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.

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!!

There is a world of difference between reading Japanese that has been specially concocted for students and reading real Japanese - that is, Japanese written for native speakers. The concocted variety is standard to the point of insipidity, controlled to the point of domestication, restricted to the point of impoverishment. The Read Real Japanese series, comprising one volume each of Essays and Fiction, provides the real thing - lively writings by contemporary authors. Long awaited by teachers and students, Read Real Japanese Fiction presents short works by seven cutting-edge writers. The spellbinding world of Hiromi Kawakai; the hair-raising short horror of Otsuichi; the haunting, poignant prose of Banana Yoshimoto; even the poetic word-play of Yoko Tawada - whatever the personal taste, readers are sure to find something of interest and value in this book, suitable for students at intermediate level and above. Like in real Japanese novels, the text on each page runs from top to bottom and from right to left. Need support? No worries. Each double-page spread features phrase-level translations, often with notes on nuance, usage, grammar or culture. In the back of the book, moreover, there is a built-in Japanese-English learner's dictionary, in case the reader wants to acquaint themselves with the meanings of individual words. Best of all, the book comes with a free audio CD containing narrations of the stories, performed by professional voice actors. This will help students get used to not only the sounds and rhythms of Japanese, but also the speed at which the language is normally spoken.