"First published in Japan in 2007 by ASCII Media Works." -- Colophon.

In Sengoku Basara, mighty samurai warlords and their armies battle all across feudal Japan, each hoping to enact their own personal vision for the future of the land. Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes: Official Complete Works collects the unique artwork behind the latest game in this landmark Capcom series. Included in this collection are character designs, rough sketches, promotional art, and an exclusive interview with the creators behind Sengoku Basara.

During the "Warring States" Sengoku era of feudal Japan, mighty samurai armies battle all across the land of the rising sun. The sudden murder of the powerful lord Nobunaga has sparked a mad dash for power. Warlords from every kingdom have charged their soldiers into combat, each hoping to enact their own personal vision for the future of Japan. Sengoku Basara takes real Japanese historical events and figures, and makes them larger than life with dynamic character designs and all-out action.

The Sengoku period or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval. The man who played the major part in ending this was Lord Oda Nobunaga, a brave samurai and innovative politician. This is an untold story of his lady, Nohime, or the princess of Mino. She was called Kicho by her father, a warlord in 16c Japan. When the rest of Japan suffered constant military conflict, Kicho's father's state had a market where villagers enjoyed shopping clothes and delicious foods...

Nai--a young man who travels in search of another by the name of Karoku, a lone bracelet his only lead. Gareki--a willful young man who earns his daily bread by thieving and picking pockets. Thrown together at an eerie mansion, where they are entrapped and framed, Nai and Gareki are soon hunted down as criminals by national security forces. As they are driven into a corner, before them appears the most powerful defense agency in the country, "Circus"--!!

"What's the greatest happiness one can know in love? For Yutaka, there is only one answer: sex. To him, happiness and lust are the same thing. The likeable and respectable heir to the wealthy Fujiwara family is being torn inside-out by repressed physical desires. Then one day, Tohno, a transfer student, shows up at school. Yutaka sees Tohno as the 'toy' that will make real all his desires and debauched fantasies. A life-long friendship based on trust and gratitude--will it all be shattered when Tohno learns the truth about Yutaka's obsession?"--Page 4 of cover.

Contents tourism is tourism induced by the contents (narratives, characters, locations and other creative elements) of films, novels, games, manga, anime, television dramas and other forms of popular culture. Amidst the boom in global interest in Japanese popular culture, the utilization of popular culture to induce tourism domestically and internationally has been central to the "Cool Japan" strategy and, since 2005, government policy for local community revitalization. This book presents four main case studies of contents tourism: the phenomenon of "anime pilgrimage" to sites appearing in animated film; the travel behaviours and "pop-spiritualism" of female history fans to heritage sites; the collaboration between local community, fans and copyright holders that underpinned an anime-induced tourism boom in a small town north of Tokyo; and the large-scale economic impacts of tourism induced by NHK’s annual samurai period drama (Taiga Drama). It is the first major collection of articles published in English about media-induced tourism in Japan using the "contents tourism" approach. This book will be of particular interest to students and researchers of media and tourism studies in Asia. This book was previously published as a special issue of Japan Forum.