Collection: Shop Asian

From the acclaimed author and scholar James C. Scott, the compelling tale of Asian peoples who until recently have stemmed the vast tide of state-making to live at arm's length from any organized state society

For two thousand years the disparate groups that now reside in Zomia (a mountainous region the size of Europe that consists of portions of seven Asian countries) have fled the projects of the organized state societies that surround them--slavery, conscription, taxes, corvée labor, epidemics, and warfare. This book, essentially an "anarchist history," is the first-ever examination of the huge literature on state-making whose author evaluates why people would deliberately and reactively remain stateless. Among the strategies employed by the people of Zomia to remain stateless are physical dispersion in rugged terrain; agricultural practices that enhance mobility; pliable ethnic identities; devotion to prophetic, millenarian leaders; and maintenance of a largely oral culture that allows them to reinvent their histories and genealogies as they move between and around states.

In accessible language, James Scott, recognized worldwide as an eminent authority in Southeast Asian, peasant, and agrarian studies, tells the story of the peoples of Zomia and their unlikely odyssey in search of self-determination. He redefines our views on Asian politics, history, demographics, and even our fundamental ideas about what constitutes civilization, and challenges us with a radically different approach to history that presents events from the perspective of stateless peoples and redefines state-making as a form of "internal colonialism." This new perspective requires a radical reevaluation of the civilizational narratives of the lowland states. Scott's work on Zomia represents a new way to think of area studies that will be applicable to other runaway, fugitive, and marooned communities, be they Gypsies, Cossacks, tribes fleeing slave raiders, Marsh Arabs, or San-Bushmen.

A millennial turned magical girl must combat climate change and credit card debt in this delightful, witty, and wildly imaginative ode to magical girl manga.

Twenty-nine, depressed, and drowning in credit card debt after losing her job during the pandemic, a millennial woman decides to end her troubles by jumping off Seoul's Mapo Bridge.

But her suicide attempt is interrupted by a girl dressed all in white--her guardian angel. Ah Roa is a clairvoyant magical girl on a mission to find the greatest magical girl of all time. And our protagonist just may be that special someone.

But the young woman's initial excitement turns to frustration when she learns being a magical girl in real life is much different than how it's portrayed in stories. It isn't just destiny--it's work. Magical girls go to job fairs, join trade unions, attend classes. And for this magical girl there are no special powers and no great perks, and despite being magical, she still battles with low self-esteem. Her magic wand . . . is a credit card--which she must use to defeat a terrifying threat that isn't a monster or an intergalactic war. It's global climate change. Because magical girls need to think about sustainability, too.

Park Seolyeon reimagines classic fantasy tropes in a novel that explores real-world challenges that are both deeply personal and universal: the search for meaning and the desire to do good in a world that feels like it's ending. A fun, fast-paced, and enchanting narrative that sparkles thanks to award-nominated translator Anton Hur, A Magical Girl Retires reminds us that we are all magical girls--that fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight can be anyone's game.

Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur

Heeeeeeave hoooooooo!!! With the exhibition behind him, handsome young calligrapher Seishuu Handa returns safely from Tokyo. Between a full-moon night spent with the islanders, a grade-school recital, and a discussion of Hiroshi's career plans, life is plenty hectic as autumn arrives at the island! The evening sun warms straight to the heart in Volume 7 of this super-popular hot 'n' hearty island comedy!

Every relationship has its bumps. For this couple, it's interstellar.

From the creator of Snailogy and Death: Rescheduled comes a sexy supernatural story about being out on your own, finding your dream apartment and discovering that your new place is haunted by a handsome spectral stranger from another dimension. Sure, he can't see you and you can't touch him, but who said every relationship starts out perfectly?

In this second volume, Zelan witnesses firsthand the abuse Zylith's father heaps on his daughter... and moves to protect her. Do they have more in common than he's willing to admit?

This volume collects episodes 22-35 of the supernatural hit WEBTOON comic.

Deep in the forest live Mira and Rei-the girl who calls the night and the doctor trying to cure her. One day, a new patient, Alde, comes to the clinic...and she says some really mean things to Mira! But Alde and Mira are more similar than they know. Mira hopes they can meet halfway and become friends...

This next thrilling volume of the Persona 3 manga series is all about revelations as the intrepid members of S.E.E.S. visit the Kirijou family cottage and learn some surprising truths from Mitsuru's father about the events surrounding Tartarus, the Dark Hour, and their own continuing battle against the encroaching Shadows. The weight of these truths proves especially heavy for Yukari and Mitsuru, but if they can bear this burden, their shared struggle may give rise to new power...

If you thought Shadows were the only enemies S.E.E.S. would ever have to fight, think again! It's an all-out battle between Persona users as S.E.E.S. comes into direct conflict with Strega, an extremist group using the Dark Hour for their own personal gain. Even with Akihiko's old friend Shinjiro and the surprisingly mature elementary school student Ken Amada as S.E.E.S.' newest recruits, Minato and friends are in for their toughest battle yet!

The new, magical dungeon-adventure fantasy series from the author of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Seeking to fulfill a promise to a childhood friend, Will Serfort enters Regarden Magical Academy with the goal of making it to the top of the magical world. There's just one problem: he can't use magic! Will his sword skills be the key to unlocking his true potential?

THE DUKE OF THE DEEP
After diving into the Dungeon for the All-Student Praxis, Will and his party suddenly get cast down to the eleventh floor--a place usually reserved for advanced mages. Split up during the fall, Will's party is hard pressed to fend off wave after wave of enemies. They finally manage to regroup, but things go from bad to worse as a portal opens to reveal a dreaded foe: a 270-credit Evil Grand Duke!

Fans of Sailor Moon, She-Ra, and Miraculous Dive into the original girl-power isekai adventure! CLAMP's masterwork returns in a large-format paperback. The tale of three Tokyo teenagers who cross through a magical portal and become the champions of another world is a modern manga classic!

Three girls who couldn't be more different meet on a school trip to Tokyo Tower--and find themselves beamed into a parallel world called Cefiro, where the mysterious Pillar has recruited them to avert a calamity! With the help of a motley troop of rogues and wizards, they will unlock the power of three transforming giant dragons known as Rune Gods and rush to the Pillar's aid...but there's more going on at the heart of Cefiro than they know!

This new paperback release features the updated translation and lettering created for the 25th-anniversary release, in a portable and affordable package.

Everything She Touched recounts the incredible life of the American sculptor Ruth Asawa.

This is the story of a woman who wielded imagination and hope in the face of intolerance and who transformed everything she touched into art. In this compelling biography, author Marilyn Chase brings Asawa's story to vivid life. She draws on Asawa's extensive archives and weaves together many voices--family, friends, teachers, and critics--to offer a complex and fascinating portrait of the artist.

Born in California in 1926, Ruth Asawa grew from a farmer's daughter to a celebrated sculptor. She survived adolescence in the World War II Japanese-American internment camps and attended the groundbreaking art school at Black Mountain College. Asawa then went on to develop her signature hanging-wire sculptures, create iconic urban installations, revolutionize arts education in her adopted hometown of San Francisco, fight through lupus, and defy convention to nurture a multiracial family.

- A richly visual volume with over 60 reproductions of Asawa's art and archival photos of her life (including portraits shot by her friend, the celebrated photographer Imogen Cunningham)
- Documents Asawa's transformative touch--most notably by turning wire - the material of the internment camp fences - into sculptures
- Author Marilyn Chase mined Asawa's letters, diaries, sketches, and photos and conducted interviews with those who knew her to tell this inspiring story.

Ruth Asawa forged an unconventional path in everything she did--whether raising a multiracial family of six children, founding a high school dedicated to the arts, or pursuing her own practice independent of the New York art market.

Her beloved fountains are now San Francisco icons, and her signature hanging-wire sculptures grace the MoMA, de Young, Getty, Whitney, and many more museums and galleries across America.

- Ruth Asawa's remarkable life story offers inspiration to artists, art lovers, feminists, mothers, teachers, Asian Americans, history buffs, and anyone who loves a good underdog story.
- A perfect gift for those interested in Asian American culture and history
- Great for those who enjoyed Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art by Mary Gabriel, Ruth Asawa: Life's Work by Tamara Schenkenberg, and Notes and Methods by Hilma af Klint

*Winner of The Griffin International Poetry Prize and the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Award*

The title section of Kim Hyesoon's powerful new book, Autobiography of Death, consists of forty-nine poems, each poem representing a single day during which the spirit roams after death before it enters the cycle of reincarnation. The poems not only give voice to those who met unjust deaths during Korea's violent contemporary history, but also unveil what Kim calls "the structure of death, that we remain living in." Autobiography of Death, Kim's most compelling work to date, at once reenacts trauma and narrates our historical death--how we have died and how we survive within this cyclical structure. In this sea of mirrors, the plural "you" speaks as a body of multitudes that has been beaten, bombed, and buried many times over by history. The volume concludes on the other side of the mirror with "Face of Rhythm," a poem about individual pain, illness, and meditation.

One of WWII's most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot's license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.

Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women's and WWII history books.

In 1932, Hazel Ying Lee, a nineteen-year-old American daughter of Chinese immigrants, sat in on a friend's flight lesson. It changed her life. In less than a year, a girl with a wicked sense of humor, a newfound love of flying, and a tough can-do attitude earned her pilot's license and headed for China to help against invading Japanese forces. In time, Hazel would become the first Asian American to fly with the Women Airforce Service Pilots. As thrilling as it may have been, it wasn't easy.

In America, Hazel felt the oppression and discrimination of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In China's field of male-dominated aviation she was dismissed for being a woman, and for being an American. But in service to her country, Hazel refused to be limited by gender, race, and impossible dreams. Frustrated but undeterred she forged ahead, married Clifford Louie, a devoted and unconventional husband who cheered his wife on, and gave her all for the cause achieving more in her short remarkable life than even she imagined possible.

American Flygirl is the untold account of a spirted fighter and an indomitable hidden figure in American history. She broke every common belief about women. She challenged every social restriction to endure and to succeed. And against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Hazel Ying Lee reached for the skies and made her mark as a universal and unsung hero whose time has come.

Not wishing to cause a scandal within the Joneses' household, Emma chooses to make a clean break from her old life and takes a train to the sea. As chance would have it, Emma finds herself sharing a car with another maid, one who serves at a large manor in the country. A big house bustling with servants seems an ideal place in which to move forward after losing her mistress and leaving her love back in London. Learning the precise dance of domestic service in her new environment is a welcome challenge, but how long can hard work divert Emma's mind from the longing of her heart?

Acclaimed creator Kaoru Mori's tale of life on the nineteenth-century Silk Road continues. As Anis and Sherine settle into a new life built on love and friendship, tragedy and destruction have thrown the Eihons' village into turmoil. Conflict with neighboring tribes has taken its toll, leaving Pariya's family home in ruins. Though no one was hurt, little survived the assault, including the fabrics meant for Pariya's dowry. Her passionate, frank personality has made things difficult for Pariya in the past, and being forced to delay marriage talks--now that she's finally found an interested suitor--drives her to despair. Despite her anxieties, staying with the Eihons during the reconstruction gives Pariya the opportunity to learn from Amir and her family and build up her self-confidence as she prepares for a hopeful future. Crafted in painstaking detail, Ms. Mori's pen breathes life into the scenery and architecture of the period in this heart-warming, slice-of-life tale that is at once wholly exotic, yet familiar and accessible through the everyday lives of the characters she has created.

A comprehensive history of women in Japanese religious traditions

Scholars have widely acknowledged the persistent ambivalence with which the Japanese religious traditions treat women. Much existing scholarship depicts Japan's religious traditions as mere means of oppression. But this view raises a question: How have ambivalent and even misogynistic religious discourses on gender still come to inspire devotion and emulation among women?

In Women in Japanese Religions, Barbara R. Ambros examines the roles that women have played in the religions of Japan. An important corrective to more common male-centered narratives of Japanese religious history, this text presents a synthetic long view of Japanese religions from a distinct angle that has typically been discounted in standard survey accounts of Japanese religions.

Drawing on a diverse collection of writings by and about women, Ambros argues that ambivalent religious discourses in Japan have not simply subordinated women but also given them religious resources to pursue their own interests and agendas. Comprising nine chapters organized chronologically, the book begins with the archeological evidence of fertility cults and the early shamanic ruler Himiko in prehistoric Japan and ends with an examination of the influence of feminism and demographic changes on religious practices during the "lost decades" of the post-1990 era. By viewing Japanese religious history through the eyes of women, Women in Japanese Religions presents a new narrative that offers strikingly different vistas of Japan's pluralistic traditions than the received accounts that foreground male religious figures and male-dominated institutions.

HBO's Insecure meets Dazed and Confused in this messy, tender YA novel about a friendship breakup, set against the backdrop of a chaotic night at a music festival, from rising talent Tracy Badua.

Jana Rubio and her best friend, Maddy Parsons, have an epic senior year finale queued up: catching their favorite band at the Orchards, an outdoor music festival a two-hour drive away. When a blowup over Maddy's time-sucking boyfriend exposes a rift that may have already been growing between them, Jana calls off their joint trip and gets a lift to the festival from her church friend Nathan...only to realize Maddy and her boyfriend are along for the ride, too.

All Jana wants is to enjoy the concert and get home as soon as possible. But then Nathan loses his car keys crowd-surfing, and it's up to Jana and Maddy to find them. As they navigate stolen phones and missing friends, scale Ferris wheels and crash parties, the two of them are forced to reckon with the biggest obstacle of all: repairing their friendship.

Will Jana and Maddy find their way home--and also back to each other?