(Part 3) Top products from r/japan

I agree with the previous posters; talk with her (in simple sentences until you can figure out her level) and find out about her interests. Using her interests for discussion/activities will help break the ice and make the time more interesting. It may be helpful to have several kinds of activities since your lessons will be so long; a "warmup" game or free talk in the beginning, short reading activity with questions, phonics practice for letters she has problems with, showing her some common idioms and asking her what she thinks they mean (and then explaining), doing a mock-interview to help her practice answering questions, etc. Collocations are something that my Japanese students have problems with because their textbooks don't usually teach them which words sound natural together. You could even buy a book about idioms or collocations if you are so inclined-- this book looks good (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Idioms-English-Phrasal-Collocations/dp/0131411764/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1311644804&sr=8-5).
I am using a different book
(http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Idioms-English-Phrasal-Collocations/dp/0131411764/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1311644804&sr=8-5)
with my adult class and I choose which lessons to cover based on their interests. It's rather high-level, though.

Good luck, and don't worry too much. Even if you just chat for the entire two hours, you're giving the girl the chance to actually use and further develop her English skills. If she walks away with more confidence speaking English, it's a win.

Eamonn Fingleton (Irish) was a fantastic commentator on Japan (and the US, and Europe, and China... he predicted Trump's victory in 2016) but for the last 2 years he seems to have stopped writing much.

On Pearl Harbor Day, A Question: Is Today’s Japan Really A Sincere American Friend?

70 Years Later, Struggle for Nanking Massacre Justice Continues

Another great source, The Oriental Economist Report, a one-person show, is currently on sabbatical. His writing has been on Foreign Affairs.

Trump and Japan: Reality Check for Abe and the President

Democracy Now, a great source of news in general, has good coverage on Japan:

Democracy Now, Topic: Japan

If you want to go historical, the late Chalmers Johnson wrote several books on the political economy and foreign affairs of Japan.

Amazon author: Chalmers Johnson

MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975

Japan: Who Governs?: The Rise of the Developmental State

Okinawa: Cold War Island

Manga seems an obvious choice here, something like Yotsuba to could be fun. Others to check out are Kamikaze Girls and Nana

In terms of mythology and folk lore:

Lafcaido Hearn's ghost stories are quite fun.

As is this book on Japanese monsters - The Book of Yokai

Lastly, I am a literature person so I have to recommend at least one piece of literature. Perhaps something like Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen or Soseki's I Am a Cat could be good a young reader and serve as an introduction to Japanese literature. Though admittedly the Soseki may a little much for 12 years old. It is a great book though!

I am more a History fan. I enjoy history and Airplanes are especially special.

I also did a report on the Zero for my final report when I completed my year long Study Abroad program in Japan.

If you are looking for good books, I have a couple that I would recommend.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Book-Fighters-Encyclopedia/dp/0831739398

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Book-World-War-Airplanes/dp/0517160242

They are old, but very good. There are a couple more that have many more aircraft, but these are the 2 I read the most.

This has been asked before - the short answer is people don't seem to know any good websites.

Two good books that offer overviews of Japan since 1600 with decent depth are Gordon's A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present and McClain's Japan: A Modern History. I prefer Gordon's book.

It has its issues, but Ebrey, Walthal and Palais's East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History has a decent overview of the whole region, pretty much since the start of human habitation, with Japan, China, and Korea broken up by chapter. You could just read the Japan chapters. Obviously these books are expensive, so get them from the library.

The long answer is there's a lot of bullshit out there in the Japanese history world, so you have to be careful. Many of the books and popular histories that you'll read (many of them praised to no end, because they appear to explain the "inscrutability" of the Japanese), are strongly influenced by a vein of scholarship called Nihonjinron (alternately translated as Japanese exceptionalism, theory of Japanese-ness, etc). Nihonjinron basically tries to harness a bunch of psuedo-science and methodologically-suspect social-science to prove that Japanese are intrinsically different from all other people. For the most part, it's complete bullshit - the nationalistic intent is clear, as is it's appeal to Western orientalists in search of an object to fetishize. The most ridiculous claims are obvious - ideas like the Japanese having longer intestines than other people, specifically evolved to eat only Japanese rice - but the other claims about culture, geography, sensibility and whatnot continue to masquerade as reputable claims. This critical essay would be a good place to start if you're wondering about the politics of historical representation on Japan.

Male Colors is really great if you are interested in the history and sociological impact of homosexuality and (male) gay culture in Japan.

Although this is more about contemporary japanese society, i really enjoyed an introduction to japanese society by yoshio sugimoto.

IMO what is really great about the book is not only that it paints a pretty good picture of many aspects of japanese society today, but that in doing so it uses statistical analysis to dispel many common myths about japan. For example, (if i recall correctly) in one section it talks about how japanese society is often assumed to be very ethnically homogeneous, but how in reality it has a similar percentage of people of different ethnicities to many other developed countries.

If you are interested in an alternative point of view, read this. These protests are, in my opinion, unlikely to be instigated by the Party and more likely to be 'tolerated' to a certain extent.

For those who want a longer academic piece on the topic, Oleg Benesch's dissertation, Bushidō: The Creation of a Martial Ethic in Late Meiji Japan is freely available as a PDF. Think of it as a rough draft for his book.

Edit: Whoops, I just realized that the tofugu article cites the same link I gave.

Barely knowledgeable reporters? You mean the people who risk their job and reputations when they're reporting?

OK, sure you mean these books?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0231120338/?tag=annals

http://www.amazon.com/The-Comfort-Women-Enforced-Prostitution/dp/0393316947/ref=pd_sim_b_1

http://www.amazon.com/The-Comfort-Women-Postcolonial-Sexuality/dp/0226767779/ref=pd_sim_b_2

This ones from a Philipino woman

http://www.amazon.com/Comfort-Woman-Filipinas-Prostitution-Japanese/dp/0847691497/ref=pd_sim_b_4

And if you can read Korean, here are the Korean books.

http://www.yes24.com/SearchCorner/Search/List?query=%C1%BE%B1%BA%C0%A7%BE%C8%BA%CE&domain=ALL&theme=%C1%BE%B1%BA%C0%A7%BE%C8%BA%CE&detail_yn=Y&scode=026

That would be very useful. I might get Rosetta stone, just so I know something, and of course while I'm there I will have one of these with me at all times.

This book covers this topic very well:

http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Rule-Japan-Cambridge-History/dp/0521484049/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453488495&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=japan%27s+warrior+rule+jensen

I read this really insightful book on Zainichi during my college days that follows real people and their experiences. It's a bit dry in some places, but worth a read.

Zainichi (Koreans in Japan): Diasporic Nationalism and Postcolonial Identity (Global, Area, and International Archive) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0520258207/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8ecMzbTSRRGXH

Yes. Totally.

Read any issue of Popeye magazine and it's nothing but American stuff.

There's a long history of Japan co-opting American fashion. There's even a book about it:

https://www.amazon.com/Ametora-Japan-Saved-American-Style/dp/0465059732

I think the book you're talking about is called "Importing Diversity".

http://www.amazon.com/Importing-Diversity-Inside-Japans-Program/dp/0520216369/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370086304&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=imported+diversity+JET+programme

My mother bought me a copy when I got into JET way back when and it still sits on my shelf.

A Concise History of Japan (Cambridge Concise Histories) https://www.amazon.com/dp/052117872X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_qt7MzbB8EKP27

A History of Japan https://www.amazon.com/dp/1405123591/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_7t7MzbEVWPMJ2

Japan: An Environmental History (Environmental History and Global Change) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1784537438/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_nu7MzbXB36QPT

I went to a top 100 high school and a top 30 university. Didn't actually learn about the destruction of the Americas until my sophomore year of college. The "Thanksgiving" myth is one of the most insulting--which public school only reinforces.

I don't think a proper account of the destruction of the Americas is school-appropriate. You know, stabbing pregnant women's bellies with spears and throwing children into pits of knives. Cutting off their hands and tying them around their necks to "go send a message" to the others. Mass executions by hanging or burning at the stake. Dismemberment. Sending the dogs to tear villagers apart from limb to limb. Entire clans hanging themselves in the woods to escape the horrors. Friendly competition on who could torture the best. Slavery. Don't really think the PTA was so keen on this rated R account.

As a matter of fact, I don't believe that any textbook I read actually acknowledges uses the term "genocide" in public education.

You should really read Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, if you actually believe that US public education adequately describes genocide in the Americas. Also, Las Casas is the source for my first paragraph.
___
Edit: Yes, I understand that Las Casas was writing about South America, but I still didn't learn about the Spanish Inquisition in any detail. We were tested more on what resources were valuable, and the names of European Kings.

I wonder if Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister has been translated to Japanese. If so, then it contains some very solid and well-reasoned arguments on how overtime is counterproductive and hurtful to the business.

I'm going to assume that you're pretty serious about learning more about Japanese history/culture... these are pretty hefty books. I'm also listing them in (roughly) chronological order.

The Tale of the Heike -- It's required reading for all students in Japan and will give you a nice look at Japan's past (12th century). It should be required reading for all Japanese literature students, too. It's basically historical fiction gathered from a number of sources close to that time. There's a lot of history and a lot of embellishment.

Giving Up the Gun: Japan's Relationship to the Sword -- This book covers the creation and fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, but it focuses especially on (surprise, surprise!) the relationship Japan has with the sword (as opposed to the gun). The katana is almost a legendary weapon for a number of reasons, and this book is a good read because it looks at why Japan never really had the same epiphany Europe did with respect to warfare -- or at least, not in the same way.

A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present -- I read this a few times and it's not a bad summary of how Japan changed over the years, though I'm not a huge fan of this book. The Tokugawa Shogunate lasted long enough that I feel that it deserves its own (series of) books, followed by one on the Meiji Restoration and another on the post-war period. Since it's all rolled up in one, this ends up being a dense Cliff Notes version of Japanese history. That having been said, though, this is not a bad book at all for what it is.

Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II -- I'd probably consider this the definitive post-war Japan book. If you read only one book out of all of these, you should read this one.

Shift: Inside Nissan's Historic Revival -- I consider this a very important modern Japan book, even if you don't give a shit about cars. Japan has always been a very, very closed society and the corporations are no different. So when Carlos Ghosn came in and took over Nissan -- and turned it around -- it was a huge, huge thing. It still is, in many ways. If you want to read something about modern Japan being internationalized, this is one of the books to read.

Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan -- This is a pretty famous book for a lot of reasons. Jake Adelstein studied Japanese and became a reporter for the crime section of Yomiuri Shinbun, which is one of the largest newspapers in Japan. He wrote this book; it's filled with dramatization, self-aggrandization, and one-sided reporting, but it's still worth reading. Japan isn't the seamy mess of crime and slavery he makes it out to be, but it's not the technology and beautiful girl paradise a lot of other people want it to be either.


On the "fictional" side of things...

The Chrysanthemum and the Sword -- This was one of the seminal works on Japan, back during World War II. The problem is that there are so many bad assumptions and things that we now know are incorrect... but it was a seminal work for so long that it has really, really affected Western stereotypes of Japan. It's worth it just for that; not as a commentary on Japan itself, but as a critical reading of how the West did (and continues) to see Japan. Use it to focus your critical lens, so to speak.