Obake

Looking for something a little off the beaten path? You just found it. Come on in to Primoas Bar. Just off the Kuhio Highway, in the town of Kapaaa on Kauaai, and down a dusty street, sits Primoas Bar. A refuge for the hard-working common man, the last Menehune on the island, some local obakes, and the occasional drop-in goddess of the volcano. Be sure to leave some room in case any Night Marchers drop by. Come on in and pull up a stool. Have some pupus with your beer. Itas Talk Story Time!

This book, Anthurium Plant and Propagation in Vitro: An Introduction, provides basic information about the genus, Anthurium, and its cultivated species viz., Anthurium andraeanum and A. scherzerainum, which have grown for the cut flower trade and their micropropagation. Anthurium flowers are most sought after probably next to orchids for their infinite beauty and variety in international flower trading. The book introduces the reader to propagate anthurium plants in vitro and provides information on the essentials needed for micropropagation. The students of horticulture and biotechnology, professionals and hobbyists interested in micropropagation of anthurium will find this book useful.

Hawaii is the home of the world's greatest collection of tropical and subtropical plants. The Islands' benign and varied microclimates have accepted plants from many different places, ranging from the humid jungle rain forests to arid deserts, and from seacoasts sprayed with salt to mountainsides of almost Andean heights. With the enormous variety of plants that have made Hawaii one great botanical garden, comes also a great curiosity and search for knowledge about them. This volume features more than 100 striking plants, grown for their colorful or exotic flowers and foliage. All of these exotics have proved successful for the amateur gardener in Hawaii, including several unusual new varieties and cultivars, only recently made available commercially. Among these are the Hawaiian butterfly anthurium, the jewel of Burma ginger, ice-blue calathea, and a rare ginger from Tahiti.

**Winner of the 2013 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award** David Matthews is having a rough time. Being a teenager is bad enough, but when he picks up and moves to Japan for a year, with barely any knowledge of the language or social behaviors of Japanese teenagers, things go from bad to worse. Until one day, David attends a temple ceremony and finds himself possessed by a Japanese god. Suddenly, he can understand and speak Japanese. He has unbelievable new powers, including the ability to shift into a tiger, and a powerful sword he can materialize at will from its sheath—his body. But nothing comes for free, and these changes bring David face-to-face with the most terrifying creatures of Japanese legend—vengeful okami, demonic oni and terrifying ghostly yurei. Trained by his host family, famous sword-makers and the keepers of an ancient secret entrusted to their family by the first Emperor of Japan, David must fight desperately to save his host sister from a hoard of Japanese monsters. Evil has returned to Japan, and David must overcome his own insecurities if he is to save her and become a True Samurai—the protector of Japan.

Some nasty predators dwell in paradise, and they arenat all hiding in the azure waters. The day attorney Storm Kayama arrives in Kahului to help Lara Farrell set up her new dive shop, someone bombs a restaurant. When one of Laraas employees, a recent Japanese immigrant, kills himself and one of his young daughters, Storm begins to ask questions. The tentacles of the Yakuza, the dangerous, Japanese organized crime group, grip local businesses, real estate, and politics. Cunning and deadly, the clan leaders exploit underage women and eliminate anyone who dares face up to them. Storm finds herself up against a lethal and faceless enemy, in a place where disposing of a victim is easy as dumping her in shark-infested waters. But who is hunting whom? In a struggle to the death, Storm begins to realize that surviving doesnat always mean living. For some, the ghosts of the past may be more painful than the anguish of the present. Hawaii lawyer Storm Kayama must battle against the yakuza's presence and an ancient adherence to tradition to save more young girls from a terrible fate.

This collection of essays offers new perspectives from Japan on Nobel Prize–winning author Kazuo Ishiguro. It analyses the Japanese-born British author from the vantage point of his birthplace, showing how Ishiguro remains greatly indebted to Japanese culture and sensibilities. The influence of Japanese literature and film is evident in Ishiguro’s early novels as he deals with the problem of the atomic bomb and Japan’s war responsibility, yet his later works also engage with folk tales and the modern popular culture of Japan. The chapters consider a range of Japanese influences on Ishiguro and adaptations of Ishiguro’s work, including literary, cinematic and animated representations. The book makes use of newly archived drafts of Ishiguro’s manuscripts at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas to explore the origins of his oeuvre. It also offers sharp, new examinations of Ishiguro’s work in relation to memory studies, especially in relation to Japan. ​