Reddit mentions: The best books about japanese people

Hi!

>A bit disjointed, no direction, I just have to let some out.

This has happened to all of us. It will change.

> Our first indication of something needing addressed was the fact that he wasn't talking. When I express this to people close to us, they seemed to think oh he must be using baby talk or can say momma and dadda. Nope. None of that. Not even assigning nonsense words that we could decipher. I personally did not think this was a big deal, I didn't start talking until 3. However, tons of people around me told me to talk to our PCP and get him speech therapy. Ok, what could it hurt?

> Our PCP informed us that she was going to set up an evaluation. I assumed a basic inventory of his health and hearing, blood tests, etc. What I did not expect was a full battery of experts. The day lasted nearly 6 hours. 5 different experts, MDs and PhDs, and many other initialed experts among them. I was pretty impressed with their demeanor, much of the time was spent "playing" and observing. Questions and directions. I did not realize from what looked to be pretty simple process how much info was gained and being interpreted.

> The indicators. At first, it seemed ridiculous. I'm certain based on my son's demeanor they had arrived at their conclusion before much evidence was present. Examples, when playing with cars, the minute he rolled a wheel, they asked us if he does this often or with other objects. Nope. Just loves rolling cars about-like a normal kid! They informed me that he did not like stacking blocks-he preferred lining them up. Ok.... He stacks them all the time at home. Last doc we visited with seemed especially keen on his habits, noting he only chose the cars, ignoring everything else. Asked us if he flaps, nope. Upon wrapping up, he gathered the cars (very gently, not in a mean way) and of course our son gets mad. "That's flapping!" An immediate reaction, I was surprised this wasn't "normal" for a two-year-old? Doc said it with such authority I didn't question it.

Your evaluation was performed in the best possible way. Our twins were evaluated along that procedure (ADOS-2 probably). Since your kid doesn't talk yet probably you will need a second evaluation in the future. Our ST made us wait before evaluating our kids (like or pediatrician, he also suspected at least one of them had ASD). His approach was to produce a communication channel before the evaluation to have a better assessment. After the long evaluation, kids were diagnosed with 18 and 22 on the ADOS scale. This put them above the Asperger range, but at a mostly functional range. Our neurologist (the head of the evaluation team) told us that this evaluation was their last. No further evaluation was needed.

> On the drive home, my emotions ranged. First, these guys don't know my boy. It seemed like they made a big deal about everything. How could they have gathered enough info to make such a huge diagnosis???

Because they are trained, they know where to look. The other positive point is your boy is very young so all the symptoms are there to catch and no bias because of age is present. So it is easier to pinpoint the level, and produce a set of 'countermeasures' through early intervention to make him feel better about the world and himself.

> Eventually, I realized, I do know my boy. I know him deeply. He reminds me of myself. Him playing with little pieces of carpet in a room full of toys, me sitting down in the outfield playing with grass instead of playing T-ball. Intent on his particular toys, as I was with my Legos. In his own world. Throwing the blankets off at night, perhaps this is a skin sensitivity? Banging random objects, is that stimming? This and more, many more little signs...they add up.

You know a part of him, but being autistic there is another part that is hidden behind a veil and you can't access to it and he cannot explain to you that yet. One book (recommended here) that I found quite enlighten is The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism. You can read it in an hour.

Also, I also told the psychologist interviewing my wife and I that my kids remind me of myself as I shared some traits with them. She told me, they were the ones being evaluated and whatever similarity was not relevant to them. Thus, don't overcomplicate yourself, try to build from your shared traits upwards to guide him into a fulfilling life.

> And I well up. I love my boy. He isn't a set of signs or indicators. How do they have the temerity to think they can assign labels or know what he is? I know WHO he is. And I worry. About programs that aim to "normalize" him. About teachers who may not give him the benefit of the doubt or the opportunity to excel. I worry that a diagnosis may hold him back and instead of building him up they'll remove his essence. Family who sees him differently.

Acceptance will come, but this doesn't mean you won't demand them to excel. Yet, you need to know his boundaries and be very aware of his strength. I wrote a lot about my kids here. Every kid is different, so you have to look for yourself.

Our twins are 4 y/o now. They started ST at 2.5, then moved to an inclusive school (50%ASD-50%NT) with ST, OT and PECS oriented classroom. This environment has helped a lot to develop their spoken language, feel more comfortable around people, and communicate their needs. You NEED every therapy available NOW.

Our neurologist told us the following: "if you do nothing now, they can go to a regular school without problems. They will adapt, but you won't have the best version of themselves. If you support them in every possible way, go to [this type of school] then you will drive your kids to become the best they want to be.

But for you, doing this will be the hardest five years of your life. So, you need psychological support and live a healthier life. You need to be there, every hour for your kid now."

So we took the second option.

Our kids, can speak now (not with the fluidity of a 4 y/o) and communicate most of their needs. Their tantrums and quirks are mostly contained (they appear when they are really tired or anxious). They are very clever kids, that love numbers, words, and music.

They excel at numbers: count from 1 to 30 (understand the symbols and their relation to quantities) in Spanish (mother language) and English. They can do basic sums (without finger counting) and now they are learning subtraction. They also have a strong interest in words: know the full ABC (some letters from the English pronunciation), read some words, understand words in English (colors and shapes; also many animals), and now they are learning to construct words from syllable.

We are using iPads to strengthen these areas. I bought them Tiggly when they were very young (two years ago) and this fourth birthday (yesterday) they received Osmo's Genius Kit. They loved the Tangram because puzzle-solving is one thing they love to do a lot (and this is in another level).

> I don't know the future. I only know that we will exercise agency in every decision along the way. We will advocate for rights and opportunity. We will be better than our parents. He will not be called "doofus" or "f-ggot." I'll hug the sht out of him but never hit him. He's our boy dammit, I love him, and that's all that matters.

Nobody knows​ the future, even us 'normal' people.

What you feel about parenthood is what I felt, even before knowing they had ASD. The thing you mention may even happen to a regular kid with special interest, whether has ASD or not. In our special case, we need to learn about ASD to approach to learning in the best possible way for the mind of our sons.

Be patient, It will be better.

EDIT: grammar.

I'm a bit of a cookbook junkie, so I have a bunch to recommend. I'm interpreting this as "good cookbooks from cuisines in Asia" so there are some that are native and others that are from specific restaurants in the US, but I would consider these legit both in terms of the food and the recipes/techniques. Here are a few of my favorites:


Pan-Asian

• Asian Dumplings - the masterpiece on all things dumpling
  
• Asian American - Dale Talde's (Top Chef) book with lots of Asian cultures' food in the US
  
• Asian Pickles - pickles and fermented foods from throughout Asia
  
• Lucky Rice - recipes from the Asian festival of the same name
  
• The Asian Grandmother's Cookbook - traditional cooking passed down to American cooks
  
  Burmese
  
  
• Burma:Rivers of Flavor - good focus on difference in Burmese cuisine from other regional
  
  Cambodian
  
  
• Num Pang - Cambodian sandwich restaurant in NYC
  
• Cambodian Cooking - GREAT book on Cambodian cuisine, supporting refugees
  
  Chinese
  
  
• Ken Hom Complete Chinese Cookbook - great primer for cooking Chinese food using ingredients commonly available in US
  
• China Moon - classic SF Chinese restaurant food
  
• Feeding the Dragon - modern culinary journey through all of China
  
• Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking - omnibus focused on the home chef
  
• Breath of a Wok - focus on wok technique at home
  
• Every Grain of Rice - wonderful Sichuan food for home cooks
  
  Indian
  
  
• Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking - actually, any of her cookbooks are wonderful for Indian cooking
  
• Savour Mumbai - looks at Indian cuisine as a melting pot in Mumbai
  
• The Indian Family Cookbook - modern South Indian food
  
• Indian Harvest - Vikas Khanna's family cookbook
  
• Made in India - classic Indian food, from street to home
  
  Indonesia
  
  
• The Food of Indonesia - everything you need for a rijstaffel!
  
  Japanese
  
  
• Japanese Farm Food - authentic rural Japanese cooking
  
• Preserving the Japanese Way - how to make awesome Japanese pickled vegetables
  
• Sushi Chef - not strictly speaking a cookbook, but "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" book in English
  
• The Japanese Grill - authentic hibachi and Japanese grill recipes
  
• Japanese Comfort Food - lots of traditional Japanese recipes
  
• Nanban - Japanese "soul food"
  
• Tokyo Cult Recipes - hip modern urban food from Tokyo
  
• Yum Yum Bento Boxes - updated modern take on bento boxes
  
• Ivan Ramen - traditional ramen for a Western audience
  
• Izakaya - traditional Japanese pub food & small plates
  
• Nikkei - emigrant Japanese food culture in South America
  
• Donabe - traditional Japanese hot pot recipes
  
• Kyotofu - very unique Japanese dessert cookbook
  
  Korean
  
  
• K Food - modern take on Korean street food
  
• Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking - great resource for Korean cooking in a non-pro kitchen
  
• Traditional Food - omnibus of four regions of Korean food
  
• Koreatown - authentic, approachable guide to Korean food in a US context
  
• Smoke & Pickles - Edward Lee's fusion of his Korean heritage and southern barbeque
  
• The Kimchi Cookbook - many, many recipes for kimchi...
  
  Malaysian
  
  
• Malaysian Cooking - good overview of Malay cooking
  
  Middle Eastern
  
  
• The New Persian Kitchen - modern Iranian food
  
• Ottolenghi - Israeli-Palestinian collaboration
  
• Persiana - dynamic modern recipes from throughout the Middle East
  
• Zahav - modern Israeli food
  
• Sweet Middle East - traditional and modern desserts
  
  Philippine
  
  
• Filipino Homestyle Dishes - good intro to classic Filipino dishes
  
  Russian
  
  
• Mamushka - focus on Ukraine
  
  Sri Lankan
  
  
• Hidden Kitchens of Sri Lanka - beautiful photo-cookbook on Sri Lankan cuisine
  
  Taiwanese
  
  
• The Food of Taiwan - um... food... from Taiwan
  
  Thailand
  
  
• Nong's Thai Kitchen - she beat Bobby Flay in pad thai
  
• Pok Pok - Portland's most AWESOME Asian restaurant
  
  Turkish
  
  
• Istanbul:Recipes from the Heart of Turkey - lovely focus on urban Turkish food
  
• Anatolia - wonderful approachable approach to Turkish cuisine
  
• Essential Turkish Cuisine - focus on history and evolution of Turkish food
  
  Vietnamese
  
  
• The Slanted Door - great Vietnamese restaurant cookbook
  
• Vietnamese Market Cookbook - focus on simple Vietnamese from fresh ingredients
  
• Into the Vietnamese Kitchen - traditional Vietnamese home cooking
  
• The Banh Mi Cookbook - the greatest sandwich in the world!
  
• Vietnamese Home Cooking - another great overview
  
  (edit: screwed up a couple links)

Good morning,

Its Friday and today is especially good for TWO reasons.

1. Yesterday my boss walked by and said "Hey why dont you plan on leaving at 12 tomorrow if you are caught up" and I totally will be doing that. AND getting chipotle on the way home. 3 and a half day weekend is so very close to me.
   
   
2. I got into another farmers market for this Sunday! This one is more local and more structured, I had to apply and I will be going as a guest vendor. They don't normally allow people such late notice, but they really liked my stuff and want me there. They are even going to setup an easy up tent that I can borrow for the day. They love my dog, so probably why I got in. I hope I do well! I have some more super cute fall prints to work on when I get home today and tomorrow.
   
   I finished my book reading August goal! It was a pretty short book, it was a reprint of the Hiroshima article but it was a powerful read. If anyone is interested, it has my highest recommendation. A disturbing read, informative, and unlike anything Ive known prior about this historic tragedy.
   
   My next book for September is all ready to go. I am reading Tripping over the Truth which explores cancer as a metablic theory. I like sciency things and learning and I find the information around this theory highly fascinating :)
   
   Helping one of my friends get started on keto, with the approach of giving her resources and answering specific questions only. Been burnt too many times otherwise :P
   
   My morning goal is to post the haus-keeping before I leave work, so keep an eye out for that!
   
   Happy Friday all <3

It all depends on what you are looking for in Tai Ji Quan. The Americanized version extols the meditative and health aspects of the form, but the original Chinese form is an extremely competent style of internal boxing.

If you are looking to become an internal boxer (a classification of Chinese Gong Fu "soft" martial arts; namely: Xingyi Quan, Ba Gua Zhang, and Tai Ji Quan), then Tai Ji is a long hard road. Competency in this style takes somewhere around twenty years of practice.

Here's the thing: if you are looking for the health aspects, in my experience, the path of the internal boxer is best. Training a soft style with martial intention teaches you the subtle body mechanics that strengthen your joints and better relax the tissues around your spine, among other things.

If you aren't interested in the martial aspect, but you still really want the health benefits, take disturbedandsexy's advice and look into Qi Gong. It is a moving meditative practice that unlocks some pretty cool physiological benefits. I have experience with the Wang Ji Wu Longevity Exercises and find them to be great introductory material. It's also a good Nei Gong you can teach to your grandmother to keep her joints healthy through daily exercise.

If you are looking for good reading material on Ta Ji, avoid the books targeted toward an American consumer. They tend to follow the McDojo philosophy toward transferring traditional knowledge. Instead, try consulting Chang Man Chi'ing, or for an easier read, his student T.T. Liang. Both come from the a taiwanese tradition of Yang style Tai Ji, America's first widespread experience with the internal arts, being as the Communists drove all of their artists underground.

A word of caution, there are a lot of bad teachers out there. Even if they are very skilled personally, use a discerning eye. The hall mark of a great teacher is a skilled group of students. Looking at the senior students in the class and ask yourself if that is where you want to be in 5-6 years.

Personally, I would recommend the North American Tang Shou Tao schools, but I am biased as I am an instructor with them.

Best of luck in your pursuits.

If she was just diagnosed, I'm thinking it's probably more likely that she's high-functioning since you probably would've noticed earlier on if she was low-functioning. And the fact that she doesn't resist affection is a really wonderful sign! My brother wasn't very affectionate when he was her age but he did have some of those same behaviours - not responding to commands, self-focused etc. The word Autism itself comes from 'auto', so naturally a huge component of Autism is a focus on oneself rather than others which makes for more difficulties in social situations. Like I said, our situations are very different because my brother is 3 years older than me but going back to my 5 year old mindset, how I managed to communicate with my brother was through his common interest which is music. He'd play piano and I'd sit with him, we'd talk about our favourite artists etc. Since your sister is still pretty young, it might be difficult to establish a common interest right now but my advice would be interest yourself in whatever she finds interesting, getting her to talk about what she's doing, what she likes. And I hope that as she gets older, she's put in 'typical' child environments so that she doesn't miss out. I'm really happy to say that my brother had a lot of support when he was younger and now he's 23 and extremely well-adjusted and living in his own apartment and has a job that he loves. I wish I could offer you some reference books or something but all of the ones that I read were for younger siblings of Autistic children. If you're interested though here are a few that helped me:

Freaks, Geeks & Asperger Syndrome <-- it's about Aspergers but a lot of the characteristics are similar and more importantly, it provides a lot of information for siblings

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime <-- fictional but takes place completely inside the mind of an Autistic person! And it's an amazing read!

The Reason I Jump

Yes, absolutely.

To begin with, don't forget that the romanticized Western image of samurai as hyper honor focused warrior monk types is pure exoticism with no real historic backing.

More to the point, like with the knights of Europe, while there was an official ideal of honor it was more prescriptive than descriptive and when you have a large group of heavily armed men some are going to be scumbags.

Further, "samurai" simply meant "person from the caste permitted to carry weapons", towards the end of the Tokugawa period (1600-1868) a great many samurai class men had no real weapon training, a minimal pension from the government, and generally survived by running up debts which were nullified every few years by government edict.

The Seven Samurai takes place earlier, in the Sengoku period (aka the Warring States Period), at a time of chaos and general confusion. There was no centralized government, no rule beyond what the local warlord decreed and could enforce, and samurai (again, meaning "people who carried weapons", not "super highly trained and deeply honorable warrior monk types") were thugs enforcing the will of their local warlord, which usually meant stealing whatever they could from the peasants and calling it taxes.

Or, worse, they were ronin. When a warlord was defeated his soldiers (samurai) often just wandered off and turned to banditry to survive. There's a lot of mythology and several stories involving deeply honorable ronin seeking adventure and vengeance for the people who betrayed their lords, but mostly in real life they were just armed and trained men who took whatever they could from the people least likely to fight back.

You might check out State of War, it's more about the somewhat earlier times than the Sengoku period, but most of what it covers applies to the later periods as well.

For an interesting, often funny, first hand, primary source, account of daily life for a poor man of samurai class during the mid Tokugawa period check Musui's Story, it's a very quick read, an autobiography written by Musui himself, who lived a quite disreputable life and busts a lot of myths of the noble honorable samurai.

TL;DR: even at the best of times, samurai were just soldiers, and historically soldiers weren't what you'd call very nice. In the worse times they were just bandits. The idea of samurai as super honorable warriors is just a myth.

Thank you, I'm flattered

that you could be impressed by five book that I hold dear to my heart. I have strong feelings about adding books to my collection, as it's far more important to me to know a book, that to simply be able to purchase it. I have far too many books that I confess I'm only acquainted with, and do not know deeply :( A good book owns me as much as I own it. I carry it with me in my thoughts.

>I would love to read more about that but I have this fear of not understanding their way of life, of respect, of loyalty to the monarch/ shogun.

Instead, please take my offering of a small library of five books on samurai aesthetics.

• Hagakure by Yamamoto Tsunetomo. This was written in the Shogunal period. Read this one.
  
• The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. This is written a little earlier, and concerns itself with swordsmanship.
  
• Bushido the Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe. This is a more recent work, written after the Meiji Restoration.
  
• The fourth book on this list should be on Kyudo (archery)- (such as found quoted by Emiya Shirou in F S/N.)
  
• Fifth book is a free choice: my personal pick is The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, from the Heian period, for poetry. The alternate contenders would be The Book of Tea, for Zen; or The Art of War, for Confucianism.
  
  I hope you are much more impress by the quality of the words written in these books, and what they might evoke in you, rather than their habitation in my life. I am but the humble reader.
  

Hmm....I'm going to interpret that question as '10 Books in No Particular Order that Weren't Massive Bestsellers that I Loved*'

• The Good Women of China An amazing book about the struggles of women in China from 1950s-1980s.
  
  
• Ode to Kirihito The book that got me hooked on Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy)'s classic manga.
  
  
• Shades of Milk and Honey A Regency Romance with a touch of fantasy, and the writing is a pleasure.
  
  
• Ender's Game Hardly indie anymore, but I found this near the bottom of a pile of books in middle school, thus launching my love of SF/F
  
  
• A Man with No Talents An anonymous account of a man who dropped out of the Salaryman life and became free to live his life as he wanted.
  
  
• The Dancing girls of Lahore A brutal, honest account of the underworld of courtesans in Pakistan.
  
  
• The Legend of Eli Monpress Escapist fantasy with amazing characters and a plot that keeps the reader up well past bedtime.
  
  
• Off to Be the Wizard Probably the closest to 'indie' on here, hardly a deep book but a hilarious geeky romp.
  
  
• Live Free or Die This one surprised me a bit, but my Libertarian SF-loving self just fell head-over-heels for this series.
  
  
• Boneshaker Because dammit, this is the one that sent me down the Steampunk rabbit hole.
  
  /* Ebooksgirl reserves the right at any time to change, amend, add or delete this list.

These were posted to a similar thread yesterday about learning aikido, and might fit into this discussion as well. The last few are not at all at the basic level, but I enjoy them so much I thought they should stay:

For an enjoyable exploration of the history and protocol of the dojo, try "In the Dojo" by Dave Lowry: In the Dojo: A Guide to the Rituals and Etiquette of the Japanese Martial Arts https://www.amazon.com/dp/0834805723/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_4LAjxb1G1DTNG

For an entertaining, and actually true, bildungsmroman of a trio of Oxford students who find themselves in Tokyko and decide, out of boredom, to join the year-long intensive Tokyo police riot squad training program. This was Gozo Shioda's dojo, probably in the 1980's, and is an accurate glimpse of what training was like in the early days of the Yoshinkan style: Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot Police https://www.amazon.com/dp/0688175376/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_yNAjxb9VXJ7PN

You may also be interested in Aikido Shugyo, by Gozo Shioda, which describes his early days with O-Sensei, and his post-war experiences, along with some philosophical refections: http://www.shindokanbooks.com/shugyo.shtml

If you are looking for something meaty and practical, check out the excellent books by Marc Tedeschi, "The Art of Holding" and "The Art of Throwing" which are essentially jiu-jjtsu but form an extremy comprehensive catalog of practically every fundament technique in taijitsu regardless of the art or style: The Art of Holding: Principles & Techniques https://www.amazon.com/dp/1891640763/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_28Ajxb9YBNQDY and The Art of Throwing: Principles & Techniques https://www.amazon.com/dp/0834804905/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_T.AjxbZQZ76CK

Finally, I hesitate to suggest this one since it probably won't mean anything until you have much deeper immersion in practical aikido techniques (and it might be hard to find, being almost out of print), but it's a good compendium of aiki-jitsu style, the formative roots that predate aikido, and depending on your background and mindset might add some dimension: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-hidden-roots-of-aikido-9784770023278?cc=us&lang=en&

Have fun!

Honestly, this question is really just asking "hey, could you retell the main narrative of Japanese history for 1000 years?" It's kind of like asking "What's the relationship between the Pope and European Kings and Queens?" and it should probably be in popular questions. I mean honestly just read any textbook, since this relationship is the central political question at any point from 1200 onwards. It's not in popular questions and this would make a crappy /r/askhistorians post though, so I'll go ahead and link-filled summarize:

It depends on what time period you're talking about. Since you explicitly asked for shogun/emperor, I'll start with the first shogunate. Established in Kamakura (symbolically, far away in the traditional lands of the Minamoto clan instead of in Kyoto where the Emperor was) in 1192 as a result of the Gempei war, it stripped the emperor of most of his temporal power. Even at that point, though, the operative power was not in the Emperor himself, but rather his courtiers (see the fujiwara clan), as the Emperor himself spent most his time fulfilling the many Shinto-Daoist rituals that were cosmologically needed to keep the realm in working order (a lot of waving stuff around, purifying stuff, burning stuff, etc.) The war was really between to rival warrior families who were desperately trying to marry into the courtiers and eventually the Imperial family itself. One won, the other lost, and the winner set up an alternate power structure. From here on, power fluctuated between a few sources. At some points, Emperors would 'retire' to become monks, leave their sons to do the ritual crap, while they exercised some measure of power
from the monastery (no small irony there). In this period, around 1340, after another short war/power struggle, the Ashikaga family deposed the Kamakura shogunate and set up their own shogunate within Kyoto itself. Depending on who was shogun and who was cloistered, real power fluctuated. Sometimes even abbots of powerful temples would get in the mix. In terms of actual family ties, all 3 groups were closely linked and regularly intermarried. For a really good monograph on this interesting period, I'd see Gates of Power by Adolphson.

By the late 1400s, though, that system was breaking down altogether. Local Samurai basically acted on their own perogatives on their own land. At this point, the Sengoku Jidai (age of country at war), there are people claiming this and that in terms of rulership, and all of it is meaningless. The only thing that mattered was military strength and personal loyalty, which could be broken at the drop of a hat if the benefits were seen to outweigh the consequence. For this period, the history shelf is littered with colorful picture books about the HONORABLE SAMURAI WARRIOR and all kinds of nonsense (it is also when Shogun: Total War (and its re-make) is set). One trustworthy monograph on the ending throes, that I'd say also captures the essence of the period, would be Japonius Tyrannus by Jeroen Lamers.

The Tokugawa Shogunate, set up by the eventual victor in 1600 onwards, sought to solidify sole control. During the wars, the great temples had been almost completely obliterated, so they were out. The Shogunate removed the other threat to their power, the Imperial Court, by taking over administration and funding of the Imperial Household (and thus removing the powerful courtiers that traditionally surrounded the Emperor together). In order to leave the Emperor to his important ritual business, they very kindly removed from his household the burden of managing any land--making them completely dependent and unable to cultivate their own powerbase. While the Emperor was still seen as the ultimate source of both political and cultural legitimacy, temporal power was seen to have been devolved entirely to the Tokugawa family (who did still regularly marry daughters off to Emperors). With the Royal Baby in our thoughts, I'd say it's similar to how the UK runs now; the Emperor is around, popular, and beloved, but not even a figurehead in terms of running things. A good window into how things ran in the middle of the period would be The Dog Shogun by Beatrice Bodart-Bailey.

This is, until the "Opening of Japan" leads to everyone going nuts. For the Boshin war and what follows, I did write a post about that here just a few days ago. One thing I didn't link to in that is a book about all the neat intellectual history, which really touches on your question in terms of how intellectuals built up a sense of legitimacy for the Imperial Restoration and how that leads up to the revolution, so I'll link it here: Before the Nation by Susan Burns.

I read this book this summer when I was stuck in Alabama! It's a quick read, but it's an interesting look at the history of Shigeru Miyamoto with Nintendo, and interactions between some key players at Nintendo. It's a quick, easy, and somewhere interesting read. Not at all incredible, though.

Shigeru Miyamoto: Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda (Influential Vid... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1628923881/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awd_

Ps I bought my copy in a Barnes and Noble

I wouldn't bother too much with books at this stage. If you must get something interesting to read, I suggest the following -

• "Falling Hard" by Mark Law: it's a nice little travelogue into the world of judo
  
• "The Way of Judo" by John Stevens is a great historical re-account of the formation of judo
  
• "Judo Unleashed" by Neil Ohlenkamp makes a nice technical manual / coffee table book.
  
  
  You can get some other ideas here...but these are likely too technical at this stage for you
  
  http://www.bestjudo.com/page/1361/judo-book-reviews-rating
  
  
  If you absolutely must get something to watch, I recommend these for beginners.
  
  ​
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Judo-Combinations-Marc-Verilotte-D/dp/B0007Y4SSO
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zhqjkjgE9o
  
  ​
  
  They're basic enough to be helpful and interesting/complex enough to inspire you...but the English translation leaves sometimes is wanting.

https://www.amazon.com/Man-No-Talents-Memoirs-Laborer/dp/080144375X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=a+man+with+no+talents&qid=1566508527&s=gateway&sr=8-1

He actually was a day laborer in that district, San'ya. It doesn't have the greatest of ratings but I enjoyed the read. I felt bad for him but he seemed really resigned to that lifestyle. I think it just made me uncomfortable knowing the kind of life he lived but not really wanting for more. Almost like he was just... existing?

I'm probably going to go back and read it again. I believe he won an award for the book as well but either declined to accept the award or declined to do any press for it. I think its worth a read, it's not too long and the memories he recall expose a side of Japan many never see or think of.

Not just a matter of beauty. Physical well-being results in improved mental functions as well!

You don’t have to buy into sports or competitive gym culture to feed your brain some good hormones; there are plenty of enjoyable physical things for intellectual types to do, from hiking and backpacking to dance to traditional martial arts. Or just plain running like Murakami.

Some of my standard suggestions....

Try A Life in Aikido for a basic biography, Aikido: My Spritual Journey for a look from the point of view of one of the founder of Aikido's early students, Mitsugi Saotome's books for another view from one of Morihei Ueshiba's later students, or any of Bill Gleason's books for a deeper look into the esoterica of the art.

I can't recommend "Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere", there are just too many errors and omissions. The illustrations are good, but the authors were just barely beginners when they wrote that book, and the information available in those days wasn't very good anyway.

Ellis Amdur's books are always worthwhile reading, even if they aren't "scholarly" (try Peter Goldsbury's Transmission, Inheritance, Emulation columns on Aikiweb for scholarly material - great stuff, but not for everybody).

Any of Stan Pranin's books (if you can find them in print) are well worth reading.

"Angry White Pyjamas" is fun, but take it with a grain of salt.

I would avoid most of the John Stevens translations, they're too unreliable and it's too hard to tell which parts are accurate which aren't.

If you want to understand your nonverbal autistic child, there are some great books out there to help you do that. I personally have read and recommend:

• The Reason I Jump: A short and easy but moving read. This is a book by a nonverbal Japanese autistic boy who learned to communicate through pointing to letters/writing. While we can't say for sure his experience is the same as other children like him he explains is feelings, sensations, and the reasons for many of his behaviors that are common to autistic children.
  
  
• Carly's Voice: Longer book but moving and well written. Most of the book is by Carly's father. He tells the story since infancy of his family including his daughter Carly who is severely autistic and nonverbal. Many considered her severely mentally disabled. However, when years later she finally learns and is willing to communicate through letters/writing (it is physically a lot of work for her) he learns she is much brighter and more aware then he imagined. Includes passages, conversations, interviews by Carly in the book that give information on what she is experiencing.
  
  
• Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism Written by genius animal behaviorists and well known person with Autism/speaker on Autism Temple Grandin. Tells her life, her experience, and how she thinks and experiences things differently. Between the other two books in length she is less severe on the spectrum then the Carly or Naoki but she still thinks, feels, and interacts with the world in a way that it was amazing to have insight into/I would never have guessed.
  
  Order these three books right now. They're all well written and so so insightful. You won't regret it.

I'm reading this one right now....it had an interesting beginning, and a slow and boring middle, but I hope the last few chapters get fun again. It's about an Englishmans experiences in Japan while enrolled in a tough Aikido class for policemen. It's worth a read, I'd say....just for fun.

https://www.amazon.com/Angry-White-Pyjamas-Scrawny-Lessons/dp/0688175376

His other book, Dogs and Demons is really good. Looking for the Lost is an excellent read that's somewhat related to Dogs and Demons by the author Alan Booth. He walked the length of Japan in 1977 and wrote a book about his travels called Roads to Sata, which I highly recommend, especially if you liked Looking for the Lost (In fact you may want to read this one first).

And if you find you enjoyed Roads to Sata, then read Hitching Rides with Buddha by Will Ferguson, who hitchhiked the length of Japan.

For anyone that enjoyed this video and isn't aware....


...There is a lovely book "written by a severly autistic kid"

His mentor helped him write it, it's very short... and took a long time... but it's completely incredible to read. It brings you straight into the mind of an autistic ....


The big take away, if you aren't going to read it is...
...These people are VERY aware of their situation and how difficult their life is making everyone elses.

It seems their inner-voice is quite normal, they just can't seem to express themselves properly.


The book is called: The Reason I Jump.

Link for free: https://www.readanybook.com/online/565387

To buy: https://www.amazon.com/Reason-Jump-Inner-Thirteen-Year-Old-Autism/dp/081298515X

I don't know anyone that is autistic.
This book was very interesting to me.

Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running was a fantastic read.

From the back cover copy:

>Murakami's latest is a nonfiction work mostly concerned with his thoughts on the long-distance running he has engaged in for much of his adult life. Through a mix of adapted diary entries, old essays, reminiscences and life advice, Murakami crafts a charming little volume notable for its good-natured and intimate tone. While the subject matter is radically different from the fabulous and surreal fiction that Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle) most often produces, longtime readers will recognize the source of the isolated, journeying protagonists of the author's novels in the formative running experiences recounted. Murakami's insistence on focusing almost exclusively on running can grow somewhat tedious over the course of the book, but discrete, absorbing episodes, such as a will-breaking 62-mile ultramarathon and a solo re-creation of the historic first marathon in Greece serve as dynamic and well-rendered highlights.

Akitas are a beautiful and interesting breed. Check out the book Dog Man. But don't get an akita. They're a hard breed to own, period. As a young person. you should choose something easier.

While it may have been written in 1985, I would say that The Roads to Sata: A 2000-mile Walk Through Japan by the late Alan Booth (also a compatriot of yours) would be a must-read before coming to Japan as you are - for an extended visit. Reading it may inspire you to look up some of the obscure places that he visited - although not necessarily all on foot as he did. Another of Booth's works published posthumously "Looking for the Lost" is also worth a read (not to be confused with Alex Kerr's Lost Japan - which is also decent although I think Kerr's book could benefit from a stronger editor when he delves too much into his pronounced artsy-fartsy fetishes)

It was so hard to choose just one! But The Reason I Jump is really interesting to me as Autism has had a huge impact on my life.

Thanks for the contest!

The Reason I Jump is a pretty good light-reading primer on the how's and why's of a boy with autism. Plenty of eye-opening information, particularly about how he describes his behaviors and his cognitive process.

Ido in Autismland is another favorite of mine. More in-depth and slightly longer winded, it's a book rich in information, but definitely the one I'd read second.

The market is saturated with plenty of books on autism written by psycological or disabilities professionals, but if you really want to understand, I find there's no substitute for a book written by an autistic author.

I just finished Why I jump. The author is a non-verbal autistic boy and he does a good job explaining some of the behaviors associated with autism and what his inner state is like. It's also really short, only took me around two hours, and written in a very clear Q&A format.

Have you read The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida and, if so, do you feel that it acurately portrays childhood as an autistic person?

What do you find most challenging in interacting with "normal" or very low spectrum people? What can we do to help make these interactions easier for people like you?

Perhaps they'd enjoy some travel writing to give them a flavour of Japan before they go?

They're 20 years old now but I'm a huge fan of the two books Alan Booth wrote about walking in rural Japan.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Looking-Lost-Journeys-Vanishing-Kodansha/dp/1568361483/

Falling Hard: A Journey into the World of Judo

It's basically following an older guys journey into judo through the ranks. He delves into the history of the sport a fair amount too. Really interesting read. Not very technical though, definitely more of a philosophy book.

That movie was gorgeous.The woman who gave him the information also wrote her own account because she believed Arthur Golden misrepresented her and the life of a geisha and breached their contract (she had stipulated that he not reveal her identity). I recommend it for anyone that loved Memoirs of a Geisha.

You might already know this but I wanted to leave it in case others do not.

edit: apparently this one is also good for a look at the non-glamorous side of the geisha world.

The books I'm currently reading, I'm totally in love with "the old breed" right now, can't put it down!

A helmet for my pillow

With the old Breed

For whom the bell tolls

The Gay Science

Metro 2033

A game of thrones

http://www.amazon.com/With-Old-Breed-Peleliu-Okinawa/dp/0195067142

This is one. I don't know who the second person who wrote first hand-account is. I'm sorry.

I can heartily recommend Sledge though. I read a two of his books and he is an exceptional memoirist. Robert Leckie is also excellent, and he fought in the Pacific theater but I don't know if he was Peleliu, but he was at Okinawa.

This one's my favorite.

I don't really have any advice to give you but this may have:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Reason-Jump-Thirteen-Year-Old-Autism/dp/0812994868
They mentioned it on The Daily Show and it has recieved great reviews for dealing with autism.

Here's a video link to the interview. http://youtu.be/IKxiJ-kWve0

I've nothing for ADHD, would autism interest you? The Reason I Jump is fantastic, really touching.

If you're a beginner then books probably won't help you much other than learning the names of the techniques.

I do highly recommend you reading this book though

https://www.amazon.com/Falling-Hard-Journey-into-World/dp/1590307151

the guy started judo when he turned 50 and got his shodan. It's a love letter to judo and basically includes a short history of the golden age of judo.

I recently finished reading it. It's a good book, and the course seems rather interesting. Just realize that it's going to screw with you mentally as well as physically.

The Way of Judo is one of my favorites a smooth read but contains some factual errors that I had forgotten about. See /u/Geschichtenerzaehler's comment below. The books /u/Ryvai mentioned are good too.

But since you're here from BJJ for some Judo history, I want to take a minute to correct some straight up historical revisionism that I see a lot in BJJ.

1. Mitsuyo Maeda was a Judoka, not a Jujitsu student. As far as I have been able to find he didn't study Jujitsu for a single day of his life, just Sumo and Judo.
   
   
2. Yamashita Yoshiaki studied JJJ as a young man, but when he came to America he was a high ranking Judoka and taught Judo, not Jujitsu, to Americans, including President Roosevelt. Judo was very purposefully named, and Yamashita would never have called what he was teaching anything but Judo.
   
   
3. The quote by Teddy Roosevelt saying "The art of Jiu Jitsu is worth more in every way than all of our athletics combined" is 100% locally grown organic bullshit.
   
   
4. Kano to the best of my knowledge never once referred to Judo as "Kano Jiu Jitsu." Some other people did, including the wretched H Irving "This book says The complete Kano Jujitsu but I should say this book teaches nothing of my Judo" Hancock. Kano put a ton of thought into the name Judo, and while some newspapers in Brazil may have erroneously called it "Kano Jiu Jitsu," no one in Japan did, least of all Kano or any of his students.
   
   I used to think that BJJ just didn't care about getting the history right, but after two recent articles by Robert Drysdale I'm beginning to think it's an intentional revising of history to make BJJ seem like The One True Art and Judo its trivial footnote of a cousin. Seriously, click on both articles, control-f search for "Judo" and "Kano." Article One. Article Two. They're also good reads if you are interested in the direction of BJJ, but I was alarmed by how wrong he gets some of the historical facts.
   
   EDIT: spelling

Inside Delta Force

If You Survive

Helmet for My Pillow

In the Company of Heroes

If you like Clancy, I highly recommend the entire John Ryan series, starting with Without Remorse and moving in chronoligical (which differs from publication) order.

Good reading books:
https://www.amazon.com/Martial-Musings-Portrayal-Arts-Century-ebook/dp/B00F3GV7B2/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480049500&sr=1-2&refinements=p_27%3ARobert+W.+Smith

https://www.amazon.com/Angry-White-Pyjamas-Scrawny-Lessons/dp/0688175376/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480049639&sr=1-1&keywords=angry+white+pajamas

If you want to learn to fight, go into a bar a few times and pick one. The best way to learn.

Here are a few good ones that I have read and would definitely reccomend.

Speed Tribes: Days and Night's with Japan's Next Generation
by Karl Taro Greenfeld

> http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Tribes-Nights-Japans-Generation/dp/0060926651/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267655889&sr=8-1

Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches Us About Living in the West
by T.R. Reid

> http://www.amazon.com/Confucius-Lives-Next-Door-Teaches/dp/0679777601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267655960&sr=1-1#noop

Black Passenger Yellow Cabs: Of Exile And Excess In Japan
by Stefhen F. D. Bryan

> http://www.amazon.com/Black-Passenger-Yellow-Cabs-Excess/dp/0615268102/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267656194&sr=1-1

those should keep you busy for a while.

Jake Aldenstein (first non Japanese reporter for a major Japanese newspaper) wrote a book called Tokyo Vice, which has elements of what you are looking for. Its mostly about his life as a gaijin reporter, versus just being a gaijin.

You might be interested in reading more about Shigero Miyamoto's inspiration and process for game design. Nintendo has a way with teaching without instruction.

If you're interested in sharp, witty historical female authors, The Pillow Book of Sei Shonogon is a masterpiece. She was a contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu who wrote "The Tale of Genji" and kind of contemptuous of her for a lot of the reasons modern feminists would take issue with Genji's author.

Very much worth reading, it's in short vignettes and poems, mostly, so something that you can pick up spend as much or little time reading as you like.

I like that much better than the American cover with a shirtless Murakami.

Edit: Or this similar American cover that I have.

Read a short book called "Mutsui's Story". You can get it on Amazon pretty cheap. It's the story of a low-ranking samurai who dips into the black market, spends a bunch of time in the red light district, and so on. Also, it's an autobiography, so it's right from the source!

https://www.amazon.com/Musuis-Story-Autobiography-Tokugawa-Samurai/dp/0816512566

the reason i jump is a fantastic read for a look into the mind of an individual with autism.

Hey did you read the book called Yellow Cab Black Passenger? Its about a Jamaican guy with a sex addiction who goes to Japan and goes on what seems like a non-stop carousel of Japanese chicks. I was wondering what your take on it was?

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Passenger-Yellow-Cabs-Excess/dp/0615268102/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375189958&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=yellow+cab+black+passengeer

Read the book " The reason I Jump" and maybe look around at http://flappinessis.com/

Your husband needs to think differently. I say this with kindness.
Your child does this because he needs to, and because it makes him feel better. He needs it.

Very similar to the history of the Akita Inu breed. There's a book out there that my grandfather lent me that turned out to be an interesting read. I'll have to see if I can find it.

Edit: Just remembered enough to google it. It's Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain by Martha Sherrill.

Angry White Pyjamas is the title of an awesome Aikido book that's more about intense martial arts training than it is about Aikido.

And for those who prefer a realistic view of the actual lives of Samurai, read Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai or Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushido in Modern Japan (The Past and Present Book Series)

;)

Very common between rich men and poor (or poorer) women around the world.

Cixi was born to an unimportant father. She became a concubine because she was hot. She became the second woman in China (only to the empress) by giving birth to a son. After the emperor died, she brutally seized power and basically ran the Empire for over 40 years. So yeah, rags to riches.

The 5th Shogun of Japan, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was born from a concubine who was the daughter of a greengrocer. What made him different from his brothers is that he was raised by her, which gave him a very different perspective on the whole samurai class than most of the Shoguns. She also had a much closer relationship with her son, as it is presumed that his father was trying to make Tsunayoshi "soft" in order to not present a threat to his older brother (the 4th Shogun). After he became Shogun, quite by chance, she used her closeness with him to achieve real power behind the scenes, though she didn't possess supreme executive power. So, rags to riches.

In France, it was considered gauche by the royalty to take a commoner as a mistress, but there were a lot of really poor noblewomen from the sticks that were certainly eligible. And even then, the prohibition wasn't really all that hard to get around. Madame de Pompadour was given a title to this end. Madame du Barry was born poor, and became a courtesan when she grew up, where she caught the eye of the king. She had a noble lineage forged by her pimp. She was given a title by marrying a count, which made her eligible to be the king's official mistress. (What? Yep - it was less scandalous for a married woman to be a mistress in France than an unmarried one.)

Geisha, a Life

If you'd like a different view, there's also Autobiography of a Geisha, whose author was a geisha at an onsen and writes about quite a different experience for a group of women also falling under the title of "geisha".

Helmet for my Pillow by Robert Leckie.

Haruki Murakami- What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

There is a book written very recently by my professor.

Shigeru Miyamoto

With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge

Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie

Gonna leave this here

The term for live-in student in Japanese is "uchideshi". There are some places that offer an uchideshi program, both in and out of Japan, but before you consider any of these programs, I recommend reading Angry White Pyjamas (Amazon, Wikipedia).

You should be careful in selecting any program; there is plenty of room for cultural mix ups, either as a foreigner in Japan or in your home country with somebody who isn't Japanese.

A Man With No Talents: Memoirs of a Tokyo Day Laborer by Oyama Shiro. This book provides a different perspective on Japanese society. It's written by a man who got a degree, became a salary man and realized that he hated everything about it. He quits and becomes a day laborer. By the time he has written this book he is in his fifties I believe. Anyway, give it a try. It's a short book and easy to read.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Rage Comics

Watch HBO's Band of brothers and HBO's The pacific then read these war memoirs,

http://www.amazon.com/With-Old-Breed-Peleliu-Okinawa/dp/0891419195

http://www.amazon.com/Helmet-My-Pillow-Parris-Pacific/dp/0553593315

http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Before-During-Brothers/dp/0425227871

http://www.amazon.com/Band-Brothers-Regiment-Airborne-Normandy/dp/074322454X