Cranston Public Library

"On April 1, 1945 with the battle of Okinawa beginning, fourteen-year-old native Okinawan Hideki, drafted into the Blood and Iron Student Corps, is handed two grenades and told to go kill American soldiers; small for his age Hideki does not really want to kill anyone, he just wants to find his family, and his struggle across the island will finally bring him face-to-face with Ray, a marine in his very first battle--and the choice he makes then will...

Efforts to impress a visiting student from Japan cause Hank to hide his dyslexia while the gang makes enchiladas for a Multi-Cultural Day lunch, and Hank is afraid he was very wrong about the amount of chili powder called for in the recipe.

Kindergartner Yoko not only learns to write her letters and numbers in English, she shows her teacher and fellow students how to write their names using Japanese calligraphy.

Eager to do something her big sister has not done first, Jasmine Toguchi, eight, decides to pound mochi with the men and boys when her family gets together for New Year's.

"When a young Japanese girl moves into her new house, she is happy to see a girl her age playing in the snow just outside her window. The only problem is the Japanese girl doesn't speak English and the American girl doesn't speak Japanese. But each girl's love of the snow teaches them that they don't need to speak the same language to have fun!"-- Provided by publisher.

"A Japanese style pub called 'Nobu' exists in a back alley of the fictional medieval European city of Eiteriach. Its customers? A pair of slacker soldiers, a spoiled heiress, an uptight tax collector, and more ... When the citizens of this strange world sit down to enjoy some unfamiliar Japanese cuisine, their troubles simply melt away ..."--Back of cover

"It's another day and another round of colorful customers at the Japanese-style pub 'Nobu.' Shinobu and company can contend with moody guild masters and a spy from a foreign land, but what about a wicked tycoon who threatens the very restaurant...?! It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from--in this otherworldly slice-of-life story, patrons get treated to delicious flounder nitsuke, potato salad, ajifurai... and a cold mug of 'whatsontapp'!"--Back...

Wabi Sabi, a cat living in the city of Kyoto, learns about the Japanese concept of beauty through simplicity as she asks various animals she meets about the meaning of her name.

"It has been eighty years since the Axis won World War II, and America was divided between the victors: the Nazis in the East and Imperial Japan in the West; but now resistance is growing in the Eastern territories and sixteen-year-old Chinese American Ren Cabot, who has every reason to hate the Japanese who executed his mother, finds himself drawn into a resistance group and confronted with choices that could lead to freedom--or death." --

Despite criticism for his lack of "accomplishments," Takeboki finds contentment sweeping flower blossoms and raking the sand and gravel in the monks' temple garden. Includes a note on the art and beauty of Japanese gardens.