Japanese Science

Kimi’s Obaachan, her grandmother, had always been a silent presence throughout her youth. Sipping tea by the fire, preparing sushi for the family, or indulgently listening to Ojichan’s (grandfather’s) stories for the thousandth time, Obaachan was a missing link to Kimi’s Japanese heritage, something she had had a mixed relationship with all her life. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, all Kimi ever wanted to do was fit in, spurning traditional Japanese cuisine and her grandfather’s attempts to teach her the language.

Hoping to avoid a future where Menou dies trying to save Akari, the girl from Japan runs away with her sworn enemy, Momo. The pair ride the rails to a secluded village in the mountains where they believe they’ll be safe for a few days. Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones who decided to stop off there. Manon and Pandmonium have arrived as well, and they aren’t alone. Akari had hoped keeping away from Menou would be enough to spare the girl she holds dear, but keeping the Executioner alive may require a more drastic course of action.

Each story reveals a piece of the Japanese spirit and shows how these old tales still matter today. Download this audiobook to start your journey into the world of Japanese folktales and legends!

The picturesque coastal town of Florence was known for millennia as a pleasure resort for the Nobility. As retribution for their decadence, the cruel and beautiful vampire inhabitants were "punished," driven out more than a thousand years ago by a solitary traveler in black. Only one—Baron Meinster—refused to leave, only to be thrown to the waves by the mysterious assassin. Summoned to contemporary Florence by Su-in, sister of a murdered village girl, the enigmatic Vampire Hunter D discovers a vampire curse ravaging the town's human inhabitants.

Masuo Yasui arrived in America in 1903 with big dreams and empty pockets. He worked on the railroads, in a cannery, and as a houseboy before settling in Oregon to open a store, raise a large family, and become one of the area's most successful orchardists. But his family's life changed forever on December 7, 1941, when they were forced from their homes into vast inland camps. Although shamed and broken, the Yasui family would yet endure to claim their place as Americans.

還暦で世界初のインターネット生保（ライフネット生命）を起業し古希で日本初の学長国際公募により立命館アジア太平洋大学（APU）学長に就任した“稀代の読書家”が古代ギリシャから現代まで100点以上

In A Foul Thing, Roma and Juliette have established themselves as the heads of an underground weapons ring in Zhouzhuang, making a living the way they do best while remaining anonymous in their peaceful, quiet life. But when they hear about several Russian girls showing up dead in nearby towns, they decide to investigate—and ultimately discover that this mystery is much closer to home than they ever imagined.

Kaori and Kairi are the first twins to survive infancy on the ancient island of Mu, where gender is as fluid as the crashing waves. One was born of fire, the other of water. But there’s a reason why none have survived before. A prophecy that has haunted the elders since time began. A rivalry destined to sink the entire island beneath a twin catastrophe of volcano and tsunami. As hatred spills from the forbidden twins like the deadly poison of sacrificed sea snakes, they must decide what matters to them most.

In northern Japan, overlooking the spectacular view Hakodate Port has to offer, Cafe Donna Donna has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than 100 years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time. Translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot and featuring signature heart-warming characters and wistful storytelling, in Before Your Memory Fades, Kawaguchi once again invites the listener to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?

人類の希望は、遥か11・9光年の彼方――。たったひとりの冴えた相棒と、謎の解明に挑む!未知の地球外生命体アストロファージ――

Beginning students in Japanese martial arts, such as karate, judo, aikido, iaido, kyudo, and kendo, learn that when they are in the dojo (the practice space), they must don their practice garb with ritual precision, address their teacher and senior students in a specific way, and follow certain unwritten but deeply held codes of behavior. But very soon they begin to wonder about the meaning behind the traditions, gear, and relationships in the dojo.

Though speculation ran rampant, the fifth match of the Sixways Exhibition between Psianop the Inexhaustible Stagnation and Lucnoca the Winter was ultimately short-lived. The next legends to clash will be Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge and Zeljirga the Abyss Web. The first is an infinitely regenerating golem with a near-limitless arsenal of lethal weapons at his disposal. The other is a devious trickster whose dark webs extend from the battlefield to intelligence networks the world over, as befitting a member of Obsidian Eyes.

ぼくの飼い猫のピートは、冬になると「夏への扉」を探し始める。家にあるドアのどれか一つが、夏に通じていると固く信じているのだ。そして、ぼくもまた「夏への扉」を探していた。

Japanese mythology offers a fascinating lens from which to gaze upon the natural world. Through tales of heroic samurai, creepy vengeful ghosts, and deities that wield the mighty powers of nature, these stories and mythical figures emphasize the importance of humans living harmoniously with their surroundings. It is often said that in order to understand a country’s culture and history, one needs to simply look at the stories they tell about the world around them.

Wabi sabi (wah-bi sah-bi) is a captivating concept from Japanese aesthetics, which helps us to see beauty in imperfection, appreciate simplicity and accept the transient nature of all things. With roots in Zen and the way of tea, the timeless wisdom of wabi sabi is more relevant than ever for modern life, as we search for new ways to approach life's challenges and seek meaning beyond materialism.

Four years ago, five kids started a game. Not all of them survived. Now, at the end of their senior year of high school, the survivors—Owen, Madeline, Emerson, and Dax—have reunited for one strange and terrible reason: they’ve been summoned by the ghost of Ian, the friend they left for dead. Together they return to the place where their friendship ended with one goal: find Ian and bring him home. So they restart the deadly game they never finished—an innocent card-matching challenge called Meido. A game without instructions.

本作品は2025年春の配信を予定しています。「この物語は、これから始まる全てのプロローグです。」小野不由美。違和感を抱いて生きる少年の周辺で続く凄惨な事件の謎――。「十二国記」が動きだす！

A collection of stories from the Land of the Rising Sun. The tales come from a rich folk tradition. Fantasy and horror intermingle in these imaginative narratives.

Haru Yamada offers a practical guide to more effective listening as a perceptive, creative exercise. We don’t just listen to what people say and don’t say, we reconstruct what someone else is saying and doing and meaning and feeling. Listening is a skill that requires our physical ear and brain power and the effort of our creative mind and social heart to remix what we hear from others and recreate it within ourselves. Kiku will allow you to harness the vital energy of listening to connect, sustain, and enhance the relationships you have with your friends, families, and professional teams.

This book is an invitation to cultivate stillness and contentment in an ever-changing, uncertain world. Drawing on a thousand years of Japanese literature, culture and philosophical ideas to explore the true nature of time and what it means to be human, Kokoro - which mysteriously translates as 'heart-mind' - is a meditation on living well. Join Japanologist Beth Kempton on this life-changing pilgrimage far beyond the tourist trail, to uncover the soul of the country, its people and its deeply buried wisdom.