Six Lives, Six Deaths: Portraits from Modern Japan, Lifton, Kato, Reich, 1979. Yale University Press. 305 pages. Used in very good condition.

$15 + shipping

Focusing on how six talented Japanese writers and public figures prepared for their deaths, this book is a major study of cultural change in Japan.

Legends of the Samurai, Hiroaki Sato, 1995. Overlook Press, NY. 391 pages. Previously owned in new condition.

$20 + shipping

Sato confronts both the history and the legend of the samurai, untangling the two to present an authentic picture of these legendary warriors. Through his translations of original tales and documents, accompanied by insightful commentary, Sato chronicles the changing ethos of the Japanese warrior from the samurai's historical origins to his rise to political power. His translations are a testament to his mastery of the language for they flow with a lively ease that one might not expect from accounts, many of which are ancient.

Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai, Romulus Hillsbourough, 1999. Ridgeback Press, San Francisco. 614 pages. Previously owned in new condition.

$30 + shipping SOLD

The first literary biography to appear in the English language of Sakamoto Ryoma.

"Without the genius of Sakamoto Ryoma, Japan would have lost its independence and been colonized by a European nation over a century ago." Tsutomu Ohshima

"Of the many heroes who livend and died during the turbulent years leading up to and following the Meiji Restoration, Ryoma was the most deserving of the appelation 'a man for all nations.'" Saichiro Miyaji, Japan's most distinguished biographher of Ryoma.

The Economist recently had an article referencing Ryoma as a model for contemporary Japanese politicians and leaders to emulate in working for the good of Japan as a whole.