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.

The cinema of Japan predates that of Russia, China, and India, and it has been able to sustain itself without outside assistance for over a century. Japanese cinema's long history of production and considerable output has seen films made in a variety of genres, including melodramas, romances, gangster movies, samurai movies, musicals, horror films, and monster films. It has also produced some of the most famous names in the history of cinema: Akira Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki, Beat Takeshi, Toshirô Mifune, Godzilla, The Ring, Akira, Rashomon, and Seven Samurai. The Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema is an introduction to and overview of the long history of Japanese cinema. It aims to provide an entry point for those with little or no familiarity with the subject, while it is organized so that scholars in the field will also be able to use it to find specific information. This is done through a detailed chronology, an introductory essay, and appendixes of films, film studios, directors, and performers. The cross-referenced dictionary entries cover key films, genres, studios, directors, performers, and other individuals. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Japanese cinema.

Japan is a mix of the old and the new, traditional and modern, and old fashion and innovative. It has traveled the road to a modern destination without totally losing sight of its traditions and values. Although some in Japan lament the passing of old ways, Japan has held on to a reasonable amount of its traditions and values. This is easier to find in its arts and crafts and its literature and films as well as in its social habits. This book will introduce the broad sweep of people, events, and trends, including the successes and failures, of postwar Japan. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Postwar Japan contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Japan.

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.

Nominated for the Glenfiddich Food Book of the Year Award, this timeless volume is the first and only book of its kind on the subject. A Dictionary of Japanese Food helps food lovers around the world decipher the intricacies and nuances of Japanese cooking and its ingredients. Definitions in ordinary cookbooks and standard dictionaries--such as akebia for akebi, sea cucumber for namako, plum for ume--can be inadequate, misleading, or just plain wrong. Richard Hoskings eliminates the mystery by ensuring that each entry in the Japanese-English section includes the Japanese term in Roman script; the term in kana or kanji or both; a Latin name where appropriate; an English definition; and, for most entries, a short annotation. The English-Japanese section defines important English food terms in Japanese and annotates those needing explanation. One hundred small line drawings make it easy for readers to identify everything from mitsuba to the okoze fish, and seventeen appendices address the most critical elements of Japanese cuisine, from the making of miso and the structure of the Japanese meal to the tea ceremony. Newly typeset and featuring a fascinating and informative new foreword by Japanese cookbook author Debra Samuel, A Dictionary of Japanese Food will continue to help both food lovers and visitors to Japan discover the wonders of one of the world's great cuisines.

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.