The book explores the writing of Japanese authors whose work has previously been underrepresented in English-language publications. The contributions feature from a diverse group of scholars from across the spectrum of the academic arena, from different regions of the world, and from different training backgrounds. Thanks to the diverse set of contributors, the book provides a fresh perspective to the ways in which we read and receive contemporary Japanese fiction.

The book explores the writing of Japanese authors whose work has previously been underrepresented in English-language publications. The contributions feature from a diverse group of scholars from across the spectrum of the academic arena, from different regions of the world, and from different training backgrounds. Thanks to the diverse set of contributors, the book provides a fresh perspective to the ways in which we read and receive contemporary Japanese fiction.

Focusing on the future network architecture and its main principles, Converging NGN Wireline and Mobile 3G Networks with IMS provides a comprehensive view of the methods, functions, network elements, and the interfaces among them that enable the building of a service agnostic and access agnostic session control layer based on the IMS standards. After an introduction to IMS principles with market trends, technological innovations, migration issues, and global standards, the book describes converged session control and multimedia handling with ID management, service profiles, and event and applications triggering as well as admission procedures for different types of access networks. Subsequent chapters tackle the all-important aspects of IP charging mechanisms, service-based quality of service, security, border control, and legacy services, enabling a thorough appreciation of the full network requirements. Wherever possible, the author points out the convergence of standards and details different specifications and terminology for TISPAN and 3GPP. Delivering deep insight into the role of IMS in fixed line and mobile networks, this book explains the new technologies from concepts to detailed techniques to give a clear understanding of how the next generation of converged communication can be achieved with managed quality, security, and chargeability.

Alluring, nurturing, dangerous, and vulnerable the yamamba, or Japanese mountain witch, has intrigued audiences for centuries. What is it about the fusion of mountains with the solitary old woman that produces such an enigmatic figure? And why does she still call to us in this modern, scientific era? Co-editors Rebecca Copeland and Linda C. Ehrlich first met the yamamba in the powerful short story "The Smile of the Mountain Witch" by acclaimed woman writer Oba Minako. The story revealed the compelling way creative women can take charge of misogynistic tropes, invert them, and use them to tell new stories of female empowerment. This unique collection represents the creative and surprising ways artists and scholars from North America and Japan have encountered the yamamba.

Focusing on the future network architecture and its main principles, Converging NGN Wireline and Mobile 3G Networks with IMS provides a comprehensive view of the methods, functions, network elements, and the interfaces among them that enable the building of a service agnostic and access agnostic session control layer based on the IMS standards.

After an introduction to IMS principles with market trends, technological innovations, migration issues, and global standards, the book describes converged session control and multimedia handling with ID management, service profiles, and event and applications triggering as well as admission procedures for different types of access networks. Subsequent chapters tackle the all-important aspects of IP charging mechanisms, service-based quality of service, security, border control, and legacy services, enabling a thorough appreciation of the full network requirements. Wherever possible, the author points out the convergence of standards and details different specifications and terminology for TISPAN and 3GPP.

Delivering deep insight into the role of IMS in fixed line and mobile networks, this book explains the new technologies from concepts to detailed techniques to give a clear understanding of how the next generation of converged communication can be achieved with managed quality, security, and chargeability.

On an island in the shape of a teardrop live two sisters. One is admired far and wide, the other lives in her shadow. One is the Oracle, the other is destined for the Underworld. But what will happen when she returns to the island? Based on the Japanese myth of Izanami and Izanagi, The Goddess Chronicle is a fantastical tour de force about ferocious love and bitter revenge. The Myths series brings together some of the world's finest writers, each of whom has retold a myth in a contemporary and memorable way. Authors in the series include Karen Armstrong, Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, David Grossman, Natsuo Kirino, Alexander McCall Smith, Philip Pullman, Ali Smith and Jeanette Winterson.

The first anthology of its kind, "The Modern Murasaki" brings the vibrancy and rich imagination of women's writing from the Meiji period to English-language readers. Along with traditional prose, the editors have chosen and carefully translated short stories, plays, poetry, speeches, essays, and personal journal entries. Selected readings include writings by the public speaker Kishida Toshiko, the dramatist Hasegawa Shigure, the short-fiction writer Shimizu Shikin, the political writer Tamura Toshiko, and the novelists Miyake Kaho, Higuchi Ichiyo, Tazawa Inabune, Kitada Usurai, Nogami Yaeko, and Mizuno Senko. The volume also includes a thorough introduction to each reading, an extensive index listing historical, social, and literary concepts, and a comprehensive guide to further research.

The fierce tenor and bold content of these texts refute the popular belief that women of this era were passive and silent. A vital addition to courses in women's studies and Japanese literature and history, "The Modern Murasaki" is a singular resource for students and scholars.

Diva Nation explores the constructed nature of female iconicity in Japan. From ancient goddesses and queens to modern singers and writers, this edited volume critically reconsiders the female icon, tracing how she has been offered up for emulation, debate or censure. The research in this book culminates from curiosity over the insistent presence of Japanese female figures who have refused to sit quietly on the sidelines of history. The contributors move beyond archival portraits to consider historically and culturally informed diva imagery and diva lore. The diva is ripe for expansion, fantasy, eroticization, and playful reinvention, while simultaneously presenting a challenge to patriarchal culture. Diva Nation asks how the diva disrupts or bolsters ideas about nationhood, morality, and aesthetics.

Diva Nation explores the constructed nature of female iconicity in Japan. From ancient goddesses and queens to modern singers and writers, this edited volume critically reconsiders the female icon, tracing how she has been offered up for emulation, debate or censure. The research in this book culminates from curiosity over the insistent presence of Japanese female figures who have refused to sit quietly on the sidelines of history. The contributors move beyond archival portraits to consider historically and culturally informed diva imagery and diva lore. The diva is ripe for expansion, fantasy, eroticization, and playful reinvention, while simultaneously presenting a challenge to patriarchal culture. Diva Nation asks how the diva disrupts or bolsters ideas about nationhood, morality, and aesthetics.

Most Japanese literary historians have suggested that the Meiji Period (1868-1912) was devoid of women writers but for the brilliant exception of Higuchi Ichiyo (1872-1896). Rebecca Copeland challenges this claim by examining in detail the lives and literary careers of three of Ichiyo's peers, each representative of the diversity and ingenuity of the period: Miyake Kaho (1868-1944), Wakamatsu Shizuko (1864-1896), and Shimizu Shikin (1868-1933). In a carefully researched introduction, Copeland establishes the context for the development of female literary expression. She follows this with chapters on each of the women under consideration. Miyake Kaho, often regarded as the first woman writer of modern Japan, offers readers a vision of the female vitality that is often overlooked when discussing the Meiji era. Wakamatsu Shizuko, the most prominent female translator of her time, had a direct impact on the development of a modern written language for Japanese prose fiction. Shimizu Shikin reminds readers of the struggle women endured in their efforts to balance their creative interests with their social roles. Interspersed throughout are excerpts from works under discussion, most never before translated, offering an invaluable window into this forgotten world of women's writing.

The first anthology of its kind, "The Modern Murasaki" brings the vibrancy and rich imagination of women's writing from the Meiji period to English-language readers. Along with traditional prose, the editors have chosen and carefully translated short stories, plays, poetry, speeches, essays, and personal journal entries. Selected readings include writings by the public speaker Kishida Toshiko, the dramatist Hasegawa Shigure, the short-fiction writer Shimizu Shikin, the political writer Tamura Toshiko, and the novelists Miyake Kaho, Higuchi Ichiyo, Tazawa Inabune, Kitada Usurai, Nogami Yaeko, and Mizuno Senko. The volume also includes a thorough introduction to each reading, an extensive index listing historical, social, and literary concepts, and a comprehensive guide to further research.

The fierce tenor and bold content of these texts refute the popular belief that women of this era were passive and silent. A vital addition to courses in women's studies and Japanese literature and history, "The Modern Murasaki" is a singular resource for students and scholars.