The City of Seven Mountains – Bergen, Norway   by Roy Witman

Intimate. Enthusiastic. Beautiful. Bergen, Norway is one of the smallest cities in the Scandinavian region, but its citizens are delightfully warm and welcoming. Surrounded by seven mountains and bordered by the ocean, Bergen offers gorgeous scenery that spans from the sea to the sky. Founded in 1070, this once thriving shipping port offers almost 1,000 years of history to explore during your visit.

Sights in Bergen

The Seven Mountains

Bergen is nestled in the bowl formed by the surrounding seven mountains. Just looking out the window is a majestic sight! Needless to say, hiking is a popular pastime in Bergen. Mt. Ulriken, one of the seven, has cable cars (aerial trams) that transport visitors to the summit. There, free telescopes allow guests to see practically all of Bergen with a bird’s eye view.

Bergen International Festival

Bringing various cultures together for a mammoth event, the Bergen International Festival unites the Nordic and Baltic countries for two full weeks in the cultural capital of Norway. According to the official festival website, attendees can view performances of orchestral music, chamber music, recitals, theatre, ballet, festival exhibitions, literature /poetry, outdoor events and street performances. It takes place from the end of May through early June each year.

Tall Ships’ Races

A week of festivities surrounds this fun-filled event that takes place in late summer each year. From the Opening Ceremonies to fireworks displays to the actual ship races themselves, the Tall Ships’ Races make for days upon days of family fun for all ages.

Watching the tall ships enter the harbor is a majestic sight on its own. Hailing from ports around the globe – including Mexico, Russia, Norway, Ireland, Germany, Poland, France, the UK and more – the world is literally on stage for all to see during this regatta.

The Bryggen (Wharf)

Bergen’s Bryggen (wharf) is a popular attraction due to its unique features and beauty. A UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, the Bryggen was built in 1070 when the city was founded. All wood construction met with a violent end in 1702 when most of the Bryggen – including warehouses and government buildings – burned. Today, the Bryggen area is filled with shops, restaurants, pubs and tourists.

Botanical Gardens

Simply stunning! With over 500 plants from all over the world, you can thrill at the sight of Norway’s largest rose garden as well as numerous specialized collections including the Alpine Garden, Japanese Garden and Heather Garden. Follow winding pathways as you stroll through unique varieties of scrubs and flowers, natural forest areas and ornamental plant displays.

Music

Bergen is also famous for the headliner musical concerts that play this venue regularly. In 2008, Bergen will host superstars like KISS, Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, R.E.M. and others.

For blockbuster fun in a less crowded destination, make sure Bergen Norway is on the itinerary for your next cruise. The whole family will enjoy their stay.

About the Author

Roy Witman is Vice-President of Cruise Vacation Center at http://www.cruisevacationcenter.com offering the best deals on European cruises. Visit them today! © 2008, All Rights Reserved

A History of Japanese Literature $27.98 Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: few have reached us, the best known of which is the IdzumoFudoki, written in 733. It contains a very few interesting legendary passages, but as a whole it consists of bald statements of fact, and must be classed with Charles Lamb’s Biblia Abiblia or "Books that are No Books." It was the forerunner of the very considerable1 modern topographical literature known to us as Meisho. The only other Japanese prose compositions of this time which need be noticed are the Imperial Edicts contained in the Shoku-nihongi, a continuation (in Chinese) of the Nihongi. Their style much resembles that of the Norito, Motoori has edited them in a separate form with a commentary. CHAPTER II JAPANESE POETRY GENERALLY? THE "MANYOSHIU" BEFORE proceeding to an examination of the Nara poetry, it seems desirable to give an account of those characteristics of Japanese poetry generally which distinguish it in a conspicuous manner from that of Europe. Narrow injtsjscope and resourcesit js.jshiefly remarkable for its limitations?for what it has not, rather than forwHaTit.has. In the first place trTere are no long poems. There is nothing which even remotely resembles an epic ? no Iliad or Divina Commedia?not even a Nibdungen Lied or Chevy Chase. Indeed, jjajrative poems of any kind are short and very few, the only ones wh1c1TTnaveinet with being two or three ballads of a sentimental cast. Didactic, philosophical, political, and satirical poems arealso conspicuously absent. The Japanese muse does not meddle with such subjects, and it is doubtful whether, if it did, the native Pegasus’ possesses sufficient staying power for them to be dealt with adequately. For dramatic poetry we have to wait until the fourteenth century. Even then there are no complete dramatic poems, but only dramas containing a certain…

A History of Japanese Literature: From the Manyoshu to Modern Times $61.48 A new simplified edition translated by Don Sanderson. The original three-volume work, first published in 1979, has been revised specially as a single volume paperback which concentrates on the development of Japanese literature.

The Ethics of Aesthetics in Japanese Cinema and Literature $44.98 This is an innovative, scholarly and original study of the ethics of modern Japanese aesthetics from the 1930s, through the Second World War and into the post-war period. Nina Cornyetz embarks on new and unprecedented readings of some of the most significant literary and film texts of the Japanese canon, for instance works by Kawabata Yasunari, Mishima Yukio, Abe Kobo and Shinoda Masahiro, all renowned for their texts’ aesthetic and philosophic brilliance. Cornyetz uniquely opens up the field in a fresh and controversial way by showing how these authors and filmmakers’ concepts of beauty and relation to others were, in fact, deeply impacted by political and social factors. Probing questions are asked such as: How did Japanese fascism and imperialism ideologically, politically and aesthetically impact on these literary/cinematic giants? How did the emperor as the ‘nodal point’ for Japanese national identity affect their ethics? What were the repercussions of the virtual collapse of the Marxist movement in the 1960s? What are the similarities and differences between pre-war, wartime and post-war ideals of beauty and those of fascist aesthetics in general? This ground-breaking work is truly interdisciplinary and will appeal to students and scholars of Japanese literature, film, gender, culture, history and even psychoanalytic theory.

A Brief History of Japanese Civilization $93.48 This compelling text explores the development of Japan through its art, religion, literature, and thought as well as through its economic, political, and social history. This author team combines strong research with extensive classroom teaching experience to offer a clear, consistent, and highly readable text that is accessible to students with no previous knowledge of the history of Japan.

Historical Dictionary of Modern Japanese Literature and Theater $89.99 Historical Dictionary of Modern Japanese Literature and Theater presents a broad perspective on the development and history of literature_narrative, poetry, and drama_in modern Japan. It focuses specifically on the years since 1868, when Japan opened its doors to the West and underwent remarkable and swift changes as it sought to become a modern nation. It offers both a historical overview through its chronology, introduction, bibliography, and over 400 cross-referenced dictionary entries.

Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600 $49.48 "Traditional Japanese Literature" features a rich array of works dating from the very beginnings of the Japanese written language through the evolution of Japan’s noted aristocratic court and warrior cultures. It contains stunning new translations of such canonical texts as "The Tales of the Heike" as well as works and genres previously ignored by scholars and unknown to general readers. This volume includes generous selections from "Man’yAsh," "The Tale of Genji," "The Pillow Book," "Kokinsh," and other classics of Japanese literature, as well as a stunning range of folk literature, epic tales of war, poetry, and no drama. The anthology offers an impressive representation of dramatic, poetic, and fictional works from both high and low culture, along with religious and secular anecdotes, literary criticism, and works written in Chinese by Japanese writers. The wealth of classical poetry, linked verse, and popular poetry is accompanied by extensive commentary. "Traditional Japanese Literature" is a companion volume to Columbia University Press’s "Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900" and part of its four-volume history of Japanese literature. Arranged by chronology and genre, the readings are insightfully introduced and placed into their political, cultural, and literary context, and the extensive bibliographies offer further study for scholars and readers. Including a wide range of classic and popular works in poetry, prose, and drama, this anthology presents a definitive overview of traditional Japanese literature and deepens our understanding of classical and medieval Japanese culture.

Japanese Buddhism Japanese Buddhism: A Cultural History a Cultural History $13.98 Upon reaching Japan, Buddhism, which was founded in India two thousand years ago, collided with an island civilization with its own firmly entrenched cultural and even religious infrastructure. The result, as the Japanese embraced this new, foreign-born religion, was a centuries long "chemical reaction" between religion and culture. This book, written by one of Japan’s most outstanding scholars on Buddhism, traces that journey from the beginning through our own time. Japanese Buddhism examines how the religion shaped the people — with their own rich history — even as the people shaped the religion, with the result that Japanese Buddhism is unique in the world today. Delving deeply into the interplay between Buddhism and Japanese poetry, literature and even politics, this book is an invaluable addition to our understanding of Japan, Buddhism and the complex relationship between the two.

The Ethics of Aesthetics in Japanese Cinema and Literature: Polygraphic Desire $26.49 This is an innovative, scholarly and original study of the ethics of modern Japanese aesthetics from the 1930s, through the Second World War and into the post-war period. Nina Cornyetz embarks on new and unprecedented readings of some of the most significant literary and film texts of the Japanese canon, for instance works by Kawabata Yasunari, Mishima Yukio, Abe Kôbô and Shinoda Masahiro, all renowned for their texts’ aesthetic and philosophic brilliance. Cornyetz uniquely opens up the field in a fresh and controversial way by showing how these authors and filmmakers’ concepts of beauty and relation to others were, in fact, deeply impacted by political and social factors. Probing questions are asked such as: How did Japanese fascism and imperialism ideologically, politically and aesthetically impact on these literary/cinematic giants? How did the emperor as the ‘nodal point’ for Japanese national identity affect their ethics? What were the repercussions of the virtual collapse of the Marxist movement in the 1960s? What are the similarities and differences between pre-war, wartime and post-war ideals of beauty and those of fascist aesthetics in general? This ground-breaking work is truly interdisciplinary and will appeal to students and scholars of Japanese literature, film, gender, culture, history and even psychoanalytic theory.

The Fantastic In Modern Japanese Literature $64.95 An exploration of the dark side to Japanese literature and Japanese society. A wide range of fantasists form the basis for a ground breaking analysis of the fantastic.

Japanese Experience: A Short History of Japan $8.48 "The Japanese Experience" is an authoritative history of Japan from the sixth century to the present day. Only a writer of W.G. Beasley’s stature could render Japan’s complicated past so concisely and elegantly. This is the history of a society and a culture with a distinct sense of itself, one of the few nations never conquered by a foreign power in historic times (until the twentieth century) and the home of the longest-reigning imperial dynasty that still survives. The Japanese have always occupied part or all of the same territory, its borders defined by the sea. They have spoken and written a common language, (once it had taken firm shape in about the tenth century) and their population has been largely homogeneous, little touched by immigration except in very early periods. Yet Japanese society and culture have changed more through time than these statements seem to imply. Developments within Japan have been greatly influenced by ideas and institutions, art and literature, imported from elsewhere. In this work Beasley, a leading authority on Japan and the author of a number of acclaimed works on Japanese history, examines the changing society and culture of Japan and considers what, apart from the land and the people, is specifically Japanese about the history of Japan. The arrival of Buddhism in the sixth century brought a substantially Chinese-style society to Japan, not only in religion but in political institutions, writing system, and the lifestyle of the ruling class. By the eleventh century the Chinese element was waning and the country was entering a long and essentially "Japanese" feudal period–with two rulers, an emperor and a Shogun–which was to last until the nineteenth century. Under the Togukawa shogunate (1600-1868), Chinese culture enjoyed something of a renaissance, though popular culture owed more to Japanese urban taste and urban wealth. In 1868 the Meiji Restoration brought to power rulers dedicated to the pursuit of national wealth and strength, and Japan became a world power. Although a bid for empire ended in disaster, the years after 1945 saw an economic miracle that brought spectacular wealth to Japan and the Japanese people, as well as the westernization of much of Japanese life.

A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations $126.98 This compelling text explores the development of China and Japan through their art, religion, literature, and thought as well as through their economic, political, and social history. This author team combines strong research with extensive classroom teaching experience to offer a clear, consistent, and highly readable text that is accessible to students with no previous knowledge of the history of East Asia.

Writing Ground Zero: Japanese Literature and the Atomic Bomb $35.48 From Einstein and Truman to Sartre and Derrida, many have declared the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be decisive events in human history. None, however, have more acutely understood or perceptively critiqued the consequences of nuclear war than Japanese writers. In this first complete study of the nuclear theme in Japanese intellectual and artistic life, John Whittier Treat shows how much we have to learn from Japanese writers and artists about the substance and meaning of the nuclear age. Treat recounts the controversial history of Japanese public discourse around Hiroshima and Nagasaki–a discourse alternatively celebrated and censored–from August 6, 1945, to the present day. He includes works from the earliest survivor writers, including Hara Tamiki and Ota Yoko, to such important Japanese intellectuals today as Oe Kenzaburo and Oda Makoto. Treat argues that the insights of Japanese writers into the lessons of modern atrocity share much in common with those of Holocaust writers in Europe and the practitioners of recent poststructuralist nuclear criticism in America. In chapters that take up writers as diverse as Hiroshima poets, Tokyo critics, and Nagasaki women novelists, he explores the implications of these works for critical, literary, and cultural theory. Treat summarizes the Japanese contribution to such ongoing international debates as the crisis of modern ethics, the relationship of experience to memory, and the possibility of writing history. This Japanese perspective, Treat shows, both confirms and amends many of the assertions made in the West on the shift that the death camps and nuclear weapons have jointly signaled for the modern world and for thefuture. "Writing Ground Zero" will be read not only by students of Japan, but by all readers concerned with the fate of culture after the fact of nuclear war in our time.

Alternative Narratives in Modern Japanese History $10.48 How did ordinary people experience Japan’s modern transformation? What role did people in local areas play in the making of modern Japan? How do studies of local politics help explain national events? The dominant account of modern Japanese history focuses on the nation-building that brought Japan into the modern world. After centuries of isolation, American warships forced Japan to open its doors to the West and a group of tough new leaders transformed the country into one of the great military and economic powers of the world. But different perspectives need to be examined. Alternative Narratives introduces other actors, other places and other dimensions of social and political activity in an attempt to construct a broader and more complex account of modern Japanese history. Focusing on the initial years of Japan’s modern transformation, from the 1850s to the 1890s, Steele explores responses of commoners to the arrival of American warships in 1853; the growth of popular political consciousness; reactions of the residents of Edo in 1868 on the deposition of the shogun; responses of the village elite to the fall of the old regime; and established frameworks of historical narration – including American attempts to understand Japan’s 1868 civil war. The author draws upon a wealth of documents, including broadsheets, woodblock prints, political cartoons and local campaign literature, as well as more conventional material in an endeavour to find new and different ways to examine the past. This book forms an important resource to students of Japanese history and culture while simultaneously appealing to scholars interested in the general problem of history and history-writing.

World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era, 1600–1867 $44.48 The Tokugawa family held the shogunate from 1603 to 1867, ruling Japan and keeping the island nation isolated from the rest of the world for more than 250 years. Donald Keene looks within the "walls" of isolation and meticulously chronicles the period’s vast literary output, providing both lay readers and scholars with the definitive history of premodern Japanese literature. "World Within Walls" spans the age in which Japanese literature began to reach a popular audience — as opposed to the elite aristocratic readers to whom it had previously been confined. Keene comprehensively treats each of the new, popular genres that arose, including haiku, Kabuki, and the witty, urbane prose of the newly ascendant merchant class.

The Chinese Translation of Russian Literature $177 Offers a history of the translation, transmission and interpretation of modernist Russian literature in China during the first half of the 20th century. This book shows the crucial role of English, German and Japanese translations in mediating knowledge of Russian literature in China.

Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868-2000 $42.98 Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Restoration, 1868-2000 explores, through a combination of narrative and analysis, the changes in the political process which lay behind Japan’s transformation into a modern nation state; its successive turn toward militarism, fascism, and the Pacific War; and the imposition of a fully democratic constitution. Sims examines closely such central topics as the Meiji renovation, samurai modernisers, the rise of liberal political parties, the Meiji constitution, "Taisho democracy," the wartime changes in the political system, postwar reforms and the "reverse course," four decades of Liberal Democratic rule, and the shake-up of Japanese politics during the 1990s. No other book has covered Japanese political history over the entire period since 1868 in such detail, and the present volume aims to fill the gap between the various general histories of modern Japan and the ever-increasing monographic literature.

The Strong and the Weak in Japanese Literature $120 Uses texts from classical and modern Japanese literature to examine concepts of 'respect for the strong', as a notion of an evolutionary society, and 'sympathy for the weak', and as a notion of a non-violent and changeless egalitarian society.

Anthology of Japanese Literature: From the Earliest Era to the Mid-Nineteenth Century $11.09 The sweep of Japanese literature in all its great variety was made available to Western readers for the first time in this anthology. Every genre and style from the celebrated No plays to the poetry and novels of the seventeenth century find a place in this book. An introduction by Donald Keene places the selections in their proper historical context allowing the readers to enjoy the book both as literature and as a guide to the cultural history of Japan. Selections include Manyoshu or Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves from the ancient period; Kokinshu or Collection of Ancient and Modern Poetry The Tosa Diary of Ki No Tsurayuki Yugao from Tales of Genji of Murasaki Shikibu and The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon from the Heian Period; The Tale of the Heike from the Kamakura Period; Plan of the No Stage Birds of Sorrow of Seami Motokiyo and Three Poets at Minase from the Muromachi Period; and Sections from Basho including The Narrow Road of Oku The Love Suicides at Sonezaki by Chikamatsu Monzaemon and Waka and haiku of the Tokugawa Period.

A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, 3rd Edition $107.49 This compelling text explores the development of China and Japan through their art, religion, literature, and thought as well as through their economic, political, and social history. This author team combines strong research with extensive classroom teaching experience to offer a clear, consistent, and highly readable text that is accessible to students with no previous knowledge of the history of East Asia.

A Brief History of Japanese Civilization, 2nd Edition $90.49 This compelling text explores the development of Japan through its art, religion, literature, and thought as well as through its economic, political, and social history. This author team combines strong research with extensive classroom teaching experience to offer a clear, consistent, and highly readable text that is accessible to students with no previous knowledge of the history of Japan.

The History of Japanese Paper Currency, 1868-1890 $17.98 This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world’s literature.

Anthology Of Japanese Literature $9.29 The sweep of Japanese literature in all its great variety was made available to Western readers for the first time in this anthology. Every genre and style, from the celebrated Nô plays to the poetry and novels of the seventeenth century, finds a place in this book; and many of the selections have their own introductions.

Japan, Its History, Arts, and Literature (Volume 2) $20.48 Volume: 2 Publisher: Boston: J.B. Millet Subjects: Art — Japan Japanese literature Japan — History Japan — Civilization Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there.

A Brief History of Japanese Civilization, 4th Edition $95.99 This compelling text explores the development of Japan through its art, religion, literature, and thought as well as through its economic, political, and social history. The author team combines strong research with extensive classroom teaching experience to offer a clear, consistent, and highly accessible text.

A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, 4th Edition $113.99 This compelling text explores the development of China and Japan through their art, religion, literature, and thought as well as through their economic, political, and social history. The author team combines strong research with extensive classroom teaching experience to offer a clear, consistent, and highly accessible text.

Japanese Civilization: A Comparative View $4.98 S. N. Eisenstadt, one of the world’s leading social theorists, provides a monumental synthesis of Japanese history, religion, culture, and social organization. Equipped with a thorough command of the literature, Eisenstadt explores the Japanese historical legacy and its impact on the Japanese experience of modernity. Eschewing the polemicism of structuralist or culturalist approaches, he expands his investigative framework to include a keenly systematic, broadly comparative analysis. What emerges is an innovative new construction, focusing on the nonideological character of Japanese civilization as well as its infinite capacity to recreate community through an ongoing past.

Literature $22.95 This brilliant guide provides an introductory overview of the history of ‘literature’ as a cultural concept, reflecting on its contemporary nature, place and function, and what the literary might mean for us today.

Modern Japanese Literature $10.29 From the time Japan opened its doors to the West in 1868, its literature changed markedly. This collection reflects the scope and vigor of this "modern" literature, here exemplified by anecdotes, reinterpretation of traditional tales, short stories, novels and autobiographical fiction, plays, essays, and reportage, as well as poetry.

A History of Japanese Theology $19 “This is the first book on the history of Japanese theology written by Japanese theologians. Editor Yasuo Furuya and four other eminent Japanese theologians – Akio Dohi, Toshio Sato, Seiichi Yagi, and Masaya Odagaki – clarify the tumultuous history of Japanese Christianity and describe the context, methodology, and goals shaping Japanese theology today.”

The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East (Volume 13the Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East (Volume 13) ) $15.98 Volume: 13 Publisher: New York, Parke Publication date: 1917 Subjects: Bible Bible Arabic literature Arabic literature — History and criticism Brahmanism Buddhism Chinese literature — Collections Chinese literature — History and criticism Egyptian literature — Collections Egyptian literature — History and criticism Hebrew literature — Collections Hebrew literature — History and criticism Japanese literature — Collections Japanese literature — History and] criticism Persian literature — Collections Persian literature — History and] criticism Sanskrit literature — Collections Sanskrit literature — History and] criticism Akkadian language — Texts Oriental literatures — Collections Oriental literatures — History and criticism Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there.

The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East (Volume 2)the Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East (Volume 2) $15.98 Volume: 2 Publisher: New York, Parke Publication date: 1917 Subjects: Bible Bible Arabic literature Arabic literature — History and criticism Brahmanism Buddhism Chinese literature — Collections Chinese literature — History and criticism Egyptian literature — Collections Egyptian literature — History and criticism Hebrew literature — Collections Hebrew literature — History and criticism Japanese literature — Collections Japanese literature — History and] criticism Persian literature — Collections Persian literature — History and] criticism Sanskrit literature — Collections Sanskrit literature — History and] criticism Akkadian language — Texts Oriental literatures — Collections Oriental literatures — History and criticism Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there.

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