(Part 2) Best products from r/japan

Yes, learn as much Japanese as you possibly can before coming. Many foreigners come here without knowing Japanese and have a miserable trip. You seem very open-minded and adventurous, so you'll probably be fine!

The two-week JR pass is 550 Euros right now. The trip back from Gunma is going to probably run about 100 Euros (by bus). So that puts you at about 1350 Euros left.

Your stay in Gunma is free so you have a budget of 90 Euros/day, which is easy to manage.

Cheap, good, fun hostels run about 25 Euro/night. Read up everything and anything you can on hostels - they are your best friend. Since you don't speak the language well, I highly recommend eating at least one meal a day at the hostel (it's usually a very fair price for very mediocre food) and try and keep all your meals below 1000 yen (which is super easy to do).

If you're a drinker, stay away from beer (taxes make it very expensive) and learn to appreciate very cheap whiskeys or shochu. You can get about 6 drinks worth of whiskey for 299 yen from any convenience store in the country, so just do that outside under the stars and socialize for cheap at night.

Make friends with locals and get them to take you out! Tell them you don't have much money but would love to see more of their city. You'll probably make some great friends and get some free meals out of it. ;)

Smile and be friendly to everyone and you can have a wonderful trip on this budget, I think.

This is the best guidebook I know. It has the #s of all the hostels you'll need.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Sorry to reply to all of these... but getting into a class is a GREAT idea if you can afford it.

One of the best books I liked when I first started self study was:
Basic Japanese

and this is good for basics:
Phrasebook
I have used that book from beginner to advanced levels.. it has a lot of silly things, but a lot of things you will use daily and it is great for studying.

There are tons of free apps.. you want to learn the 2 phonetic alphabets (katakana and hiragana) if you can (it will help a lot for daily life) just look the alphabets up online and make yourself some flashcards... they are pretty easy to learn.
Dont stress too much about kanji yet.. its hard... but (JET at least) provides a free language course (self study) and most prefectures give you guides for daily life/ school life phrases too.

I would absolutely not recommend the Kojiki, as /u/fergigerg1a has. It's a primary source written for a very specific purpose, and not at all indicative of religion in Japan today. Only very narrowly for its time period even.

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How about something like an introduction to Japanese Religious History?

Japanese Religions by Michiko Yusa is a good quick read that covers a wide range of stuff. A little dry at points, but still a solid source.

Religion in the Japanese Experience by H. Byron Earhart is definitely a more in depth read, but I find his writing quite easy to read. Feel free to skip to the chapters that interest you. Looks like Amazon has a few cheap-cheap used copies too.

These are both designed as undergraduate textbooks, but both (especially Earhart) are fairly accessible. You don't need any background in Japanese History or Religion to get into them.

I did my undergrad in Religious Studies, specifically Japanese religions, and if there's any specific temple, or area you're more interested, I'd be happy to help you find more information about it. Go ahead and PM me when your in Japan, if you find anything intriguing! :D

I have to agree with you on Bushido. Hagakure was another alternative recommendation I was considering, but I think that would have also been a mismatch for different reasons.

Honestly, even though the gaudy titles & book covers sometimes make me cringe, for what the OP is seeking, many of the books written by Boye De Mente such as KATA: The Key to Understanding & Dealing with the Japanese are pretty good.

I don't know when that moment of epiphany occurred but I realized how almost all Japanese & Japanese interest groups like Japanese diaspora would almost always cite samurai ethics (bushido) as the foundation of their own code, values, upbringing and heritage - at a level that was statistically impossible. The image of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori posing with a samurai sword and his incongruous claims of having descended from noble blood comes to mind.

At the same time, the behavior and values that grated on me the most - elements of groupthink, small-mindedness, etc. - I realized had stronger origins in Japanese peasant (hyakusho) mentality; for example, certainly that Japanese-version of ostracism, murahachibu stands out.

Is this for high school or university?

Anyway, you're unlikely to find anything about the recent law from an academic source - especially one in English. Amazon has a few sources (here's one) that might be relevant, but you have to be vigilant about checking the credentials of the authors. Plus if you buy a lot of them it's going to be quite expensive. Your library might have an inter-library loan program where you can get additional sources.

Have you thought about charting regulation through history? There are many, many sources on prostitution in Japan, especially concerning WWII and anything pre-Meiji. It will help you get your source count up and more importantly, give you a better understanding of the context of where these regulations come from.

My other favorite paper trick is to look at similar situations happening elsewhere. Did someone else pass a similar possession law sometime in recent history? What were the effects of that law. You have to make the conceit in your paper that the situations are not equal (so if the UK passed the law, you have to concede that Japan and the UK have vastly different cultural identities), but it might help you get an idea of what the global perception is about these types of things.

Hope that helps. Good luck on your project.

Hey there,

Here are a few suggestions, just based on personal experience:

• overseas bands touring Japan would do best to consider it for the experience and the friendships forged rather than for profit.
  
  
• the band are not totally up my street but I'd probably go see them if they were playing with other groups. Have you contacted any Tokyo bands of a similar ilk to see if they have live shows you could support, or who would support the band? A Kiwi band came over a few years back and put on a great show with some local Tokyo faces who brought in the crowds and kept everyone in the venue afterwards too.
  
  
• check out this book "Quit Your Band" - a great insight into the Japanese music scene.
  
  https://www.amazon.co.jp/Quit-Musical-Notes-Japanese-Underground/dp/1937220052
  
  Hope that helps some.
  
  

I'll do classical works, since those are what I know best.

Classical works:

Kojiki. One of the recent translations is highly readable. It contains the major native myths and legends, which you will see referenced over and over again in your modern works.

Manyoshu: Earliest surviving collection of native poetry. A partial translation done in the 50s is the one I recommend, as the final English was worked over by an actual English language poet, making it by far the most accessible one around. Poets and topics range far and wide, especially when compared with later classical works.

Tales of Ise: Another one with a recent translation. Provides a good look at the noble aesthetic, romance in classical Japan, etc.

Kokin Wakashu: There are no easy to find translations of this, unfortunately. However, if you were to ask a Japanese scholar what the definitive Japanese classic is, this would be it. All later aesthetics, from literature to art, derive in large part from it in one way or another. It is a collection of poetry from 905 (approx) that epitomizes the new noble aesthetic of the age, and as I said, sets the tone for the next millennium and beyond.

Tale of Genji: The definitive prose classic. Courtly love and romance, political intrigues, all that. There are several full-length English translations (and a few that aren't full length). There are still many adherents to the Arthur Waley version, despite its age. The newer Royall Tyler translation is more thorough and scholarly accurate, however.

Tale of the Heike: Several translations exist, but the recent one by Royall Tyler does a good job of projecting the lyrical quality of the original while maintaining accuracy. Several others exist as well, but the Tyler is probably the easiest to both find and read. Tale of war and upheaval at the end of the 12th century, showing the decline of the nobility and rise of the new warrior class. Probably hard to go from cover to cover with, as there are many names/events/places that are hard to follow for most readers. Spot reading recommended.

Confessions of Lady Nijo: There are a few translations, but the one I have linked is probably the easiest to find. Discusses the life of a woman who served in the imperial courts of the late 13th/early 14th C. and all the trials and tribulations she faced by receiving the favors of the emperor.

Hope this is a good start for you all.

Plus one on the kakinotane (or as this Wikipedia article spells it, kaki no tane: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaki_no_tane). Here's, basically, "the" standard kaki no tane on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kameda-Kakinotane-6PK-Original-5-3-Ounce/dp/B007Y26JRU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415331505&sr=8-1&keywords=kaki+no+tane

OP - if you're mainly catering to Japanese businessmen and not Asian businessmen in general, you may want to avoid the "Asian" snack basket and focus on only actual, Japanese snacks (as in, from Japan, not made in the U.S. versions of Japanese snacks - although that would still be better than general "Asian"). Imagine if you were a businessman and went to a hotel in Japan and they gave you a snack basket of general "Western" snacks (including random German peanuts, Portuguese chocolate, and French cereal). While some people might enjoy a variety of "international snacks," a stodgy businessman might (and I'm emphasizing might because, of course, everyone's different) not appreciate a bunch of unfamiliar snacks, or even be offended by the idea that, being Asian, of course he would like snacks from Asia, regardless of country of origin. Also, whether true or not, China doesn't have a particularly good image for food safety in Japan, so if any of those snacks are Chinese in origin, or even from most other Asian countries, it might not seem very "safe." Again, whether the above concerns are warranted or not, I believe they are ideas that might be shared by many Japanese businessmen, so if you want to play it safe, I'd (again) recommend going with only Japanese snacks. You might also want to add some local snacks - that would be good hospitality in Japanese eyes - maybe a 50/50 mix Japanese and local? Then they can experience the local delights and have familiar things to fall back on.

Edit: Couple other ideas - How about making a Japanese guide to nearby restaurants and stores, with descriptions and maps, etc. I don't know about your clientele, but a lot of them might not speak much English, and doing a good portion of the legwork for them with a Japanese language guide would probably help remove a lot of stress for them. You might even want to include a short phrase guide for doing things like ordering food, etc. - most will probably already have a book for something like that, but it might be helpful, and the effort should be appreciated. Also, getting back to the snacks, depending on how much you want to invest in this, you might want to go with slightly more upscale snacks, including the Japanese ones. Just a thought.

One big upside/downside (depending on your point of view) to globalization is that everything is pretty "samey" in the developed world everywhere. It's hard to find something that will be specifically useful in Japan that she can't just get there if she really needs it. However, there are a few things that I recommend most Americans bring on a short trip:

• Any OTC meds you might want. Don't even bother trying to find comparable meds in Japan unless you read and speak Japanese. Even then, it can be a chore. Allergies? Bring your Zyrtec/Claritin! Headaches? Bring your ibuprofen! And so on. A little care package can go a long way.
  
  
• A coin purse! This one is actually legitimately helpful to have in Japan. It's VERY easy to get overwhelmed with coins your first time there. Having a cute little coin purse to use when you're there can save you a ton of heartache.
  
  
• A smart device with GPS/maps already downloaded. Are you used to transit? If you're Americans and don't live in NYC proper, probably not! Get her a tablet/GPS-enabled music player with pre-loaded (no cellular data!) maps of whatever cities she's in. Download apps for transit systems as well. Guidebooks that have good rundowns on the sometimes incomprehensible Japanese trains/subways/ferries/whatever can be very helpful for first-time travelers.
  
  
• Proper clothes for the season. October in Japan is not October in Los Angeles. It's more like October in Washington, DC. Help her prepare!
  
  
• Call ahead to the banks/credit cards to tell them you're traveling! If you share accounts. Otherwise, remind her to. It's not fun to have to deal with the damn cards when you're dialing abroad and paying $500/minute at the hotel.
  
  
• Plug adapters can be useful if you have anything polarized/grounded (they typically have neither in Japan...) http://www.amazon.com/QUALITY-TRAVEL-ADAPTER-PHILIPPINES-PROTECTION/dp/B0036CS7IQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_a_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0D99FXFW99E2K1P1RBAF
  
  
• A wad of cash! Japan takes credit cards more than I remember back in the early 2000s, but it's still good to have a big wad of cash ready when you land!

I, too, was looking for some really good Japanese history books and in my searches I found that these are among the best: A History of Japan, by George Sansom.

They start with pre-history and go up to 1867. Sansom's stated reason for not continuing his history beyond this year is that he had lived too close to events of the Meiji Restoration (1868) for him to develop a perspective that only distance could supply. For later events, The Making of Modern Japan (Amazon), by Marius B. Jansen, another outstanding scholar of Japanese history, would be a good choice. Since this history begins at 1600, there are overlapping accounts of the Edo period, but from two quite different perspectives.

An alternative presented by t-o-k-u-m-e-i:
>The best overview text in terms of presentation and interpretation for 1600 to the present is Gordon's A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present.

>The Jansen book is also good, but I (and most of the profs I know) feel that Gordon's interpretation is better

In short, this set is a good buy and is likely to remain a standard text for decades to come.

I've only just recently started reading the first book of the series and I find it very insightful. It starts by describing the geography of Japan and how that shaped and molded the early Japanese and their sensibilities.

Amazon Links:
A History of Japan to 1334
A History of Japan, 1334-1615
A History of Japan, 1615-1867

Google Books Previews:
A History of Japan to 1334
A History of Japan, 1334-1615
A History of Japan, 1615-1867

Author:
Sir George Bailey Sansom

Edit:
The author also has a shorter book published earlier which focuses primarily on culture.
Amazon - Japan: A Short Cultural History
Google Books - Japan: A Short Cultural History

Edit2:
Added an alternative suggestion for the history from 1800 onward given by t-o-k-u-m-e-i.

Well, what era are you interested in?

Hands down, the best English overview of the modern era available is A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present by Andrew Gordon. If you want WWII and after, John Dower's War Without Mercy and Embracing Defeat are good places to start. Chalmers Johnson's MITI and the Japanese Miracle isn't fun reading but does a good job of explaining the post war economic boom.

I don't know of any single volume works that are good overviews of specifically the Edo/Tokugawa period. As far as more focused, intelectual histories go, I'm fond of Ooms' Tokugawa Ideology and Najita's Visions of Virtue in Tokugawa Japan

I have no recommendations for the Muromachi, Kamakura, Heian, Nara or Asuka periods. I don't study them and only know them in passing from survey courses.

Faris's Sacred Texts and Burried Treasures does a good job of teaching the controversy about ancient Japanese history, and the origins of the peoples on the islands.

I'm coming at this as someone who is working on a PhD in modern Japanese history right now, so some of these (Najita, Ooms, Faris, Johnson) might be heavier reading than you're looking for.

I'm about to graduate with a degree in Japanese History so I can recommend a lot of books on different topics, but I need to know something more specific. For a broad summarization of Japanese history, I recommend Andrew Gordon's A Modern History of Japan.
Since you're interested in Okinawa (which has been a big part of my focus), I'd recommend Okinawa: Cold War Island ed. by Chalmers Johnson, this book is more rooted in poli-sci. I found Christopher Nelson's Dancing with the Dead an extremely fascinating anthropological account of war memory and trauma in Okinawa. The first chapter of Norma Field's In the Realm of a Dying Emperor focuses on Chibana Shōichi, an Okinawan who burned Hi no Maru at a national sporting event (the rest of the book is really interesting and well written as well). I can plenty of other books depending on what you're interested in. Just let me know :)

This English book includes historical facts, opinion and proofs in line with right wing point of view. This book is good example of you can cherry picking facts in favor of right wing point of view. If you are only familiar with "comfort women =inherently bad" view point then read it, it can give you alternative view point which also supported by facts.

Ad for comfort women on Korean newspaper

payslip


Learn both sides of arguments, think yourself.

The easiest way is to buy the roux blocks like this: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Curry-Sauce-Mix-8-4-Ounce/dp/B0011UGYLM

Boil desired veg and meat and mix in blocks.

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The other way is to make the roux yourself and use curry powder.

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Nobody makes it 100% from scratch, at minimum they use the powder and thicken with roux or cornstarch.

There is also a book on comfort women based on military records, which seems quite factual, unemotional and journalistic.

https://www.amazon.com/Wartime-Military-Records-Comfort-Women-ebook/dp/B01NC0KEB4#customerReviews

This is what we studied in my upper level course:

Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present: Andrew Gordon

http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0195339223