Kiyama


Book Description

Spectral eyes watched from the timelessness of the vast tank chamber. Imprisoned in their liquid-filled tombs, the souls of the ancient Omoro kept vigil on the wondrous spectacle of their creation. They whispered like the gentlest of breezes, their thoughts commingling. Below, in a mist-enshrouded chrysalis, their progeny slumbered, a precious creation of flesh and blood, a vital link to the past and the future. The time of awakening was drawing near. A surge of anticipation and excitement rippled through the tanks as the blue mist gradually began to clear within the chrysalis. A shape emerged, a shape that brought joy to the phantom audience. In the tank of one whose essence inhabited a lower level, long-forgotten emotions sprang from the shadow of time. As he observed the awakening, memories of his world, his people and the love he held for his children filled his spirit with elation. His jubilant voice joined the welcoming chant of his kindred. Sparks of energy flickered in the tanks like legions of phantasmic butterflies. The millennia of waiting, the grinding tribulations of the past, were quickly forgotten as a vision of hope and the shining promise of resurrection stirred before him.




The Four Immigrants Manga


Book Description

A "documentary comic book" from 1931, depicting the true adventures of four young Japanese men in America. Originally published in Japanese in San Francisco in 1931, The Four Immigrants Manga is Henry Kiyama’s visual chronicle of his immi­grant experiences in the United States. Drawn in a classic gag-strip comic-book style, this heartfelt tale—rediscovered and translated by manga expert Frederik L. Schodt—is a fascinating, entertaining depiction of early Asian American struggles.







Tokyo Kill


Book Description

"Struggling San Francisco antiques dealer Jim Brodie is back in Japan. After wading through the tragedy of the Japantown murders, he and his daughter have returned for a well-earned vacation. Checking in at the P.I. firm he inherited from his father, he's startled by the arrival of an old World War II veteran and his son. The father has come explicitly to see Brodie, and offers up a dark story connected to the war and a pair of violent home invasions committed in the Japanese capital only days earlier. Brodie takes a liking to the old soldier and agrees to provide protection, one of the services Brodie Security supplies. An unexpected murder soon shocks Brodie and his crew, and Brodie begins a wild ride through the worlds of kendo, the Triads, war atrocities, the backstreets of Yokohama's unfathomable Chinatown, Chinese spies, and an elusive group of killers after a long-lost treasure with a murky and dangerous history. With the crusty PI Noda at his side, Brodie pokes around where he's not wanted, and when a friend is delivered up to him in pieces Brodie is once again running for his life--while seeking the answers he needs to save it"--




Lu Xun’s Affirmative Biopolitics


Book Description

This book explores an extraordinary case of affirmative biopolitics through the study of Lu Xun (1881–1936), the most prominent cultural figure of modern China. Diverging from the Enlightenment-humanist framework in reference to which Lu Xun is commonly interpreted, it demonstrates how his thinking is defined by a naturalistic conception of culture that is best understood in the global context of what Foucault defines as the biological turn of modernity. In comparison to ontologically-grounded modern Western theories of life, it brings to light the deep connection between Lu Xun’s affirmative biopolitics and the epistemic ground of Chinese tradition―what is known as correlative thinking. Combining close readings of literary texts with a theoretical consideration of broader issues of culture, this book is an essential read for scholars and students who are interested in Lu Xun, modern Chinese intellectual history, comparative studies of Chinese and Western thought, and the question of affirmative biopolitics.




Shōgun


Book Description

After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen—Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne’s loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed. Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Shōgun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but also one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Shōgun is, as the New York Times put it, “...not only something you read—you live it.” Provocative, absorbing, and endlessly fascinating, there is only one: Shōgun.







Parent and Family Engagement in Higher Education


Book Description

Gain a comprehensive understanding of the role that parents and families play in college students’ lives through their involvement starting with K–12, moving through the transition to college, and then focusing on the college experience itself. The authors broaden the conversation to reflect the actual and diverse array of parents and families that play vital roles in students’ collegiate experiences. Particular attention is paid to: diverse families, including students of color, first-generation college students, and low-income students, an agenda for more inclusive research, theories, and practices with the goal of broadening the conversation to reflect the diverse array of parent and family engagement, and standards, models, and best practices that might be applied more broadly and modified as needed. As a whole, this volume offers an expanded way of thinking about how higher education understands, engages, and serves the needs of parents and families. This is the 6th issue of the 41st volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education issue, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.




Shōgun, Part Two


Book Description

By the #1 New York Times bestselling author and unparalleled master of historical fiction, James Clavell’s Shogun is soon to be a major FX/Hulu TV series! Shogun, the classic epic novel of feudal Japan that captured the heart of a culture and the imagination of the world, is now available for the first time in serial format. Part Two contains the second half of the complete novel. After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen—Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne’s loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed. Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Shogun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Shogun is, as the New York Times put it, ‘'not only something you read—you live it.’‘ Also available: Shogun: Part One




Representation and Memory in Graphic Novels


Book Description

This book analyses the relationship between comics and cultural memory. By focussing on a range of landmark comics from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the discussion draws attention to the ongoing role of visual culture in framing testimony, particularly in relation to underprivileged subjects such as migrants and refugees, individuals dealing with war and oppressive regimes and individuals living with particular health conditions. The discussion is influenced by literary and cultural debates on the intersections between ethics, testimony, trauma, and human rights, reflected in its three overarching questions: ‘How do comics usually complicate the production of cultural memory in local contents and global mediascapes?’, ‘How do comics engage with, and generate, new forms of testimonial address?’, and ‘How do the comics function as mnemonic structures?’ The author highlights that the power of comics is that they allow both creators and readers to visualise the fracturing power of violence and oppression – at the level of the individual, domestic, communal, national and international – in powerful and creative ways. Comics do not stand outside of literature, cinema, or any of the other arts, but rather enliven the reciprocal relationship between the verbal and the visual language that informs all of these media. As such, the discussion demonstrates how fields such as graphic medicine, graphic justice, and comics journalism contribute to existing theoretical and analytics debates, including critical visual theory, trauma and memory studies, by offering a broad ranging, yet cohesive, analysis of cultural memory and its representation in print and digital comics.