Books published by Toyo Press

Known from his collaboration on the Netflix documentary Age of Samurai, historian William de Lange returns to what he does best: highly anecdotal stories from one of the most exciting episodes in Japanese history: the Warring States period.De Lange takes the reader right back to the 16th century's closing decades. In the course of the ensuing journey we witness the major battles fought by the country's three great unifiers: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.Quoting directly and at length from a wide range of contemporary sources, De Lange paints events and figures like no other, 'so richly rendered,' according to one critic, 'that you'd swear De Lange was present at the time, taking notes.'Samurai Battles is an epic account of a dramatic period in Japanese history-a period in which the whole country was consumed by the fire of civil strife that raged hardest on the field of battle.

THE FIRST FULLY ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY OF JAPAN'S GREATEST SWORDSMANMiyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) is the most celebrated swordsman in Japanese history. Yet few of the many works on the enigmatic warrior have hewn to the original sources. Fewer still have explored the emotional turmoil that drove him on to be the very best in his field.A Life in Arms debunks many of the convenient myths, while at the same time uncovering the more controversial aspects that have been left hidden: his deeply troubled relationship with his father, his whereabouts during the battle of Sekigahara, his role in the siege of Osaka castle, and the birth and death of an illegitimate child, an event that deeply influenced his art.It shows how Musashi's path through life was shaped by strong personal traits: a reckless valor in the face of danger, a sensitive intelligence in the fields of art and architecture, a generosity toward peers and pupils, and a defiant stubbornness in old age. The complex yet human portrait that arises is a far cry from the accepted one-dimensional caricatures.Drawing from a wealth of images, maps, photographs, and woodprints, this Illustrated Edition gives the reader an even more authentic and in-depth experience of the life of Japan's greatest swordsman.

Sugawara no Takasue no Musume (1008-59), a lady-in-waiting to Princess Sukeko, is a typical exponent of Heian court culture-her sharp awareness of beauty only checked by her keen sense of its transitory nature.Inspired by Murasaki Shikibu's then already famous Genji monogatari, the author seeks to achieve the same romantic fulfillment of that work's hero and commits her thoughts, emotions, and experiences to a memoir she named the Sarashina nikki in an allusion to a much-loved poem from the Kokin wakash¿.Perhaps the most evocative part of the Sarashina nikki is her three-month journey to the capital following her father's recall from his governorship of Kazusa, which offers rare descriptions of the more remote regions of Heian Japan-its blinding white beaches, its majestic mountains, its dark forests.Above all, the Sarashina nikki is a poignant record of a woman's deep romantic yearning.

Izumi Shikibu (978-??), author, femme fatale, and prominent member of the Heian court, was first and foremost a poet-the greatest of her time, perhaps the greatest her country has ever known. Incorporated in numerous imperial anthologies, Izumi Shikibu's work has been admired through the ages.In this richly poetic diary Izumi Shikibu shares with us each and every turn in her tempestuous relationship with Prince Atsumichi, a relationship that began with the casual exchange of poems, deepened in the course of numerous setbacks, and culminated in her joining the prince at the imperial court.The Izumi Shikibu nikki is not only a literary giant's account of her most intimate thoughts; it is an unforgettable glimpse into an utterly enchanting word-a world 'dowered with a rare and exquisite taste,' a world filled with color and fragrance, but above all a word in which 'everywhere, everywhere, there is poetry.'

To any student of the Japanese language, the staggering number of onomatopoeia seems so daunting that one simply does not know where to begin. What, for instance, to make of karakara, karikari, kurikuri, or korikori? They may sound pretty similar, but they carry a wealth of information, modulated by emphasis, context, and grammatical function. Thus karakara alone can be used to describe someone laughing loudly, a vehicle rattling along, being parched with thirst, or being out of money.This is the first comprehensive dictionary of Japanese onomato­poeia. Multiple English sample sentences highlight every meaning and nuance of expressions used by Japanese speakers of all walks of life-from hip youths in Roppongi to erudite professors at university.

What student of Japanese has not grappled with the amazing diversity and tantalizingly elusive nuances of its idioms? One certainly would not want to confuse, for example, ki ga mawaru (to be considerate) with ki o mawasu (to be suspicious). And it would be useful to know whether your boss is hara ga tatsu (angry) or merely ki ga tatsu (upset). Indeed, even a single idiom can have a bewildering number of meanings depending on context; te o ireru, for instance, can mean tidying up (as a room), sounding out someone, or making a raid.This dictionary offers the most comprehensive compilation and English translation of those idiomatic expressions that so enrich the Japanese language but fail to find their way into conventional dictionaries. It presents more than 10000 idiomatic phrases under 1000 main entries, including several thousands of idioms never presented and explained in English before. Multiple sample sentences are given for each entry, and furigana allows even beginning students to pronounce correctly and to use the expressions immediately. A thumb index and two-color printing, with all kanji and kana in red, make entries exceptionally easy to access.

"Finally the treatment these true classics deserve: thoroughly re-edited and modernized texts, with glossary, index...and beautiful layout to boot."Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), the son of an Irish Surgeon-Major and a Greek woman of noble lineage, who settled in Japan after a checkered career in journalism in Cincinnati and New Orleans, is still considered by many the most astute interpreter of the country and its people.In the second part of this series, we join Hearn in Matsue in Izumo province, the place to which his name has become so inextricably linked. We are introduced to his samurai dwelling (yashiki) and its three gardens with exotic flowers, birds, and insects. And we meet his fellow teachers and eager students at the two schools at which he takes up his new position of teacher, a role in which he would support his new Japanese family for the rest of his life.We join him on yet more excursions, to the neighboring province of Hoki (Tottori), and by ferry to the Oki archipelago to visit and explore its many varied islands and communities. There, far away from 'the far-reaching influences of high-pressure civilization,' he learns more about the Japanese soul, about ghosts and goblins, and about the enigmatic Japanese smile, which seems always on display, even in the most wretched of times.Led, introduced, and informed by guides and friends, with each experience, Hearn's love for the Japanese grows, his understanding for their ways deepens. And it is this pairing of love and insight that make his Writings From a Mystical Country so compelling and enchanting-even now, more than a century after his death.

"Finally the treatment these true classics deserve: thoroughly re-edited and modernized texts, with glossary, index...and beautiful layout to boot."Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), the son of an Irish Surgeon-Major and a Greek woman of noble lineage, who settled in Japan after a checkered career in journalism in Cincinnati and New Orleans, is still considered by many the most astute interpreter of the country and its people.In the first part of this series, we follow Hearn as he arrives in Yokohama in the spring of 1880 and is immediately taken with its 'sun-steeped ways,' the ubiquitous kuruma with their oddly gesticulating runners, the narrow streets with their 'profusion of Chinese and Japanese characters in white, black, blue, or gold decorating everything'-all to Hearn is 'unspeakably pleasurable and new.'His unquenchable curiosity leads him outside the town's European quarter. Starting with local temples and shrines, he soon wanders farther afield, to Kamakura, home of the famous Engaku-ji, Kench¿-ji, Hasedera, and the great Daibutsu statue. From there, he visits the island of Enoshima and its Dragon Cavern. Then to Yokohama again to visit a Bonichi, attend a Bon Matsuri, observe a Bon Odori. And then to Matsue, the place to which his name has become so inextricably linked.Led, introduced, and informed by guides and friends, with each experience, Hearn's love for the Japanese grows, his understanding for their ways deepens. And it is this pairing of love and insight that make his Writings From a Mystical Country so compelling and enchanting-even now, more than a century after his death.

The Warring States period (1467-1568) was the most destructive in Japan's long history of civil strife. It began when the dearly won supremacy of the Ashikaga clan was squandered by a weak and indecisive ruler, allowing the jealous rivalry between local warlords to spiral irrevocably out of control. It was a time when thousands upon thousands of warriors either perished on the battlefield or persevered simply on the strength of their martial skill. At the end of the day, only those with superior skill remained standing to survey the carnage and count the severed heads of their fallen foes. In spite of all the mayhem and bloodshed, they were also men with an inextinguishable moral core, who adhered with almost religious devotion to the bushidô dictates of duty, fidelity, decorum, indeed, even of benevolence.Two such men were Iizasa Ch¿isai Ienao and Kami Izumi Nobutsuna. Both not only witnessed but actively participated in the dramatic events of the period at hand. Thus, Ienao served on the Shogunal guard when, following the outbreak of the ¿nin War in 1467, the capital Kyoto was reduced to ashes in a decade of trench warfare. And thus Nobutsuna had to witness how, in the terrible wave of anarchy that followed in its wake, all that his ancestors had toiled for was lost. Their story, told against the greater historical backdrop of ruthless political intrigue and vast military campaigns, is a story of the tragedy of civil war experienced at the personal level-it is a story of sacrifice, of blind devotion, of seemingly insurmountable setbacks. Yet it is at the same time a testimony to the kind of perseverance that can have no equal in times of peace.

The Two Courts Period (1333-92) was a turning point in Japan's medieval era-a time when an unbridgeable rift appeared in the fragile fabric of Japanese feudal society. On each side stood a separate imperial court, each with its own army and its own agenda. As the schism deepened and the positions hardened, one by one clans and domains were rent asunder until each and every man faced the terrible choice between loyalty and friendship.Two such men were Nennami Okuyama Jion and Ch¿j¿ Hy¿go no Kami Nagahide, who faced each other from across the dazzling divide. Jion, an impoverished warrior monk who had lost his father through the treachery of a Bakufu official, joined the side of the loyalists, the forces fighting on behalf of the Southern Court. Nagahide, whose ancestors had stood at the cradle of feudal society and had risen to high rank within the Bakufu, was bound by duty to the Northern Court.Their stories, set against the greater historical backdrop of ruthless political intrigue and vast military campaigns, describe the tragedy of civil war experienced at the personal level; they tell of loyalty, of betrayal, and of seemingly insurmountable setbacks. Yet the friendship between these two so disparate men, founded on their mutual love of swordsmanship and forged in the midst of a chaotic world, stands as moving testimony to the kind of courage that can have no equal in times of peace.

The Two Courts Period (1333-92) was a turning point in Japan's medieval era-a time when an unbridgeable rift appeared in the fragile fabric of Japanese feudal society. On each side stood a separate imperial court, each with its own army and its own agenda. As the schism deepened and the positions hardened, one by one clans and domains were rent asunder until each and every man faced the terrible choice between loyalty and friendship.Two such men were Nennami Okuyama Jion and Ch¿j¿ Hy¿go no Kami Nagahide, who faced each other from across the dazzling divide. Jion, an impoverished warrior monk who had lost his father through the treachery of a Bakufu official, joined the side of the loyalists, the forces fighting on behalf of the Southern Court. Nagahide, whose ancestors had stood at the cradle of feudal society and had risen to high rank within the Bakufu, was bound by duty to the Northern Court. Their stories, set against the greater historical backdrop of ruthless political intrigue and vast military campaigns, describe the tragedy of civil war experienced at the personal level; they tell of loyalty, of betrayal, and of seemingly insurmountable setbacks. Yet the friendship between these two so disparate men, founded on their mutual love of swordsmanship and forged in the midst of a chaotic world, stands as moving testimony to courage that can have no equal in times of peace.

Eiko Ozaki's unforgettable portraits of Japan's greatest medieval warriors, presented here for the first time in a newly edited text, along with the many stunning woodprints they and their heroic stories inspired.- Minamoto Monjumaru Yorimitsu and his four loyal retainers, who slew the Giant of Oeyama and confronted the Monster Spider.- Minamoto Sanmi Yorimasa, the archer who vanquished the Monster of the Black Cloud, went on to win the beautiful Lady Ayame, only to lay down his life in the garden of the Byôdô-in.- Minamoto Hachirô Tametomo, the wild and reckless youth who joined Emperor Sutoku's cause, yet was ultimately thwarted and had to flee to the strangely inhabited world of Oshima Island.- Minamoto Uchiwakamaru Yoshitsune, the young warrior raised by his clan's greatest enemy, the hated Taira Kiyomori, and who fulfilled his mother's dying wish to revenge his murdered father. - Musashibô Benkei, the faithful warrior-monk who joined Yoshitsune's cause after their epic encounter on Gojô bridge, and helped him vanquish the Taira hegemony once and for all at Dan no Ura.