Genesis in Japan rises from a journal of reflections that were collected by the author while teaching the Bible to Japanese university students in Tokyo. It relates the diverse responses to the Bible that rebound, subtly but forcefully, back to the teacher from these students—extraordinary responses, in that they are simple, pure, ordinary, and entirely disorienting. Teaching and learning the Bible in Japan has led the author to another view of the Bible, one that stands in stark contrast with the Bible in the Bible-heavy culture that was the author’s beginning at a small crossroads in central South Carolina.

"Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication presents 142 essential sentence Patterns for everyday conversation - all that is needed to get by in most uncomplicated social situations. These patterns represent the basic building blocks of sophisticated speech, and are mastered by all intermediate students. Each is given first in the form of a full-length English sentence, so that one can quickly understand its meaning and intent, then is followed by a Japanese translation, a short, precise explanation, several example sentences, and a practice section that allows one to test one's comprehension. By familiarizing oneself with these patterns and practicing them out loud, and inventing new sentences with them, one will quickly gain the skills necessary to effectively communicate one's thoughts in Japanese." "With page after page of sentence-pattern practice and straightforward explanations of grammar, this book is ideal for ambitious beginning-level students who wish to up their oral proficiency quickly. But it will also usefully serve intermediate and advanced students in need of solid review material, or anyone with an interest in the workings of the Japanese language."--BOOK JACKET.

In 1865 a French priest was visited by a small group of Japanese at his newly built church in Nagasaki. They were descendants of Japan's first Christians, the survivors of brutal religious persecution under the Tokugawa government. The Kakure Kirishitan, or "hidden Christians," had practiced their religion in secret for several hundred years. Sometime after their visit the priest received a copy of the Kakure bible, the Tenchi Hajimari no Koto, "Beginning of Heaven and Earth," an intriguing amalgam of Bible stories, Japanese fables, and Roman Catholic doctrine. Whelan offers a complete translation of this unique work accompanied by an illuminating commentary that provides the first theory of origin and evolution of the Tenchi. Today, the few Kakure Kirishitan communities still in existence view the Tenchi as strange and flawed, expressing a distorted form of Christianity. It is, however, the only text produced by the Kakure Kirishitan that depicts their highly syncretistic tradition and provides a colorful window through which to examine the dynamics of religious acculturation.

This volume offers an entirely new view of the concept of constructing nation-states. It inquires into the nature of national identity constructs produced in pre-modern Japan through examining two aspects of its cultural production, the sphere of fine arts and the sphere of literature.

Personal impurity caused by childbirth, menstrual blood or death is an issue of concern prevalent in many cultures. In Japan, the generic term for these kinds of impurities is kegare and death impurity, a sub-type of kegare, is known as shi-e. The major topic of this book is death impurity. The definition and genesis of shi-e are explained. In addition, details of the influence shi-e had on ancient Japanese society as well as its continuing influence on modern Japanese society are given. Three hypotheses are stated and supported: (1) the shi-e concept began in Japan during the Yayoi period (300 BC - 300 AD) rather than at a later date as previously hypothesized; (2) the basis for the aversion to dead bodies, i.e. shi-e, is that corpses remind people of the fact that they will soon die; (3) Buddhism and Shintoism merged in Japan because of the impact of shi-e on Shintoism. This book concludes with some comments on the relevance of knowledge of the death impurity for students of Japanese history, culture and society.

The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.