TO:KY:OO


Book Description

Photographer Liam Wong’s debut monograph, a cyberpunk-inspired exploration of nocturnal Tokyo. Featuring evocative and stunning color photographs of contemporary Tokyo, this book brings together the images of an exciting new photographic talent, Liam Wong. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, Wong studied computer arts in college and, by the time he was twenty-five, was living in Canada and working as a director at one of the world’s leading video game companies. His job took him to Tokyo for the first time, where he discovered the ethereality of floating worlds and the lurid allure of Tokyo’s nocturnal scenes. “I got lost in the beauty of Tokyo at night,” he explains. A testament to the deep art of color composition, this publication brings together a refined body of images that are evocative, timeless, and completely transporting. This volume also features Wong’s creative and technical processes, including identifying the right scene, capturing the essence of a moment, and methods to enhance color values—insights that are invaluable to admirers and photography students alike.




Rueben


Book Description

Rueben would be the first to admit he was stubborn. He hated being told something wasn't possible when there was no scientific basis for their claims. So, when his peers told him searching for fossils in China wouldn’t be a worthwhile endeavour, instead of quitting Rueben doubled down his efforts to raise the necessary funds to travel there. But his arrival in Shanghai started with embarrassment and left Rueben fearing his distracted clumsiness had scared away his translator and guide, Yuan Xi, before they’d even left for their destination: the Taihang Mountains in Shanxi Province. Yet Rueben hadn’t imagined the most important discovery he'd make in those mountains would be about himself. An overwhelming and confusing discovery that had Rueben wanting to run... had him never wanting to leave Yuan's side. Yuan Xi prided himself on being a sought-after translator, capable of hiding his anger despite the way his European employers treated him and his countrymen. Knew how to keep a smile on his face while being treated like a servant; remaining invisible until needed. But this latest job could be hazardous to his health, and Yuan didn’t mean physically. The endearingly clumsy scientist employing Yuan made him question whether he wanted more than emotionless, casual relationships... and whether taking a risk with his heart might be worth it.




Tokyo Nights


Book Description

Fiction. This book is a fast and enjoyable read. Take three men and three women. Mix them well in the summer heat and cool autumn of Ginza. This book was first published in London in 1988, revised edition published in 1994. This second revised edition contains a new introduction by David Cozy. "A Bizarre manga, a post-modern comedy of manners full of withering insights into contemporary Japan"--The Japan Times. "It is Richie's unswerving commitment to make it only too plain what these sorts of people do say (and don't say) to each other that makes the novel so suffocatingly authentic"--Intersect.




Bertie


Book Description

Do not fear change. Seek to learn what you do not know… Hubert ‘Bertie’ Thwaites is struggling with the Chinese bureaucracy and their refusal to approve his employer’s plan to establish a rail line from Shanghai to Beijing. Understands even less why Feng Shui—or what it even is—keeps being thrown up as the reason why a railway can’t be constructed. As his frustration grows, Bertie fears that the whole project might fail before its even begun, but he isn’t prepared to accept defeat yet. Pointed in the direction of two Feng Shui Masters’ with the political clout he needs, Bertie doesn’t hesitate to seek them out. But what he learns is more than the information needed to get his plans successfully approved. Mutual love is within the reach of all. Yang Hei and Yin Guang had worked themselves up from nothing to a position where even the top tiers of Shanghai society sought out their guidance, and it had been any easy choice to extend their services to foreigners desperate to get a foothold in China. But when Hubert Thwaites approached them at a soiree put on by another English merchant for assistance, they find themselves conflicted. Desiring a connection with Hubert that went beyond a simple business transaction, everything becomes complicated as emotions get heated and misunderstandings cause heartache. Will it be possible for Yang and Yin to bring Thwaites into their relationship successfully or will one of them need to make a choice and walk away?




Anime Architecture


Book Description

An unrivaled visual guide to the cityscapes and buildings of the most celebrated and influential anime movies. Anime has been influencing cinema, literature, comic books, and video games around the world for decades. Part of what makes anime so popular are the memorable and breathtakingly detailed worlds designed by the creators, from futuristic cities of steel to romantic rural locales. Anime Architecture presents the fantastic environments created by the most important and revered directors and illustrators of Japanese animated films, such as Hideaki Anno, Koji Morimoto, and Mamoru Oshii. Unprecedented access to vast studio archives of original background paintings, storyboards, drafts, and film excerpts offers readers a privileged view into the earliest stages of conception, development, and finished versions of iconic scenes from critically acclaimed movies such as Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Metropolis, and more. Revealing the secret creative processes of these major anime studios, Anime Architecture is perfect for anyone touched by the beauty and imagination of classic anime, offering inspiration for artists, illustrators, architects, designers, video game makers, and dreamers.




The Night Parade


Book Description

For fans of Coraline and Spirited Away comes a diverse fantasy debut steeped in Japanese mythology about a girl and a deadly curse. The last thing thirteen-year-old Saki Yamamoto wants to do for her summer vacation is trade in exciting Tokyo for the antiquated rituals and bad cell reception of her grandmother's village. Preparing for the Obon ceremony is boring. Then the local kids take interest in Saki and she sees an opportunity for some fun, even if it means disrespecting her family's ancestral shrine on a malicious dare. But as Saki rings the sacred bell, the darkness shifts. A death curse has been invoked...and Saki has three nights to undo it. With the help of three spirit guides and some unexpected friends, Saki must prove her worth—or say goodbye to the world of the living forever... The Night Parade is perfect for: Fantasy fans and kids 11 to 14 who love Spirited Away Kids and teens looking for creepy, suspenseful stories Adults looking for diverse books for kids Mythology fans and kids 12 to 14 A 2017 Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year A Kids' Indie Next Pick A Junior Library Guild Selection A 2017 Freeman Book Award Winner




Kirushima


Book Description

Kirushima joined the Tokyo Metro Police Force twelve years ago with a purpose, and it wasn’t cleaning the city’s streets of organised crime. Would’ve been a little hypocritical when he was in line to take over the leadership of the Yoong—the Korean group that controlled the port at Odaiba—one day. In the far future, once his current assignment was finished: rooting out the traitor within their organisation. He knew it was never going to be that easy. One assignment for the Metro and Kirushima’s world tilted as Sagaki Jin strode into his life, dragging him back into the shadows and putting his job at the Metro at risk. Put their fledgling relationship at risk too… Sagaki didn’t know Kirushima wasn’t an ordinary corrupt cop. But now his secrets out. A target is on his back and Sagaki’s as tensions within Tokyo grow. Kirushima needs to uncover who the traitor is before time runs out.




Tokyo Stories


Book Description

A collection of translated stories about life in Tokyo throughout most of the twentieth century.




Bar Flower


Book Description

Having originally landed in Japan in 2003 after college at McGill to work as a kindergarten teacher, Jacobson was fired from her job at the Happy Learning English School in Yokosuka city because the psychiatrist she saw for anxiety revealed her condition in a letter to her employer. Outspoken about discrimination against women in Japanese society, fond of drinking and prone to eating disorders and self-cutting, Jacobson drifted among teaching jobs before settling into the more lucrative but taxing employment as a hostess at the Palace, on Tokyo's Ginza strip, where the reigning mama-san taught her the fine art of being a decorative bar flower who serves men drinks and light conversation without being touched. Jacobson soon found her job leaching into all aspects of her life, and the paid dates, drinking and partying prompted a destructive spiral of cutting and blacking out. Truly fascinated by Japanese mores, Jacobson nonetheless elevates her story with compelling digressions into ukiyo (the floating world), geisha tradition and the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, among other topics, for a candid version of cultural immersion.




Sagaki


Book Description

Jun Sagaki had it easy, well as easy as things could be for a Yakuza. He oversaw a profitable area of Tokyo for the Imaida and looked on track to become the Boss. Eventually. One day in the distant future. And then he met Hisato Shibata and his whole world got turned upside down. The position he held, the respect he garnered taken from him along with his finger. But now he's paid his penance and the Shinjuku/Kabukicho area has been handed back to him, and everything should be heading back in the right direction. Except it isn't. And the one man he needs to rely on to stay alive just might be another undercover cop.