New Books
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.
China Smart
by Larry and Qin Herzberg
Essential essays on all things Chinese that inform and entertain travelers, students, and anyone working or living in China.
Exploring Kyoto
by Judith Clancy
The Japan travel classic and cultural guide gets you wandering from downtown quarters to remote mountaintop temples....
My Heart Sutra
By Frederik L. Schodt
A cultural and personal journey into the famous sutra that teaches "form is emptiness; and emptiness is form."
Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man
by Steve Alpert
A unique behind-the-scenes look at Japanese business and how the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki were introduced to the world.
The Thorn Puller
By Hiromi Ito
Introducing Hiromi Ito, an award-winning Japanese author who has been compared to Haruki Murakami and Yoko Tawada.
Amy’s Guide to Best Behavior in Japan
by Amy Chavez
Going to Japan? This unfussy modern guide guarantees you keep it polite and get it right!
Easy and Fun Hiragana
by Kiyomi Ogawa & Orrin Cummins
Learn the basic Japanese syllabary from every angle: reading, writing, and real-world examples.
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.
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.
The Buddhist Swastika and Hitler's Cross
by T.K. Nakagaki
A remarkable cross-cultural history that rescues the swastika, an ancient Buddhist symbol, from its deployment by the forces of hate.
The Way Forward (vol. 5)
How China became the China we know today, through war and societal transformation.
Basho's Haiku Journeys
Haiku tell the story of the poet Basho and the diaries he wrote while walking throughout Japan in the 1600s.
Easy and Fun Katakana
by Kiyomi Ogawa & Orrin Cummins
Learn the second key Japanese syllabary from every angle: reading, writing, and real-world examples.
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.
Of Arcs and Circles
A renowned designer of Japanese gardens contemplates wildness, humanity, beauty, the liquid state of the world.
Tokyo Junkie
By Robert Whiting
60 years of observation: an American journalist’s memoir about Tokyo’s modern urban transformation, its criminal underworld and, oh yes, baseball.
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...
Eating Wild Japan
By Winifred Bird
A delicious collection of essays, recipes, and practical plant information exploring Japan's thriving culture of foraged foods.
Kanazawa
In Kanazawa, Japan, Emmitt and his wife Mirai clash over how to pursue their future together until a 30-year-old mystery reveals a way forward.
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.
The Minamata Story
by Akiko Shimojima
The true story of how one Japanese village suffered and survived the mercury poisoning of its waters.
Tokyo Stroll
by Giles Poitras
The ultimate guidebook to walking the streets of Tokyo that Japan lovers and the curious have been waiting for.
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