Download or read book The Summer of the Ubume written by Natsuhiko Kyōgoku and published by Vertical Incorporated. This book was released on 2009 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this first book from the successful Japanese series, Kyogokudo, an exorcist who doesn't believe in ghosts, creates fake spiritual explanations to help his clients deal with their psychological problems, and solves their troubles through staged rituals. Original.
Download or read book Tales of Old Edo Kaiki written by Robert Weinberg and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan has a long history of weird and supernatural literature, but it has been introduced into English only haphazardly until now. The first volume of a 3-volume anthology covering over two centuries of kaiki literature, including both short stories and manga, from Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari of 1776 to Kyogoku Natsuhiko's modern interpretations of popular tales. Selected and with commentary by Higashi Masao, a recognized researcher and author in the field, the series systemizes and introduces the scope of the field and helps establish it as a genre of its own. This first volume presents a variety of work focusing on pre-modern Japan, and includes one manga.
Download or read book Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism written by Jacqueline I. Stone and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2008-08-20 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than a thousand years, Buddhism has dominated Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife. The nine essays in this volume, ranging chronologically from the tenth century to the present, bring to light both continuity and change in death practices over time. They also explore the interrelated issues of how Buddhist death rites have addressed individual concerns about the afterlife while also filling social and institutional needs and how Buddhist death-related practices have assimilated and refigured elements from other traditions, bringing together disparate, even conflicting, ideas about the dead, their postmortem fate, and what constitutes normative Buddhist practice. The idea that death, ritually managed, can mediate an escape from deluded rebirth is treated in the first two essays. Sarah Horton traces the development in Heian Japan (794–1185) of images depicting the Buddha Amida descending to welcome devotees at the moment of death, while Jacqueline Stone analyzes the crucial role of monks who attended the dying as religious guides. Even while stressing themes of impermanence and non-attachment, Buddhist death rites worked to encourage the maintenance of emotional bonds with the deceased and, in so doing, helped structure the social world of the living. This theme is explored in the next four essays. Brian Ruppert examines the roles of relic worship in strengthening family lineage and political power; Mark Blum investigates the controversial issue of religious suicide to rejoin one’s teacher in the Pure Land; and Hank Glassman analyzes how late medieval rites for women who died in pregnancy and childbirth both reflected and helped shape changing gender norms. The rise of standardized funerals in Japan’s early modern period forms the subject of the chapter by Duncan Williams, who shows how the Soto Zen sect took the lead in establishing itself in rural communities by incorporating local religious culture into its death rites. The final three chapters deal with contemporary funerary and mortuary practices and the controversies surrounding them. Mariko Walter uncovers a "deep structure" informing Japanese Buddhist funerals across sectarian lines—a structure whose meaning, she argues, persists despite competition from a thriving secular funeral industry. Stephen Covell examines debates over the practice of conferring posthumous Buddhist names on the deceased and the threat posed to traditional Buddhist temples by changing ideas about funerals and the afterlife. Finally, George Tanabe shows how contemporary Buddhist sectarian intellectuals attempt to resolve conflicts between normative doctrine and on-the-ground funerary practice, and concludes that human affection for the deceased will always win out over the demands of orthodoxy. Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism constitutes a major step toward understanding how Buddhism in Japan has forged and retained its hold on death-related thought and practice, providing one of the most detailed and comprehensive accounts of the topic to date. Contributors: Mark L. Blum, Stephen G. Covell, Hank Glassman, Sarah Johanna Horton, Brian O. Ruppert, Jacqueline I. Stone, George J. Tanabe, Jr., Mariko Namba Walter, Duncan Ryuken Williams.
Download or read book Parasite Eve written by Hideaki Sena and published by Kodansha USA. This book was released on 2016-02-02 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Dr. Nagashima loses his wife in a mysterious car crash, he is overwhelmed with grief but also an eerie sense of purpose; he becomes obsessed with reincarnating his dead wife. Her donated kidney is transplanted into a young girl with a debilitating disorder, but the doctor also feels compelled to keep a small sample of her liver in his laboratory. When these cells start mutating rapidly, a consciousness bent on determining its own fate awakens, bent on becoming the new dominant species on earth. Parasite Eve was the basis of the hugely popular video game of the same name in the U.S. and has been cinematized in Japan.
Download or read book Ubume s summer written by Yuli Bethe and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Pandemonium and Parade written by Michael Dylan Foster and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monsters known as yōkai have long haunted the Japanese cultural landscape. This history of the strange and mysterious in Japan seeks out these creatures in folklore, encyclopedias, literature, art, science, games, manga, magazines and movies, exploring their meanings in the Japanese imagination over three centuries.
Download or read book Bungo Stray Dogs Another Story Vol 1 written by and published by Yen Press LLC. This book was released on 2019-11-19 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Known for his biting wit and rapid-fire brain cells, Yukito Ayatsuji is a detective and top-ranked skill user who possesses the ability to expose any crime. When a request to investigate a puzzling murder incident hits his desk, Ayatsuji must team up with Mizuki Tsujimura, a spunky agent sent from the Special Division, to tackle the case. Can the unlikely duo get to the bottom of this mystery?!
Download or read book The Quantum Thief written by Hannu Rajaniemi and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2011-05-10 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Quantum Thief is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Science Fiction & Fantasy title. One of Library Journal's Best SF/Fantasy Books of 2011 Jean le Flambeur is a post-human criminal, mind burglar, confidence artist, and trickster. His origins are shrouded in mystery, but his exploits are known throughout the Heterarchy- from breaking into the vast Zeusbrains of the Inner System to stealing rare Earth antiques from the aristocrats of Mars. Now he's confined inside the Dilemma Prison, where every day he has to get up and kill himself before his other self can kill him. Rescued by the mysterious Mieli and her flirtatious spacecraft, Jean is taken to the Oubliette, the Moving City of Mars, where time is currency, memories are treasures, and a moon-turnedsingularity lights the night. What Mieli offers is the chance to win back his freedom and the powers of his old self-in exchange for finishing the one heist he never quite managed. As Jean undertakes a series of capers on behalf of Mieli and her mysterious masters, elsewhere in the Oubliette investigator Isidore Beautrelet is called in to investigate the murder of a chocolatier, and finds himself on the trail of an arch-criminal, a man named le Flambeur.... Hannu Rajaniemi's The Quantum Thief is a crazy joyride through the solar system several centuries hence, a world of marching cities, ubiquitous public-key encryption, people communicating by sharing memories, and a race of hyper-advanced humans who originated as MMORPG guild members. But for all its wonders, it is also a story powered by very human motives of betrayal, revenge, and jealousy. It is a stunning debut. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Download or read book The Best Japanese Science Fiction Stories written by John L. Apostolou and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains English translations of thirteen Japanese science fiction stories, written since the 1960s.
Download or read book Yurei written by Zack Davisson and published by Chin Music Press Inc.. This book was released on 2015-07-13 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I lived in a haunted apartment." Zack Davisson opens this definitive work on Japan's ghosts, or yurei, with a personal tale about the spirit world. Eerie red marks on the apartment's ceiling kept Zack and his wife on edge. The landlord warned them not to open a door in the apartment that led to nowhere. "Our Japanese visitors had no problem putting a name to it . . . they would sense the vibes of the place, look around a bit and inevitably say 'Ahhh . . . yurei ga deteru.' There is a yurei here." Combining his lifelong interest in Japanese tradition and his personal experiences with these vengeful spirits, Davisson launches an investigation into the origin, popularization, and continued existence of yurei in Japan. Juxtaposing historical documents and legends against contemporary yurei-based horror films such as The Ring, Davisson explores the persistence of this paranormal phenomenon in modern day Japan and its continued spread throughout the West. Zack Davisson is a translator, writer, and scholar of Japanese folklore and ghosts. He is the translator of Mizuki Shigeru's Showa 1926–1939: A History of Japan and a translator and contributor to Kitaro. He also worked as a researcher and on-screen talent for National Geographic's TV special Japan: Lost Souls of Okinawa. He writes extensively about Japanese ghost stories at his website, hyakumonogatari.com.
Download or read book The Book of Yokai Expanded Second Edition written by Michael Dylan Foster and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2024 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Revised and expanded, this second edition of The Book of Yōkai features an all new yōkai picture gallery-with dozens of stunning color images-tracing the visual history of yōkai across centuries. With additional entries and fifty new illustrations, Michael Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of an even larger cast of yōkai, interpreting their varied meanings and introducing people who have pursued them through the ages. Monsters, spirits, fantastic beings, and supernatural creatures haunt the folklore and popular culture of Japan. Broadly labeled yōkai, they appear in many forms, from tengu mountain goblins and kappa water sprites, to shape-shifting kitsune foxes and long-tongued ceiling-lickers. Popular today in anime, manga, film, and video games, many yōkai originated in local legends, folktales, and regional ghost stories. The Book of Yōkai invites readers to examine how people create, transmit, and collect folklore, and how they make sense of the mysteries in the world around them"--
Download or read book Introduction to Japanese Horror Film written by Colette Balmain and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-14 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a major historical and cultural overview of an increasingly popular genre. Starting with the cultural phenomenon of Godzilla, it explores the evolution of Japanese horror from the 1950s through to contemporary classics of Japanese horror cinema such as Ringu and Ju-On: The Grudge. Divided thematically, the book explores key motifs such as the vengeful virgin, the demonic child, the doomed lovers and the supernatural serial killer, situating them within traditional Japanese mythology and folk-tales. The book also considers the aesthetics of the Japanese horror film, and the mechanisms through which horror is expressed at a visceral level through the use of setting, lighting, music and mise-en-scene. It concludes by considering the impact of Japanese horror on contemporary American cinema by examining the remakes of Ringu, Dark Water and Ju-On: The Grudge.The emphasis is on accessibility, and whilst the book is primarily marketed towards film and media students, it will also be of interest to anyone interested in Japanese horror film, cultural mythology and folk-tales, cinematic aesthetics and film theory.
Download or read book The Book of Yokai written by Michael Dylan Foster and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2015-01-14 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monsters, ghosts, fantastic beings, and supernatural phenomena of all sorts haunt the folklore and popular culture of Japan. Broadly labeled yokai, these creatures come in infinite shapes and sizes, from tengu mountain goblins and kappa water spirits to shape-shifting foxes and long-tongued ceiling-lickers. Currently popular in anime, manga, film, and computer games, many yokai originated in local legends, folktales, and regional ghost stories. Drawing on years of research in Japan, Michael Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of yokai, tracing their roots, interpreting their meanings, and introducing people who have hunted them through the ages. In this delightful and accessible narrative, readers will explore the roles played by these mysterious beings within Japanese culture and will also learn of their abundance and variety through detailed entries, some with original illustrations, on more than fifty individual creatures. The Book of Yokai provides a lively excursion into Japanese folklore and its ever-expanding influence on global popular culture. It also invites readers to examine how people create, transmit, and collect folklore, and how they make sense of the mysteries in the world around them. By exploring yokai as a concept, we can better understand broader processes of tradition, innovation, storytelling, and individual and communal creativity. Ê
Download or read book The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons written by Matthew Meyer and published by . This book was released on 2015-03-30 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the mists of prehistory to the present day, Japan has always had stories of fantastic monsters. There are women with extra mouths in the backs of their heads, water goblins whose favorite food is inside the human anus, elephant-dragons which feed solely on bad dreams, baby zombies, talking foxes, fire-breathing chickens, animated blobs of rotten flesh that run about the streets at night, and the dreaded "hyakki yagyo" "the night parade of one hundred demons"-when all of the yokai leave their homes and parade through the streets of Japan in one massive spectacle of utter pandemonium. What are yokai? Put simply, they are supernatural creatures of Japanese folklore. The word in Japanese is a combination of "yo," meaning "bewitching," and "kai," meaning "strange." The term encompasses monsters, demons, gods ("kami"), ghosts ("bakemono"), magical animals, transformed humans, urban legends, and other strange phenomena. It is a broad and vague term. Nothing exists in the English language that quite does the trick of capturing the essence of yokai. This field guide contains over 100 illustrated entries covering a wide variety of Japanese yokai. Each yokai is described in detail-including its habitat, diet, origin, and legends-based on translations from centuries-old Japanese texts. This book was first funded on Kickstarter in 2011 and then revised in 2015.
Download or read book Heart of the Ronin written by Travis Heermann and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2011-12-12 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ken'ishi is just 17 years old and an orphan after the mysterious death of his parents. He dreams of training with a master who will some day help him become a samurai. Traveling with Silver Crane, a sword that belonged to his father, and a dog, Akao, for a sidekick, Ken'ishi's adventures begin after he murders a policeman and must flee. Just when he thinks he has escaped trouble, he saves Kazuko, the daughter of an influential lord, from a group of bandits. In return, he is asked to live in the lord's house, where he falls in love with Kazuko. Forced to flee once again, Ken'ishi goes on a hunt to discover his past while fighting off warriors and demons, not to mention worrying about the bounty that's on his head. Will he find out if his father really was a samurai or why the sword he wields seems to be infused with magic? Written while the author lived in Japan, HEART OF THE RONIN combines historical fiction with fantasy to keep readers guessing what Ken'ishi will encounter next in Heerman's mystical universe. Publishers Weekly says it best: "Numerous tantalizingly unresolved plot threads will have readers anxiously awaiting the second installment in this gripping tale of ill-fated love, betrayal and destiny."
Download or read book Legend in Japanese Art written by Henri L. Joly and published by . This book was released on 1908 with total page 732 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Huron Wendat Feast of the Dead written by Erik R. Seeman and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2011-03 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Appreciating each other's funerary practices allowed the Wendats and French colonists to find common ground where there seemingly would be none. This title analyzes these encounters, using the Feast of the Dead as a metaphor for broader Indian-European relations in North America." -- WorldCat.
