Books

In recent years, the manga and light novel market has been inundated with "isekai," a subgenre in which protagonists are transported to a fantasy world.

This anthology of short stories may tend toward the morally dubious, but it’s a solid introduction to literary masters of the 20th century.

Aishah Levine and Nick Ashley’s bilingual book encourages parents to strike up conversations with kids while reading to build self-confidence.

An attorney turned amateur detective becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth behind a stolen identity in this Yomiuri Prize-winning thriller.

From toy jeeps and karaoke machines to the Game Boy and Tamagotchi, “Pure Invention” explores how Japan’s cultural influence has spread across the globe.

Thomas Noah Wood is the pseudonym for the American writer Thomas Dillon, whose name may be familiar to readers of The Japan Times. Dillon wrote about daily life in Japan through the lens of international marriage in “When East Marries West,” a column which ...

With charming doodles and architectural sketches, Nao Saito takes the typical culinary travelogue and turns it into something intimate and alluring.

“Koji Alchemy” delves into the significance of kōji — Japan’s semiofficial “national mold” — and demystifies making and cooking with it at home.

Gabriele Koch’s “Healing Labor” delves into how Japanese sex workers regard their work as necessary to the social and economic well-being of Japanese society.