"I jostled her shoulder and noticed when I did that her skin was cold to the touch....her entire torso was covered in tattoos from her collar bone to the midline of her thighs. All were of kimono motifs-fans, incense burners, peonies, and scrolls." This ghastly scene was the last thing Ruth Bennett expected to encounter when she agreed to translate a novel by a long-forgotten Japanese writer. Returning to her childhood home in Kyoto had promised safety, solitude, and diversion from the wounds she encountered in the U.S. But Ruth soon finds the storyline in the novel leaking into her everyday life. Fictional characters turn out to be real, and the past catches up with the present in an increasingly threatening way. As Ruth struggles to unravel the cryptic message hidden in the kimono tattoo, she is forced to confront a vicious killer along with her own painful family secrets.

Kinue Nomura survived World War II only to be murdered in Tokyo, her severed limbs discovered in a room locked from the inside. Gone is the part of her that bore one of the most beautiful full-body tattoos ever rendered. Kenzo Matsushita, a young doctor who was first to discover the crime scene, feels compelled to assist his detective brother, who is in charge of the case. But Kenzo has a secret: he was Kinue’s lover, and soon his involvement in the investigation becomes as twisted and complex as the writhing snakes that once adorned Kinue’s torso. The Tattoo Murder Case was originally published in 1948; this is the first English translation.

Thinking of getting a Japanese-style tattoo? Want to avoid a permanent mistake? Japanese Tattoos is an insider's look at the world of Japanese irezumi (tattoos). Japanese Tattoos explains the imagery featured in Japanese tattoos so that readers can avoid getting ink they don't understand or, worse, that they'll regret. This photo-heavy book will also trace the history of Japanese tattooing, putting the iconography and kanji symbols in their proper context so readers will be better informed as to what they mean and have a deeper understanding of irezumi. Tattoos featured will range from traditional tebori (hand-poked) and kanji tattoos to anime-inspired and modern works—as well as everything in between. For the first time, Japanese tattooing will be put together in a visually attractive, informative, and authoritative way. Along with the 350+ photos of tattoos, Japanese Tattoos will also feature interviews with Japanese tattoo artists on a variety of topics. What's more, there will be interviews with clients, who are typically overlooked in similar books, allowing them to discuss what their Japanese tattoos mean to them. Those who read this informative tattoo guide will be more knowledgeable about Japanese tattoos should they want to get inked or if they are simply interested in Japanese art and culture.

Alluring, nurturing, dangerous, and vulnerable the yamamba, or Japanese mountain witch, has intrigued audiences for centuries. What is it about the fusion of mountains with the solitary old woman that produces such an enigmatic figure? And why does she still call to us in this modern, scientific era? Co-editors Rebecca Copeland and Linda C. Ehrlich first met the yamamba in the powerful short story “The Smile of the Mountain Witch” by acclaimed woman writer Ōba Minako. The story revealed the compelling way creative women can take charge of misogynistic tropes, invert them, and use them to tell new stories of female empowerment. This unique collection represents the creative and surprising ways artists and scholars from North America and Japan have encountered the yamamba.

This text offers a treatment of the history, symbolism, and social function of tattooing in Japan, from its earliest beginnings to the present day.

Fashion ingenue, magazine editor, kimono designer, femme fatale, prize-winning writer--Uno Chiyo has becomeone of twentieth-century Japan's most accomplished and celebrated women. In this two-part volume, Rebecca L. Copeland offers Western readers a fascinating portrait of Uno's life along with translations of three of her distinctive works of short fiction. Part One depicts Uno's sometimes turbulent passage from obscurity in a small village to national literary prominence. There are the early years under her father's stern turelage; the first scandalous, failed romance which cost her her job as a schoolteacher; her apprenticeship at Enrakuken, the coffee shop of the literary elite whose ranks she laters joined as a resident of the "Magome Literati Village"; her series of passionate and troubled relationships and marriages. Throughout, Dr. Copeland focuses on the evolution of Uno's art and discusses her major works, paying special attention to the effect being female had on Uno's development as a writer. The three stories in Part Two are examples of Uno's work at its finest. "The Puppet Maker" (1942), a much-admired reflection on art and life, describes an encounter with a venerable carver of puppets. "The Sound of the Wind" (1969) is the tale of a wife at the turn of the century who willingly denies her own needs. "This Powder Box" (1966) shows a progressive career woman coming to terms with an old love affair. At once compelling and lyrical, the stories are a masterful interpretation of tradition, of women, and of self-fulfullment. The Sound of the Wind: The Life and Works of Uno Chiyo will engage both specialists and general readers interested in twentieth-century Japan, literature, and women's issues.

Japanese kimonos are wearable art. Celebrating the patterns and motifs adorning the traditional costumes, 30 ready-to-color illustrations present kimono-clad figures awash in pastoral scenes and wandering abstracts.