An almost obsessional use of numbers characterizes Japanese popular culture. A wide variety of numerical formulae and strategies provide the means for explaining events and solving problems occurring in everyday life. These include such matters as the choice of the name for a child, ranking in almost any game or sport, the diagnosis and cure of illness or the decision to accept a new job. This text provides a general study of the field of Japanese popular numeracy. It introduces the reader to a world of numbers in which fortune-telling, the abacus and games involving numbers, as well as...

This is the first authoritative history of a region rich in tradition, riven with conflict and central to our world today. The political backdrop was informed by China, from the fall of its Empire at the beginning of the 20th century through to Mao Zedong's revolution The aftermath of World War II saw a radical transformation in what is often known as The Ring of Fire. Japan, defeated, lost its Empire and armed forces. The war between North and South Korea added a crucial twist, with world-wide repercussions still being felt a half century later. Long-standing European colonial Empires,...

Leonid Brezhnev was leader of the Soviet Union from 1964-1982, a longer period than any other Soviet leader apart from Stalin. During Brezhnev s time Soviet power seemed at its height and increasing. Living standards were rising, the Soviet Union was a nuclear power and successful in its space missions, and the Soviet Union's influence reached into all part of the world. Yet, as this book, which provides a comprehensive overview and reassessment of Brezhnev s life, early political career and career as leader, shows, the seeds of decline were sown in Brezhnev's time. There was a huge...