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The one thing the world is not short of is books about Japan.
Virtually every foreign writer and journalist who has passed through the
country has felt compelled to commit to paper their thoughts and
experiences. Many of these accounts are hopelessly out of date (or just
plain hopeless), but we've picked out a personal selection of the best
that provide a deeper understanding of what is too easily assumed to be
the world's most enigmatic country. As throughout this guide, for
Japanese names we have given the family name first. This may not always
be the order in which it is printed on the English translation.
Drawing on over a thousand years of literature and navel-gazing, the
Japanese also love writing about their own country and culture. The vast
bulk of translated works widely available in the Britain and the US are
novels, spanning from the courtly elegance of Genji Monogatari ( The
Tale of Genji ) to the contemporary fiction of Nobel Prize winner Oe
Kenzaburo and the Generation-Y author Yoshimoto Banana. Such books are
often released by Kodansha, one of the world's biggest publishers, and
Charles E. Tuttle, a long-established imprint for specialist books on
Japan. Both these publishers have an excellent range of reference and
coffee-table books on all aspects of Japanese culture, from architecture
and gardens to food and martial arts, which are best bought at major
bookstores in Japan, such as Kinokuniya and Maruzen. Look out also for
the series of pocket-size booklets by JTB on many different aspects of
Japanese culture. Books published by Kodansha, Tuttle and JTB are
usually cheaper in Japan, but other books won't be, so buy them before
your journey.
A Geisha scorned
The phenomenal success of Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha has caused
publishers to raid their back catalogues for related titles - Liza's
Dalby's Geisha (Vintage) is one true-life memoir that has come back for
a second round of attention, alongside her new novel The Tale of
Murasaki (Chatto & Windus). Dalby is the only foreign woman to ever
train as a geisha. Another respected cultural observer of Japan, Leslie
Downer has also weighed in with Geisha: the Secret Life of a Vanishing
World (Headline). But it's the original Golden book that's getting
Kyoto's closed geisha community hot under the perfumed collar.
In particular, Iwasaki Mineko, a grande dame of Gion who assisted Golden
in his research and is widely thought to be the model for Memoirs'
heroine Sayuki, believes she has cause for grievance. Iwasaki receives
fulsome praise and thanks from Golden in the book's acknowledgements,
yet when Memoirs was translated into Japanese, the former geisha was
furious at what she considers a total betrayal. Iwasaki is miffed about
a lot of small details, but it's one in particular that has made her
claim that her reputation has been sullied. In Memoirs , Golden details
the custom of mizuage , the time when a geisha has her virginity
auctioned off to the highest bidder. Iwasaki says she never would have
done such a thing.
However, Golden, rather ungallantly, has gone on record saying that
Iwasaki had told him that her mizuage had been sold for ¥100 million;
Iwasaki denies this, but Golden counters that he has tapes of their
conversations. There's talk of legal action and with 4 million copies
sold, translations into 21 languages and a Spielberg movie in the works,
the financial stakes are high.
History
Pat Barr The Coming of the Barbarians (Penguin). Entertaining and very
readable tales of how Japan opened up to the West at the beginning of
the Meiji Restoration.
Ian Buruma The Wages of Guilt (Random House). Buruma's skilful
comparison and explanation of how and why Germany and Japan have come to
terms so differently with their roles in World War II.
John Dower , Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Aftermath of World War II (Allen
Lane/Penguin Press). This accessible Pulitzer Prize winner looks at the
impact of the American occupation on Japan and concludes it had a
fundamental and long-lasting effect. First-person accounts and snappy
writing bring the book alive.
John Hersey Hiroshima (Penguin). Classic account of the devastation and
suffering wrought by the first A-bomb to be used in war.
George Hicks The Comfort Women (Souvenir Press). The story of one of the
more shameful episodes of World War II, when the Japanese forced women
to become prostitutes (euphemistically known as "comfort women") for the
army, that was only officially admitted by the government in the 1990s.
Richard Hughes Foreign Devil (Century). The veteran Australian
journalist arrived in Japan in 1940, eighteen months before Pearl Harbor,
and came back in 1945 to turn his enormous talent (and wit) to
commenting on postwar Japan and the Far East. Goes behind the scenes
with Fleming-san to research You Only Live Twice .
Mishima Akio Bitter Sea (Kosei). The Kyushu port of Minamata is now a
byword in Japan for the devastating impact of industrial pollution. This
dramatic account of the poisoning of Minamata's citizens and their long,
painful battle for compensation, was penned by a former journalist,
turned environmentalist.
Sir George Samson Japan: A Short Cultural History (Tuttle). Condensed
from the former diplomat's scholarly three-volume epic - but by no means
concise - this is one of the standard texts on Japan's past.
Edward Seidensticker Low City, High City (Tuttle) and Tokyo Rising: The
City Since the Great Earthquake (Tuttle). Seidensticker, a top
translator of Japanese literature, tackles Tokyo's history from its
humble beginnings to the Great Kanto quake of 1923 in the first book and
follows up well with a second volume focusing on the capital's postwar
experiences.
Oliver Statler Japanese Inn and Japanese Pilgrimage (Tuttle). In the
first book, a ryokan on the Tokaido road provides the focus for an
entertaining account of over four hundred years of Japanese history. In
Japanese Pilgrimage , Statler applies his talents to bringing alive the
history of the 88-temple hike around Shikoku.
Richard Storry A History of Modern Japan (Penguin). Ideal primer for
basics and themes of Japanese history.
Kenneth Strong Ox Against the Storm (Japan Library). The revealing story
of one man's fight against the Meiji Government on behalf of peasants
affected by copper pollution. A larger-than-life character, Tanaka Shozo
was a fierce champion of democracy and people's rights, as well as one
of Japan's first conservationists.
Richard Tames A Traveller's History of Japan (Windrush Press). This
clearly written and succinct volume romps through Japan's history and
provides useful cultural descriptions and essays.
Marvin Tokayer and Mary Swartz The Fugu Plan (Weatherhill). Semi-fictionalized
tale, based on incredible true-life events, which saw over 5000 Jews
being allowed into Japan during World War II and protected first in Kobe
and later in Japanese-occupied Shanghai.
Paul Waley Tokyo: City of Stories (Weatherill). An intimate, anecdotal
history of the capital, which delves into Tokyo's neighbourhoods
uncovering some fascinating stories in the process.
Mark Weston Giants of Japan (Kodansha International). Mark Weston puts
flesh on the bones of history with these short, lively biographies of
the movers and shakers - including a handful of women - who helped
create the Japan of today. The 37 portraits range from emperors to
industrialists and poets to film directors.
Business, economics and politics
Peter Hadfield Sixty Seconds That Will Change The World (Sidgwick &
Jackson). The main theme - the terrible threat hanging over Tokyo and
the world by a coming earthquake - allows Hadfield to reveal much about
Japanese attitudes, bureaucracy and politics.
Robert M. March Working for a Japanese Company (Kodansha). One of the
best studies on what it's really like inside Japan's corporate
powerhouses by an Aussie management consultant who's done thorough
research.
Miyamoto Masao Straitjacket Society (Kodansha). As the subtitle hints,
this "insider's irreverent view of bureaucratic Japan" is quite an eye-opener.
Unsurprisingly, Miyamoto was fired from the Ministry of Health and
Welfare, but his book sold over 400,000 copies.
Omae Ken'ichi The Borderless World (Fontana). One of Japan's top
management consultants airs his free-market theories of how national
economic borders are melting away in the wake of multinational business
success. A useful insight into the thoughts of a man whose views have
influenced many important businesses and political leaders.
Jacob M. Schlesinger Shadow Shoguns (Simon & Schuster). Cracking crash
course in Japan's political scene, scandals and all, from Wall Street
Journal reporter Schlesinger, who spent five years at the newspaper's
Tokyo bureau and whose wife was an aide to current top politician Ozawa
Ichiro.
Peter Tasker Inside Japan (Penguin). First published in 1987, at the
height of the boom years, but still recommended reading. This is a
highly readable and intelligent examination of Japanese business and
society by a British financial analyst who has made Japan his home since
1977.
Karel Van Wolferen The Enigma of Japanese Power (Macmillan/Tuttle). The
1993 version is the most recent edition of what has become a standard
text on the triad of Japan's bureaucracy, politicians and business, and
the power gulf between them. A weighty, thought-provoking tome, worth
wading through.
Arts, culture and society
Ruth Benedict The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (Tuttle). Classic study of
the hierarchical order of Japanese society, first published in 1946.
It's still relevant now for its intriguing insight into the psychology
of a nation that had just suffered defeat in World War II.
Alexandra Black , The Japanese House (Scriptum Editions). A beautifully
illustrated study of Japanese architecture and interior aesthetics,
tracing their history from the traditional teahouse to modern home
design.
Shirley Booth , Food of Japan (Grub Street). More than a series of
recipes, this nicely illustrated book also gives a lot of background
detail and history of Japanese food. There's a useful list of suppliers
of Japanese and macrobiotic food in the UK.
Nicholas Bornoff Pink Samurai (HarperCollins). Everything you ever
wanted to know about the history and current practices and mores of sex
in Japan, plus - at seven hundred-odd pages - plenty you'd rather not
have known.
Ian Buruma A Japanese Mirror and The Missionary and the Libertine (Faber).
The first book is an intelligent, erudite examination of Japan's popular
culture, while The Missionary and the Libertine collects together a
range of the author's essays, including pieces on Japan-bashing,
Hiroshima, Pearl Harbor, the authors Mishima Yukio, Tanizaki Junichiro
and Yoshimoto Banana and the film director rshima Nagisa.
Kittredge Cherry Womansword (Kodansha). Slightly dated but fascinating
portrait of women in Japanese society as revealed through language. From
"Christmas cake" (an unmarried woman) to "giant garbage" (a retired
husband), Womansword makes linguistics both fun and thought-provoking.
Mark Coutts-Smith Children of the Drum (Lightworks Press). The life of
Sado Island's Kodo drummers captured in powerful black-and-white images
by a photographer who spent five years studying and working with the
group.
Lisa Dalby , Geisha (Vintage). The real-life Memoirs of a Geisha . In
the 1970s, anthropologist Dalby immersed herself in this fast-disappearing
world and became a geisha. This is the fascinating account of her
experience and those of her teachers and fellow pupils.
Lesley Downer The Brothers (Chatto & Windus). The Tsutsumi family are
the Kennedys of Japan and their saga of wealth, illegitimacy and the
fabled hatred of the two half-brothers is made gripping reading by
Downer. Also look out for On the Narrow Road to the Deep North (Greensleeves
Books), her book following in the footsteps of the poet Basho, and the
new Geisha: the Secret Life of a Vanishing World (Headline).
Bruce S. Feiler Learning to Bow (Ticknor & Fields). An enlightening and
entertaining read, especially for anyone contemplating teaching English
in Japan. This book recounts the experiences of a young American on the
JET programme, plonked into a high school in rural Tochigi-ken.
Norma Field In the Realm of a Dying Emperor (Pantheon). Field paints a
vivid alternative portrait of contemporary Japan, as seen through the
experiences of three people who broke ranks: Chibana Shoichi, who hauled
down the Rising Sun flag in Okinawa; Nakaya Yasuko, a housewife who
tried to stop the burial of her husband, a former Self-Defence Forces
member, at a Shinto shrine; and Motoshima Hitoshi, ex-mayor of Nagasaki,
who criticized Emperor Hirohito's role during World War II.
Edward Fowler San'ya Blues (Cornell University Press). Fowler's
experiences living and working among the casual labourers of Tokyo's
San'ya district makes fascinating reading. He reveals the dark
underbelly of Japan's economic miracle and blows apart a few myths and
misconceptions on the way.
Robin Gerster , Legless in Ginza (Melbourne University Press). A funny
and spot-on account of the writer's two-year residence at Japan's most
prestigious university, Tokyo's Todai. Gerster writes with a larrikin
Aussie verve and notices things that many other ex-pat commentators
ignore.
Gunji Masakatsu Kabuki (Kodansha). Excellent, highly readable
introduction to Kabuki by one of the leading connoisseurs of Japanese
drama. Illustrated with copious annotated photos of the great actors and
most dramatic moments in Kabuki theatre.
Joe Joseph The Japanese (Penguin). Former Times correspondent sets down
some thoughts on the nation, mainly gathered during the madly
extravagant and unrepresentative bubble years of the late 1980s.
David Kaplan & Andrew Marshall The Cult at the End of the World (Arrow).
Chilling account of the nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway by the AUM
cult in 1995. The gripping, pulp-fiction-like prose belies formidable
research by the authors into the shocking history of this killer cult
and their crazed leader Asahara Shoko.
Donald Keene The Blue-Eyed Tarokaja (Columbia University Press). Wide-ranging
anthology of literary essays, interviews and travel pieces by Donald
Keene, one of the foremost authorities on Japanese literature.
Alex Kerr Lost Japan (Lonely Planet). Although it's part of the usually
tedious "Japan's not what it once was" school of writing, this book won
a prestigious literature prize when first published in Japanese, and the
translation is just as worthy of praise. Kerr, the son of a US naval
officer, first came to Japan as a child in the 1960s and has been
fascinated by it ever since. This beautifully written and thoughtfully
observed set of essays covers aspects of his life and passions,
including Kabuki, art collecting and cities such as Kyoto and Osaka.
Richard McGregor Japan Swings (Allen & Unwin/Yen). One of the more
intelligent books penned by a former Tokyo correspondent. McGregor sets
politics, culture and sex in 1990s post-bubble Japan in his sights,
revealing a fascinating world of ingrained money politics and shifting
sexual attitudes.
Brian Moeran A Far Valley: Four Years in a Japanese Village (Kodansha
International). An affectionate though far from rose-tinted view into
the daily life of a Japanese village by a cultural anthropologist.
Moeran spent four years with his family in a community of potters in
deepest Kyushu, before their dreams were shattered in a totally
unexpected and harrowing way.
Patricia Morely The Mountain is Moving (New York University Press).
Though a bit heavy going in places, this study of the changing role of
women in Japanese society is best for its interviews with and portraits
of women who have broken with tradition.
John K. Nelson A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine (University of
Washington Press). Fascinating insight into Japan's native animist
religion based on this American ethnologist's research at Suwa-jinja in
Nagasaki. Amid all the detail, Nelson also catches gossipy asides such
as a trainee priest being told to be "careful not to fart during the
ritual".
Gunter Nitschke Japanese Gardens (Taschen). A far less lavish book on
gardens than Itoh Teiji's seminal work , but nonetheless informative,
wide-ranging and beautifully illustrated.
Donald Richie Public People, Private People (Kodansha), A Lateral View (Japan
Times) and Partial Views (Japan Times). These three books, all
collections of essays by a man whose love affair with Japan began when
he arrived with the US occupying forces in 1947, set the standard other
expat commentators can only aspire to. Public People is a set of
sketches of famous and unknown Japanese, including profiles of novelist
Mishima and the actor Mifune Toshiro. In A Lateral View and Partial
Views , Richie tackles Tokyo style, avant-garde theatre, pachinko , the
Japanese kiss and the Zen rock garden at Kyoto's Ryoan-ji temple, among
many other things.
Saga Junichi Confessions of a Yakuza (Kodansha International) This life-story
of a former yakuza boss, beautifully retold by a doctor whose clinic he
just happened to walk into, gives a rare insight into a secret world.
Saga also wrote the award-winning Memories of Silk and Straw (Kodansha
International), a collection of reminiscences about village life in pre-modern
Japan.
Mark Schilling The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture (Weatherhill).
Forget sumo, samurai and ikebana . Godzilla, pop idols and instant ramen
are really where Japan's culture's at. Schilling's book is an
indispensable, spot-on guide to late-twentieth-century Japan. Don't
leave home without it.
Frederik L. Schodt Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga (SBP). In
the sequel to his Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics , Schodt
pens a series of entertaining and informative essays on the art of
Japanese comic books, profiling the top publications, artists, animated
films and English-language manga .
Joan Stanley-Baker Japanese Art (Thames and Hudson). Highly readable
introduction to the broad range of Japan's artistic traditions (though
excluding theatre and music), tracing their development from prehistoric
to modern times.
David Suzuki & Oiwa Keibo The Japan We Never Knew (Allen & Unwin).
Canadian broadcaster and writer Suzuki teamed up with half-Japanese
anthropologist Oiwa to tour the country and interview an extraordinary
range of people, from the Ainu of Hokkaido to descendants of the "untouchable"
caste, the Burakumin. The result is an excellent riposte to the idea of
a monocultural, conformist Japan.
Robert Twigger , Angry White Pyjamas (Indigo). The subtitle "An Oxford
poet trains with the Tokyo riot police" gives you the gist, and although
Twigger's writing is more prose than poetry, he provides an intense
forensic account of the daily trials, humiliations and triumphs of
becoming a master of Aikido. Even if you're not into martial arts, it's
worth picking up.
Rey Ventura Underground in Japan (Cape). The non-Caucasian gaijin
experience in Japan is brilliantly essayed by Ventura, who lived and
worked with fellow Filipino illegal immigrants in the dockyards of
Yokohama.
Travel writing
Dave Barry Dave Barry Does Japan (Random House). Hilarious spoof travel
book by top American satirist.
Isabella Bird Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (Virago). After a brief stop in
Meiji-era Tokyo, intrepid Victorian adventurer Bird is determined to
reach parts of Japan not trampled by tourists. She heads north to
Hokkaido, taking the time to make acute, vivid observations along the
way.
Alan Booth The Roads to Sata (Penguin) and Looking for the Lost (Kodansha).
Two classics by one of the most insightful and entertaining modern
writers on Japan, whose talents were tragically cut short by his death
in 1993. The first book sees Booth, an avid long-distance walker, hike (with
the aid of many a beer) from the far north of Hokkaido to the southern
tip of Kyushu, while Looking for the Lost , a trio of walking tales, is
by turns hilarious and heartbreakingly poignant.
Josei Drew A Ride in the Neon Sun (Warner Books). At nearly 700 pages,
this isn't a book to pop in your panniers, but full of useful tips for
anyone planning to tour Japan by bike.
Will Ferguson , Hokkaido Highway Blues (Cannongate). Humorist Ferguson
decides to hitch from one end of Japan to the other, with the aim of
travelling with the Japanese, not among them. He succeeds (despite
everyone telling him - even those who stop to pick him up - that
Japanese never stop for hitch-hikers), and in the process turns out one
of the best ever books of travel writing about the country. Funny and
ultimately moving.
Donald W. George & Amy Greimann Carslon (eds) Travelers' Tales Guides:
Japan Travelers' Tales, Inc). A necessarily selective sampler of the
best writers who ever penned a Japan travel piece. From Lafcadio Hearn
to Donald Richie, Alan Booth and Pico Iyer.
Pico Iyer Video Nights in Katmandu and The Lady and the Monk (Black
Swan). The first book, by this former Time correspondent, has a
brilliant essay on baseball and the incongruities of modern Japan. Iyer
obviously fell in love with Japan, a fact reflected in the beautifully
written The Lady and the Monk , devoted to a year he spent studying Zen
Buddhism and dallying with a married woman in Kyoto. It's a rose-tinted,
dreamy view of the country, which he has since followed up, in a more
realistic way, with his excellent and thought-provoking The Global Soul
(Bloomsbury).
Donald Richie The Inland Sea (Kodansha), Lafcadio Hearn's Japan (Tuttle)
and Tokyo (Reaktion Books). The first is Richie's writing at its very
best. A subtle, elegiac travelogue, in the form of a diary, first
published in 1971, that totally captures the timeless beauty of the
island-studded Inland Sea. The second is an anthology, edited by Richie,
of one of the best-known and respected foreign writers who lived in
Japan in the late nineteenth century. Includes sections from the classic
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan , among Hearn's other works. In Tokyo ,
Richie captures the essence of the city he has lived in for more than
fifty years. One of the best introductions you could read.
Guides and reference books
Jude Band Tokyo Night City (Tuttle). Hip, streetwise guide to the
capital's hot nightspots, although it's somewhat superseded by her more
recent contributions to the TokyoQ Web site, penned under the nom de
plume Sister Chill.
Mark Brazil A Birdwatcher's Guide to Japan (Kodansha). Though hard to
find, this is the essential guide for travelling birdwatchers: Brazil
has an encyclopedic knowledge of Japan's birds and the places they can
be found. Particularly good for those looking for birds and other
wildlife in Okinawa, Western Kyushu, around Tokyo, and especially
eastern Hokkaido.
Jan Brown Exploring Tohoku (Weatherhill). Detailed and well-written
guide to Japan's back-country by a long-term resident and obvious
enthusiast. Provides plenty of historical and cultural information as
well as practical snippets.
John Carroll Trails of Two Cities (Kodansha). Enjoyable and informative
walking guide to Yokohama and Kamakura by a long-time resident. Full of
fascinating historical detail and local insights.
Judith Clancy Exploring Kyoto (Weatherhill). One of the better Kyoto
guides, whose thirty well-researched walking tours (each with an
accompanying map) cover both the famous sights and the less well-known
byways of this ancient city.
Diane Durston Old Kyoto (Kodansha) and Kyoto: Seven Paths to the Heart
of the City (Mitsumura Suko Shoin). Few people can get under the skin of
this enigmatic city as well as Diane Durston. In Old Kyoto she seeks out
the best traditional craft shops, restaurants and ryokan, while her more
recent book explores seven neighbourhoods where Kyoto's special magic
still survives.
Enbutsu Sumiko Old Tokyo: Walks in the City of the Shogun (Kodansha).
Tokyo's old Shitamachi area is best explored on foot and Enbutsu's
guide, illustrated with characterful block prints, helps bring the
city's history alive.
Harry Guest Traveller's Literary Companion to Japan (In Print). Explore
Japan in the company of the country's literary greats and a host of
foreign writers. Regional essays with selected extracts are backed up by
author bios, booklists and a brief romp through the historical and
cultural background. The essential travel accessory.
Brian Harrel ed. Cycling Japan (Kodansha). Harrel also edits the biking
newsletter Oikaze and this highly practical guide tells you everything
you need to know for a biking trip around the country, with plenty of
personal accounts. If nothing else, try the Yamanote Countryside Ride, a
45-kilometre loop around Tokyo, which is guaranteed to reveal many of
the city's forgotten gems.
Anne Hotta with Ishiguro Yoko A Guide to Japanese Hot Springs
(Kodansha). Over 160 onsen, including 25 within easy reach of Tokyo, are
detailed in this indispensable guide for bath lovers, as well as the
cultural history of natural hot-water pursuits in Japan.
Paul Hunt Hiking in Japan (Kodansha). Hunt demonstrates that there's far
more to mountain climbing in Japan than scaling Fuji-san. His detailed
hikes cover all the top destinations from Kirishima in Kyushu to
Daisetsu-zan in Hokkaido, by way of the fabulous Japan Alps.
Itoh Teiji The Gardens of Japan (Kodansha). Huge coffee-table book
covering all the great historical gardens, including many not generally
open to the public, as well as contemporary design. A comprehensive
overview with splendid photos.
Thomas F. Judge and Tomita Hiroyuki Edo Craftsmen (Weatherhill).
Beautifully produced portraits of some of Shitamachi's traditional
craftsmen still working in the backstreets of Tokyo. A timely insight
into a disappearing world.
Rick Kennedy Good Tokyo Restaurants (Kodansha). By an author who's
sampled thousands of restaurants during his many years in Tokyo, so he
knows what he's talking about. Not as wide-ranging, or as up-to-date, as
other guides, but very reliable.
John and Phyllis Martin Tokyo: A Cultural Guide to Japan's Capital City,
Kyoto: A Cultural Guide to Japan's Ancient Imperial City and Nara: A
Cultural Guide to Japan's Ancient Capital (Tuttle). Three excellent
books designed around walking tours of Japan's most historic cities,
which go well beyond the usual sights.
Ed Readicker-Henderson The Traveller's Guide to Japanese Pilgrimages
(Weatherhill). A practical guide to Japan's top three pilgrim routes:
Hiei-zan (near Kyoto); the 33 Kannon of Saigoku (a broad sweep from the
Kii peninsula to Lake Biwa); and following the steps of Kobo Daishi
round Shikoku's 88 temples.
T.R. Reid Ski Japan! (Kodansha). If you're planning a ski trip in Japan,
don't leave without having first read through this witty and informative
guide that profiles 93 of the best resorts in the country.
Understandably, ski-mad Reid prefers to be on rather than off the
slopes, so don't expect much in the way of accommodation or après-ski
recommendations.
Robb Satterwhite What's What in Japanese Restaurants (Kodansha). Handy
guide to all things culinary you'll encounter during your adventures in
Japanese food and drink. Written by a Tokyo-based epicure who also
manages the excellent Tokyo Food Page on the Web. The menus annotated
with Japanese characters are particularly useful.
Mary Sutherland and Dorothy Britton National Parks of Japan (Kodansha).
With gorgeous photos and a thoroughly researched text, this is the
essential guide to all 28 of Japan's National Parks, covering wildlife,
plants, natural and cultural history. A quick glance gives ample reason
to seek out the breathtaking and varied natural beauty of the wilder
parts of this amazing chain of islands.
Tajima Noriyuki Tokyo: A Guide to Recent Architecture (Ellipsis). A
compact, expertly written and nicely illustrated book that's an
essential accompaniment on any modern architectural tour of the capital.
TokyoQ 2000-2001 Annual Guide to the City (Stonebridge Press). Spin-off
from the fine Web site, this handy slim volume is worth picking up for
those extra titbits of information that only living in the city
provides.
Marc Treib & Ron Herman A Guide to the Gardens of Kyoto (Shufunotomo).
Handy, pocket-sized guide to more than fifty of the city's gardens, with
concise historical details and step-by-step descriptions of each garden.
Gary D'A Walters Day Walks Near Tokyo (Kodansha). Slim volume of strolls
and hikes all within easy reach of the capital to help get you off the
beaten tourist path. The maps are clear, as are the practical details
and directions.
Diane Wiltshire Kanagawa & Jeanne Huey Erickson Japan for Kids
(Kodansha). Immensely practical guide covering everything from
vocabulary for the labour ward, to where to rent a Santa. Aimed mainly
at expat parents living in Tokyo, but also full of practical tips and
recommendations for visitors with kids.
Classic literature
Kawabata Yasunari Snow Country, The Izu Dancer , etc (Tuttle). Japan's
first Nobel Prize winner for fiction writes intense tales of passion
usually about a sophisticated urban man falling for a simple country
girl.
Matsuo Basho The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Penguin). The
seventeenth-century haiku poetry master chronicles his journey through
northern Japan, pausing to compose his thoughts along the way.
Murasaki Shikibu The Tale of Genji (Penguin/Tuttle). Claimed as the
world's first novel, a lyrical epic of the lives and loves of a nobleman
spun by a lady of the Heian court around 1000 AD.
Natsume Soseki Botchan, Kokoro and I am a Cat (Tuttle). In his comic
novel Botchan , Soseki draws on his own experiences as an English
teacher in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Matsuyama. The three volumes of
I am a Cat sees the humorist adopting a wry feline point of view on the
world. Kokoro - about an ageing sensei trying to coming to terms with
the modern era - is considered his best book.
Sei Shonagon The Pillow Book (Penguin). Fascinating insight into the
daily life and artful thoughts of a tenth-century noblewoman, translated
by Ivan Morris.
Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Some Prefer Nettles and The Makioka Sisters
(Tuttle). One of the great stylists of Japanese prose, Tanizaki's finest
book is often considered to be Some Prefer Nettles , about a romantic
liaison between a Japanese man and a Eurasian woman. However, there's an
epic sweep to The Makioka Sisters which documents the decline of a
wealthy merchant family in Osaka.
Contemporary fiction
Alfred Birnbaum ed. Monkey Brain Sushi (Kodansha). Eleven often quirky
short stories by contemporary Japanese authors. A good introduction to
modern prose writers.
Van C. Gessel & Tomone Matsumoto (eds.) The Showa Anthology (Kodansha
International). This collection of short stories is essential reading if
you want to get up to speed with the best in contemporary Japanese
fiction. The anthology covers the Showa era (1926-1989) and includes a
number of stories not previously translated into English.
Ishiguro Kazuo An Artist of the Floating World (Faber) and A Pale View
of the Hills (Faber). Nagasaki-born author who's lived in Britain since
1960. A Pale View , his first novel, is a haunting tale set in Nagasaki
which unravels the vaguely expressed horrors of the atomic bombing
against the backdrop of a dislocated postwar society. An Artist of the
Floating World takes a look at the rise of Japanese militarism in this
century through the eyes of an ageing painter. It won the Whitbread Book
of the Year for 1986.
Maruya Saiichi Singular Rebellion (Kodansha). Comedy of manners about a
middle-aged salaryman who shacks up with a bimbo model, only to find
himself also sharing house with granny, just out of jail for murder.
Mishima Yukio After the Banquet, Confessions of Mask, Forbidden Colours,
The Sea of Fertility (all Penguin/Kodansha). Novelist Mishima sealed his
notoriety by committing ritual suicide after leading a failed military
coup in 1970. He left behind a highly respectable, if at times
melodramatic, body of literature, including some of Japan's finest
postwar novels. Themes of tradition, sexuality and militarism run though
many of his works.
Miyabe Miyuki All She Was Worth (Kodansha). When a young man's fiancé
goes missing, a trail of credit-card debts and worse turns up. There's
more to this clever whodunnit set in contemporary Tokyo than immediately
meets the eye.
Murakami Ryu Almost Transparent Blue, Sixty-nine and Coin Locker Babies
(Kodansha). Murakami burst onto Japan's literary scene in the mid-1980s
with Almost Transparent Blue , a hip tale of student life mixing reality
and fantasy. Sixty-nine is his semi-autobiographical account of a
17-year-old stirred by the rebellious passions of the late 1960s, set in
Sasebo, Kyushu; while Coin Locker Babies is his most ambitious work,
spinning a revenger's tragedy about the lives of two boys dumped in
adjacent coin lockers as babies.
Oe Kenzaburo Nip the Buds Shoot the Kids (Kodansha), A Personal Matter
(Tuttle) and A Healing Family (Kodansha). Oe won Japan's second Nobel
Prize for literature in 1994 and is a writer who aims, in his own words,
to "push back the rising tide of conformity". Nip the Buds , his first
full-length novel published in 1958, is a tale of lost innocence
concerning fifteen reformatory school boys evacuated in wartime to a
remote mountain village and left to fend for themselves when a
threatening plague frightens away the villagers. A Personal Matter sees
Oe tackling the trauma of his handicapped son Hikari's birth, while A
Healing Family catches up with Hikari thirty years later documenting his
trials and triumphs. Never an easy read, but always startlingly honest.
Yoshimoto Banana Kitchen, Lizard and Amrita (Faber). Trendy
thirty-something novelist whose quirky, lyrical style and odd stories
have struck a chord with modern Japanese youth and overseas readers.
Japan in foreign fiction
Alan Brown Audrey Hepburn's Neck (Sceptre). Beneath this rib-tickling,
acutely observed tale of a young guy from the sticks adrift in big-city
Tokyo, Brown weaves several important themes, including the continuing
impact of World War II and the confused relationships between the
Japanese and gaijin . An evocative, enchanting fable of contemporary
Japan.
James Clavell Shogun (Dell). Blockbuster fictionalized account of
Englishman Will Adams' life in seventeenth-century Japan as an adviser
to Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Lisa Dalby , The Tale of Murasaki (Chatto & Windus). The
eleventh-century Japanese author Murasaki Shikibu and her Tale of Genji
inspire this imaginative novel that takes the reader inside Kyoto's
ancient imperial court.
Ian Fleming You Only Live Twice (Pan). Bondo-san on the trail of
arch-enemy Blofeld in trendy mid-sixties Tokyo and the wilds of Kyushu,
assisted by Tiger Tanaka and Kissy Suzuki.
William Gibson Idoru (Penguin). Love in the age of the computer chip.
Cyberpunk novelist Gibson's sci-fi vision of Tokyo's hi-tech future - a
world of non-intrusive DNA checks at airports and computerized pop icons
(the idoru of the title) - rings disturbingly true.
Arthur Golden Memoirs of a Geisha (Vintage). Rags to riches potboiler
following the progress of Chiyo from her humble beginnings in a Japanese
fishing village through training as a geisha in Kyoto to setting up her
own teahouse in New York. Full of accurate details and colourful
characters.
Steven Heighton Flightpaths of the Emperor (Granta). Entertaining and
thought-provoking collection of short stories by a young award-winning
Canadian writer, most based in downtown Osaka where Heighton once taught
English like the character in some of the tales.
Dianne Highbridge , In the Empire of Dreams (Allen & Unwin). In this
series of loosely connected short stories, Australian expat Highbridge
focuses on the experiences of young women - all, bar one, expats -
attempting to make a life in Japan. Evocative descriptions and some
insights, but few surprises as Highbridge ticks off the issues, from
mixed marriages to the gaijin who find it impossible to leave.
Gavin Kramer Shopping (Fourth Estate). British lawyer Kramer's zippy
first novel is on the bleak side, but captures the turn-of-Millennium
zeitgeist of Tokyo, where schoolgirls trade sex for designer labels and
gaijin flounder in a sea of misunderstanding.
John David Morley Pictures from the Water Trade (Flamingo). The
subtitle, An Englishman in Japan , says it all as Morley's alter-ego,
Boon, crashes headlong into an intense relationship with demure, yet
sultry Mariko in an oh-so-foreign world. Along the way, some imaginative
observations and descriptions are made.
Ruri Pilgrim , Fish of the Seto Island Sea (HarperCollins). Account of
three generations of the author's family, starting with her
great-grandparents in the 1870s. The book's greatest interest lies in
its dramatic backdrop of the war - which the family comes through
remarkably in-tact, albeit in very straitened circumstances - and the
deep-seated changes taking place in Japanese society as a result of both
the war and the subsequent American occupation.
Peter Tasker Silent Thunder (Orion/Tuttle). Top British financial
analyst Tasker's first stab at fiction is a fun, throwaway thriller,
with Bond-like set pieces and some lively Japanese characters,
especially Mori, his down-at-heel gumshoe. Much better than the
follow-up Buddha Kiss , although Tasker seems to have found his form
again with the latest snappy read, Samurai Boogie .
Murakami Haruki
Murakami Haruki is one of the most entertaining Japanese writers around
and is hailed as a postwar successor to the great novelists Mishima,
Kawabata and Tanizaki. His books, which are wildly popular in Japan, are
about conspiracies, suicidal women, futile love, disappearing elephants
and talking sheep. In 21 years he has published over a dozen novels and,
most recently, Underground (Harvill), a study of the 1995 Tokyo subway
gas attack by the AUM Shinrikyo cult. Translated into some thirty
languages, Murakami is being talked of as a future Nobel Prize laureate.
And yet the 51-year-old writer and marathon runner (he's run one a year
for the past eighteen years with a personal best of 3 hours, 34 minutes,
and is planning a book on the subject) shuns the media spotlight and is
happy that few people recognize him.
Many of Murakami's books are set in Tokyo, drawing on his time studying
at Waseda University in the early 1970s and running his own jazz bar in
Kokubunji, a place that became a haunt for literary types and, no doubt,
provided inspiration for his jazz-bar-running hero in the bittersweet
novella South of the Border, West of the Sun . He's back living in Tokyo
now, but has spent large parts of his career abroad, including five
years teaching in the US, at both Princeton University and Boston's
Tufts University. The contemporary edge to Murakami's writing, which
eschews the traditional clichés of Japanese literature, has been fuelled
by his work as a translator of books by John Irving, Raymond Carver,
Truman Capote and Paul Theroux among others.
A good introduction to Murakami is Norwegian Wood (Harvill), a tender
coming-of-age love story between two students, that has sold over five
million copies in both of its volumes. The truly bizarre A Wild Sheep
Chase and its follow-up Dance Dance Dance (both Harvill/Kodansha), are
funny but disturbing modern-day fables, dressed up as detective novels.
His best book is considered to be The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Harvill),
a hefty yet dazzling cocktail of mystery, war reportage and philosophy.
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