Literature
A Diplomat in Japan
Sir Ernest Satow
The classic historical account of Japan’s first encounters with the West.
Amorous Woman
by Donna George Storey
An American woman's sexual awakening in Japan, testing the limits of love and sensual pleasure.
Evening Clouds
by Junzo Shono
A masterpiece of quiet lyricism set against a backdrop of change and renewal in suburban Tokyo.
In the Woods of Memory
by Shun Medoruma, Translated by Takuma Sminkey, Afterword by Kyle Ikeda
A powerful and thought-provoking novel that raises important questions about World War II, war memory, and US imperialism and blowback.
Kwaidan
by Lafcadio Hearn
Twenty unusual tales from Japan collected by one of the greatest writers on the country.
Native American in the Land of the Shogun
by Frederik L. Schodt
The true story of a half-Chinook, half-Scot adventurer who entered feudal Japan in 1848 and helped pave the way for its modernization.
Forty-Seven Samurai
by Hiroaki Sato
One of the most spectacular vendettas ever: the history and haiku behind the mass-suicide featured in the 2013 film 47 Ronin.
Innovating Out Of Crisis
by Shigetaka Komori
CEO Shigetaka Komori's own story of why Fujifilm succeeded where Kodak failed...
Milky Way Railroad
by Kenji Miyazawa
One night, alone on a hilltop, a young boy is swept aboard a magical train bound for the Milky Way.
Oh, Tama!
by Mieko Kanai
A deeply eccentric novel about lives and connections—and a cat of course—in 1980s Tokyo: witty, offbeat, and strangely profound.
A Shameful Life
by Osamu Dazai, translated by Mark Gibeau
A new translation of one of the greatest works of postwar Japanese literature, acutely capturing modern anxiety and alienation.
Bird Talk and Other Stories by Xu Xu
by Xu Xu, translated by Frederik H. Green
Works of a major Chinese writer--liberal, cosmopolitan, and lyrically exotic--once banned but now embraced...
Japan from Anime to Zen
By David Watts Barton
An accessible compendium of the most important aspects of Japanese arts, culture and history, for quick reference or a longer, in-depth read, for actual and armchair travelers alike.
Mobile Suit Gundam
by Frederik L. Schodt
The Gundam creator's own vision of his spectacularly successful cult franchise, in a new edition for hungry fans.
One Hot Summer in Kyoto
by John Haylock
The tale of English teacher Peter Meadowes, who flees to Kyoto for a summer vacation and finds himself lusting after every woman he sees…
A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics
by Donald Richie
Sure to be a classic, Donald Richie's concise, profound insights into the mysteries of Japanese Aesthetics.
Dreamland Japan
by Frederik L. Schodt
The classic text by renowned manga expert in a beautiful new casebound edition, with a new foreword and afterword by the author.
I Wait For The Moon
by Momoko Kuroda, commentary by Abigail Friedman
Momoko Kuroda (b. 1938) is a remarkable haiku spirit and a powerfully independent Japanese woman.
Japanese Girl at the Siege of Changchun
by Homare Endo
An unforgettable memoir of the horrors suffered by a Japanese family trapped in Changchun, China, at the end of WW2.
My Year of Dirt and Water
by Tracy Franz
Married to a Zen monk in training, an American woman in Japan chronicles her own year of growth and discovery.
Persona
by Naoki Inose & Kiroaki Sato
A critical biography of a modern Japanese literary giant, whose brilliant career ended in a spectacular ritual suicide.
