Edward Richie Bücher

Resurrecting and restoring the sacred, mythological, and cultural origins of medicine and psychotherapy, Edward Tick, Ph.D., explores the soul-healing practices missing in our contemporary health systems

A self-portrait devastating in its honesty...written passionately and without a thought to how readers might judge her actions.--Donald Keene Gossamer Years is a remarkably frank diary written by an unnamed noblewoman in Tenth-century Japan--the same period as Murasaki Shikibu's celebrated Tale of Genji. In her diary, the author describes her tempestuous and unhappy marriage and growing indignation at the many rival wives and mistresses taken by her husband, as was commonplace at the time. Too impetuous to play the role of a subsidiary wife, the author protests the marriage system in one of Japanese literature's earliest portrayals of the difficulties faced by women in a male-dominated society. Skillfully translated by Edward Seidensticker, a preeminent scholar of Japanese literature, this book represents an extraordinary flowering of realistic expression in ancient Japan and an attempt, unique for its age, to treat the human condition with frankness and honesty. A new introduction by Japanese literary scholar Dennis Washburn provides valuable insights into the author's world and examines the book's lasting importance. With dozens of beautiful images illustrating court life in the Heian period, Gossamer Years is a timeless and intimate glimpse into married life and social mores in traditional Japan.

"This is a freaking great book and I highly recommend it...if you are passionate about the history of 'the world's greatest city,' this book is something you must have in your collection." --JapanThis.com Edward Seidensticker's A History of Tokyo 1867-1989 tells the fascinating story of Tokyo's transformation from the Shogun's capital in an isolated Japan to the largest and the most modern city in the world. With the same scholarship and sparkling style that won him admiration as the foremost translator of great works of Japanese literature, Seidensticker offers the reader his brilliant vision of an entire society suddenly wrenched from an ancient feudal past into the modern world in a few short decades, and the enormous stresses and strains that this brought with it. Originally published as two volumes, Seidensticker's masterful work is now available in a handy, single paperback volume. Whether you're a history buff or Tokyo-bound traveler looking to learn more, this insightful book offers a fascinating look at how the Tokyo that we know came to be. This edition contains an introduction by Donald Richie, the acknowledged expert on Japanese culture who was a close personal friend of the author, and a preface by geographer Paul Waley that puts the book into perspective for modern readers.