The Japan Encyclopedia - Hardcover

De Mente, Boye

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0844284351 ISBN 13: 9780844284354

Publisher: Passport Books, 1995

A comprehensive reference covering aspects of Japanese life from abacus to zushi, encompassing history, politics, economics, the arts, education, business, and social customs. Some b&w photos and illustrations break up the fairly dense typography. Useful for tourists, business people, writers, journalists, students, educators, and librarians. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

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From Booklist:

This single-volume encyclopedia is excellent in scope and style. It compares well with Kodansha's multivolume Encyclopedia of Japan (1983) in its breadth of coverage and attention to detail in each article. Both works have similar aims--to serve as a comprehensive reference on Japan and its people. Entry titles are in English, but most of the 1,000 or so entries also include the Japanese equivalent with phonetic pronunciation, for example, History/Rekishi (Rake-shi), Gangs/Gumi (Guu-me), Imperial Family/Koshitsu (Koe-sheet-sue). Entries without translations are either untranslatable Japanese words--Mikoshi, Sake or proper names such as Miura Peninsula, Commodore Perry, Lafcadio Hearn. Other entries, such as Political Parties and Historical Periods, identify specific Japanese terms within their definitions. For example, Political Parties includes individual party names (in Japanese and English), their platforms, and years of organization. National Holidays lists and explains each Japanese holiday. National Parks identifies and describes the country's parks. Favorite proverbs with translations into English are listed in the Proverbs entry.

Most entries contain cross-references to one or more related articles in the encyclopedia, and some have suggestions for further reading. The articles vary greatly in length. Some are only a few lines (Hello Kitty), while some are as long as 15 pages (History). The relative length of the entries in the Japan Encyclopedia is consistent with the corresponding articles in the Encyclopedia of Japan. Entries appear to be up-to-date; Earthquakes and Kobe, for instance, both mention the January quake. Black-and-white line drawings and photographs add interest to some entries. A 14-page directory of government and private agencies and organizations, newspapers, publishers, corporations, institutes, consultants, libraries, and schools concludes the volume.

All in all, this convenient, reasonably priced encyclopedia should prove to be most useful and popular in high-school and public library contemporary history and travel collections.

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