Ch. 1. Unpacking Japanese foreign policy : the case against conventional wisdom -- pt. I. A modern historical background. ch. 2. Tumultuous Japan : regional diplomacy 1868-1965. ch. 3. A junior partner : Japanese entanglements with the United States and Asia 1965-1980. ch. 4. Rising power : Japan attempts to recapture its traditional role in the 1980s -- pt. II. The 1900s - case studies in diplomacy. ch. 5. Becoming a full-fledged power in the 1990s : the purpose behind peacekeeping operations. ch. 6. More peacekeeping operations : the case of East Timor. ch. 7. Hampered diplomacy : Japanese overtures to North Korea. ch. 8. Using economic diplomacy : Japan and the Asian meltdown. ch. 9. Intellectual leadership : Japan's relationship with Vietnam. ch. 10. The consequences of Japanese diplomacy -- pt. III. The economic and political context of Japanese foreign policy. ch. 11. Tatemae and Honne : understanding the post-war Japanese economy. ch. 12. The long arm of the Japanese economy :the role of foreign direct investment in post-war Japan.

A beautiful primer for the fundamentals of pattern in Japanese Art, including background information on the traditional significance and meaning of motifs.

The first fall of snow can be fatal...

Have you ever wondered why pine trees stay green all winter long and don’t lose their leaves like other trees? According to an ancient legend attributed to the Cherokee Indians, it was a simple act of kindness towards an injured little bird that earned pine trees this very honor. Retold by award-winning author Alexis York Lumbard, this story invites readers to experience a world where trees and birds speak and interact with each other, and which shows us that no act of kindness and sharing goes unrewarded. Featuring beautiful paintings by multiple award-winning illustrator Beatriz Vidal, you will never look at pine trees in the same way again!

The most chilling read of the Christmas season.

From The New York Times bestselling author of Prayers for Sale comes the moving and powerful story of a small town after a devastating avalanche, and the life changing effects it has on the people who live there Whiter Than Snow opens in 1920, on a spring afternoon in Swandyke, a small town near Colorado's Tenmile Range. Just moments after four o'clock, a large split of snow separates from Jubilee Mountain high above the tiny hamlet and hurtles down the rocky slope, enveloping everything in its path including nine young children who are walking home from school. But only four children survive. Whiter Than Snow takes you into the lives of each of these families: There's Lucy and Dolly Patch—two sisters, long estranged by a shocking betrayal. Joe Cobb, Swandyke's only black resident, whose love for his daughter Jane forces him to flee Alabama. There's Grace Foote, who hides secrets and scandal that belies her genteel façade. And Minder Evans, a civil war veteran who considers his cowardice his greatest sin. Finally, there's Essie Snowball, born Esther Schnable to conservative Jewish parents, but who now works as a prostitute and hides her child's parentage from all the world. Ultimately, each story serves as an allegory to the greater theme of the novel by echoing that fate, chance, and perhaps even divine providence, are all woven into the fabric of everyday life. And it's through each character's defining moment in his or her past that the reader understands how each child has become its parent's purpose for living. In the end, it's a novel of forgiveness, redemption, survival, faith and family.

Snow on the Pine presents a compelling view of the Japanese foreign policy that runs counter to the common wisdom reducing Japan?s post-war efforts to the pursuit of purely commercial interests. This book takes a new approach ? the eventual Japanese defeat in the Second World War did not transform Japan into an ?exceptional state? seeking only economic interests. Like any other nations, economic issues have always played a crucial role in policy decisions. However, this is but only one amongst the many interweaving threads determining foreign policy decisions. In the authors? eyes, Japan?s foreign policy is characterized by the drive to dominate and influence the East Asia region, which has been a consistent motivation since the days of the Meiji restoration. Thus, the post-war period in this analysis provides a continuation rather than a break with the country?s previous history. Tactics, and even strategies, may have changed over time to meet the challenges of the ever evolving economic and political environments but the overall objective has essentially remained constant. The snow melts, but the pine endures.