Osaka and Kyoto are often overshadowed in the Western imagination by Tokyo's teeming sea of civilization. Nevertheless, Osaka and Kyoto are the setting for most of Japan's important historical events. From the 5th century B.C.E. to the 17th century, the Osaka-Kyoto region (known as the Kansai today) was the center of Japan politically, culturally, and economically. Today, the region continues to play a leading role in the traditional arts as well as serving as the second most important economic area in the country. This volume begins to address a painful lack of information about Osaka and Kyoto in English. Its dictionary-style entries place concise and important information at researchers' and scholars' fingertips. The introductions and chronologies contribute to the usefulness of this ready-reference, and the bibliography points students of Osaka and Kyoto to starting points for further research.

Tokyo is Japan's largest city and its capital. It is also one of the largest cities in the world and a major center of global economic influence. The origins of human settlement in what is today Tokyo are lost in prehistory. The city started out quite modestly as a small castle town of Edo in 1457, then the center of the Tokugawa shogunate from 1603-1868, the rapidly modernizing and Westernizing capital of the nation during the Meiji Period (1868-1912), and the capital of a prosperous nation and growing empire thereafter. Tokyo was utterly devastated during World War II, but this was not the first time Tokyo had to start seemingly from new. Due to many fires and earthquakes, the city has constantly rebuilt itself and today it outdoes all its previous emanations by far. The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Tokyo is a much-needed reference source on the city. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries on people, places, events, and other terminology about the city of Tokyo. This book is a must for anyone interested in Japan and Tokyo.

Vienna can boast of a great deal of culture and history despite its relatively small size. Indeed, the city has a long and rich history. From the medieval feudal town to the twentieth-century bastion of music, theater, and culture, Vienna has weathered changes for the good and the ill. Vienna's rich history has not gone unnoticed by scholars, both Austrians and others. Peter Csendes's Historical Dictionary of Vienna is an important contribution to the literature on Vienna. Csendes provides a unique resource for students or visitors of Vienna. Special articles explain the way of living, the historical development of the political situation, legal system, urban functions, economic structures, cultural institutions, and events. The Dictionary provides a visitor with a perspective wholly different from that of the usual guide book. For the scholar, it describes Vienna as a manifesto for urban development, with all the changes, and their consequences. Of interest to scholars and travelers, the Dictionary is a true vade mecum of Vienna's past, present, and future, with entries focusing on everything from politics, economics, society, and culture to people, places and events. A detailed bibliography follows the work, as do several appendixes of important people and statistical tables.

With the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan opened its doors to the West and underwent remarkable changes as it sought to become a modern nation. Accompanying the political changes that Western trade ushered in were widespread social and cultural changes. Newspapers, novels, poems, and plays from the Western world were soon adapted and translated into Japanese. The combination of the rich storytelling tradition of Japan with the realism and modernism of the West produced some of the greatest literature of the modern age. Historical Dictionary of Modern Japanese Literature and Theater, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 500 cross-referenced entries authors, literary and historical developments, trends, genres, and concepts that played a central role in the evolution of modern Japanese literature.

Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre is the only dictionary that offers detailed comprehensive coverage of the most important terms, people, and plays in the four principal traditional Japanese theatrical forms—nō, kyōgen, bunraku, and kabuki—supplemented with individual historical essays on each form. This updated edition adds well over 200 plot summaries representing each theatrical form in addition to: a chronology; introductory essay; appendixes; an extensive bibliography; over 1500 cross-referenced entries on important terms; brief biographies of the leading artists and writers; and plot summaries of significant plays. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Japanese theatre.

Japan, although now listed as the world’s third-largest economy after that of the United States and China, has been too readily dismissed in the late 20th century as a spent force. This is as unfortunate as it is incorrect for a number of reasons. First, while the Peoples’ Republic of China. is indeed growing and its markets are expanding, an enormous amount of the impetus for development as well as logistical support is coming from large numbers of Japanese corporations operating in the PRC. Major Japanese enterprises such as Toyota, Sony, and Honda are already in China or are in the process of establishing a presence there. The export of Japanese technology remains an important contribution to China’s development. The benchmark of product quality within Asia and in some areas beyond has been set by Japanese industrial standards. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Japanese Business contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 800 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, Japanese businesses, politics, and economy,. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Japanese Business.

After World War II Berlin became one of the playgrounds of the Cold War; the Berlin Wall made the division between East and West, between ‘capitalism’ and ‘communism’ in 1961 highly visible, though it did remove Berlin from front-line politics. East and West Berlin had turned into shop-windows of ideologies – West Berlin representing the lure of a market economy, East Berlin the promise of socialism. It is, then, fitting that the fall of the Wall in 1989 awarded Berlin such a prominent role. It was here that the development after Reunification of East and West became a closely observed event – and, well beyond Germany, Berlin appeared to represent fundamental developments throughout Europe at the time. Today, Berlin is the capital of reunified Germany and therefore one of the key political players in the European Union (EU) and it’s now a desirable destination for young entrepreneurs. The Historical Dictionary of Berlin contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 300 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, places, institutions, and events. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Berlin.