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Author: Ian Reader
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113681941X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 323
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Book Description
The Tokyo subway attack in March 1995 was just one of a series of criminal activities including murder, kidnapping, extortion, and the illegal manufacture of arms and drugs carried out by the Japanese new religious movement Aum Shinrikyo, under the guidance of its leader Asahara Shoko. Reader looks at Aum's claims about itself and asks, why did a religious movement ostensibly focussed on yoga, meditation, asceticism and the pursuit of enlightenment become involved in violent activities? Reader discusses Aum's spiritual roots, placing it in the context of contemporary Japanese religious patterns. Asahara's teaching are examined from his earliest public pronouncements through to his sermons at the time of the attack, and statements he has made in court. In analysing how Aum not only manufactured nerve gases but constructed its own internal doctrinal justifications for using them Reader focuses on the formation of what made all this possible: Aum's internal thought-world, and on how this was developed. Reader argues that despite the horrors of this particular case, Aum should not be seen as unique, nor as solely a political or criminal terror group. Rather it can best be analysed within the context of religious violence, as an extreme example of a religious movement that has created friction with the wider world that escalated into violence.
Author: Ian Reader
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113681941X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 323
Get Book
Book Description
The Tokyo subway attack in March 1995 was just one of a series of criminal activities including murder, kidnapping, extortion, and the illegal manufacture of arms and drugs carried out by the Japanese new religious movement Aum Shinrikyo, under the guidance of its leader Asahara Shoko. Reader looks at Aum's claims about itself and asks, why did a religious movement ostensibly focussed on yoga, meditation, asceticism and the pursuit of enlightenment become involved in violent activities? Reader discusses Aum's spiritual roots, placing it in the context of contemporary Japanese religious patterns. Asahara's teaching are examined from his earliest public pronouncements through to his sermons at the time of the attack, and statements he has made in court. In analysing how Aum not only manufactured nerve gases but constructed its own internal doctrinal justifications for using them Reader focuses on the formation of what made all this possible: Aum's internal thought-world, and on how this was developed. Reader argues that despite the horrors of this particular case, Aum should not be seen as unique, nor as solely a political or criminal terror group. Rather it can best be analysed within the context of religious violence, as an extreme example of a religious movement that has created friction with the wider world that escalated into violence.
Author: DK
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0744036917
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 26
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Book Description
A look at the wonders of Japan and what makes this country and their culture so interesting and unique. Find out all about Japan with this nonfiction reading book for children. Packed with facts, DK's Welcome to Japan will make learning to read fun and engaging for kids. Children will discover all about Japanese calligraphy, the cherry blossom festival, and Mount Fuji. These amazing facts are paired with incredible images of the Japanese landscape, providing an ideal balance of words and images for young learners. Welcome to Japan is a new Level 1 title in the four-level DK Readers series, aimed at children who are beginning to learn to read. DK Readers cover a vast range of fascinating subjects to support children as they learn to read, making these books an ideal starting point for developing a lifelong love of reading.
Author: Donald Richie
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press, Inc.
ISBN: 9781880656617
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
50 years of writing about Japan, from postwar to the age of Pokémon.
Author: DK
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1465493212
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
A look at the wonders of Japan and what makes this country and their culture so interesting and unique. Find out all about Japan with this nonfiction reading book for children. Packed with facts, DK's Welcome to Japan will make learning to read fun and engaging for kids. Children will discover all about Japanese calligraphy, the cherry blossom festival, and Mount Fuji. These amazing facts are paired with incredible images of the Japanese landscape, providing an ideal balance of words and images for young learners. Welcome to Japan is a new Level 1 title in the four-level DK Readers series, aimed at children who are beginning to learn to read. DK Readers cover a vast range of fascinating subjects to support children as they learn to read, making these books an ideal starting point for developing a lifelong love of reading.
Author: Olly Richards
Publisher: Teach Yourself
ISBN: 152937717X
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 284
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Book Description
An unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories for young and adult learners of Japanese. "Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work - and you will too!" - Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers Short Stories in Japanese for Intermediate Learners has been written especially for students from low-mid intermediate (ACTFL) level of Japanese. Mapped to B1 and approaching B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference, these eight captivating stories are designed to give you a sense of achievement and a feeling of progress when reading, and most importantly - enjoyment! What does this book give you? - Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller - making reading fun, while you learn a wide range of new vocabulary - Controlled language at your level to help you progress confidently - Spoken dialogues in a range of polite and casual forms in real settings to help you to improve the flow and accuracy of your spoken Japanese. - To help you advance your kanji recognition skills, furigana is used to support reading higher level or unusual kanji and for the first appearance for common kanji. - Common vocabulary from levels 4 and 5 of the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) along with vocabulary carefully chosen from the higher levels help you learn useful new expressions and progress through the intermediate reading levels. - Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, without feeling overwhelmed or frustrated - Practical tips help you to unlock the meaning of Japanese sentences and new kanji words successfully. - Beautiful illustrations accompanying each story, to set the scene and support your understanding - Pleasure! Research shows that if you're enjoying reading in a foreign language, you won't experience the usual feelings of frustration - 'It's too hard!' 'I don't understand!' With intriguing plots that will spark your imagination and keep you reading, Short Stories in Japanese for Intermediate Learners will take your grasp of Japanese to the next level with key features to support and consolidate your progress, including: - A glossary for bolded words in each chapter - Full plot summary - A bilingual word list - Comprehension questions after each chapter. As a result, you will be able to focus on enjoying reading, delighting in your improved range of vocabulary and grasp of the language, without ever feeling overwhelmed. From science fiction to fantasy, to crime and thrillers, Short Stories in Japanese for Intermediate Learners will accelerate you journey towards fluency. Use the codes inside the book and ebook to access a bonus story for free and the discounted audiobook on our Language Readers Library site or in the Language Readers app.
Author: Joy Hendry
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415263832
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
As Japan enters the 21st century with a new emperor, this title continues to be an indispensable guide through often enigmatic and historical idiosyncrasies of Japanese culture and politics that are often confusing to the outsider. This title includes information on the latest social developments, customs, rituals, business culture, medicine and arts.
Author: Brian Reading
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Economic forecasting
Languages : en
Pages : 328
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Book Description
Behind the overwhelming economic and material success of Japan and the Japanese lies a hara-kiri economy, society and political system set to self-destruct. This timely, probing and provocative report on the Japanese miracle describes the looming crisis the country faces in the 1990s. Three rival politico-economic systems have dominated the postwar world: Communist dictatorship, capitalist democracy and neofeudal Japanese corporatism. After the war the Japanese people had nothing. Today they are among the wealthiest in the world. Japan's unique one-party system has produced an economic miracle, and the Japanese success is envied by all. Yet it is deeply flawed. Japan's political economy is unstable. Japan has become a nation of wealth, unfairly obtained and unequally shared, run by venal politicians for the benefit of their corrupt paymasters. Though Japan is materially rich, the quality of life for ordinary Japanese remains depressingly poor. Like Russians, Czechs, Hungarians and Poles, the Japanese recognise the superiority of free-market democracy. They are clamouring for reform. But reform requires that wealth be redistributed from the one-third who own everything to the two-thirds who own nothing. Consensus politics cannot deliver this. It is doomed. The factious ruling party is collapsing in a welter of scandal. Confrontational politics will follow, leading to civil disorder and violence. The country faces its worst economic and political crisis since the war. Its collapse will not be as cataclysmic as that of Communism. Nevertheless, Japan has entered a decade of turbulence.
Author: Hideo Furukawa
Publisher: Comma Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 169
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Book Description
A shape-shifter arrives at Tokyo harbour in human form, set to embark on an unstoppable rampage through the city’s train network… A young woman is accompanied home one night by a reclusive student, and finds herself lured into a flat full of eerie Egyptian artefacts… A man suspects his young wife’s obsession with picnicking every weekend in the city’s parks hides a darker motive… At first, Tokyo appears in these stories as it does to many outsiders: a city of bewildering scale, awe-inspiring modernity, peculiar rules, unknowable secrets and, to some extent, danger. Characters observe their fellow citizens from afar, hesitant to stray from their daily routines to engage with them. But Tokyo being the city it is, random encounters inevitably take place – a naïve book collector, mistaken for a French speaker, is drawn into a world he never knew existed; a woman seeking psychiatric help finds herself in a taxi with an older man wanting to share his own peculiar revelations; a depressed divorcee accepts an unexpected lunch invitation to try Thai food for the very first time… The result in each story is a small but crucial change in perspective, a sampling of the unexpected yet simple pleasure of other people’s company. As one character puts it, ‘The world is full of delicious things, you know.’
Author: Ian Reader
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 082486400X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 318
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Book Description
Praying for practical benefits (genze riyaku) is a common religious activity in Japan. Despite its widespread nature and the vast numbers of people who pray and purchase amulets and talismans for everything from traffic safety and education success to business prosperity and protection from disease, the practice has been virtually ignored in academic studies or relegated to the margins as a uh_product of superstition or an aberration from the true dynamics of religion. Basing their work on a fusion of textual, ethnographic, historical, and contemporary studies, the authors of this volume demonstrate the fallacy of such views, showing that, far from being marginal, the concepts and practices surrounding genze riyaku lie at the very heart of the Japanese religious world. They thrive not only as popular religious expression but are supported by the doctrinal structures of most Buddhist sects, are ordained in religious scriptures, and are promoted by monastic training centers, shrines, and temples. Benefits are both sought and bought, and the authors discuss the economic and commercial aspects of how and why institutions promote practical benefits. They draw attention to the dynamism and flexibility in the religious marketplace, where new products are offered in response to changing needs. Intertwined in these economic activities and motivations are the truth claims that underpin and justify the promotion and practice of benefits. The authors also examine the business of guidebooks, which combine travel information with religious advice, including humorous and distinctive forms of prayer for the protection against embarrassing physical problems and sexual diseases. Written in a direct and engaging style, Practically Religious will appeal to a wide range of readers and will be especially valuable to those interested in religion, anthropology, Buddhist studies, sociology, and Japanese studies.
Author: Michele M Mason
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804781591
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
“An exceptional achievement and a truly important addition to cultural studies, Asian studies, history, and the study of colonialism/postcolonialism.” —Sabine Frühstück, Professor of Modern Japanese Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara By any measure, Japan’s modern empire was formidable. The only major non-western colonial power in the twentieth century, Japan controlled a vast area of Asia and numerous archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean. The massive extraction of resources and extensive cultural assimilation policies radically impacted the lives of millions of Asians and Micronesians, and the political, economic, and cultural ramifications of this era are still felt today. During this period, from 1869–1945, how was the Japanese imperial project understood, imagined, and lived? Reading Colonial Japan is a unique anthology that aims to deepen knowledge of Japanese colonialism(s) by providing an eclectic selection of translated Japanese primary sources and analytical essays that illuminate Japan’s many and varied colonial projects. The primary documents highlight how central cultural production and dissemination were to the colonial effort, while accentuating the myriad ways colonialism permeated every facet of life. The variety of genres explored includes legal documents, children’s literature, cookbooks, serialized comics, and literary texts by well-known authors of the time. These cultural works, produced by a broad spectrum of “ordinary” Japanese citizens (a housewife in Manchuria, settlers in Korea, manga artists and fiction writers in mainland Japan, and so on), functioned effectively to reinforce the official policies that controlled and violated the lives of the colonized throughout Japan’s empire. By making available and analyzing a wide range of sources that represent “media” during the Japanese colonial period, Reading Colonial Japan draws attention to the powerful role that language and imagination played in producing the material realities of Japanese colonialism.
