The daughter of a Japanese woman and an American G.I. recounts her return to Japan in 1995 to tend to her dying grandmother and offers her thoughts on contemporary Japan, family relations, and human desire

On March 1, 2010, Elizabeth Hugo’s life changed dramatically when her ninety-two-year-old father, Victor Mazzullo, moved into her home. Blind, diabetic, and suffering from dementia, her papa required total care for his every need. As her daily life drastically transformed, Elizabeth soon realized she would have to rely not only on herself, but also on her faith as she learned to listen for God’s guidance. In her inspirational memoir, Elizabeth shares poignant anecdotes and applicable Scriptures that provide insight into the challenges, joys, and frustrations that accompanied her spiritual journey caring for her father in his final years. As her role shifted from daughter to primary caregiver, Elizabeth recalls how she dealt with the subsequent emotional impact, realized her limitations, accepted help from others, and relied on prayer for strength. Buoyed through her struggles by her faith, Elizabeth learned how to walk through each day knowing she was just as needy and dependent on her “Papa” God for His love as her father was on her for his care. Written in devotional form, Life Lessons from My “Papa” shares practical tips, seasoned advice, and compassionate wisdom for any caregiver desiring inspiration.

When the Emperor Hirohito died in 1989, Japanese newspapers had to use a special, exalted word to refer to his death, and had to depict his life uncritically, as one beginning in turbulence but ending in magnificent accomplishment. To do otherwise would have exposed them to terrorism from the vigilant right wing. Yet this insightful book by a Japanese-American scholar who grew up in both cultures reveals the hidden fault lines in the realm of the dying emperor by telling the stories of three unlikely dissenters: a supermarket owner who burned the national flag; an aging widow who challenged the state's "deification" of fallen soldiers; and the mayor of Nagasaki, who risked his career and his life by suggesting that Hirohito bore some responsibility for World War II.

Discusses the lives of Christian saints, and includes Saint Agatha, Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, Saint Luppus, Peter the Hermit, Saint Vitus, and many others.

The Russian Kurosawa offers a new historical perspective on the work of the renowned Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa. It uncovers Kurosawa's debt to the intellectual tradition of Japanese-Russian democratic dissent, reflected in the affinity for Kurosawa's worldview expressed by such Russian directors as Grigory Kozintsev and Andrei Tarkovsky. Through a detailed discussion of the Russian subtext of Kurosawa's cinema, most clearly manifested in the director's films based on Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Gorky, and Arseniev, the book shows that Kurosawa used Russian intertexts to deal with the most politically sensitive topics of postwar Japan. Locating the director in the cultural tradition of Russian-inflected Japanese anarchism, the book challenges prevalent views of Akira Kurosawa as an apolitical art house director or a conformist studio filmmaker of muddled ideological alliances by offering a philosophically consistent picture of the director's participation in postwar debates on cultural and political reconstruction.

Aneji Eko was technically illiterate, but she represents a resource for understanding the complexities of African and Nigerian cultures. This is an account of matriarchy and the complex ties of kinship, their influences in shaping childhood culture, and how they determined cultural expectations across ethnic groups.

Somewhere along the way in life, you start to listen to that little voice. We are all on this journey together, growing, learning, and changing. As I stood in the kitchen of my dream home, looking out on the still water of the pond, I cried. Warm, salty tears streamed down my face as I told myself I could do this. Just start with one box; dont get overwhelmed. Pack one box; stay focused. I started packing Grandmas china first. As I packed the china set, a flood of memories came of the countless times I had carefully wrapped up each piece and placed them into the box. It was at that moment that I decided to write about this beautiful set of china, all the experiences and lessons I have learned along my journey. It is through my grandmothers journey that I have found my own strength and freedom. Twenty years and thirteen moves later, the china is the only set of dishes I own. When was the last time you used your china? What are you waiting for? Dont leave it locked up, waiting for a special occasion. Make today the special occasion you have been waiting for. In loving memory of my Grandma, Veronica Billetz (January 13, 1922-December 13, 2009)