The Sakura Obsession

Author : Naoko Abe
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2019-03-19
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780525519904

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The Sakura Obsession by Naoko Abe Pdf

Each year, the flowering of cherry blossoms marks the beginning of spring. But if it weren’t for the pioneering work of an English eccentric, Collingwood “Cherry” Ingram, Japan’s beloved cherry blossoms could have gone extinct. Ingram first fell in love with the sakura, or cherry tree, when he visited Japan on his honeymoon in 1907 and was so taken with the plant that he brought back hundreds of cuttings with him to England. Years later, upon learning that the Great White Cherry had virtually disappeared from Japan, he buried a living cutting from his own collection in a potato and repatriated it via the Trans-Siberian Express. In the years that followed, Ingram sent more than 100 varieties of cherry tree to new homes around the globe. As much a history of the cherry blossom in Japan as it is the story of one remarkable man, The Sakura Obsession follows the flower from its significance as a symbol of the imperial court, through the dark days of the Second World War, and up to the present-day worldwide fascination with this iconic blossom.

Author : Naoko Abe
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2020-02-25
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780525435389

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The Sakura Obsession by Naoko Abe Pdf

Each year, the flowering of cherry blossoms marks the beginning of spring. But if it weren’t for the pioneering work of an English eccentric, Collingwood “Cherry” Ingram, Japan’s beloved cherry blossoms could have gone extinct. Ingram first fell in love with the sakura, or cherry tree, when he visited Japan on his honeymoon in 1907 and was so taken with the plant that he brought back hundreds of cuttings with him to England. Years later, upon learning that the Great White Cherry had virtually disappeared from Japan, he buried a living cutting from his own collection in a potato and repatriated it via the Trans-Siberian Express. In the years that followed, Ingram sent more than 100 varieties of cherry tree to new homes around the globe. As much a history of the cherry blossom in Japan as it is the story of one remarkable man, The Sakura Obsession follows the flower from its significance as a symbol of the imperial court, through the dark days of the Second World War, and up to the present-day worldwide fascination with this iconic blossom.

Author : Donald Keene,Kazan Watanabe
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Japan
ISBN : 9780231138260

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Frog in the Well by Donald Keene,Kazan Watanabe Pdf

Frog in the Well is a vivid and revealing account of Watanabe Kazan, one of the most important intellectuals of the late Tokugawa period. From his impoverished upbringing to his tragic suicide in exile, Kazan's life and work reflected a turbulent period in Japan's history. He was a famous artist, a Confucian scholar, a student of Western culture, a samurai, and a critic of the shogunate who, nevertheless, felt compelled to kill himself for fear that he had caused his lord anxiety. During this period, a typical Japanese scholar or artist refused to acknowledge the outside world, much like a "frog in the well that knows nothing of the ocean," but Kazan actively sought out Western learning. He appreciated European civilization and bought every scrap of European art that was available in Japan. He became a painter to help his family out of poverty and, by employing the artistic techniques of the West, achieved great success with his realistic and stylistically advanced portraits. Although he remained a nationalist committed to the old ways, Kazan called on the shogunate to learn from the West or risk disaster. He strove to improve the agricultural and economic conditions of his province and reinforce its defenses, but his criticisms and warnings about possible coastal invasions ultimately led to his arrest and exile. Frog in the Well is the first full-length biography of Kazan in English, and, in telling his life's story, renowned scholar Donald Keene paints a fascinating portrait of the social and intellectual milieus of the late Tokugawa period. Richly illustrated with Kazan's paintings, Frog in the Well illuminates a life that is emblematic of the cultural crises affecting Japan in the years before revolution.

Author : DK
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 226 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2014-07-01
Category : Cooking
ISBN : 9781465434760

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Coffee Obsession by DK Pdf

More than 150 million Americans drink coffee each day. We're not the only nation obsessed: More than 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world each day. In Coffee Obsession, we take a journey through the coffee-producing nations around the world, presenting the different styles, flavors, and techniques used to brew the perfect cup. We explore how coffee gets from bean to cup in each region, and what that means for the final product. Through clear step-by-step instruction, Coffee Obsession will teach you how to make latte, cappuccino, and other iconic coffee styles as if you were a professionally trained barista. With more than 130 classic coffee recipes to suit every taste, detailed flavor profiles and tasting notes, as well as recommended roasts from around the world, Coffee Obsession is like nothing else out on the market.

Author : Haruki Murakami
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 450 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2005-01-18
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781400044818

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Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami Pdf

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and one of the world’s greatest storytellers comes "an insistently metaphysical mind-bender” (The New Yorker) about a teenager on the run and an aging simpleton. Now with a new introduction by the author. Here we meet 15-year-old runaway Kafka Tamura and the elderly Nakata, who is drawn to Kafka for reasons that he cannot fathom. As their paths converge, acclaimed author Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder, in what is a truly remarkable journey. “As powerful as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.... Reading Murakami ... is a striking experience in consciousness expansion.” —The Chicago Tribune

Author : Editors of Wallpaper Magazine
Publisher : Phaidon Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2010-08-11
Category : Travel
ISBN : 0714856312

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Wallpaper* City Guide Sapporo by Editors of Wallpaper Magazine Pdf

Wallpaper* City Guides not only suggest where to stay, what to eat, and what to drink, but what the tourist passionate about design might want to see, whether he or she has a week or just 24 hours in the city. Some of the highlights include up-and-coming neighborhoods, an `Architour? of landmark buildings, design centers, and the best shops to buy unique items. Wallpaper* City Guides present travelers with a fast-track ticket to the chosen location. The tightly-edited guides offer the best, most exciting, and the most beautiful of the featured city. The guides are expertly designed with function as a priority, and they have tabbed sections so that readers can find information easily. The guides include currency rate information, maps, and a color-coding system to help the reader navigate through different parts of the city. They are the ultimate combination of form and function. The guides are compiled by Wallpaper* magazine experts and their extraordinary network of international correspondents. The writers have put their heads together to come up with fascinating, efficient guides for the hip, urban traveler with his or her finger on the pulse. They are truly the insider?s guide to each featured city. The first Wallpaper* City Guides were published in Fall 2006 on the occasion of Wallpaper*?s first anniversary. For more than a decade, Wallpaper* has been the first to uncover and enticingly present the best urban travel spots from across the globe. The City Guides are the perfect way to present a decade of experience in one precisely edited guide. As of early 2010, there are 80 city guides available, with seven more on the way by the end of the year.

Author : Matt Alt
Publisher : Crown
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2021-06-22
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781984826718

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Pure Invention by Matt Alt Pdf

The untold story of how Japan became a cultural superpower through the fantastic inventions that captured—and transformed—the world’s imagination. “A masterful book driven by deep research, new insights, and powerful storytelling.”—W. David Marx, author of Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style Japan is the forge of the world’s fantasies: karaoke and the Walkman, manga and anime, Pac-Man and Pokémon, online imageboards and emojis. But as Japan media veteran Matt Alt proves in this brilliant investigation, these novelties did more than entertain. They paved the way for our perplexing modern lives. In the 1970s and ’80s, Japan seemed to exist in some near future, gliding on the superior technology of Sony and Toyota. Then a catastrophic 1990 stock-market crash ushered in the “lost decades” of deep recession and social dysfunction. The end of the boom should have plunged Japan into irrelevance, but that’s precisely when its cultural clout soared—when, once again, Japan got to the future a little ahead of the rest of us. Hello Kitty, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and multimedia empires like Dragon Ball Z were more than marketing hits. Artfully packaged, dangerously cute, and dizzyingly fun, these products gave us new tools for coping with trying times. They also transformed us as we consumed them—connecting as well as isolating us in new ways, opening vistas of imagination and pathways to revolution. Through the stories of an indelible group of artists, geniuses, and oddballs, Pure Invention reveals how Japan’s pop-media complex remade global culture.

Author : Robert Paul Weston
Publisher : Tundra Books
Page : 42 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2018-02-20
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 9781101918746

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Sakura's Cherry Blossoms by Robert Paul Weston Pdf

A warm, gorgeous exploration of a little girl's experience immigrating to a new country and missing her home and her grandmother, who still lives far away. Sakura's dad gets a new job in America, so she and her parents make the move from their home in Japan. When she arrives in the States, most of all she misses her grandmother and the cherry blossom trees, under which she and her grandmother used to play and picnic. She wonders how she'll ever feel at home in this new place, with its unfamiliar language and landscape. One day, she meets her neighbor, a boy named Luke, and begins to feel a little more settled. When her grandmother becomes ill, though, her family takes a trip back to Japan. Sakura is sad when she returns to the States and once again reflects on all she misses. Luke does his best to cheer her up -- and tells her about a surprise he knows she'll love, but she'll have to wait till spring. In the meantime, Sakura and Luke's friendship blooms and finally, when spring comes, Luke takes her to see the cherry blossom trees flowering right there in her new neighborhood. Sakura's Cherry Blossoms captures the beauty of the healing power of friendship through Weston's Japanese poetry-inspired text and Saburi's breathtaking illustrations.

Author : Masashi Kishimoto
Publisher : VIZ Media LLC
Page : 140 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2015-10-06
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN : 9781421588124

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Naruto Retrospective by Masashi Kishimoto Pdf

Creator Masashi Kishimoto’s tale of the ninja who could, and then, eventually actually did, spend more than a decade captivating us with the long-game adventures of Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Jiraiya, Tsunade and any of the other worthy favorites we meet along the way. Whether you’re a long time die-hard or a newcomer in the enviable position of discovering this story for the first time, consider this new book our gift to you as you get lost in the Ninja World over and over again. -- VIZ Media

Author : Eryk Salvaggio
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2013-07-25
Category : Americans
ISBN : 1489596984

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This Japanese Life. by Eryk Salvaggio Pdf

Most books about Japan will tell you how to use chopsticks and say "konnichiwa!" Few honestly tackle the existential angst of living in a radically foreign culture. The author, a three-year resident and researcher of Japan, tackles the thousand tiny uncertainties of living abroad. -- Adapted from back cover

Author : Lily Koppel
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
Page : 367 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2013-06-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9781455503230

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The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel Pdf

Discover the true story of the women who stood beside some of the greatest heroes of American space travel in this New York Times bestseller that delivers "a truly great snapshot of the times" (Publishers Weekly) that inspired a limited TV series on ABC! As America's Mercury Seven astronauts were launched on death-defying missions, television cameras focused on the brave smiles of their young wives. Overnight, these women were transformed from military spouses into American royalty. They had tea with Jackie Kennedy, appeared on the cover of Life magazine, and quickly grew into fashion icons. Annie Glenn, with her picture-perfect marriage, was the envy of the other wives; JFK made it clear that platinum-blonde Rene Carpenter was his favorite; and licensed pilot Trudy Cooper arrived with a secret that needed to stay hidden from NASA. Together with the other wives they formed the Astronaut Wives Club, providing one another with support and friendship, coffee and cocktails. As their celebrity rose--and as divorce and tragedy began to touch their lives--the wives continued to rally together, forming bonds that would withstand the test of time, and they have stayed friends for over half a century.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 314 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 1948
Category : Cherry
ISBN : UCAL:B4313460

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Ornamental Cherries by Anonim Pdf

Author : Yoshikichi Furui
Publisher : U of M Center for Japanese Studies
Page : 220 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 1997
Category : Fiction
ISBN : UOM:39076001873301

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Child of Darkness by Yoshikichi Furui Pdf

Yoko (winner of the Akutagawa Prize in 1971) is the story of a sensitive young man's relationship with the title character, a beautiful young woman who is suffering from an apparently hereditary mental illness. Through Yoko's vivid but distorted perceptions of the world, Furui highlights the process by which reality and identity are created. Above all, however, Yoko is a touching, if somewhat unusual, tale of a young couple's deepening love.

Author : Naoko Abe
Publisher : Random House
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2019-03-21
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781473549067

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'Cherry' Ingram by Naoko Abe Pdf

The irresistible story of Japanese cherry blossoms, threatened by political ideology and saved by an unknown Englishman 'This is not just a tale of trees, but of . . . endeavour, war and reconciliation' Sunday Times Collingwood Ingram, born in 1880, became known as 'Cherry' for his defining obsession. As a young man, he travelled to Japan and learned of the astonishing displays of cherry blossoms, or sakura. On a return visit in 1926, Ingram witnessed frightening changes to the country's cherry population. A cloned variety was sweeping the landscape and being used as a symbol for Japan's expansionist ambitions. Determined to protect the diversity of the trees, Ingram began sending the rare varieties from his own garden in England back to Japan with the help of a network of 'cherry guardians'. This is an eloquent portrait of an extraordinary man whose legacy we enjoy every spring, and his unsung place in botanic history. 'Engrossing . . . A portrait of great charm and sophistication' Christopher Harding, Guardian Winner of the 2020 Award for Excellence from The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries

Author : Eri Muraoka
Publisher : Nimbus Publishing Limited
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2021-05-31
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1771089245

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Anne's Cradle by Eri Muraoka Pdf

The name Hanako Muraoka is revered in Japan. Her Japanese translation of L. M. Montgomery's beloved children's classic Anne of Green Gables, Akage no An (Red-haired Anne), was the catalyst for the book's massive and enduring popularity in Japan. A book that has since spawned countless interpretations, from manga to a long-running television series, and has remained on Japanese curriculum for half a century. For the first time, the bestselling biography of Hanako Muraoka written by her granddaughter, Eri Muraoka, and translated by the award-winning Cathy Hirano (The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up), is available in English. A young girl born into an impoverished farming family in Yamanashi Prefecture, when Hanako Muraoka is given the opportunity to attend the illustrious girls' school T?y? Eiwa Jogakuin, she falls in love with the English language, and with translating poetry. This love of the written word leads to a career as a children's writer, but her burgeoning literary life is cut tragically short with the death of her son and the bankruptcy of her husband's printing company. When the Second World War brings an end to her stint reading children's stories over the radio--for which she is known across Japan as "Aunty Radio"--she turns to her first love: translation. It was the story of a young girl in a pastoral setting with a love of poetry that spoke most powerfully to Muraoka's heart. Amidst the wail of air raid sirens, she began translating her copy of Anne of Green Gables into Japanese around 1943, completing the majority of the work during the Second World War. In 1952, despite the crumbling of the Japanese publishing industry and the censorship enforced by the occupation, a publisher took a chance on an unknown translator, and the rest is history. From rural Japan to mid-century Tokyo, Anne's Cradle tells the complex and captivating story of a woman who came of age in conservative twentieth-century Japan, and risked everything to bring the best of children's literature to her people, and cultivated a literary career that led generations of Japanese readers to fall in love with a plucky redhead from Prince Edward Island.