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.

The Handbook of Modern and Contemporary Japanese Women Writers offers a comprehensive overview of women writers in Japan, from the late 19th century to the early 21st. Featuring 24 newly written contributions from scholars in the field--representing expertise from North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia--the Handbook introduces and analyzes works by modern and contemporary women writers that coalesce loosely around common themes, tropes, and genres. Putting writers from different generations in conversation with one another reveals the diverse ways they have responded to similar subjects. Whereas women writers may have shared concerns--the pressure to conform to gendered expectation, the tension between family responsibility and individual interests, the quest for self-affirmation--each writer invents her own approach. As readers will see, we have writers who turn to memoir and autobiography, while others prefer to imagine fabulous fictional worlds. Some engage with the literary classics--whether Japanese, Chinese, or European--and invest their works with rich intertextual allusions. Other writers grapple with colonialism, militarism, nationalism, and industrialization. This Handbook builds a foundation which invites readers to launch their own investigations into women's writing in Japan.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In a place like no other, on an island in the shape of a tear drop, two sisters are born into a family of the oracle. Kamikuu, with creamy skin and almond eyes, is admired far and wide; Namima, small but headstrong, learns to live in her sister's shadow. On her sixth birthday, Kamikuu is presented with a feast of sea-serpent egg soup, sashimi and salted fish, and a string of pure pearls. Kamikuu has been chosen as the next Oracle, while Namima is shocked to discover she must serve the goddess of darkness. So begins an adventure that will take Namima from her first experience of love to the darkness of the underworld. But what happens when she returns to the island for revenge? Natsuo Kirino, the queen of Japanese crime fiction, turns her hand to an exquisitely dark tale based on the Japanese myth of Izanami and Izanagi. A fantastical, fabulous tour-de-force, it is a tale as old as the earth about ferocious love and bitter revenge.

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.