Revised Edition of Shore Fishes of Hawaii

First published in 1996, this new edition of Shore Fishes of Hawai‘i, by John E. Randall, updates our knowledge of Hawaiian fishes and has been expanded to include 372 species. All are illustrated by the author’s 475 superb photographs. The most important characteristics to identify a fish are given as well as the size attained and its distribution. Each species account begins with the American common name, followed by the Hawaiian name (when known), and the scientific name. Because it is necessary to use some scientific terminology when giving the principal diagnostic characteristics of families or species of fishes and what they eat, a handy glossary appears at the back of the book before the Index.

March 2010 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3427-2 / $19.99 (PAPER)

Russian Encounters and Mutiny in the South Pacific

In August 1803 two Russian ships set off on a round-the-world voyage to carry out scientific exploration and collect artifacts for Alexander I’s ethnographic museum in St. Petersburg. Russia’s strategic concerns in the north Pacific, however, led the Russian government to include as part of the expedition an embassy to Japan, headed by statesman Nikolai Rezanov, who was given authority over the ships’ commanders without their knowledge. Between them the ships carried an ethnically and socially disparate group of men: Russian educated elite, German naturalists, Siberian merchants, Baltic naval officers, even Japanese passengers. Upon reaching Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas archipelago on May 7, 1804, and for the next twelve days, the naval officers revolted against Rezanov’s command while complex crosscultural encounters between Russians and islanders occurred.

In Twelve Days at Nuku Hiva: Russian Encounters and Mutiny in the South Pacific, Elena Govor recounts the voyage, reconstructing and exploring in depth the tumultuous events of the Russians’ stay in Nuku Hiva; the course of the mutiny, its resolution and aftermath; and the extent and nature of the contact between Nuku Hivans and Russians.

March 2010 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3368-8 / $49.00 (PAPER)

Japan’s Aging Urbanites and New Death Rites

Based on extensive fieldwork, Nature’s Embrace: Japan’s Aging Urbanites and New Death Rites, by Satsuki Kawano, reveals the emerging pluralization of death rites in postindustrial Japan. Low birth rates and high numbers of people remaining permanently single have led to a shortage of ceremonial caregivers (most commonly married sons and their wives) to ensure the transformation of the dead into ancestors resting in peace. Consequently, older adults are increasingly uncertain about who will perform memorial rites for them and maintain their graves. In this study, anthropologist Kawano examines Japan’s changing death rites from the perspective of those who elect to have their cremated remains scattered and celebrate their return to nature.

March 2010 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3372-5 / $47.00 (PAPER)

Bright Triumphs Wins Axiom Business Book Award

Bright Triumphs From Dark Hours: Turning Adversity into Success, by David Heenan, was recently awarded an Axiom Business Book Award bronze medal (Memoir/Biography category). The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary business books and their creators. For more on the award and this year’s other recipients, click here.

UH Press Distributing the Cornell East Asia Series and KITLV Press

University of Hawai‘i Press is pleased to announce it is now a distributor for the Cornell East Asia Series (excluding North America) and KITLV Press (North America only).

The Cornell East Asia Series is produced by the Cornell University East Asia Program and publishes a wide range of genres on subjects relative to the cultures of China, Japan, and Korea. For the complete list of titles distributed by UH Press, click here.

KITLV Press is the publishing department of the KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies and is the publisher of the longest-running anthropological and linguistic journal in the world (since 1851), Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (BKI) / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia and Oceania. For the complete list of titles distributed by UH Press, click here.

New UH Press Catalog Available for Viewing: Asian Studies 2010

The UH Press 2010 Asian Studies catalog is now available! To view the 5.1M PDF, click on the catalog cover image to the left.