Asian

Written over the course of 1904-1906, Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments...

The Water Margin is one of the most popular classics of early Chinese literature. It tells the vigorous story of 108 characters who, falling foul of the established state authorities, are forced to become outlaws. They form a bandit community in Liangshan Marsh, becoming such a formidable force...

This book offers a complete translation of the Majjhima Nikāya, or Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, one of the major collections of texts in the Pāli Canon, the authorised scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. This collection - among the oldest records of the historical Buddha's original...

Are you on your way towards learning Japanese and need a new challenge? We’re constantly trying to improve and master new skills, and the Japanese language is no exception....

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Shaheen Khan. This definitive recording includes an introduction by J. D. Smith, read by Sagar Arya. The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. It is of immense importance to the culture of the Indian...

Beautiful, haunting, and grotesque, The Carp-Faced Boy and Other Tales offers stories reminiscent of traditional Japanese folktales alongside contemporary horror fiction.

Classic writings from the great Zen master in exquisite versions by Thomas Merton, with a preface by his holiness the Dalai Lama, now in audio for the first time....

The first single, reliable collection of primary material from the source traditions of yoga. Despite the immense popularity of yoga today, there is surprisingly little knowledge of its roots among practitioners. This book brings together, for the first time, the core teachings of yoga in the...

Ramayana must rank as one of the most loved and revered books of all time. A part of India's ancient Vedas, it is a beautiful story of romance and adventure....

舞台は終戦を乗り越え、高度経済成長期をひた走る日本。大本営の作戦立案参謀であった壹岐正は、終戦の詔にを聞き入れず、武装解除をしない関東軍へ説得に向かう最中、ソ連軍に拘束されシベリアに抑留される。

十年におよぶ海外左遷に耐え、本社へ復帰をはたしたものの、恩地への報復の手がゆるむことはなかった。閑職に追いやられ、逆境の日々のなか、ついに「その日」はおとずれる。

パキスタン駐在を終えた恩地を待ち受けていたのは、さらなる報復人事だった。イラン、そして路線の就航もないケニアへの赴任。会社は帰国をちらつかせ、降伏を迫る一方で、露骨な差別人事により組合の分断を図っていた。

大手航空会社「国民航空」社員の恩地元は、まじめで実直な強い信念を持った男である。恩地は半ば強引に就任させられた労働組合委員長として、職場環境の改善を訴えたが、その手法を嫌忌した経営陣からアフリカへと左遷されてしまう。

The Noh theatre of Japan was popularized towards the end of the 14th century. It was heavily influenced by Buddhism in philosophy and style, and was made up of dances performed at Shinto shrines to honor spirits and gods and old lyric poetry....

In The Gateless Gate, one of modern Zen Buddhism’s uniquely influential masters offers classic commentaries on the Mumonkan, one of Zen’s greatest collections of teaching stories.

Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji in the 11th century to entertain the other women in the court. It follows the romantic exploits of the title character, an emperor’s son, as he navigates life in and out of aristocratic society....

Grand Expectations weaves the major political, cultural, and economic events of the period into a superb portrait of America from 1945 through Watergate....

A selection of the very best of Chinese poetry over the course of a thousand years, from 100 years before Christ was born up of the middle ages.

Zen monk Santoka Taneda (1882 - 1940) is one of Japan's most beloved modern poets, famous for his "free-verse" haiku, the dominant style today....

“What I had thought of before as God, I met today in a human being.” Those were the words of the Persian mystic poet Rumi upon meeting the wild dervish Shams Tabriz. And out of their friendship bloomed many of Jelaluddin Rumi’s most inspired verses. On Just Being Here, the acclaimed poet...

David Roy provides a complete and annotated translation of the famous Chin P'ing Mei....

In A Personal Matter, Oe has chosen a difficult, complex though universal subject: how does one face and react to the birth of an abnormal child....

Hojoki is an introspective poem written in the 13th century by the enigmatic Japanese hermit Kamo no Chomei, who as a young man served in the capital as official court poet, but later in life withdrew from society.

From victims to victims to victors, this collection of stories contains intricate details of 13 women who went on to leave their permanent mark on the face of the Mumbai Mafiosi....

The Three Kingdoms is one of the Chinese Noble Classics....

金国内での政争を粘罕が制し、漢人を推戴した傀儡国家・斉が中原に建国された。李富が操る南宋では、趙構が『抗金』の檄を飛ばし、皇太子にしんを冊立する。一方、梁山泊は西域との交易を順調に続け、さらに富を増やし始めていた。

Haikus are poems that are formulated in five to seven syllables and are primarily used in the Asian cultures.

Haiku God invites listeners on a journey of further discovering God through the art of haiku poetry. Haiku is a traditional Japanese style of artistic writing. It consists of three lines with a total of seventeen syllables—five in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. This concise format allows for the expression of profound spiritual concepts in a straightforward and accessible manner.

作者は「三田文学」を編集し、自らも筆を執って文壇を牽引するなど将来を嘱望されたが、交通事故により34歳で急逝した短編の名手。この作品は理屈抜きにラストが面白く確実に聴き手を唸らせる。

短編ですが見事な作品です。短い作品の中にたくさんのキーワードがちりばめられています。一度聞き流しただけではこの作品の見事さがわかりません。聴けば聴くほど、この作品の見事さが理解できます。

ちょっとザワっとさせられる山川方夫の作品。心当たりのある方はこの作品を知らないままお過ごしください。最後に仕掛けが用意されているのはお馴染みの山川ワールドです。

1963（昭和38）年1月1日の「ヒッチコック・マガジン　第五巻第一号」に掲載された作品です。女にとっての始まりは、男にとっての終り。この作品を聴いてぞっとした男性は少なからずいる事でしょう。女性にとっては、、、どう感じるのでしょうか。

山川方夫、23歳の時に「三田文学」に発表した作品。後に発表されるショートショートのミステリー作品とは内容を異にした作品だが、さらりと聴いてしまうと若者の恋愛物語で終わってしまう。作品の中に描かれている「色」をキーワードに聴いてほしい作品です。

煙草とチョコレート。それを口にしながら殺害した死体の処理方法を考える「私」。最後のチョコレートを口に放り込むと、部屋の蒸し暑さがかえってきた。

心の奥に突き刺さったままでいる一本の棘。年月がたっても消えていかない一つの記憶。記憶の源を訪ねた彼がそこで得たものは・・・。山川方夫ならではの物語の展開と同時に、作品の色彩描写も同時にお楽しみ下さい。