Reading this book will definately slap some respect and reality into people, especially the North American denizens.

Having some rules and ethics from other countries will disipline the world with cooperation and peace.

Professor Welfiel study of Japan's strategic relationship with US during the cold war is very impressive. He draws a mandala of Japanese political leaders from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and their rules in one of the most important alliances during the cold war. What is more impressive, is to know that the author has met nealy all those important figures and got their views first hand. Having studied East Asian cold war history under Prof. Welfield brilliant presence, the book is the cream of many years of observation from a very knowledgable man.

Carter has now anchored his position as THE comparative philosophy scholar whose clear and unmistakable writing makes him the favorite author of students of the Japanese philosophical tradition. In this new book, Carter sensitively and faithfully explains not only the basics of Japanese ethics, but also the diverse sources of inspiriation behind Japanese moral philosophy (Shintoism, Confucianism, Buddhism), as well as modern Japanese intellectual and spritual encounters with the West.

ENCOUNTERS WITH AGING is a fascinating book examining the contrasting cultural constructions of aging and menopause in Japan and North America. Lock is a medical anthropologist who has done extensive research on attitudes and practices surrounding menopause among women in Japan and North America. She juxtaposes these women's experiences with a penetrating look at the broader medical and social discourses surrounding aging in the two regions. The book serves as a revealing critique of western medical practices surrounding women and aging.

I have very successfully used the book in teaching in both gender studies and medical anthropology classes. It is long yet accessible. The introductory chapter, "Scientific Discourse and Aging Women," is brilliant, witty and cutting--and could be used as a stand-alone piece--challenging readers to rethink western medical constructions of aging and women in a new, feminist light. The book complements well another of California's recent books on aging, women, the body and menopause--WHITE SARIS AND SWEET MANGOES: AGING, GENDER AND BODY IN NORTH INDIA.

One of this book's greatest values is that it is not merely an encyclopedia of Japanese *pop* culture. While it does cover music, film, TV and comics, it also looks at more traditional aspects of Japan in the modern world, including kabuki and noh, fishing and fireworks. These are often neglected by modern researchers, or confined to hermetically-sealed specialisations -- their inclusion here imparts Buckley's book with considerable endurability.

Popular culture often attracts the wrong sort of writer -- virgin territory may be a fertile ground for pioneers and innovators, but also for charlatans and ne'er-do-wells. Japanese popular culture has been lucky in the past, with excellent researchers like Schodt, Schilling, Powers and Kato, but also a large number of self-appointed pundits. This book, luckily, falls into the former camp more often that not.

The first thing anyone does with an Encyclopedia is look up stuff they already know -- often an unfair test of the editor's broader achievement. The first places I checked contained several minor typographical errors; Yurusei Yatsura for Urusei Yatsura, Ikeda Ryoko for Ikeda Riyoko, and the wrong release date for Neon Genesis Evangelion. The entry for Murakami Haruki notably points out that A Wild Sheep Chase was the third in a four-book series, but seems, presumably at the editing stage, to have accidentally assigned the first book, Hear the Wind Sing, as the umbrella title for the whole. But these errors can all easily be altered on a reprinting, and the size of the book makes it likely that print-runs are small, and that by the time you read these words, such minor problems will have already been fixed.

The general thrust of the articles remains objective and critical in the best sense of both words. For a Japanese scholar, this is a book that demands to be read from cover to cover, not just because you only realise what you *don't* known when you stumble across it, but also because the filing system mixes English and Japanese words with impunity. Bathing is filed under "Ofuro", but "Ikebana" is filed under Flower Arranging; luckily an index helps sort this out. Some of the choices for inclusion are also a little baffling. While it is noble to include an entry pointing out that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is *not* a Japanese product, the entry occupies the same word-count as that for the entire 40-year run of Ultraman.

With "only" 634 pages to play with (trust me, they fill up fast), the book sensibly points readers towards more in-depth studies. You may not get all the answers you want from an entry, but in most cases, you can close this book with a better idea of where you should look next. The suggestions for further reading (included in almost every entry) are an excellent addition for researchers, though occasionally of debatable provenance. The entry on pornography, for example, cites a single essay as a resource (the editor's own), but not more comprehensive works such as Japan's Sex Trade, Permitted & Prohibited Desires or, frankly, The Erotic Anime Movie Guide.

It is important to consider the ... price ... in context. When buying something of this weight, I tell myself if it costs as much as ten lesser books, it should do the work of twenty. This is certainly true in this case. I have no choice but to award this book the full five-star rating Amazon allows, since whatever niggles I may have, it is still an informative tome, liable to occupy me for considerably longer than many of its lesser brethren.

(*Sorry, as author it is not proper for me to rate the book, but the computer program demanded that I do so, so I went for the gold :) ). I just want to convey the following information.

This book has won two awards:

1. "Outstanding Publication Award 2000" from the Environment and Technology Section of the American Sociological Association.

2. "Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize" for 2001, awarded by the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Foundation, Tokyo, Japan, in memory of the late Prime Minister of Japan.

This book has been reviewed in over twenty journals and sites. Here are a few quotes from the reviews: "Broadbent's book remains a first rate account of environmental politics both within Japan and worldwide. It also offers one of the most valuable sources of reading for anyone interested in learning more about the complexities of social, cultural and political processes of contemporary Japan in general" (J. Royal Asian Inst); "With general discussion ranging over theories of regional development, power structures, social movements, social control, and elites, this is a book of wide appeal, beautifully written and refreshingly free of the jargon which so often pollutes social science" (Econ. Hist. Rev.); "As a model for future research, this is a book that should be translated and widely read within Japan (in Japanese, Kankyo to Kogai); "When all is said and done, this is an impressively researched, very thorough study of a series of milestone events in Japanese politics. It is a must-read for anyone interested in Japan or environmentalism" (J.Japanese Studies); "I was left with a rich understanding of the Japanese social, political and cultural context. I found the synthesis of theoretical perspectives to be extremely thought-provoking. This book makes a major contribution to the literatures on policy networks, social movements, environmental activism, and the structure-agency relationship" (Connections); "Environmental Politics in Japan is a major accomplishment, rich in empirical research and theoretical reflection. Besides being a comprehensive ethnography, the book is complex in its use of multiple theories and analytic perspectives - it can be read and reread from a number of viewpoints. Those with an interest in social movements, protest or environmental politics should be sure to add this to their reading list (Am. Pol. Sci. Rev.).

This is a terrific over-view of the major proponents of the Japanese New Wave. Taking chapter names from film milestones of this important, overlooked movement, EPM is a smart, concise look at a complex area of cinema.

Europe through the Prism of Japan: Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries by Jacques Proust (Professor of History, University of Montpellier) is a careful, detailed, scholarly analysis of how Japan perceived Europe from the mid-sixteenth to eighteenth century. Japanese-European interactions during this era are expertly scrutinized, and range from encounters with Dutch merchants to Spanish Catholic missionaries, as well as the German and Portuguese Jesuits. A brief insert section of color plates with relevant works of art illustrates this remarkable cross-cultural study. Expertly translated into English by Elizabeth Bell, Europe Through The Prism Of Japan is a strongly recommended addition to East-West and Japan-Europe cultural history studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.

My wife and I were stationed at Misawa Air Base, Japan in the early 80s and this book made our travels fantastic! It not only pointed out "must see" places, shrines, castles, etc., it gave you directions such as "turn right just before the railroad tracks at the school...." to help you get there. In addition, the back of the book has a section which translates road signs to help you get where you are going. The book not only gets you there but gives great details as to what you are looking at, its significance, etc. We once stopped at a (very hard to find) shrine which the book said had a museum focusing on 18th/19th century Japanese sailors inside. We didn't see a museum but found the priest and in our "best" sign language asked him where the museum was. He was shocked (and delighted) we even knew about it. He then opened the "private collection" and gave us a two hour private tour. "What an experience!" We have dozens of photo albums and experiences like this from our 3 years in Tohoku, and even people who lived at Misawa AB used to ask how in the world we found such neat "off the beaten path" places to see. We'd show them the book. Our copy, which is "extremely" well worn and has earned a special place in our library and I recommend it to anyone who travels throughout Northern Japan. If you get stationed there, congratulations, now BUY THE BOOK!

This book has a lot words in Japanese that you will have to know when visiting a country that speaks the language. If you mispronounce words from the book while speaking to someone, don't worry, they will correct your pronunciation and anunciation. I highly recommend that you get audio tapes so you can not only learn the tranlations from English to Japanese, but you can learn to pronounce them correctly as well. I am currently on a seven month deployment in Okinawa, Japan, as an Infantry Officer in the United States Marine Corps. This book has been a great help and it is small enough to stick in your pocket and read later when you are waiting for an appointment, etc. The trick to learning words from this books is to learn a little at a time.