What can ecocriticism do when engaging with Japanese literature and culture? This edited volume Ecocriticism in Japan attempts to answer this question. The contributors place themselves inside the domestic fields of production of works of art and express their concerns and ideas for the English-speaking spheres of the world. Taking up subjects ranging from the eleventh-century novel The Tale of Genji, an early twentieth-century writer Taoka Reiun, the post-WWII atomic bombing literature by women, the internationally-renowned Abe Kobo, the Nobel laureate Oe Kenzaburo, the world-widely popular writer Murakami Haruki, the Minamata writer Ishimure Michiko, and the anime artist Miyazaki Hayao to the recent TV anime Coppelion, a production that foresaw a devastating nuclear disaster after the Great East Japan Earthquake, this volume extricates and discusses innate, complex values of Japanese people and culture in terms of nature and environment.

Everybody has a dream, and for junior high school student Sho Kazamatsuri, that dream is simple: he wants to get off the bench and play soccer. An inspiration to everyone he meets, the indefatigable spark plug won't quit until he becomes the best soccer player he can be! But soccer is a team sport and that means Sho must also work extra hard at being the best teammate he can be. No matter how good he gets, he still needs the support of 10 other players to score a single goal. One player, however, has vowed to single-handedly crush the upstarts at Josui Junior High. His name is Ryoichi Tenjo and he is easily the best soccer player Sho has ever seen. Nobody has been able to stop Ryoichi in the past. Now, it's up to Team Josui to teach the arrogant hothead a lesson in humility.

What can ecocriticism do when engaging with Japanese literature and culture? This edited volume Ecocriticism in Japan attempts to answer this question. The contributors place themselves inside the domestic fields of production of works of art and express their concerns and ideas for the English-speaking spheres of the world. Taking up subjects ranging from the eleventh-century novel The Tale of Genji, an early twentieth-century writer Taoka Reiun, the post-WWII atomic bombing literature by women, the internationally-renowned Abe Kōbō, the Nobel laureate Ōe Kenzaburō, the world-widely popular writer Murakami Haruki, the Minamata writer Ishimure Michiko, and the anime artist Miyazaki Hayao to the recent TV anime Coppelion, a production that foresaw a devastating nuclear disaster after the Great East Japan Earthquake, this volume extricates and discusses innate, complex values of Japanese people and culture in terms of nature and environment.

Everybody has a dream, and for junior high school student Sho Kazamatsuri, that dream is simple: he wants to get off the bench and play soccer. An inspiration to everyone he meets, the indefatigable spark plug won't quit until he becomes the best soccer player he can be! To that end, Sho seeks guidance from everyone he meets. Whether it's Ryoichi Tenjo, the cocky one-man scoring machine, or Seiji Fujishiro, his former teammate, there's always somebody who can teach Sho a little bit more about the game he loves so much. But, believe it or not, Sho was not always such a soccer nut. There was a time when he didn't know the World Cup from a sippy cup. Find out what ignited Sho's passion for soccer in the first place...and meet his grade-school mentor who encouraged him from the beginning!