No comments about HIROHITO: An entry from Thomson Gale's <i>West's Encyclopedia of American Law</i>.

No comments about Tail Gunner Takes Command.

No comments about Edwin Dozier of Japan: Man of the Way.

2 comments about Makiguchi the Value Creator: Revolutionary Japanese Educator and Founder of Soka Gakkai.

1. Tsunesaburo Makiguchi is one of Japan's most significant yet perhaps least-recognized educators. His fame as the founder of Soka Gakkai has somewhat eclipsed his reputation as an educator. (Soka Gakkai International is now the largest Buddhist organization in the world with over 12 million members in 128 nations.)

   Mr. Makiguchi had spent a lifetime developing his "value-creating" educational philosophy from his experience as teacher, principal, and teacher of teachers before he founded the Buddhist lay organization.

   A man ahead of his time, Mr. Makiguchi made proposals over sixty years ago that are being made anew today. He was staunchly opposed to the rote memorization that was the backbone of Japanese pedagogy in his day (and largely remains so today), and he called for greater involvement by community members in the education of children.

   The author, himself an educator, gives a clear and vivid picture of the magnitude and revolutionary quality of Mr. Makiguchi's theories. Until this book, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi has gone virtually unrecognized in the West because so little information on non-Western educators has been available in English. This work fills a need at a time when Mr. Makiguchi's impact on education and society is of increasing importance.




2. Tsunesaburo Makiguchi is one of Japan's most significant yet perhaps least-recognized educators. His fame as the founder of Soka Gakkai has somewhat eclipsed his reputation as an educator. (Soka Gakkai International is now the largest Buddhist organization in the world with over 12 million members in 128 nations.)

   Mr. Makiguchi had spent a lifetime developing his "value-creating" educational philosophy from his experience as teacher, principal, and teacher of teachers before he founded the Buddhist lay organization.

   A man ahead of his time, Mr. Makiguchi made proposals over sixty years ago that are being made anew today. He was staunchly opposed to the rote memorization that was the backbone of Japanese pedagogy in his day (and largely remains so today), and he called for greater involvement by community members in the education of children.

   The author, himself an educator, gives a clear and vivid picture of the magnitude and revolutionary quality of Mr. Makiguchi's theories. Until this book, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi has gone virtually unrecognized in the West because so little information on non-Western educators has been available in English. This work fills a need at a time when Mr. Makiguchi's impact on education and society is of increasing importance.

No comments about Rynosuke Akutagawa Anthology 24th Volume Appendix Biography More Light On This Document Japanese Language Book.

1 comments about Diary of a Girl in Changi 1941-1945.

1. This book, this author is an inspiration to life itself ! I found, once I started, I could NOT put the book down, and then attended one of her talks and the finer details that came through .. truly amazing, inspiring and awesome ! As you read, YOU are in Changi, YOU are there, feeling every emotion that was felt by the author, crying, laughing .. this is the BEST book I have ever read and I class it up in the levels of the Diary of Anne Frank and more !

No comments about The Hatoyama Dynasty: Japanese Political Leadership Through the Generations.

5 comments about Escape From Hell.

1. This is quite a book.
   
   Nominally it is the story of the war time exploits of Lew Bishop, an Ace and Vice Squadron Leader of the Flying Tigers. This part of his story is broken into two parts, the first part of the book begins when he bails out of his P-40 over what is now Vietnam and talks about his three years as a prisoner of the Japanese, his subsequent escape and return to the U.S. This part was written by Lew Bishop.
   
   The second part goes back to his earlier life both in the United States and his activities in China. Remember that this was before the U.S. actually entered the war. The Flying Tigers, technically called the American Volunteer Group (AVG), were American military pilots who left the American military with the promise that they could return with senority continuing through their Chinese service. They were sort of mercenaries, sort of part of the Chinese Air Force, and sort of a covert action of the United States.
   
   While this part of the book is not unlike others on the Flying Tigers, it is very well done and has numerous side panels that provide very informative insight into points like Roosevelt's role in the establishment of the AVG, the theories of Gen. Chennault and the way he was treated by the military establishment (the military does not treat original thinkers very well, and even worse when they are proven correct).
   
   Finally the third part of the book goes into life after Lew Bishop returned to the U.S. This is a story of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder before we even knew what it was. Mr. Bishop was never really able to put his life back into order. The effect on his life and that of his daughter (who wrote the rest of this book) is described tenderly and with insight.
   
   Really not until after Mr. Bishop's death did his daughter begin the 'journey of discovery' (raising three boys of her own took a lot of her time) that led to this book. I, for one, am glad that she made the journey and that she has shared it with us.



2. I have been a "fan" of the Flying Tigers story for many years and have a substantial collection of books written by members of that marvelous group. I have also known several members. I am a retired AF pilot with 34 years of service and three combat tours behind me.
   
   I find this book a wonderful gap filler in the history of the Tiger pilots in that other books made regerence to the shoot down of Lewis Bishop, but no one knew what happened to him following that event. The telling of his story is an essential part of the history of, not only the Flying Tigers, but also of that phase of the war in the Pacific. His heroic survival in the face of terrible odds to the contrary is a great testimony to the power of the human spirit. Shiela Irwin has done a superb job of her research in putting together this fascinating story of her father's survival and the traumatic results of his abusive treatment at the hands of the Japanese while a POW. A wonderful addition to the history of that era.



3. I have read most of the books and articles written by those who were in Burma and China with the American Volunteer Group just before and at the beginning World War II, and those who were not. This book is easily among the best of both genres. "Escape from Hell" includes both an account written by 3rd Squadron, Hell's Angles, Vice-Squadron Leader, Lewis Bishop, and by his daughter, Shiela Bishop Irwin. Lewis Bishop describes in the first three chapters of the book bailing out of his plane on May 17, 1942 while leading a mission over railroad installations at Lao Kay in French Indochina (now Viet Nam) and his next three years as a POW. He wrote the manuscript in 1945 and 1946. Shiela accompanies this narrative with additional information in text boxes and footnotes.
   
   The next three chapters are written by Shiela about her father's formative years and his experiences with the AVG up to the time of becoming a POW. These well researched chapters, as well as the ones that follow, are also enhanced with informative text boxes and footnotes. While I doubt Shiela considers herself a scholar, this is certainly a scholarly book. It includes a brief history and background of the AVG Flying Tigers, many photographs and reproductions of documents, a bibliography, appendices, and an index.
   
   Chapters 7 through 9 discuss the life of Lewis Bishop after he returned to the United States. Drawing on research done on POWs in wars over the last 60 years, Shiela both sheds light on the life of her father and her own experience of him as a father and as a human being who had gone through experiences most of us can only faintly imagine. In the final chapter Shiela provides a personal account of her relationship with her father and how writing the book was process of discovery for her.
   
   I recommend this very readable book to anyone who has an interest in the AVG, POWs, the China-India-Burma Theater, World War II, or the exploration of the relationship between a father and his daughter.



4. This is a great story and a very readable book. Its a well put together story about Lew Bishop and the authors relationship to him. The author did a great job with this. I recommend it.



5. Escape from Hell is clearly a labor of love undertaken with skill and dedication. It is much more than a story of war and soldiers, it is a story of the human condition as seen through the life of one man. The author is to be applauded for taking on this task and for seeing it through to such a resoundingly successful conclusion.

2 comments about Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song (Harvard East Asian Monographs).

1. This may be the only English-language book on the Enka genre, about which it is difficult to find any guides or other information unless you are fluent in the Japanese language. Dr. Yano's approach to this (sadly underappreciated) genre is more from a scholarly approach than as a "fan" of the music, by her own admission, but this book provides a wealth of information about the history, lyrics and visual style of Enka music and its performers. Personally I would have liked to have learned about the "stars" of this genre, particular Hibari Misora, undoubtedly its most famous performer. Also, Enka does exist in the US, though through mostly Japanese-American fans and performers, but this may be another subject of study. Enka may be a declining musical art form, but there are some notable younger performers, like Kitayama Takeshi and Komura Miki. I'm very grateful to Dr. Yano for the information provided by her book!



2. This book contained everything that I needed to do my research for the genre of Japanese enka. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to get to the whys and how the genre is different for others. It is a very detailed book.

No comments about Chikuma River Sketches (Shaps Library of Translations).