The stoic guy in the black suit is a dork who likes sweets? As a manager in a fancy cake cafe "Kuma Purin," I was told that liking manly things does not suit me. One day, this mysterious man with eyes like a killer came in front of my shop... It turned out he is a total opposite of myself!
The stoic guy in the black suit is a dork who likes sweets?As a manager in a fancy cake cafe "Kuma Purin," I was told that liking manly things does not suit me. One day, this mysterious man with eyes like a killer came in front of my shop... It turned out he is a total opposite of myself!
This book is a collection about cultural-historical activity theory as it has been developed and applied by Yrjö Engeström. The work of Engeström is both rooted in the legacy of Vygotsky and Leont'ev and focuses on current research concerns that are related to learning and development in work practices. His publications cross various disciplines and develop intermediate theoretical tools to deal with empirical questions. In this volume, Engeström's work is used as a springboard to reflect on the question of the use, appropriation, and further development of the classic heritage within activity theory. The book is structured as a discussion among senior scholars, including Y. Engeström himself. The work of the authors pushes on classical activity theory to address pressing issues and critical contradictions in local practices and larger social systems.
Much has been written of the 'success' of the early missions to Japan during the decades immediately following the arrival of the first Jesuits in 1549. The subsequent 'failure' of the faith to put down roots strong enough to survive this initial wave of enthusiasm is discussed with equal alacrity. The papers in this volume, born of a Conference marking the centenary of the Japan Society of London, represent an attempt to reassess the contact between Christianity and Japan in terms of a symbiotic relationship, a dialogue in which the impact of Japan on the imported religion is viewed alongside the more frequently cited influence of Christianity on Japanese society. Here is a dynamic cultural encounter, examined by the papers in this volume from a series of political, literary and historical perspectives.
One day, a large number of people suddenly disappeared in the royal capital. When young King Castio goes out to investigate this occurrence, he comes across the culprit... but the criminal puts a spell on him! To help him out, the king calls the wizard O'Feuille to his castle, along with Prince Volks and his loyal retainer Nios. Together, they're determined to solve this strange, fluffy mystery full of cats, swords and magic!
This book is about the classroom, the most important meeting place for teachers and pupils in an education building. Our knowledge, however, about what happens inside this space is limited. In many respects the classroom is still the black box of the educational system. To open up this box, this volume brings together scholars from the disciplines of Art, Architecture, History, Pedagogy and Sociology. They present a wide variety of new perspectives, methodologies and sources for studying classrooms. The book examines images and representations of classrooms (photographs, paintings and pictures on school walls), writings and documents inside the classroom (school exercise books, teachers' log books and observer reports), memories and personal experiences of classrooms (egodocuments from teachers and pupils, and oral history interviews), the space and design of classrooms (architecture, school murals and the transformation of space), and material objects in the classroom (school furniture, primers for reading and school wall charts). The essays are illustrated with a unique collection of more than fifty photographs of classrooms in Europe.
First major study in English of the Japanese 'hidden' Christians - the Kakure Kirishitan, who chose to remain separate from the Catholic Church when religious toleration was granted in 1873 - and the development of the faith and rituals from the 16th century to the present day.
Activity theory is an interdisciplinary approach to human sciences that originates in the cultural-historical psychology school, initiated by Vygotsky, Leont'ev, and Luria. It takes the object-oriented, artifact-mediated collective activity system as its unit of analysis, thus bridging the gulf between the individual subject and the societal structure. This 1999 volume includes 26 chapters on activity theory by authors from ten countries. In Part I of the book, central theoretical issues are discussed from different points of view. Some topics addressed in this part are epistemology, methodology, and the relationship between biological and cultural factors. Part II is devoted to the acquisition and development of language. This part includes a chapter that analyzes writing activity in Japanese classrooms, and a case study of literacy skills of a man with cerebral palsy. Part III contains chapters on play, learning, and education, and Part IV addresses the meaning of technology and the development of work activities. The final part covers issues of therapy and addiction.
Families come in many shapes and sizes, and these three are no different! Takemura is a loner with little interest in socializing with others. Bullied in high school for being gay, he prefers to spend time by himself so he won't get hurt again. When he runs into his bright, friendly coworker Natsui in the supermarket, he's surprised to find out that he's a single father... and even more surprised to be invited to dinner, with no room to decline! Kuma is a good guy, but due to his constant scowl and rough appearance is often dismissed as a deadbeat. When he oversees his friend's older brother break up with his boyfriend, Yagi, Kuma becomes intrigued with this attractive stranger and slowly, his curiosity begins to blossom into a crush. Kodama is a reserved psychology major who is approached by the loud, outgoing Harada when he falls ill on his way home. It turns out the two of them study at the same university, and Harada insists the two become friends. But as they spend more time with one another, Kodama begins to question how he truly feels. Follow three very different relationships in this intimate collection of short Boys Love stories.
This book is an anthology of essays by Yuji Ichioka, the foremost authority on Japanese American history, which studies Japanese American life and politics in the interwar years.