Dharma Delight reveals the key tenets of Buddhism with bright, vibrant illustrations. I received a review copy from Tuttle Publishing. The author’s illustrations leap from the page with cute monstrosities and humor. Each drawing contains layer of meaning. Unfortunately, Dharma Delight assumes you know Zen and Buddhist philosophy. Many of the illustrations contain multiple layers of meaning…
Category: Book Reviews
Manabeshima Island Japan
Manabeshima Island Japan is a whimsical, warm stay at one of Japan’s small islands. Populated by 300 people, Manabeshima’s small size allows the artist Florent Chavovet sketch all aspects of life, from the insects to the residents and even to the gangs of cats that control the island. Chavovet’s art contains gentle humor and an…
Writing Japanese Katakana by Jim Gleeson
One of the keys to learning Japanese is stroke order and drilling until each stroke is second nature. Jim Gleeson put together a wonderful workbook that lets you do just that. In a short introduction, Gleeson outlines the different strokes needed to form each letter, and he briefly provides a history lesson about how kana…
Japanese Ghost Stories: Spirits, Hauntings, and Paranormal Phenomena
Do you know what happens to a tool when it becomes 100 years old? What about a tree when it sees its 1,000th birthday? What does it matter if a dinner plate is broken? Cartien Ross answers these questions and more in her book Japanese Ghost Stories, Spirits, Hauntings, and Paranormal Phenomena. Ross looks at…
The Battle of the Books Memoirs of a Geisha vs Geisha, A Life
I am a bit behind the times with this article. Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha came out in 1997, with a movie of the same name back in 2005. I recently read the autobiography of the woman Memoirs was based upon, Mineko Iwasaki. In her book, Geisha, a Life, Iwasaki paints a very different…
Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide by Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt
There are a lot of ghouls, ghosts, and other nasty critters spooking around Japan. From bathrooms to cemeteries to the deep woods and everywhere in between, a traveler can find themselves running afoul of the worst beasties Japan has to offer at any time. What’s a tourist to do? Well, they could do far worst…