Meat and vegetable ingredients familiar to Westerners are used in these basic recipes from China's most densely populated province

The Good Food of Szechwan

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Robert A. Delfs

Regional & International

Kodansha International (JPN)

The father of Karate-do describes his life of devotion to the practices and spirit of the ancient martial art and his contributions to its modern-day evolution.

Karate: Do My Way of Life

FUNAKOSHI, GICHIN

Sports & Outdoors

Japanese Touch for Your Home

Humor & Entertainment

Yagi, Koji

Pop Culture

[The following excerpt from the Introductiion gives a clear idea of the book's contents.] Idiomatic expressions give English its color and vitality. They are indispensable to the daily speech of the people and to the language of newspapers and books, television and movies. Whenever you hear a phrase whose meaning cannot be understood even if you know the definitions of the separate words involved, you have probably encountered an idiom. Mastering idioms requires a great deal of listening, studying, practice, and usage. You cannot ignore this part of the language: idiomatic expressions and more formal grammar should be given equal time. The lessons in this book are designed to teach you the kind of informal, everyday speech--including many slang words as well as idioms--that is commonly understood by all native Americans, no matter what their level of education. There are various levels of idiomatic difficulty, and each group of lessons listed in the Table of Contents begins with the easiest lessons and ends with the more advanced ones. However, you may use them in any order you desire; each lesson is self-contained. Each lesson begins with a dialogue, since idioms are best learned in meaningful verbal contexts. A vocabulary section then explains the idioms in clear, concise definitions. (Where the notation "neg." appears after an idiom, it means the idiom is generally used in the negative. For example, have the heart to (neg.) indicates the phrase is normally used in a negative statement such as "I didn't have the heart to tell her." Where alternate words are given in parentheses, either word may be used interchangeably. For example, down the drain (tubes) means you may say "down the drain" or "down the tubes." Two sets of exercises are included in each lesson. In the first, you are asked to choose the correct idiom needed to complete a sentence. In the second, you will substitute an idiomatic expression for an italicized phrase or sentence.

Idiomatic American English: A Step-By-Step Workbook for Learning Everyday American Expressions

Gaines, Barbara

Reference

With a copy of Kodansha's Romanized Japanese-English Dictionary at hand--with its romanized entries, definitions, compounds, phrases, sample sentences, and three useful appendices--learners of Japanese now have an up-to-date and practical dictionary that they can depend on as they progress from beginner through intermediate to advanced level Japanese. Until now, even beginners have had to struggle with inadequate materials that require at least a basic command of kanji. And, learners at every level have all felt the need for a dictionary that is at once compact, comprehensive, and designed for their needs. 
Kodansha's Romanized Japanese-English Dictionary is unique for precisely this reason. Based on an established and widely-used dictionary for Japanese junior high school students, Romanized has been radically modified and expanded to meet the very special requirements of nonnative learners. And because entries are romanized and listed in familiar alphabetical order, even the complete novice with no knowledge of kanji or kana will find this dictionary remarkably easy to use. 
All 16,000 informative and useful vocabulary items are presented in both romanized and standard Japanese script. Specially written definitions and a generous selection of sample sentences offer expert guidance on points of grammar, meaning, style, orthography, pronunciation, and punctuation. Foreign loan words, often ignored in other basic dictionaries, are given ample coverage and in-depth treatment. Concise and meaningful explanations clarify even the most troublesome cultural terms. Three clearly written appendices explain in detail such complicated areas as conjugating verbs and adjectives, counting, and articulating foreign place names in Japanese. 
Kodansha's Romanized Japanese-English Dictionary is an easy-to-use reference work published in a portable and handy format. Convenient to carry in a shoulderbag or briefcase, Romanized is the ideal choice for taking to class or on a business trip. Whether at home or the office, on a train or a plane, it is the perfect companion for today's student of modern spoken Japanese.

Kodansha's Romanized Japanese-English Dictionary

Masatoshi Yoshida

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Irreverent, post-Zen, at times bizarre, the stories in this remarkable collection of Japanese fiction chart new literary and cultural territory. In style and substance--as the title or the collection would suggest--this is something quite different from what the West has come to expect or the Japanese palate. 
The writers showcased here represent the brightest and the boldest of a new generation. Born after the war, coming or age in the booming eighties, they startle us with their range or emotion, energy, and experience. 
Among the offerings: 
* Little clones, in a fable by Haruki Murakami (author of the acclaimed A Wild Sheep Chase), march around in a TV twilight zone, voiding a marriage while building an airplane that looks like a juicer. 
* Elvis (yes, Elvis), in Eri Makino's story, reaches out from a videotape to touch the life or an ordinary housewife, liberating her from drudgery, husband, and mother-in-law. 
* The search for God, in an earnest tale by Kyoji Kobayashi, turns up a minotaur that bellows: Eat mooore! Drink mooore! Have mooore sex! 
* Soldiers stranded from the war on a south sea island, in Michio Hisauchi's manga masterpiece, discuss the physics of misery with a spaceman from Spiral Nebula NGC4592. 
* The tough dirty talk of S&amp;M, in Amy Yamada's romance, yields to a sublime tenderness. 
Selected and edited by Alfred Birnbaum (translator of A Wild Sheep Chase), these stories are wild--daring, kitschy, rude, delightful. 
This is, after all, Monkey Brain Sushi!

Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Fiction (Japan's Modern Writers)

Literature & Fiction

Birnbaum, Alfred (editor)

Short Stories & Anthologies

This atlas includes both rail and road maps for the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, with place names given in both English and Japanese. Immediately adjacent areas are also shown, such as parts of Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Yamanashi, Kanagawa, and Saitama prefectures as well as cities like Mito, Tsukuba, Omiya, Urawa, Kawasaki, and Yokoyama. 
FEATURES 
*Place names given in both Japanese and English 
*A comprehensive guide to the complex Tokyo-area transportation system, including railway and road maps 
*15 railway maps, including J.R. and private lines, indicating travel time between destinations 
*8 comprehensive road maps, including major bus lines 
*23 major train stations and their environs 
*7 specialized indices

Tokyo Metropolitan Area Rail & Road Atlas/English/Japanese

KODANSHA

Atsushi Umeda

Browsing through the pages of Kodansha's Furigana Japanese-English Dictionary, you will notice that something is different: none of the Japanese entry words appearing in this book have been romanized. Some will be surprised by this feature, especially in that the book is seen as suitable for even absolute beginners. Others (particularly the Japanese-language instructors who pointed out the need for such a publication) will be delighted to find that a full-fledged furigana Japanese-English dictionary is finally available. 
What is furigana and why is it so important? 
Furigana refers to the small kana that are printed above or alongside kanji to show the pronunciation of the Chinese character. With furigana superscripts, the beginner who is familiar with hiragana and katakana is able to read even the most difficult and obscure kanji at a glance. Other publications either provide little or no guide to kanji readings or romanize some or all of the Japanese words and sentences. Previously, romanized Japanese dictionaries were of some value to students using textbooks that contained no Japanese script. Recently, however, an increasing number of influential curricula around the world are based on a rationale and methodology that demands the introduction of hiragana and katakana from the earliest stages. Learners and their teachers studying under such curricula will inevitably feel more comfortable with a dictionary such as Kodansha's Furigana Japanese-English Dictionary, one that shows the pronunciation of kanji with familiar and authentic kana script. 
But it does not end there. The comprehensive 16,000-word basic vocabulary comprises a generous and balanced selection of native Japanese words, kanji compounds, and foreign loan words. Precise and informative definitions, written specifically for English speakers, offer expert guidance on points of grammar, meaning, style, orthography, pronunciation, and punctuation. Concise and insightful explanations clarify even the most troublesome cultural terms. In addition there are 50,000 sample sentences that provide a context-based understanding of how words are linked together to form authentic and natural Japanese sentences. 
Features that help expand word power and increase vocabulary skills have also been included in Kodansha's Furigana Japanese-English Dictionary. Common collocations, derivatives, and compounds show how word-parts fit and work together. Comprehensive cross-referencing makes the learner aware of common synonyms and antonyms, clarifying both meaning and usage. Finally, three appendices explain in detail such complicated areas as conjugating verbs and adjectives, counting, and articulating foreign place names in Japanese. 
All of this and more in a portable format and at an affordable price. Kodansha's Furigana Japanese-English Dictionary is the essential dictionary for all students of Japanese.

Kodansha's Furigana : Japanese-English Dictionary

Kodansha International

A comprehensive, communicative, and practical guide to using Japanese, Kodansha's Furigana English-Japanese Dictionary is an invaluable reference tool for anyone with an interest in the Japanese language. It has been edited with the needs of English-speaking users in mind students, teachers, business people, and casual linguists. 
What is furigana and why is it so important? 
Furigana refers to the small kana that are printed above or alongside kanji to show the pronunciation of the Chinese character. With furigana superscripts, the beginner who is familiar with hiragana and katakana is able to read even the most difficult and obscure kanji at a glance. Other dictionaries either provide little or no guide to kanji readings or romanize some or all of the Japanese words and sentences. In the past, romanized dictionaries were of some value to students using textbooks that contained no Japanese script. Now, however, an increasing number of influential curriculums around the world are based on a rationale and methodology that demands the introduction of hiragana and katakana from the earliest stages. Learners and their teachers studying under such curriculums will inevitably feel more comfortable with a dictionary such as Kodansha's Furigana English-Japanese Dictionary, one that shows the pronunciation of kanji with familiar and authentic kana script. 
This unique set of features have been incorporated into one portable and affordable volume: * More than 14,000 entries comprising the most commonly used words in English * Furigana pronunciation guides added to all kanji * Semantic and usage differences between Japanese words and expressions explained clearly in English * Thousands of full-length example sentences illustrate typical usage in natural Japanese * Idioms, phrases, and common expressions help expand vocabulary and sentence building skills * Many encyclopedic entries offer useful background information on Japanese history and culture * Includes many current terms such as artificial intelligence and internet Hundreds of scientific and medical terms with full Japanese equivalents With its sister publication, Kodansha's Furigana Japanese-English Dictionary, this dictionary makes the perfect reference for all students of Japanese.

Kodansha's Furigana English-Japanese Dictionary (English and Japanese Edition)

Dictionaries & Thesauruses

The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary answers the urgent need for an easy-to-use kanji dictionary compact enough to be easily carried around, yet detailed enough to satisfy the practical needs of the beginning and intermediate learner. 
Its basic goal is to give the learner a thorough understanding of kanji by providing instant access to a wealth of useful information on the meanings, readings, and compounds. Normally, the learner must memorize numerous compounds as unrelated units. A unique feature of this dictionary that overcomes this difficulty is the core meaning, a concise keyword that defines the dominant sense of each character, followed by detailed character meanings and numerous compounds that clearly show how thousands of building blocks are combined to form countless compound words. 
Another unique feature is the System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns (SKIP), an indexing system that enables the user to locate characters as quickly and as accurately as in alphabetical dictionaries. 
Modern linguistic theory has been effectively integrated with sophisticated information technology to produce the most useful kanji learner's dictionary ever compiled. For the first time, learners have at their fingertips a wealth of information that is linguistically accurate, easy to use, and carefully adapted to their practical needs. 
Features * 2,230 entry characters, including all the kanji in the Joyo and Jinmei Kanji lists * 41,000 senses for 31,300 words and word elements show how each character contributes to the meanings of compounds * 1,200 homophones with core meanings explain differences between closely related characters * 386 variant forms used in prewar literature and in names * 1,945 stroke order diagrams show you how to write each kanji stroke by stroke * 7,200 character readings, including name readings * Over 2,000 cross-references and five appendixes give instant access to a mass of useful reference data 
A totally new system-not found in any other dictionary gives you an indepth understanding of kanji. Many unique features make this dictionary a powerful learning tool. 
This is the only kanji learner's dictionary that: * Provides a revolutionary lookup method (SKIP) for locating entries as quickly as in alphabetical dictionaries * Offers a choice of five lookup methods and three indices that give even the complete beginner instant access to any entry * Includes frequency statistics published in July 1998 on the basis of a massive corpus of 55 million characters * Covers all high-frequency compounds based on the official statistics compiled by the National Language Research Institute * Includes all kanji compounds appearing in the popular Japanese Achievement Test * Gives core meanings, a powerful learning aid that provides an instant grasp of a character's fundamental concept * Gives precise character meanings that show how thousands of building blocks are combined to generate countless compounds * Lists meanings in a logical order that allows them to be perceived as an integrated whole * Is extremely user friendly and visually attractive * Has a labeling system that gives full guidance on style and usage

The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary

Jack Halpern (Editor)

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