Kodansha

The Akihabara district (Akiba) in Tokyo, once known as the spot for discount electronics stores, has become a veritable theme park of Japanese pop culture. With shops of all kinds, gaming centers, clubs, bars, and restaurants packed into an area of just 700 square meters, the Akiba can be a daunting place to navigate. This guidebook presents the wonderfully eccentric appeal of the district in an easy-to-understand and entertaining format.

All students of Japanese, whether they have studied physics or not, know the word "particle," and they realize that particles, like English prepositions, require a special effort to master. All About Particles covers 69 particles, the most common ones along with the less frequent. The particles are shown to have some 200 usages - sufficient to keep most students hard at work for a good many years.

Arcade Mania introduces overseas readers to the fascinating world of the Japanese "gemu senta." Organized as a guided tour of a typical game center, the book is divided into nine chapters, each of which deals with a different kind of game, starting with the UFO catchers and print club machines at the entrance and continuing through rhythm games, fighting games, shooting games, retro games, gambling games, card-based games, and only-in-Japan games.

This book introduces 49 superlative Kyoto locations - predominantly temples and shrines - for viewing autumn tints, captured by three photographers. Turning the pages, readers will soon note that far from being consigned to history, the ancient places of worship within are assiduously maintained as centers for present-day religious devotions, coexisting seamlessly with their surroundings in a model of beauty nurtured over 1200 years in this, the cultural capital of Japan.

For people wanting to take a step beyond the textbooks; for anyone wishing to speak like a native without spending two or three decades in the country learning how to do it - for such people as this, Beyond Polite Japanese has collected some 500 words and phrases of prodigious interest.

Botchan, a hilarious tale about a young man's rebellion against "the system" in a country school, is a classic of its kind. The setting is Japan's deep south, where the author himself spent some time teaching English in a boys' school. Into this conservative world, with its social proprieties and established pecking order, breezes Botchan, down from the big city with scant respect for either his elders or his noisy young charges.

Reading great books in the original language should be the culmination of language study, but reading Japanese literature unassisted is a daunting task that can defeat even the most able of students. Breaking into Japanese Literature is specially designed to help you bypass all the frustration and actually enjoy classics of Japanese literature.

Cherry trees, symbol of the Japanese spring, flower in a riotous blaze of glory from late March through early April, suffusing the surrounding landscape with color. The peak viewing season, however, is extremely short; blossoms scattering without trace in a little over a week. Despite the fleeting nature of the spectacle, the cherry blossom has occupied a special place in the hearts of the Japanese since earliest times. This book features 48 superlative cherry blossom viewing locations captured by three photographers born and raised in Kyoto, who have made documenting its beauty their life work.

Collocations are word combinations that occur in natural speech more frequently than can be explained by chance. In English, we say, "take a bath" (or "have a bath" in British English), but in Japanese the equivalent is "get in a bath," o-furo ni hairu. The verb hairu is the one that collocates with o-furo. Common Japanese Collocations is the first resource to introduce the most frequently used noun-and-verb and noun-and-adjective combinations. Each chapter presents more than a hundred key entries, which consist of a noun and a selection of words that go with that noun.

This book helps the student to overcome this problem of kissing cousins and spitting images, to become aware of the subtle differences that distinguish one kanji from another. With numerous exercises and charts, the tell-tale signs that give each kanji away are indelibly imprinted on the mind.

Sixteen-year-old Mamoru Kusaka has recently moved to Tokyo to live with his aunt and uncle. Just as he is beginning to adjust to his new life, his uncle is involved in a late-night accident while driving his taxicab. Struggling to help his uncle, Mamoru discovers that the victim had been involved in a cruel scam with three other young women. Two of the four have also recently died in similarly violent incidents. A powerful businessman comes forward as a witness, but instead of making things clearer, the man's testimony only adds more confusing lies and deceptions to an already puzzling case.

Ever wanted to draw manga but didn't know where to start? Ever felt there's something not quite right with your drawing but not sure what? Draw Your Own Manga: All the Basics is the book for you! The textbook of choice at Tokyo Animation College, the leading school for manga artists in Japan, it covers all the basic information you need to get started on drawing manga with clear and easy-to-understand instructions.