This tripartite study of the monkey metaphor, the monkey performance, and the 'special status' people traces changes in Japanese culture from the eighth century to the present. During early periods of Japanese history the monkey's nearness to the human-animal boundary made it a revered mediator or an animal deity closest to humans. Later it became a scapegoat mocked for its vain efforts to behave in a human fashion. Modern Japanese have begun to see a new meaning in the monkey--a clown who turns itself into an object of laughter while challenging the basic assumptions of Japanese culture and society.

Long-time collector Harriet Szechenyi concentrated on collecting netsuke of animals and celestial beings. A considerable part of the collection consists of so-called shishi (lion dogs). These beautiful miniature art objects have been described at length by Rosemary Bandini. beautiful Japanese art form. The appendix contains pictures of the signatures found on the netsuke, a very useful guide to the collector.

The Sengoku: Character Sheets book contains 41 illustrated and revised, two-sided character sheets, plus 11 additional blank (un-illustrated) character sheets. Features 41 illustrations of popular character profession templates -- samurai, bushi, priests, mystics, shinobi and more!