Kagero Colors

This gorgeous, text-free, oversized collection of full-bleed color and black-and-white photographs compiles a host of previously unseen color nudes together with the collection that formed Daido Moriyama's extremely rare fourth solo book, Kagerou, published in 1972. Here, Moriyama captures bondage and nudity with a self-described "samurai tenderness"--a mood, an intimacy and yet also a distance--as if the artist might have snapped the photographs against his will. The stagings are not careful. They are rushed, immediate and mysteriously visceral. Even the knots seem to have been hastily tied. Each of the 60 photographs gathered here suggests that something has happened or something will happen--something furious, resonant or highly anticipated. There are no models smiling, no boasts of romantic conquest, rarely even a face, and certainly no hint of playfulness. Rather, this is a collection of desires, of mothers, sisters and lovers.

Japan is the only country in the world where women writers laid the foundations of classical literature. The Kagero Diary commands our attention as the first extant work of that rich and brilliant tradition. The author, known to posterity as Michitsuna’s Mother, a member of the middle-ranking aristocracy of the Heian period (794–1185), wrote an account of 20 years of her life (from 954–74), and this autobiographical text now gives readers access to a woman’s experience of a thousand years ago. The diary centers on the author’s relationship with her husband, Fujiwara Kaneie, her kinsman from a more powerful and prestigious branch of the family than her own. Their marriage ended in divorce, and one of the author’s intentions seems to have been to write an anti-romance, one that could be subtitled, “I married the prince but we did not live happily ever after.” Yet, particularly in the first part of the diary, Michitsuna’s Mother is drawn to record those events and moments when the marriage did live up to a romantic ideal fostered by the Japanese tradition of love poetry. At the same time, she also seems to seek the freedom to live and write outside the romance myth and without a husband. Since the author was by inclination and talent a poet and lived in a time when poetry was a part of everyday social intercourse, her account of her life is shaped by a lyrical consciousness. The poems she records are crystalline moments of awareness that vividly recall the past. This new translation of the Kagero Diary conveys the long, fluid sentences, the complex polyphony of voices, and the floating temporality of the original. It also pays careful attention to the poems of the text, rendering as much as possible their complex imagery and open-ended quality. The translation is accompanied by running notes on facing pages and an introduction that places the work within the context of contemporary discussions regarding feminist literature and the genre of autobiography and provides detailed historical information and a description of the stylistic qualities of the text.

* Beautifully drawn 4-view color profiles The Supermarine Spitfire was an iconic British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout World War II. The Spitfire continued to be used into the 1950s both as a front line fighter and in secondary roles. It was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft and was the only Allied fighter in production throughout the war. There were 24 marks of Spitfire and many sub-variants. These covered the Spitfire in development from the Merlin to Griffon engines, the high-speed photo-reconnaissance variants and the different wing configurations. The Mk XVIe was produced during the latter half of World War II and was created as an improvement on the Mk IX Spitfire. With the introduction of the Packard Merlin engine, the Mk XVIe was a noteworthy addition to Britain's fighter aircrafts. About Topcolors This is a series of highly illustrated books on the key machines of World War II and their combat use. Perfect for modelers and filled with color artwork profiles, each volume details the camouflage, markings, insignia, modifications and variants of the best of the war.

Two decal sheets with 1:72, 1:48 and 1:32 individual markings for 8 P-38 Lightnings with sexy nose art. The decal sheets were printed by Cartograf. Each painting scheme is depicted on beautifully drawn 4-view color profiles and described in the 18 page guidebook with English and Polish text. The authors selected the following aircraft: - P-38G-15-LO; s/n 43-2384, coded 'I' of 80th FS / 8th FG, Dobodura, New Guinea, autumn 1943, - P-38E-LO; s/n 41-2221, 'Spirit of 76', coded '76', flown by 2nd Lt. John S. Mackey of 54th FS / 343rd FG, Attu, Aleutian Islands, winter of 1943/1944, - P-38L-5-LO, s/n 44-27132, 'Ready Maid', coded 'M', flown by Capt. Phil McLain of 36th FS / 8th FG, San Jose, Mindoro, the Philippines, spring 1945, - P-38L-5-LO, probable s/n 44-25133, 'Peck's Bad Girl', coded 'V', flown by 2nd Lt. Charles I. Peck of 36th FS / 8th FG, San Jose, Mindoro, the Philippines, spring 1945, - P-38L-5-LO; s/n 44-26302, 'Hazel', coded '413', flown by 1st Lt. Warren E. 'Whip' Whipple of 44th FS / 18th FG, the Philippines, summer 1945, - P-38L-5-LO, s/n unknown, 'Glamour Puss II', coded 'L', flown by 1st Lt. Chester L. Schachterle of 80th FS / 8th FG, Ie Shima, Ryukyu Islands, August 1945, - P-38L-5-LO, probable s/n 44-25161, 'Wishful Thinking', coded 'N', flown by Lt. Royce H. Hendrickson of 36th FS / 8th FG, Ie Shima, Ryukyu Islands, August 1945, - P-38L-5-LO, s/n 44-26412, 'Shady's Lady', coded 'P', flown by 1st Lt. William R. Pruner of 80th FS / 8th FG, Ie Shima, Ryukyu Islands, August 1945.

In 1968, Suzuki Seijun—a low-budget genre filmmaker known for movies including Branded to Kill, Tokyo Drifter, and Youth of the Beast—was unceremoniously fired by Nikkatsu Studios. Soon to be known as the “Suzuki Seijun Incident,” his dismissal became a cause for leftist student protestors and a burgeoning group of cinephiles to rally around. His films rapidly emerged as central to debates over politics and aesthetics in Japanese cinema. William Carroll offers a new account of Suzuki’s career that highlights the intersections of film theory, film production, cinephile culture, and politics in 1960s Japan. Carroll places Suzuki’s work between two factions that claimed him as one of their own after 1968: the New Left and its politicized theoretical practice on one hand, and the apparently apolitical cinephiles and their formalist criticism on the other. He considers how both of these strands of film theory shed light on the distinctive qualities of Suzuki’s films, and he explores how both Suzuki’s works and unheralded Japanese film theorists offer new ways of understanding world cinema. This book presents both a major reinterpretation of Suzuki’s work—which influenced directors such as John Woo, Jim Jarmusch, and Quentin Tarantino—and a new lens on postwar Japanese film culture and industry. Suzuki Seijun and Postwar Japanese Cinema also includes a complete production history of Suzuki’s filmography along with never-before-discussed information about his unfinished film projects.

* An excellent reference guide for modelers interested in the daring Polish Spitfires From Kagero comes the fantastic new mini Topcolor book, Polish Spitfires. This comprehensive edition includes a vast array of images sure to appeal to the avid modeler. Included is a big decal sheet with 1:72, 1:48 and 1:32 individual markings for 8 various Spitfires of Polish Squadrons. Each painting scheme is depicted on beautifully drawn 4-view color profiles and thoroughly described in the 20-page guidebook with English and Polish text. The selection contains the following aircraft: - Spitfire IIa (P8387) coded PK-H of No. 315 (Deblinski) Squadron, Northolt, August 1941, - Spitfire I (X4828) coded RF-K of No. 303 (Kosciusco) Squadron, flown by F/L Wojciech Kołaczkowski, Speke, September 1941, - Spitfire Vb (AA853) coded WX-C of No. 302 (Poznanski) Squadron, Croydon, early July 1942, - Spitfire F.IX (BS456) coded UZ-Ż of No. 306 (Torunski) Squadron, flown by F/L Józef Żulikowski, Northolt, autumn 1942, - Spitfire F.IX (EN179) coded SZ-J of No. 316 (Warszawski) Squadron, flown by F/L Władysław Gnyś, Northolt, spring 1943, - Spitfire F.IX (MH353) coded WX-K of No. 302 (Poznanski) Squadron, Northolt, autumn 1943, - Spitfire LF.IX (TA864) coded LW-L of No. 318 (Gdanski) Squadron, flown by P/O Zdzisław Uchwat, Risano near Udine, May-June 1945, - Spitfire LF.XVI (maybe TB898) coded JH-L of No. 317 (Wilenski) Squadron, Ahlhorn, late 1945. About the Series This is a series of highly illustrated books on the key machines of World War II and their combat use. Perfect for modelers and filled with color artwork profiles.

The B-17 Flying Fortress epitomized the American airpower for most of the Second World War. It was by far the most effective weapon to carry out the strategic, daylight bombing campaign in Europe. The battles fought by B-17 crews during raids on such tough targets as Schweinfurt, Berlin or Ploesti were nothing short of epic. The combined effort of the two US Army Air Forces, 8th and 15th, stationed in England and Italy respectively, eventually denied the enemy the means to wage war and sealed the fate of the European Axis powers and their allies.