New Japan

In The Little Book of Breaking 80, the author, a struggling amateur golfer who finally discovered the true keys to breaking 80 after more than 30 years of trial and error, blows the cover off of the hopelessly doomed conventional approach to golf improvement that keeps most golfers stuck on the endless merry-go-round of frustration and failure.

On October 25, 1947, the United States government helped the Chinese Nationalist Party, Kuomingtang (KMT) President Chiang Kai-Shek flee the overwhelming communist forces. President Chiang established the new democratic government known as the Republic of China on an island later to be known as Taiwan, previously a major trading center called the “the beautiful isle” or Formosa. This audiobook will not only account for the transformation of Taiwan in the eyes of the colonizers but understand the detrimental impact that the reshaping caused.

Shinzo Abe entered politics burdened by high expectations: that he would change Japan. In 2007, seemingly overwhelmed, he resigned after only a year as prime minister. Yet, following five years of reinvention, he masterfully regained the premiership in 2012, and now dominates Japanese democracy as no leader has done before. Abe has inspired fierce loyalty among his followers, cowing Japan's left with his ambitious economic program and support for the security and armed forces.

There are few moments in American history in which the course of events tipped so suddenly and so dramatically as at the Battle of Midway. At dawn of June 4, 1942, a rampaging Japanese navy ruled the Pacific. By sunset, their vaunted carrier force (the Kido Butai) had been sunk and their grip on the Pacific had been loosened forever. In this absolutely riveting account of a key moment in the history of World War II, one of America's leading naval historians, Craig L. Symonds, paints an unforgettable portrait of ingenuity, courage, and sacrifice.

This piece of writing by famed samurai Musashi (1584–1645) is the single-most influential work on samurai swordsmanship, offering insights into samurai history, the Zen Buddhist state of "no-mind" that enables warriors to triumph and the philosophical meaning of Bushido — "the way of the warrior."

THE YELLOW FARCE. AN UNUSUAL AMERICAN WOMAN LIVING IN JAPAN MAY BE A FOREIGN AGENT AND DRAWING BRITAIN INTO WAR. “Sherlock, this woman must be investigated. Every fortnight, she abandons her husband for several days, and every month a large sum of money appears in their bank account.” “Oh, my. Half the married men on earth who would be on their knees thanking whatever gods they believe in were their wives to do likewise.” In far-off Japan, a war is raging against the Russians. Great Britain is officially neutral, but not entirely. The Japanese are buying their navy from us. The new ...

One American soldier called it "a green hell on Earth". Monsoon-soaked wilderness, debilitating heat, impassable mountains, torrential rivers, and disease-infested swamps - New Guinea was a battleground far more deadly than the most fanatical of enemy troops. Japanese forces numbering some 600,000 men began landing in January 1942, determined to seize the island as a cornerstone of the empire's strategy to knock Australia out of the war.

The Japanese Art of Shinrin-Yoku: A Woman’s Guide to Forest Bathing for Stress and Wellness Life today is fast-paced, chaotic, and often overwhelming—especially for women who balance careers, relationships, families, and personal growth. The demands of modern life can leave you feeling stressed, disconnected, and drained. But what if the solution to reclaiming your peace and well-being was as simple as stepping into a forest? Discover Shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of forest bathing. Rooted in centuries of Japanese culture and backed by modern science, Shinrin-yoku is a practice of...

From the author of Pacific Payback comes the gripping true story of the Cactus Air Force and how this rugged crew of dive bombers helped save Guadalcanal and won the war. November 1942: Japanese and American forces have been fighting for control of Guadalcanal, a small but pivotal island in Japan's expansion through the South Pacific.

While the Marine Corps island-hopped across the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Saipan to Iwo Jima, the U.S. Army was locked in a grueling, multiyear fight for the jungle island of New Guinea, which in Japanese hands threatened both Australia and the vital supply lines stretching to the United States. Forces under Douglas MacArthur intended to deny the Japanese this opportunity and use New Guinea as a stepping stone on the road back to the Philippines and, beyond it, Japan.

In May 1942, Admiral Jack Fletcher's Task Force 17 closed in for the war's first major clash with the Japanese Navy. The Neosho, a vitally important tanker, was escorted by a destroyer, the Sims. The ships were attacked by Japanese dive bombers, and when the smoke cleared, the Sims had slipped beneath the waves. Scores of sailors were killed or wounded while hundreds bobbed in shark-infested waters.

During WWII, the spring/summer of 1942 bore little good news for the Allies. The Japanese Army steamrolled south, poising at the doorstep of Australia. In a surprising turn that lifts the Allied spirits and captures the American press, U.S. Marines land and hold Guadalcanal despite a brutal onslaught of fresh Japanese forces. For the first time, the press reported, the enemy stopped. But at the same time an elite 6,000 man Japanese assault force lands a few hundred miles away on New Guinea, racing up an incredibly rugged and steep trail high into the mountains known as the Kakoda Track. ...

On the 14th of August 1941, a Polish monk named Maximilian Maria Kolbe was murdered in Auschwitz. Kolbe's life had been remarkable. Fiercely intelligent and driven, he founded a movement of Catholicism and spent several years in Nagasaki, ministering to the 'hidden Christians' who had emerged after centuries of oppression. A Polish nationalist as well as a monk, he gave sanctuary to fleeing refugees and his death was no less remarkable: he volunteered to die, saving the life of a fellow prisoner. It was an act that profoundly transformed the lives of two Japanese men.

Japan is a nation made up of many islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Over 100 million people live in this small nation of islands. Many live in the countryside, but millions live in crowded cities like Tokyo. Students will learn about the physical features of the landscape and surrounding waters as well as the cultural aspects of the Japanese from old traditions to modern everyday life.

Follow the author on his odyssey from a 24-year-old Midwesterner unable to speak a word of Japanese as he recounts his initial struggle to survive even Japanese 101, to cramming four years of college Japanese into one year with top grades, to gaining functional fluency, conquering kanji, and finally gaining sufficient mastery over the language to develop marketable Japanese skills as a Japanese teacher and translator, all within four short years.

In 1942, the Solomon Islands formed the stepping stones toward Rabaul, the main base of Japanese operations in the South Pacific, and the Allies primary objective. The stunning defeat of Japanese forces at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November marked the turning point in the war against Japan and the start of an offensive in the Central Solomons aimed at New Georgia. New Georgia: The Second Battle for the Solomons tells the story of the land, sea, and air battles fought there from March through October 1943.

There was a place far worse than Changi - Singapore's Outram Road Gaol. Deprivation here was so extreme that there really was a fate worse than death. Stubborn Buggers is the story of 12 Australian POWs who fought and survived the battle for Malaya, then captivity and slave labour, followed by the unimaginable hardships of Outram Road Gaol.

It is a story of how they dealt with the brutality of the Japanese military police, the feared Kempeitai.

Dreux Richard presents post-Fukushima Japan in three illustrative parts. He follows members of Japan’s Nigerian community, whose struggles with a hostile immigration system lead to the death of a Nigerian immigrant in a Japanese detention center, investigated here for the first time. In Japan’s northernmost city, Richard goes door to door with the region’s youngest census employee, meeting the city’s elderly residents and documenting the stories that comprise the nation’s record-breaking population decline. Finally, he takes us into the offices of energy executives....

Across the world today, people of all ages are doing fascinating, creative, messy things with gender. These people have a rich history—but one that is often left behind by narratives of trans lives that focus on people with stable, binary, uncomplicated gender identities. As a result, these stories tend to be recent, binary, stereotyped, medicalised and white. Before We Were Trans is a new and different story of gender.

September 1942 marked the high point of Axis conquest in World War II. In the Pacific, Japan's soldiers had seemed unstoppable. However, the tide was about to turn. On Sunday, 6 September 1942, Japanese land forces suffered their first conclusive defeat at the hands of the Allies. At Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea, a predominantly Australian force - including 75 Squadron (fresh from their action in 44 Days) - fought for two weeks to successfully defend a vital airstrip against a determined Japanese invasion.