In one of my cultural-insight books on Mexico *Why Mexicans Think & Behave the Way They Do*] I quote a well-known saying, *Como Mexico no hay dos * There is no other country like Mexico ]. This saying is even truer in the case of Japan because Japanese history is much longer; its culture is far more distinctive, and the exotic and erotic aspects of Japan are far more fundamental. The* ori*ginal core values and behavior of the Japanese emanated from Shint precepts, their native religion, which was based on the imperatives of nature, including the importance and role of the sensual and the sexual. Buddhism, the Samurai Code and Confucianism were later added to this mix, resulting in a lifestyle that, despite some very harsh elements, allowed the Japanese to pursue sensual, emotional, intellectual and spiritual pleasures to a degree well beyond what existed in most other countries. Fundamental changes have occurred in Japan since the fall of the Shogunate in 1867, but the Japanese-and both foreign residents and visitors-can still indulge in a variety of activities that are unique to Japan. This book highlights cultural, historical and present-day aspects of Japan that provide a lifestyle that is both fascinating and seductive to foreigners, especially Westerners.

A Different Way of Viewing and Doing Japan Most people who visit Japan as tourists are kept on a pre-set course that takes them to and by a variety of attractions, limiting their experiences to a small sampling of the diversity and richness that make up the essence of life in Japan. The depth and breadth of the whole Japan experience is, in fact, incredible and cannot be packaged into several days or even several weeks. However, even visitors who are bound by time constraints and well-beaten tours can enliven and enrich their experiences by participating in at least a few unique customs and practices. This ranges from visiting areas in Tokyo and elsewhere that have retained the look and flavor of Japan's feudal shogunate era, to spending time in one or more of the remaining castles that were the homes and fortresses of fief clan lords from the 1600s to 1870. This book gets down to the nitty-gritty on the frame of mind you need to have for a rewarding visit-or stay-in Japan; on what you should know before you get there; on the effect seasons will have on your visit; on the background of Japan's cultural attractions; and on off-beat things that regular tourist itineraries do not cover. These insights and information add a special dimension to the Japan experience even if it is just for a few days. The book also includes selected Japanese language vocabulary and common everyday expressions that will add a fourth dimension to your visit. All of these words and expressions are rendered in Romanized letters and in English phonetics that duplicate their Japanese pronunciation, meaning that when you speak or read the phonetics out loud the sounds come out "in Japanese " Here are some examples: Good Morning Ohayo-gozaimasu Oh-hah-yoe-go-zie-mahss] Used from early morning until about 10am when you are meeting an individual for the first time that morning. Hello / good day, good afternoon Konnichi wa Kone-nee-chee wah] Used from about 10am until dusk or just before. Good Evening Komban wa Kome-bahn wah] Used from the onset of dusk until midnight. What is your name? Onamae wa nan desu ka? Oh-nah-my wah nahn dess kah? How are you? Ikaga desu ka? Ee-kah-gah dess kah?] I'm fine Genki desu Gane-kee dess] Being able to say a number of key things in Japanese will totally change the flavor of your visit. You can easily memorize the simpler greetings and expressions in advance.

The Bizarre and the Wondrous from the Land of the Rising Sun highlights unique aspects of Japan-ancient and modern-that have made the country fascinating to Westerners since they first stumbled upon the islands in 1543. These unusual attractions range from high-tech robots that do such things as act as tourist guides and perform delicate surgery, to festivals that go back more than two thousand years and strike many foreign visitors as being bizarre. Among the celebrations that could be labeled as bizarre are annual fertility festivals that feature authentic-looking replicas of the male penis carved in wood, from purse-size versions to ones that are over two meters long and weigh up to 800 pounds. The best known of the fertility festivals is the one staged each March 15 by the Tagata Shrine near the city of Nagoya. The largest wooden penis is carved anew each year, and after the ceremony is kept on display in the main shrine building until the following year when it is sold to private buyers. On the day of the festival the large version of the erect male organ is pulled through the streets on a wheeled cart by up to 12 men to the delight of raucous crowds and child-bearing-age women who try to touch the replica in order to increase their chances of becoming pregnant. Other penis replicas are edible versions made like candy and cookies that are sold to visitors as snacks and souvenirs to take home. Also on the incredible side is a legend that the young Jewish man now known and worshipped by Christians as Jesus Christ the son of God did not die on the cross-that, in fact, he lived and died in Herai Village in Japan. According to the Christian Bible Jesus was born in Israel. There is no further mention of him in the Bible until he is 12 years old when he appears at a Jewish synagogue and lambasts the rabbis for their un-Christian like behavior. The next mention of Jesus in the Bible is when he is in his early 30s and shows up at the Jordan River to be baptized by John, a well-known Jewish preacher. According to the Japanese legend, Jesus and his brother Isukiri spent most of those missing years in Japan, returning to Judea when Jesus was 34 years old. The story goes on to say that after he was betrayed to the Roman authorities he fled back to Japan, and it was his brother who was crucified. The story adds that Jesus married a Japanese girl, became a rice farmer, and lived the rest of his life in Herai later renamed Shingo]. There is a tomb in Herai that has long been known as the burial place of Jesus Jehova], the son of Mary. In the book, De Mente goes on to explain how the legend and the tomb became known to present-day Japanese authorities and was publicized in English for the first time in 1935. De Mente says he learned about the story in Tokyo in the early 1950s when he was editor of a monthly cultural magazine, including seeing a photograph of documentary evidence from a museum in Herai. Other fascinating stories in the book include how the infamous secret agents and assassins known as ninja neen-jah] became a major part of Japanese history; why and how Japan became the first nation in the world to have a national network of roadside inns spaced one day's march apart; why the Japanese are so skilled at producing arts and crafts of extraordinary beauty; why single Japanese girls and men have a hard time hooking up; why Japan's izakaya are more fun than Irish pubs; why rice and other vegetables grow on top of buildings; how the Japanese came up with a new reason for wearing clothes...and some 50-plus other fascinating stories.

ARIZONA'S INDIAN COUNTRY --Twenty-eight percent of Arizona, the 6th largest of the American states, is INDIAN COUNTRY. Arizona was Indian Country thousands of years before the first Europeans set foot on the North and South American continents, and it is still Indian Country today Seventeen tribes live on 23 Reservations that encompass a total of over 20 million acres that include some of the most diverse and spectacular scenery on planet Earth. Many of Arizona's most amazing attractions-cultural, geographic, historical and recreational-are in its Indian Country In fact, Arizona owes much of its fame to several serendipitous circumstances: the great Grand Canyon, its spectacular desert and mountain scenery, its climate, and its Indian nations. This is a historical, economic, social, cultural and recreational guide to the state's Native American people...an amazing story of their survival in the face of incredible odds and their growing importance in Arizona.

Arizona is unique among American states, not only in its geography and geology but also in the diversity of its climate, in its indigenous animal and plant life, and in the history of its first inhabitants-communities of Indians whose ancestors arrived on the scene more than 20,000 years ago. Arizona is also the youngest of the contiguous mainland states of America...precisely because of these very same factors. Its climate, geography and Indian tribes were major barriers that prevented the territory from becoming widely populated by the Spanish, Mexicans and early European-Americans, and from being used as a cross-roads by American fur/pelt trappers, gold prospectors and settlers who began pushing west in the mid-1800s. Now, it is exactly these same factors that make Arizona a great place to live as well as a world-famous travel destination. The stories of how Arizona finally became what it is today are as amazing as the lay and the beauty of the land. Great background reading for residents and visitors alike, and an ideal gift.