Japanese Women

In Geisha, a Life, Mineko Iwasaki tells her story, from her warm early childhood, to her intense yet privileged upbringing in the Iwasaki okiya (household), to her years as a renowned geisha, and finally, to her decision at the age of 29 to retire and marry, a move that would mirror the demise of geisha culture. Mineko brings to life the beauty and wonder of Gion Kobu, a place that "existed in a world apart, a special realm whose mission and identity depended on preserving the time-honored traditions of the past."

The daughter of a Buddhist priest, Tsuneno was born in a rural Japanese village and was expected to live a traditional life much like her mother’s. But after three divorces - and a temperament much too strong-willed for her family’s approval - she ran away to make a life for herself in one of the largest cities in the world: Edo, a bustling metropolis at its peak. With Tsuneno as our guide, we experience the drama and excitement of Edo just prior to the arrival of American Commodore Perry’s fleet, which transformed Japan.

Japanese-born Naomi Moriyama reveals the secret to her own high-energy, successful lifestyle–and the key to the enduring health and beauty of Japanese women–in this exciting new book. The Japanese have the pleasure of eating one of the most delicious, nutritious, and naturally satisfying cuisines in the world without denial, without guilt…and, yes, without getting fat or looking old.

Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are lovesick doctors, students, ex-boyfriends, actors, bartenders, and even Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, brought together to tell stories that speak to us all. In Men Without Women, Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic, marked by the same wry humor and pathos that have defined his entire body of work.

Unlock the Secrets to Vibrant Health and Longevity with the Timeless Wisdom of Okinawa Imagine a life where you feel more energized, balanced, and in tune with your body—without the stress of restrictive diets or rigid routines. The women of Okinawa, Japan, have been living this reality for centuries, thanks to their mindful approach to eating and living. At the heart of their longevity lies Hara Hachi Bu, the art of eating until you’re 80% full—a simple yet transformative practice that nurtures both the body and soul. In this engaging and empowering guide, you’ll uncover the ...

The Japanese Art of Shinrin-Yoku: A Woman’s Guide to Forest Bathing for Stress and Wellness Life today is fast-paced, chaotic, and often overwhelming—especially for women who balance careers, relationships, families, and personal growth. The demands of modern life can leave you feeling stressed, disconnected, and drained. But what if the solution to reclaiming your peace and well-being was as simple as stepping into a forest? Discover Shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of forest bathing. Rooted in centuries of Japanese culture and backed by modern science, Shinrin-yoku is a practice of...

A young woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that has the following traits: It’s close to her home, and it requires no reading, no writing, and, ideally, very little thinking. Her first gig - watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods - turns out to be inconvenient. Her next gives way to the supernatural: announcing advertisements for shops that mysteriously disappear. As she moves from job to job, it becomes increasingly apparent that she's not searching for the easiest job at all but something altogether more meaningful.

An unforgettable true story of resilience, family, and chasing your dreams against all odds. In this poignant and inspiring memoir, Tani Hanes recounts the remarkable life of her grandmother, Mitsuko Ishikawa, who grew up in early 20th century Japan dreaming of independence and education. Mitsuko's steadfast determination carries her through an arranged marriage, raising children during wartime, and carving out an accomplished career as a midwife, nurse and ikebana master - despite a society that expected her to be only a dutiful wife and mother. Through lyrical prose and vivid detail, ...

Emma Hooper thought coming home to small-town life and the family farm would give her a chance to rest and recover from a traumatic accident. But that was before she started seeing ghosts. It was before Grandma Hooper started singing on the roof, and it was way, way before anybody spotted a ghost in a 19th-century cavalry uniform coming out of an outhouse. Can Emma learn to handle her newfound ability to see spirits, while figuring out a confusing relationship with the handsome local doctor? All while solving the ghastly murder of Preacher Jacob?

Set in 1944 Chicago, Edgar Award-winner Naomi Hirahara’s eye-opening and poignant new mystery, the story of a young woman searching for the truth about her revered older sister's death, brings to focus the struggles of one Japanese-American family released from mass incarceration at Manzanar during World War II.

The 24 stories that make up Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman generously express the incomparable Haruki Murakami’s mastery of the form. Here are animated crows, a criminal monkey, and an ice man, as well as the dreams that shape us and the things for which we might wish. From the surreal to the mundane, these stories exhibit Murakami’s ability to transform the full range of human experience in ways that are instructive, surprising, and entertaining.

Our culture tells parents there's one best way to raise kids: enroll them in a dozen activities, protect them from trauma, and get them into the most expensive college you can. If you can't do that, don't bother. How is that going? Record rates of anxiety, depression, medication, debts, loneliness and more. In Family Unfriendly, bestselling author and Washington Examiner columnist Timothy P. Carney says it's time to end this failed experiment in overparenting.

Born with a congenital muscle disorder, Shaka spends her days in her room in a care home outside Tokyo, relying on an electric wheelchair to get around and a ventilator to breathe. But if Shaka’s physical life is limited, her quick, mischievous mind has no boundaries: She takes e-learning courses on her iPad, publishes explicit fantasies on websites, and anonymously troll-tweets to see if anyone is paying attention (“In another life, I’d like to work as a high-class prostitute”). One day, she tweets into the void an offer of an enormous sum of money for a sperm donor.

After Ken Garden's break up, he arrives for a 3-week stay at a snowy family lodge in Japan to let off some steam with his friends. But things turn sour when Ken gets into a horrible accident. Just as he reaches his life's end, Ken suddenly encounters a mysterious and alluring young woman named Yukimi who eventually saves his life. But Ken will soon find out who--and what--his new love interest really is: an immortal snow woman with supernatural gifts. As their relationship grows closer over many dark and cold evenings together, they must keep Yukimi's secret from Ken's friends and others, ...

Almost every afternoon, the Woman in the Purple Skirt sits on the same park bench, where she eats a cream bun while the local children make a game of trying to get her attention. Unbeknownst to her, she is being watched—by the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan, who is always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes, what she eats, whom she speaks to.

Ash shook off the images swarming his head and tried to focus on her again; it wasn’t hard. She was so beautiful, those plump lips naturally lined by a darker stain of pink as they blossomed into a cherry in the center, those wide eyes so rich and opaque he could stare into them for hours and never separate pupil from iris. The lashes kissing the delicate smattering of freckles on her mahogany cheek—“I can’t begin to tell you how much your friendship means to me,” Ash said, still drinking in her face. She was so close. It would take nothing to just come a little closer, just there...

When Yui loses both her mother and her daughter in the tsunami, she begins to mark the passage of time from that date onward: Everything is relative to March 11, 2011, the day the tsunami tore Japan apart and when grief took hold of her life. Yui struggles to continue on, alone with her pain. Then, one day she hears about a man who has an old disused telephone booth in his garden. There, those who have lost loved ones find the strength to speak to them and begin to come to terms with their grief. As news of the phone booth spreads, people travel to it from miles around.

“Silenced No More: Voices of Comfort Women” weaves the unforgettable stories of the suffering voiceless with themes of forgiveness, conciliation, and unflagging hope, together with the author’s own investigative journey into a tapestry that will open your eyes to one of the largest human rights tragedies in the 20th century: hundreds of thousands of girls and women were trafficked into Imperial Japanese military sex slavery before and during World War II. History infects the present and determines our future. It is this untold history that the author explores. The author, S.J. (Sylvia...

Previously published as The Singing Widow of a Buddhist Priest by Ruth Reiner, Japan Forever After is a rich, fun, spicy novel about the all-time, most impossible journey of an American woman determined to make it in Japan. When Sarah Green discovers her destiny is to tie her life with Japan, she does everything possible to make it there. This, however, comes with a price. As she climbs up the corporate ladder in her Tokyo-based, Japanese firm, everything else falls apart. Only the singing widow of a Buddhist priest, a white Persian cat, an ex-sumo champion, and a handsome mystery man can ...

1976. A 22-year-old Japanese American woman enters the management ranks of a major corporation and encounters...just what you'd expect. Sexism. Misogyny. Racial bias. And she breaks barriers anyway. From the moment Elaine Koyama was hired as a management trainee at agri-business giant Cargill, Inc., she found herself entangled in the endless fight to wedge herself through the doors the women's movement opened.