Can a Japanese samurai of impeccable lineage in Edo period Japan get away with being gay? Can he break all the rules of society and get away with it? It all started when an aging samurai took an eccentric interest in a teenage peasant boy who had the unusual gift of writing. One day he brought his son, Lord Okimoto to the peasant’s house. Immediately when their gazes met, the samurai’s son and the teenage peasant, a forbidden love affair formed, an affair which broke all the rules of Japan’s Edo period society and a feudal class so sharply defined that it could cut like a knife. Four centuries later, an ancestor of Lord Okimoto finds a diary written by his peasant lover unfolding the anguished tale of a forbidden life went wrong, leaving behind a trail of broken hearts, shattered dreams and destroyed lives. The tale of the gay samurai who put duty and obligations above his poignant love travels one whole circle to arrive to the 21st century in a final twist to this intriguing story of how two young men dared to break all the rules in conservative unforgiving 18th century Japan.

In the second volume of Maohden, Setsura Aki arrives at the Coliseum Death Matches to rescue the seal—the girl known as Mayumi. But Setsura is not the only one who knows Mayumi’s secret. In the shadows beneath the Coliseum, his arch-enemy Gento Roran works to pull the strings to outwit Setsura’s every move. Meanwhile, at the other end of Demon City, Azusa Sasaki investigates the suspicious dig behind the new mortuary. What dark thing does Gento Roran seek beneath the earth? And can Azusa ferret it out before Gento’s henchman Hyota tracks her down? As Setsura moves closer to the truth, new alliances and allegiances are forged in the city on the edge of the abyss. Even the Demon Physician, Doctor Mephisto, is brought into the conflict—at Gento’s behest. Gento’s secret plan to overpower Setsura finds a willing accomplice in Mephisto—or so it seems. Destroying Gento’s seat of power is Setsura’s aim. When Setsura discovers its location, a new crisis arises. For the place that holds Gento’s accursed coffin is the most haunted building in Demon City Shinjuku—and home to its most terrifying monster. Don’t miss the thrilling second installment in Hideyuki Kikuchi’s acclaimed horror trilogy, Maohden.

According to Buddhist theology, the world is suffering through a final corrupt era called mappo. As mappo continues, chaos will increase until the center can no longer hold. Then the world will end. Hundreds of temples in Japan are known to keep mysterious "hidden buddhas" secreted away except on rare designated viewing days. These statues are not hidden because they are powerful - their power lies in their being hidden. Are they being protected, or are they protecting the world? In this novel, one Buddhist priest struggles with the dictates of his inherited orthodoxy, while another rebels. An American graduate student begins to suspect the mysterious purpose of the hidden buddhas, just as he falls in love with a beautiful Japanese artist who is haunted by an aborted child. The weaving of karma that brings these two together results in a tech-savvy half-Western, half-Japanese child who text-messages her way through the profane world to enlightenment. Tracing the lives of its characters through the late twentieth century to the present, from Paris to Kyoto to California, Hidden Buddhas turns a cosmopolitan eye on discipline and decadence in religion, fashion, politics, and modern life.

Finalist for the 2016 PEN AWARD for Debut Fiction Books may be Mayumi Saito’s greatest love and her one source of true pleasure. Forty-one years old, disenchanted wife and dutiful mother, Mayumi’s work as a librarian on a small island off the coast of New England feeds her passion for reading and provides her with many occasions for wry observations on human nature, but it does little to remedy the mundanity of her days. That is, until the day she issues a library card to a shy seventeen-year-old boy and swiftly succumbs to a sexual obsession that subverts the way she sees the library, her family, the island she lives on, and ultimately herself. Wary of the consequences of following through on her fantasies, Mayumi hesitates at first. But she cannot keep the young man from her thoughts. After a summer of overlong glances and nervous chitchat in the library, she finally accepts that their connection is undeniable. In a sprawling house emptied of its summer vacationers, their affair is consummated and soon consolidated thanks to an explosive charge of erotic energy. Mayumi’s life is radically enriched by the few hours each week that she shares with the young man, and as their bond grows stronger thanks not only to their physical closeness but also to their long talks about the books they both love, those hours spent apart seem to Mayumi increasingly bleak and intolerable. As her obsession worsens, in a frantic attempt to become closer to the young man, Mayumi nervously befriends another librarian patron, the young man’s mother. The two women forge a tenuous friendship that will prove vital to both in the most unexpected ways when catastrophe strikes. Exquisitely written, Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness is part wry confession, part serious meditation. At its most anxious, it’s a book about time, at its most ecstatic, it’s a deeply human story about pleasure. From the Trade Paperback edition.

An Open Letter to Women Over 40 Who Feel Anxious about Their Bodies: If you've noticed that your body and the way people treat you have changed after you turn 40, you're right. For many women, life becomes different after 40. They can no longer eat the food they used to eat without feeling bloated or tired. Shedding a few pounds is no longer easy-to-achieve. They can't dress the way they used to anymore. People seem to treat them differently. They are worried about aging. They worry that as they age, they may start to lose their usefulness to the world, and the world may start to forget about them. You're not alone. Getting older can be scary. Mayumi's Secret is a how-to book filled with heart-wrenching stories and practical advice that show you how to overcome the social pressures and inner anxieties from aging and live proudly and vibrantly because of your age. In this inspiring read, lifestyle mentor, international model, and entrepreneur Mayumi Muller will show you: What to do if the food you love now makes you feel icky after eating it How to stay in shape when you don't have the time to work out The truth about what outfits look good on you and what don't Skin care secrets used by international models that you don't know How to look better, feel healthier, be more confident, and enjoy your age! As a 52-year-old mom, Mayumi Muller is on a mission to empower women after 40 to love their age, not hide it. We live in a society that bombards women with messages that make them afraid of getting older. Every day, we've got a million different voices trying to tell us how to look, how to act, how to dress, when to show skin, when to cover up, when to speak, and when to shut up. It's almost like they think we're just here for everyone else's enjoyment! Once we get "old," they want us to believe we lose our usefulness to the world. And every product that's ever marketed to us seems to be about stopping the clock, going back in time, or making us "young again," as if our age is something to be ashamed of. Well, Mayumi is calling bulls**t. This book will help you realize that your best years are ahead of you, that life doesn't end at middle-age, and that you can proudly show your age and be fcking fab and fit. Get your copy today!

Can a successful and powerful entrepreneur with an impeccable reputation and moving in the highest circles of New York be born out of wedlock to a Japanese prostitute during the Second World War? Obviously someone thought it was possible and Tetsuyo Akinicho's life spins into a sinister spiral of suspense and blackmail. "Your mother is not resting in peace. You should be ashamed of your ancestors. Do people know where you came from?" an email plunges Tetsuyo and his lawyer, Akira Tanaka into an intricate maze of damage control manoeuvres involving Paul Griffin, a well known American private investigator and his assistant, Japanese historian, Mayumi Onodera. Their investigations lead to one shocking discovery after another and Tetsuyo is once again drawn back To The past in an aching voyage of discovery of his roots And The mysterious and painful tragedy surrounding the woman who gave him life, his biological mother. Tetsuyo comes to terms with the fact that no one can ever really shake off the past, not even a powerful multi millionaire riding high in his world of super advanced DNA technology. The past he shares with the ghosts of World War 2 are coming back to haunt him in the form of a faceless blackmailer and Tetsuyo is drawn back to confront the place where it all started, a Japanese cemetery in Singapore and a tiny, nondescript head stone. Powerful and yet poignant this thriller chases the characters through three cities, New York, Tokyo and finally Singapore. At the end of the day, someone had to be the loser and Tetsuyo Akinicho was determined it would not be him.....

After the conclusion of the Nine School Competition, summer arrives in force, bringing with it that most precious salvation for students--vacation! Shizuku invites Tatsuya, Miyuki, and their friends to her family's island villa for a bit of fun in the sun, but all of this is just a pretext to set the perfect tropical stage for Honoka's romance. Meanwhile, the ace of Third High, Masaki, entertains Kichijouji at home, unaware of his partner's struggle with self-doubt. Shun finds himself playing bodyguard to a beautiful foreigner, and Eimi is cornered for a secret she can't reveal at any cost. The one who's got it toughest, though, is Mayumi, who's desperate to find the next student council president before time runs out!