under constant threat of development or resource extraction, impacts of global warming, sea level rise and wildfires. This book is as much a treasure as the flowers and creatures which are featured within its pages. Nita and Rob extend a hand to you to come in and take a long, slow look around and see what they have seen, experienced and have learned. Book includes two comprehensive indexes and a glossary.Co-published by WinterBadger Press and the California Native Plant Society