Bøger udgivet af Babel Press U.S.A.

This is the first complete English translation of BASHO'S SEVEN ANTHOLOGIES, which consists of seven haik anthologies made and compiled by Matsuo Basho (1644 -1694) and his disciples. Basho was the most celebrated haik master in the Edo Period (1603 -1868), and the author of A Long and Narrow Road and other travel pieces－now the internationally renowned poet of Japan. He traveled, taught haik, had haikai meetings, and led his disciples to a new style of poetry. Their works of haik were compiled into several anthologies. Among others, these seven anthologies (A Winter Day, A Spring Day, Waste Land, Hisago, Salmino, A Charcoal Bag, and Zok Salmino) represent the highest achievement of the haiku poetry of the Basho School－a fine selection of haik poems and linked verses (haikai). The works of Basho and other masters takes us to the golden age of haik, uncovering the beauty of the simple-style poetry, the development of haik literature, and above all, the world of linked verse (haikai) unknown to readers outside Japan. With a wealth of newly translated works of haik, this is the book for all who love poetry, especially the haik. For readers with no knowledge of haik, this book includes an introduction of haik literature, Basho's biography, notes and commentaries.

On a beautiful marsh, still as a mirror, there bloomed an ear-shaped flower. The Flower becomes deeply troubled to hear frogs laughing about her curious appearance. Then the Flower learns of other creatures' hardships, and begins to wonder why they all experience such sadness and suffering. The Flower inquires others that surround her, "Why? Why do sadness and suffering exist for all beings?" The hints the Flower receives--from The Snowflake, the Full Moon, the Seahorse, the Flower Queen, the Oak Tree--all give significance to her revelation. What would it be? This is a story that sheds light, through the wisdom of all beings on sadness and suffering, onto life and benevolence of all beings. (Though this book is a sequel, it can be fully enjoyed by itself.)

Every Little Thing is a collection of interrelated short stories that begins with a young boy at a pet shop buying a "defected" stag beetle, an incident that serves as a springboard for various other interconnections that ripple through the lives of the book's characters. They include a junior high school girl who is secretly ashamed that she lives a much less privileged life than her best friend; a pair of shy high school students trying to improve their image in the eyes of their classmates; a college student who works nights as a bartender and finds herself at a crossroads in life; and a career-driven woman who is beginning to question the professional choices she has made. In this life-affirming book, there are no characters with unfortunate lives, only characters with unfortunate outlooks. Personal handicaps-such as relative poverty, cripplingly introverted personalities, and physical disabilities-are not obstacles that need to be overcome, but qualities that give each character their unique identity. As each character grows through the pages of this book, you will realize that their stories are interwoven with each other and find yourself delving more deeply into the world of Every Little Thing. Listen to a free audio reading of the first story, "The Boy and the Beetles," here: http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnBXMUOcSoo

In the 2 million years of human history, the human race set out on the path of civilization some 10,000 years ago. Now it is facing a variety of problems for the first time in its history, and this trend is increasing rapidly recently. Why is this happening? The problems are all caused by increased global population. While the earth has a limit, the population is booming explosively, causing endless desires of people, expansion of industrial production, mass automobile production, excessive speculative investing, limitless study tasks, disturbed human minds, economical competition, armament competition, ceaseless nationalism, and fights over resources. All these events appear to have no end, and humans will continue to expand their activities explosively as if the earth could grow larger to accommodate such activities. This would soon let humans reach the limit of the tolerable range of the ecology of the earth. Why is this crisis happening at all? How can we climb out of it? This book gives you the reason and the solution. All phenomena occurring in the human society are, as a matter of course, caused because humans exist. Without humans, nothing would occur. This means that, in our modern complicated society, all problems are interconnected like tangled threads without proper order. Once we give proper consideration to the existence of humans since their beginning, and following orders systematically, everything will become perfectly recognizable. You will clearly understand how the earth and humans are deeply interrelated as if you have unraveled a tangled thread.

This is a story based on historical facts. During World War I, there was a prisoner-of-war camp in western Japan called Bando. It was the only POW camp in the world where the captors and captives, as well as the residents in surrounding areas, developed friendships. A German POW named Klaus Berger, who belonged to the music troupe, discovered the significant role music plays in times of conflicts. A few decades later, the Nazi regime took advantage of music in the most horrific way, making it one of the saddest uses of music in the history of mankind. Klaus volunteers to go to Auschwitz in an attempt to save Hannah, a Jewish violinist placed in the camp orchestra. One violin has been through both wars to witness the joyous, and then the tragic, history where music was involved. Present day in Japan, the violin now belongs to Asuka, who knows only peaceful times. She learned the history of the violin, and despite of the tremendous sadness she felt, little by little she begins to think about what she wants to do with her future. The book was published in Japan and has been translated into Vietnamese. It is a masterpiece of the 21st century that has made impressions on readers both young and old. It was selected as one of the assigned books for the 2014 National Book Report Contest for high school students. It was also the 2016 winner of Sakura Medal in Japanese Middle School & High School Books division, voted by the students from international schools across Japan, as one of their favorite books.