The most complete autobiography of Yoshida Shigeru available in English, this expanded translation of his memoirs traces the remarkable life and times of one of Japan's most powerful and influential figures. Yoshida (1878-1967), who served in China and Europe as a career diplomat, closely linked with the key political leaders who shaped the world in Japan's most tumultuous years in the first half of the twentieth century. He returned to politics to rebuild Japan as a five-time prime minister after the devastation of World War II. Yoshida retired from the Japanese Foreign Ministry in 1939 with the intention of leading a quiet life. Yet he knew the winds of war were stirring and presciently began behind-the-scenes maneuvering to avoid the calamitous Pacific War. Soon after Japan's defeat, Yoshida amassed the political power to form his own cabinet. Sandwiched between Japan's interests and major reforms advanced by MacArthur's occupation forces, Yoshida boldly pushed through many essential reforms, laying the foundation for his country's reentry into the global community. Richly laced with historical detail, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in twentieth-century Japan. Exploring Yoshida's and Japan's linked histories, the book traces Yoshida's lengthy tenure in China, his travel abroad as a member of Japan's mission to conclude World War I, the interwar years spent as a high-ranking diplomat in Europe, his role in the days leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack, his view on the loss of war, his insights into MacArthur's character, Japan's postwar economic woes, the new constitution, the threat of communism, the imperial system, and the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1958 that guaranteed Japan's sovereignty.

Acoustic Emission (AE) technique is considered as a Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) method used in monitoring and in the inspection of structural flaws. The AE signal is the generation of the rapid release of strain energy that usually occurs within the material during crack propagation or burst of gas leakage. One of the applications of this method is to monitor possible flaws that might take place specifically in pipeline installations. This could also be used to locate the leak source and effectively characterize the development of defects such as deformation, corrosion, cracks, etc. Thus, the acoustic emission signal is used to analyze the attenuation of elastic waves derived from the pipeline leak because according to study the AE amplitude is proportional to the leak energy. From among the leak detection methods, the AE technique can observe defect in real time situation and it is very sensitive to any form of flaws. Finally, its application is considered as an efficient and cost-effective testing process among other relevant methods.