The Flowers Of Edo

We have breathed new life into a key historical botanical art book from the Edo period. Herbalism (Phytomedicine), the study of plants and minerals used for medical purposes, has long been popular in China. As herbalism developed, it was brought to Japan in the eighth century and, by the seventeenth century, became a fully fledged field of study. Honzou-zufu,/i>, which was published in 1828 by Kanen Iwasaki, was the first Japanese botanical encyclopedia with color. It was comprised of 96 volumes and contained 2000 plants, which were sketched, colored and classified into three different categories (mountain plants, wet plants and poisonous plants). Because most of the volumes were transcribed, many existing illustrations were low in quality. But we have carefully researched and selected the best 100 illustrations from the Honzou-zufu and breathed new life into this historical botanical art book from the Edo period. To show all the illustrations without the center being folded, the book is design in landscape format, enabling the illustrations to be clearly seen in a page. Chinese, Japanese and Kampo (Chinese medicine) names are listed for each flower together with a little story about the flower's medical efficacy, origin of its name, language associations and other useful information about the flower. Art direction has been done by Kazuhiko Tajima, who designed our bestselling title Bonsai (9784756248299).

In the climactic closing months of World War II, Allied Intelligence officers are summoned to the Malcañan Palace in Manila to be briefed by General MacArthur’s Intelligence Staff on the optimal conclusion to the conflict in the Pacific Theater. Intelligence collected at the time concluded that the Americans had only three options to effectively force the Imperial Japanese Military into surrender: encirclement, blockade, and bombardment; isolating Japan from its forces in China, Korea, and Formosa; or engaging Japan through a full-scale amphibious invasion. In the debut novel by Michael Dana Kennedy, Japanese-American Lt. Ken Kobayashi must straddle a delicate line between duty to country and honor to his family as he is assigned by General MacArthur to infiltrate the Imperial Japanese Army in the lead-up to an invasion of the Japanese archipelago. From the deck of the U.S.S. Yorktown to the halls of the Imperial Ministry of War in Ichigaya in Tokyo, The Flowers of Edo reveals the intricacies of the military machine and the human and cultural price that was paid in the bombings on Japan through a perspective never before seen in fiction. Meticulously researched and endorsed by military insiders and historians from both sides of the Pacific, Lt. Kobayashi’s tale of espionage and romance will shed new light on what might have happened.

A fascinating book on the elegant paintings of birds and flowers in Edo-Rinpa painting The Rinpa school is one of the historical schools in Japanese painting established in 17th century Kyoto. Later in 19th century Edo (old Tokyo), Hoitsu Sakai, who worshiped and was influenced by Korin Ogata, revived this genre with his elegant, poetic and refined taste. This book showcases not only the most popular works of the Edo-Rinpa style but also features unique and innovative works from Kiitsu Suzuki, Hoitsu Sakai's own disciple, and shows how Rinpa style has been passed on to the modern painters such as Shunso Hishida and Sekka Kamisaka. Written by Momo Miyazaki, a specialist in Edo period painting and the curator of The Museum Yamato Bunkakan, this book will be an informative must have treasury book for Japanese art lovers, creators, and artists.--Momo Miyazaki

Admire exquisite birds from an eminent Edo-period nature field guide. As a sequel to "Flowers of Edo", we are pleased to present "Birds of Edo". Of all the illustrated encyclopedias of flora and fauna from the Edo period, "Baien-Kinpu" which was compiled by Baien Mouri, a samurai and a scholar of herbal medicine, was said to be most outstanding nature field guide in terms of its realistic depiction and its beautiful and sensitive brushwork. We have carefully selected 86 images from "Baien-Kinpu", supplemented with explanatory text on the origins of each bird's Japanese name, classification and scientific name, along with information on Japanese literature in which these birds appear. The lively and radiant birds beloved by the people in the Edo period, now return to life in the Reiwa era! As in the previous book, this title is designed in landscape format, enabling the illustrations to be clearly seen in a single page. Art direction is by Kazuhiko Tajima, who designed our bestselling title Bonsai (9784756248299).

Captivated in his youth by the new technology of photography. Kazumasa Ogawa (1860-1929) became one of the most enterprising and important early photographers, technicians, and printers in Japan. This book presents a majestic collection of images from one of Japan's most important early photographers.