SBP 2020-2021 Catalog

Japan from Anime to Zen

Quick Takes on Culture, Art, History, Food . . . and More

This friendly guide offers concise but detailed demystifications of more than 85 aspects of ancient and modern Japan. 

It can be read in sequence, or just dipped into, depending on the moment’s need. Explanations go much deeper than a typical travel guide and cover 1,500 years of history and culture, everything from geisha to gangsters, haiku to karaoke, the sun goddess to the shogunate . . . and anime to Zen.

“A deep-dive into the traditions and cultural, historical, and social context of Japan. Japan from Anime to Zen has much more to offer than your average cultural guidebook.”

—Metropolis

"To those looking to take their first trip to Japan, or maybe left pondering many of the nuances of the nation’s culture on their return, the sheer expansiveness in scope of the book makes it an ideal travel companion."

—The Japan Society UK Review

"Japan from Anime to Zen brings readers a wealth of interesting and relevant information covering a broad variety of topics with an impressive amount of detail. I learned a lot!"

—Abby Denson, Cool Japan Guide

"This is truly a book about Japan from A to Z. David Barton offers deep insight into Japanese culture, history, and language to show what makes Japan so endlessly fascinating. An excellent achievement!"

—Yoji Yamakuse, author of Japaneseness

"Neatly organized and easy to browse, with a good level of information and helpful details not found in other, similar books.”

—Gilles Poitras, author of Tokyo Stroll

About the Author(s)