Japan

Softcover. NY, Pantheon Books, 1st, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 297 pages. This compelling social history uses diaries, memoirs, fiction, trial testimony, personal recollections, and eyewitness accounts to weave a fascinating tale of what ordinary Japanese endured throughout their country's era of economic growth. Through vivid, often wrenching accounts of peasants, miners, textile workers, rebels, and prostitutes, Mikiso Hane forces us to see Japan's "modern century" (from the beginnings of contact with the West to World War II) through fresh eyes. In doing so, he mounts a formidable challenge to the success story of Japan's "economic miracle." Starting with the Meiji restoration of 1868, Hane vividly illustrates how modernization actually widened the gulf, economically and socially, between rich and poor, between the mo-bo and mo-ga ("modern boy" and "modern girl") of the cities and their rural counterparts. He interlaces his scholarly narrative with sharply etched individual stories that allow us see Japan from the bottom up. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 2nd pr., 1969, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 637 pages, black cloth covers with red and gilt design on spine. Previous owner's signature on front fly leaf. Bright, price-clipped dust jacket.

Hardcover. Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press , 1st, 1967, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in an edgeworn dust jacket with minor tape repairs. 346 pages. A study of the bakufu, or administrative structure of the predominant ruling family in early modern Japan. The achievements of the Tokugawa family, who gave Japan 250 years of peace, are placed in a broad context through comparisons with contemporary institutional developments in other Asian countries and in Europe. Name on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, W. W. Norton, 1st, 2018, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 635 pages. The definitive history of one of the most brutal campaigns of the war in the Pacific. "What Iris Chang did for our understanding of the Rape of Nanking, James M. Scott has now done for the Battle of Manila. Here is a sweeping tale of frenzied fighting and heartbreaking devastation, written by a meticulous historian who has unflinchingly probed the truth of this largely forgotten episode from the Pacific." Clean copy.

Softcover. London/NY, Thames & Hudson, 1st, 2024, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 288 pages. An accessible and visually rich study of Japanese photography since 1945 by an experienced curator specializing in Japanese art and culture. From the severity of post-war Realism to the diversity and technical ingenuity of the present, via movements and groups such as Vivo in the 1960s and 'girls' photography' in the 1990s, this visually bold and richly volume traces the development of Japanese photography since 1945. Interleaved are new interviews with some of the most influential practitioners in photographic history, from Moriyama Daido to Araki Nobuyoshi and Kawauchi Rinko. Lena Fritsch writes with imagination and clarity, interrogating a cross-section of photographic movements and works against the vivid, shifting backdrop of Japanese social, cultural and political history. The result is both an accessible introduction and an illuminating work of analysis for general readers and aficionados alike.

Hardcover. Tokyo, Sophia University, 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 210 pages, b&w illustrations. Beige cloth spine with patterned boards and a bright dust jacket with a glassine wrapper.

Softcover. Tokyo, Shinbaku Books, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 112 pages, illustrated in color. The modern era of underground doll-making in Japan began in the late 1960s, with the experiments of Simon Yotsuya and Nori Doi. Directly inspired by the Surrealist Doll constructed by Hans Bellmer in 1932, Simon Yotsuya created a series of ball-jointed, life-sized dolls which featured in his ground-breaking "Eve In The Past And The Future" exhibition in Tokyo, in 1973. Simon Yotsuya's work inspired a new wave of avant-garde Japanese doll-making, headed by artists such as Ryo Yoshida and Katan Amano, which has continued to flourish to the present day. SECRET DOLLeEUR^UNDERGROUND, presented by Yuichi Konno, features dolls by fifteen artists, from Simon Yotsuya onwards, with over 80 full-sized colour photographs never before published outside Japan. It also includes Konno's introductory history of the underground doll in Japan.

Softcover. New Haven CT, Yale University Press, 2009, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 144 pages. Like new in publisher's shrink-wrap. Designated a Living National Treasure in 1956, Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984) was one of the greatest artists of 20th-century Japan. This is the first book in English to trace Serizawa's artistic biography in detail using the finest examples of his work from leading Japanese collections. A major exponent of the mingei (people's crafts) movement, Serizawa achieved fame as a textile designer using traditional stencil-dyeing techniques and often working in large-scale formats such as folding screens or kimonos. The stunning works in this catalogue are important not only for the originality of their conception, but also for the variety of their materials: cotton, silk, hemp and a range of other fibers, and paper decorated with the brilliant yet warm hues of vegetable dyes. Dramatic in design, Serizawa's textiles have an expressive power that far transcends expectations of a "craft" medium.

Softcover. NY, Burns Archive Press, 1st, 2017, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 106 pages, color plates throughout. SIGNED/INSCRIBED BY STANLEY BURNS on the title page. Japan, an island nation isolated until the mid-nineteenth century, opened its doors to foreign photographers in the 1860s. These photographers presented a visual cultural kaleidoscope of Japanese life to an eager outside world. The 160 photographs in this volume are curated from tourist albums and presented in the typical sequence. The modern reader will experience Meiji Japan in the way of a nineteenth century armchair traveler. While photographers in other countries were marketing sepia-toned prints, photographers in Japan took advantage of local artists and had their prints exquisitely painted. As with all hand-rendered artworks, quality varied; many photographs were executed so well as to challenge modern color photography. Photographers were limited by government restrictions and many scenes were set in studios rather than in real life. Despite the limitations, tourists visiting the country could purchase albums filled with colorful renditions of Japan's peoples and places. The carefully staged and approved photographs promoted an idealized and romanticized vision of Meiji Japan. Modernization and industrialization changed the country dramatically and the last vestiges of the disappearing feudal culture are captured by the camera. These intriguing photographs are beautiful multi-media artworks representing a vanished world. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, W. W. Norton, 1st, 1992, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. This stimulating and comprehensive collection of original essays on twentieth-century Japan's history and culture provides a unique mix of American and Japanese perspectives on Showa. With an important, substantial Introduction by Carol Gluck, the volume explores the strengths of the Japanese economy, the issue of democracy and Japan's political culture, Japan's achievements in technology and the arts, and its relations with other Asian nations and the United States. Name on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. Chapel Hill, N.C., Algonquin Books, 1st, 1984, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 295 pages, b&w photos. INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR on half title page with old photo of author taken just after WW2 mounted on front end paper. Light edgewear to dust jacket and faint foxing to top edge, else a clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, Knopf, 1st, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 205 pages, b&w illustrations. The distinguished filmmaker chronicles his life from his birth in 1910 to the worldwide success in 1951 of his film "Rashomon" and provides a provocative account of the Japanese film industry. Much of the book focuses on his early life, and the reader empathizes greatly with the young Kurosawa. There was much tragedy in his young life, both within his family, but also with the nation of Japan during the years leading up to and including the war. Much of his early career was spent trying to work on and create good films while appeasing the Japanese censors. Remainder dot on top edge otherwise a clean copy.

Softcover. NY, Sotheby's, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, Sale #NY7698. 164 pages illustrated in color, 335 lots. Clean copy.

Softcover. Santa Monica, The Lapis Press, First Edition, 1987, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Non-paginated. Softcover with french flaps & light wear to edges. Previous owner's signature to front flyleaf. Pen marking to several pages in commentary sections. Poetry is clean & unmarked throughout. Black printed illustrations.

Hardcover. New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1st, 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 32 pages. Color illustrations by Say. Minor edgewear to dust jacket. Clean, attractive copy. One morning eight-year-old Martin looks in the mirror and sees a stranger. Overnight, he has changed. His parents take him to one doctor after another, only to be told that there is nothing wrong with their son. At school his teacher asks, "What have we here, trick or treat?" His classmates will not play with him. At home his family tries to treat him as if he were the same child. But things now are different. Martin has grown very old in the space of one day. His world will never be the same again.

Hardcover. Trans Pacific Press, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in glossy boards, 170 pages. Stratification in Cultural Contexts is a collection drawn from research results of the East Asian Division of the Center for the Study of Social Stratification and Inequality at Tohoku University. In this book, scholars who specialize in areas of East and Southeast Asia examine how the problem of stratification manifests itself in different cultural and historical contexts, discussing when and in what circumstances the problem of stratification has become more serious, and suggesting how the tension could be eased. The topics dealt with are diversified, from religion to economic concerns. The local wisdom of traditional societies is used to analyze inequality and stratification in cases such as the phenomenon of 'religious revival' following democratization in Mongolian society, the lives of 'slaves' under the Choson dynasty in Korea, and the role of warrior-class women in early-modern Japan. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. New York, Monacelli Press, Inc., 1st US, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, 276 pages. Hardcover. Illustrated with full color photographs. Dust jacket with fading along spine and edges. Light wear. Clean, tight copy.

New York, Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1st, 1958, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 127 pages, including glossary of Japanese terms. B&w drawings by William Hutchinson. Ex-library copy. Blue dust jacket with faded spine; small tear to top left front cover. Otherwise very good.

Tokyo, Japan, Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1st, 1966, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, 101 pages, black and white Illustrations by Yoshie Noguchi. Dust jacket with small rips, tears and creases, otherwise in good condition.

Hardcover. NY, Dodd Mead, reprint, 1957, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, 275 pages. Black & white illustrations by Kurt Wiese. Slight chipping to top and bottom spine, front corners. Price clipped.

Hardcover. NY, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1st, 1984, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. The teenage character of this story is taken to Japan after his father gets a job. Getting used to his new life in Japan is hard for him due to the fact that he had to leave his team behind and after the death of his mother. The move to Japan was supposed to be a fresh start for this whole family yet, he doesn't truly find happiness there until the discover of the baseball team at the high school. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Stanford CA, Stanford University Press, reprint, 1976, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, beige cloth covers, black lettering to spine, 288 pages. About 1307 a remarkable woman in Japan sat down to complete the story of her life. The result was an autobiographical narrative, a tale of thirty-six years (1271-1306) in the life of Lady Nijo, starting when she became the concubine of a retired emperor in Kyoto at the age of fourteen and ending, several love affairs later, with an account of her new life as a wandering Buddhist nun. Through the vagaries of history, however, the glory of Lady Nijo's story has taken six and half centuries to arrive. The Confessions of Lady Nijo or Towazugatari in Japanese, was not widely circulated after it was written, perhaps because of the dynastic quarrel that soon split the imperial family, or perhaps because of Lady Nijo's intimate portrait of a very human emperor. Whatever the cause, the book was neglected, then forgotten completely, and only a single manuscript survived. This was finally discovered in 1940, but would not be published until after World War II in 1950. This translation and its annotations draw on multiple Japanese editions, but borrow most heavily from the interpretations offered by Tsugita Kasumi. No dust jacket. Name on front fly leaf, otherwise a bright, clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Orion/Crown, 1st, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 272 pages. Recaptures the World War II bombing raid over Tokyo under the command of Lt. Col. "Jimmy" Doolittle and the incredible seek-and-destroy mission that he and other American pilots endured after the bombing.

Hardcover. NY, St. Martin's Press, 1st, 1986, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a dust jacket with light fading to spine, 487 pages. In this book Ryoshin Minami studies the last hundred years of Japan's remarkable economic growth from the Meiji period up to the present day. First, he reveals the factors which account for Japan's successful economic take-off during the Meiji period. Second, he explains why Japan achieved a more rapid rate of economic growth than other developed countries. This forms the major part of the book and will interest those in the developed countries who have felt the full force of Japan's export drive and whose own industries are consequently in decline. Finally, the author evaluates the results of Japan's economic growth and makes predictions for its future. The book makes a comprehensive survey of the Japanese experience in the pre- and post-war periods and points out lessons not only for developed countries but also for developing countries. Name on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.