Author: Edwin Oldfather Reischauer
Publisher: Belknap Press
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 488
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Book Description
Japan, like the rest of the world, has undergone enormous changes in the last few years. The impact of the end of the Cold War has combined with a worldwide recession to create a fluid situation in which long-held assumptions about politics and policies no longer hold. A classic, short history of Japan, this book has been brought up-to-date by Marius Jansen, now our most distinguished interpreter of Japanese history. Jansen gives a lucid account and analysis of the events that have rocked Japan since 1990, taking the story through the election of Murayama as prime minister. About the previous edition: With the two-thousand-year history of the Japanese experience as his foundation, Edwin O. Reischauer brings us an incomparable description of Japan today in all its complexity and uniqueness, both material and spiritual. His description and analysis present us with the paradox that is present-day Japan: thoroughly international, depending for its livelihood almost entirely on foreign trade, its products coveted everywhere--yet not entirely liked or trusted, still feared for its past military adventurism and for its current economic aggressiveness. Reischauer begins with the rich heritage of the island nation, identifying incidents and trends that have significantly affected Japan's modern development. Much of the geographic and historical material on Japan's earlier years is drawn from his renowned study The Japanese, but the present book deepens and broadens that earlier interpretation: our knowledge of Japan has increased enormously in the intervening decade and our attitudes have become more ambivalent, while Japan too has changed, often not so subtly. Moving to contemporary Japanese society, Reischauer explores both the constants in Japanese life and the aspects that are rapidly changing. In the section on government and politics he gives pithy descriptions of the formal workings of the various organs of government and the decision-making process, as well as the most contentious issues in Japanese life--pollution, nuclear power, organized labor--and the elusive matter of political style. In what will become classic statements on business management and organization, Reischauer sketches the early background of trade and commerce in Japan, contrasts the struggling prewar economy with today's assertive manufacturing, and brilliantly characterizes the remarkable postwar economic miracle of Japanese heavy industry, consumer product development, and money management. In a final section, "Japan and the World," he attempts to explain to skeptical Westerners that country's growing and painful dilemma between neutrality and alignment, between trade imbalance and "fair" practices, and the ever-vexing issue of that embodiment of Japanese specialness, a unique and difficult language that affects personal and national behavior.
Author: Edwin O. Reischauer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9784805307557
Category : Japan
Languages : en
Pages : 426
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Book Description
An incomparable description of Japan in all its material, spiritual uniqueness and complexity.
Author: Len Walsh
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462919685
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
The method that has helped thousands—Read Japanese Kanji Today provides readers with a quick and simple method to learn kanji characters. Far from being a complex and mysterious script, Japanese writing is actually a simple and fascinating pictographic and ideographic system, easily understood and mastered. With the approach used in this easy-to-read, entertaining kanji book you'll soon be able to recognize and read over 400 kanji, whether or not you have any knowledge of Japanese grammar or the spoken Japanese language. The 400+ kanji characters stick in your mind thanks to an engaging text and illustrations that show the historical development and meaning of each character. The description of each kanji explains its origins and development, its modern uses, and how it is pronounced. Many examples of everyday usage are included. This new, expanded edition has added: Pronunciations Readings Vocabulary Stroke Order Practice Boxes Use Read Japanese Kanji Today to learn kanji quickly and painlessly!
Author: Roger Buckley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521643757
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 252
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Book Description
This third edition, published in 1999, considers Japan's changing fortunes in the 1990s.
Author: James M. Vardaman
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462902391
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 144
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Book Description
A concise guide for business people or tourists, Japanese Etiquette Today contains vital information for navigating tricky Japanese social interactions. Japan today "looks" more and more Western, principles governing social and business relations become harder to see. Most foreigners know that Japanese etiquette differs from that of other countries, but few people know the extent of the differences. It is this diversity that first attracted the authors of Japanese Etiquette Today, a book written to make working and living in Japan enjoyable and rewarding experiences. The authors look at a variety of formal and informal occasions governed by subtle rules--visiting a Japanese office and home, giving and returning gifts, attending weddings and funerals, and much more. The result is an informal overview of Japanese society and a manual of practical advice on getting a long in that society. Complete with essential vocabulary and phrases, this handy guidebook explains what to do and perhaps more important what not to do, what to say, what to wear, indeed, whatever you need to observe the complex rules of modern Japanese etiquette.
Author: James Stanlaw
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
ISBN: 9622095712
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 389
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Book Description
The volumes in this series set out to provide a contemporary record of the spread and development of the English language in South, Southeast, and East Asia from both a linguistic and literary perspective. Each volume will reflect themes that cut across national boundaries, including the study of language policies; globalization and linguistic imperialism; English in the media; English in law, government and education; 'hybrid' Englishes; and the bilingual creativity manifested by the vibrant creative writing found in a swathe of Asian societies. This book gives an in-depth analysis of the use of the English language in modern Japan. It explores the many ramifications the Japanese-English language and culture contact situation has for not only Japanese themselves, but also others in the international community. Data for this book has been gathered using anthropological ethnographic fieldwork, augmented by archival sources, written materials, and items from popular culture and the mass media. An interdisciplinary approach, including those of anthropological linguistics, sociolinguistics, cognitive science and symbolic anthropology, is taken in the exploration of the topics here. This book's arguments focus on four major theoretical linguistic and social issues, namely the place of the Japanese-English case in the larger context of 'World Englishes'; the place of the Japanese-English case in a general theory of language and culture contact; how Japanese English informs problems of categorization, meaning construction and cognition; and what it says about the social construction of identity and sense of self, nationalism and race. This book will be of interest to linguists, anthropologists, sociologists, cognitive scientists, and all readers who are interested in language contact, sociolinguistics, English as an international language, and World Englishes. It will also appeal to those who are interested in Japan and popular culture.
Author: Peggy Landers Rao
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 232
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Book Description
The traditional Japanese house is universally admired for its clean lines, intricate joinery, and unparalleled woodworking. The authors of this elegant volume, Peggy Landers Rao and Len Brackett, show how a classic Japanese- style house can be built to offer the warmth and comfort that modern homeowners require. Len Brackett, rigorously trained in traditional architecture in Kyoto, has spent decades adapting the ancient Japanese design aesthetic to Western needs. He builds traditional live-on-the-floor houses, as well as versions that accommodate furniture. Both types provide the essential features expected in today's new homes - central heating, insulation, weather stripping, thermal glazing, streamlined kitchens, computerized lighting systems, and the latest electronics. The book's primary focus is on a single guesthouse in California, but pictures of other adaptations of the traditional Japanese house in America exemplify various points. Architects will find reference charts of the prescribed set of proportions and dimensions normally passed down through a strict system of apprenticeship. anticipating shrinkage of various woods. A remarkable tool used to lay out precise joints is described in detail. Various sources are given for materials, including where to find a contemporary version of the distinctive, traditional earthen plaster.
Author: David H (David Harris) Engel
Publisher: Hassell Street Press
ISBN: 9781013550812
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 306
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Book Description
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Author: Donna Keyser
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 218
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Book Description
Modern-day Japan has proven to be a complex nation struggling to combine traditional attitudes with the political and social demands of an advanced industrialized economy. This struggle to balance the past with the present has had a significant impact on the structure of human relations in contemporary Japan, particularly in the areas of the family and family dynamics, lifestyles, the education of children, the socialization of youth, women in the workplace, and the elderly. In all cases, we find a dual structure where traditional values and modern practices coexist. Based on a dual perspective that incorporates modern Western capitalism into Japan's traditional agrarian society, this book reveals a complex of cultural assumptions that determine the manners and customs of the Japanese people.
Author: Taeko Kamiya
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 9784805311158
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 160
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Book Description
This self-study book is a perfect choice for learning Japanese quickly. Speak Japanese Today is ideal for students, business people and travelers. It offers the option to learn beginner Japanese in a short time without compromising on quality. Beginning Japanese learners are often intimidated by the oddly shaped Japanese Characters (kanji and kana) and exotic-sounding pronunciations, but Speak Japanese Today breaks down the Japanese language and presents it to you in twenty short and concise lessons and two review chapters that are specially designed to be absorbed quickly and stay in your long-term memory. Only the most commonly spoken Japanese translations of key phrases are included, allowing you to maximize your time. Included in this book are: Everyday key vocabulary. Real-life dialogs—taken from actual Japanese speakers!. Important and useful grammar points. Extensive review exercises. An expanded appendix including pronunciation charts and grammar rules. Japanese to English and English to Japanese indexes for quick word look-up and reference.
