Iain Maloney - The Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN

Apr 14, 2018

'Sweet Bean Paste' offers an original take on the odd couple genre

Durian Sukegawa's novel is an original twist on the 'odd couple' genre, in which two unlikely companions find they have much to offer each other, and retains much of the humor that genre entails.

CULTURE / Books

Mar 31, 2018

'Ms Ice Sandwich': Lonely and obsessive, a boy comes of age

Despite being prominent in Japan as an Akutagawa Prize-winning writer and singer-songwriter, "Ms Ice Sandwich" is Mieko Kawakami's first book to be translated into English.

CULTURE / Books

Mar 17, 2018

'Tokyo Poetry Journal' is back, this time exploring the beats

The fifth issue of the Tokyo Poetry Journal (ToPoJo) shows it has the scope of ambition and the depth of talent to become a lasting landmark in Japan's English-language poetry scene. This issue focuses on the way in which U.S. beat poets such as Ginsberg, Snyder, and Rexroth were influenced by Japan and how in turn their work influenced Japanese poets such as Nanao Sakaki and Kazuko Shiraishi. It also examines the roots of Japan's beat and hippy movements, showing that Japanese poets were traveling a similar path long before encountering their U.S. peers.

CULTURE / Books

Nov 25, 2017

Ensuring women are not lost in translation

The literary arts are mainly solitary activities. Wordsmiths are, however, social animals and — the odd Pynchon aside — seek out the company of the rest of the species.

CULTURE / Books

Nov 4, 2017

'Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life': Does happiness lie in your purpose in life?

Ikigai is the idea that having a purpose in your life is key to happiness. Curious whether ikigai and longevity have a causal connection, software engineer Hector Garcia and writer/translator Francesc Miralles set out to interview the residents of Ogimi, Okinawa, the so-called Village of Longevity. Their resulting book claims that ikigai is "The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life."

CULTURE / Books

Sep 30, 2017

'Sonic Peace': Troubling poetry about the modern world

“Sonic Peace,” which won the Chuya Nakahara Prize in 2006, is in the classic “artist-versus-modernity” vein. It rings with contemporary loneliness, solitary figures awake in the night and vending machines glowing in the gloom. Many of the voices are personified electronic devices, our phones and computers looking back at us from the “blue-darkness.” The threat of surveillance, of being watched, pervades the work, which is rooted in the artificiality of modern Tokyo. As the voice in “March Road” says, even the horizon is counterfeit.

CULTURE / Books

Aug 26, 2017

'The Part of Me That Isn't Broken Inside': A hard look at the dark in the human psyche

Ennui and existential loneliness have become synonymous with contemporary Japanese literature, and those sentiments receive one of their most direct treatments in this newly translated novel from 2002. "The Part of Me That Isn't Broken Inside" is as unrelentingly bleak as its title suggests.

CULTURE / Books

Jul 29, 2017

'The Boy in the Earth': A short, sharp shock of a novella

"The Boy in the Earth" was Fuminori Nakamura's fifth book and it won him the Akutagawa Prize in 2005. It's a short sharp shock of a novella and Allison Markin Powell's powerful recent translation finally brings its creeping dread alive for English readers.

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Jul 22, 2017

'Building Japan, 1868-1876': Reflections from the father of Japan's modern public works

Richard Henry Brunton was a Scottish engineer who came to Japan in 1868, one of a number of o-yatoi-gaikokujin — foreigners hired to help Japan modernize at the beginning of the Meiji Era (1868-1912). This book is his memoir, the story of the eight years he spent living in Yokohama and traveling the country overseeing the dredging of channels and the building of lighthouses and bridges both literal and figurative.

CULTURE / Books

Jul 15, 2017

'A Tokyo Anthology: Literature from Japan's Modern Metropolis, 1850-1920': Collection sheds light on corners of the Meiji Era

"A Tokyo Anthology" is the latest in a series of books that aims to introduce Japanese literature to readers within the context of history and cultural developments. "An Edo Anthology" came out in 2013 and covers the century from 1750. "A Kamigata Anthology" is on its way, taking the story back to 1600. This volume runs from 1850 to 1920, loosely covering the Meiji Era (1868-1912).

CULTURE / Books

Jul 15, 2017

'The Diplomat's Daughter': Exploring the experience of WWII internees with fiction

Karin Tanabe's fourth novel explores the experience of Japanese and German internees in the U.S. during World War II, set against the experience of foreign detainees in Japan.

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Jul 1, 2017

'A Diplomat in Japan': Eyewitness accounts of the birth of a modern nation

The "Great Man" theory of history has largely been discredited. Propounded by Thomas Carlyle in the 1840s, it suggests that history is moved and swayed by the personalities of "great men" such as Alexander the Great and Napoleon. While there are clearly examples throughout history of men and women who were "great," societal trends and technological advancements are now considered far more important drivers of history.

CULTURE / Books

Jul 1, 2017

'The Nakano Thrift Shop': Hiromi Kawakami furthers her exploration of form and style

Hiromi Kawakami is fast becoming the go-to novelist for publishers looking to expand their Japanese list, slipping effortlessly into the "quirky" space once occupied by Banana Yoshimoto. "The Nakano Thrift Shop" is exactly what readers have come to expect from her: eccentric character excavations that are somehow intensely focused yet almost flippantly delivered.

CULTURE / Books

Jun 10, 2017

'Spring Garden': A masterful look at loneliness and malaise in Tokyo

The civic story of Japan from the dawn of the 20th century to the present is one of migration from the countryside to the city.

CULTURE / Books

Jun 10, 2017

'Slow Boat': Hideo Furukawa beats Haruki Murakami at his own game

Comparing a Japanese writer with Haruki Murakami is the laziest move a reviewer can make, but with "Slow Boat," Hideo Furukawa leaves critics no choice.

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Jun 3, 2017

'Nagasaki: The British Experience, 1854-1945': Loving portrait of a storied city

Nagasaki is something of an outlier in Japanese history. While the country closed itself off from external influence between the 1630s and 1853, this western port remained partially exempt, a crack through which people, ideas and products could pass. Today, the city retains its cosmopolitan attitude and atmosphere.

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

May 27, 2017

'The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan': Is it fair to compare wartime experiences?

Despite regular, if sometimes half-hearted apologies, China and South Korea have repeatedly accused Japan of being unrepentant and insincere in its attitude to World War II. The nation's acceptance of defeat and acknowledgment or denial of guilt is most often compared with that of Germany.

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

May 20, 2017

'100 Poems from the Japanese": A classic collection

Kenneth Rexroth was heavily influenced by the moods and modes of Japanese poetry, which in turn reached those who were influenced by him. Named by Time Magazine as the “father of the Beats” and a friend of that other great Japanophile poet, Gary Snyder, Rexroth famously passed off his own poems “in the Japanese style” as those of a young female Japanese poet.

CULTURE / Books

May 20, 2017

'Japanese Garden Notes': An informative photo book

"Japanese Garden Notes" is a gorgeous photo book that introduces aspects of traditional Japanese garden design. It walks the reader through the philosophy of "space and passage," "function and art" and "intent and time," explaining why certain details recur and the emotions they are meant to inspire.

CULTURE / Books

May 13, 2017

'The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia': A look at Okinawa's distant past

On May 15, Japan will mark the 45th anniversary of the return of Okinawa. For 27 years prior, the U.S. administered the islands, a continuous period of occupation that began after the Battle of Okinawa in June 1945. This makes the new translation of Mamoru Akamine's 'The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia' both welcome and timely.

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