These are classic Japanese fairy tales, retold in a lively rhyming style with accompanying classic illustrations to appeal to both children and adults. The charming stories revolve around the timeless themes of love, bravery, and faithfulness. Urashima and the Kingdom Beneath the Sea is the story of a young fisherman who discovers a magical kingdom and of what happens when he finally returns to earth. The Inch-high Samurai, a Japanese cross between Tom Thumb and The Beauty and the Beast, is the story of a tiny but brave warrior who vanquishes monsters and wins the love of a beautiful woman.

This book examines the haunting, sad, and lively depths of the Japanese soul by interpreting some of major themes in fairy tales. A Japanese Jungian psychologist credited with founding Japanese analytical and clinical psychology and a senior professor at Kyoto University, Hayao Kawai (1928-2007) addresses here such questions as why so many Japanese fairy tales end in a "Happily ever after" marriage, and why the female figure best expresses the culture's ego and the country's possible future. Throughout the book, Kawai delicately presents the multiple layers of the Japanese psyche.The American poet and essayist Gary Snyder, who lived for years in Japan, gaining familiarity with the soul of its culture and thought, introduces Kawai's book to the reader.

The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Course is an innovative and highly effective system for learning and remembering kanji, or Sino-Japanese characters. The book contains 2,300 character entries, including all 2,136 Joyo Kanji ("regular-use kanji") plus 164 of the most useful non-Joyo Kanji. It offers a sophisticated, pedagogically sound method for remembering the basic meaning(s) of each character, conveniently summarized in concise keywords to facilitate memorization. Each kanji is accompanied by an explanation of how to remember its meaning(s) clearly and distinctly. These mnemonic explanations teach you to associate each kanji’s graphical form with its unique range of meaning, often by "seeing" its meaning in the form of the kanji itself. An outstanding feature of the course is the special attention it gives to the challenge of learning each kanji in a differentiated way. This allows you to associate the meaning of each character with the features that distinguish it from graphically similar characters. Another unique feature—and a significant breakthrough in kanji pedagogy—is the sequence in which the course introduces kanji. Most kanji dictionaries and textbooks arrange their entries in ways that do not address the needs of non-native learners, such as by traditional radical or by the grades in which the kanji are taught in Japanese schools. The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Course uses an original sequence that presents graphically related characters one after the other to help you give significance to their contrastive features as you learn them, and thereby avoid having to relearn them later. It also introduces the meaning and usage of each graphical element—each kanji building block—the first time it appears, thus enabling you to seamlessly and rapidly acquire new characters. In short, The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Course makes learning and remembering kanji easier than ever before. This book fills an urgent need for a timesaving yet sophisticated kanji-learning system that can be used from beginning through advanced levels—an enjoyable, no-nonsense path to proficiency. It is intended for anyone serious about learning to read Japanese. Features: Includes 2,300 kanji entries Completely up-to-date: includes all the 2,136 officially prescribed Joyo Kanji ("kanji for regular use") Each entry explains how to remember the character’s meaning clearly and distinctly, often through the innovative use of visualization and concrete imagery Introduces kanji components in a logical, step-by-step order that makes learning new kanji easier than ever Can be used as a stand-alone resource or together with The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary. Includes cross-references, character meanings, readings, and sample vocabulary from the dictionary.

Back with Ido again, life appears peaceful for Alita--until she learns that her former bounty-hunting companion Zapan is now a wanted man seeking unfair vengeance against her! Ido, meanwhile, follows the trail of transactions surrounding Alita's old Berserker body to the exiled Zalemite scientist Desty Nova. When Nova gives Zapan the body, it turns him into a demon sowing chaos everywhere. The "Zapan" arc is chock-full of rage, love, and pathos!!