The seemingly perfect world of author Clarissa Goenawan
Set in Japan, Clarissa Goenawan's eagerly anticipated second novel, "The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida," has a winsome tone, harkening to the early works of Banana Yoshimoto.
'Grit, Grace, and Gold' review: The Olympics are postponed, but this book's a winner
On the surface, sports and haiku are an incongruous mix but, as Nagamura notes in the introduction, "Writing good haiku involves the same attention to grace, balance, strength, bravery, restraint ...
'The Salaryman' review: Spilling the secrets of Japan's everyman
Alongside its humor, Michael Howard's recent memoir, "The Salaryman," provides an insightful look at Japan's corporate workforce. In 2008, Howard was a 32-year-old product manager at a small LA ...
'The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper': What to do when you lose your shoes? Find them and write
Author Rebecca Otowa came into her writing career late in life. But that doesn't stop her from immortalizing many aspects of her experiences of being part of a traditional Japanese family living in a 350-year-old farmhouse.
Momoko Ishii: Shaping Japanese children's literature for the modern era
Dedicated to children's literature since her youth, Momoko Ishii authored and translated dozens of books, and her tireless advocacy changed the way postwar society valued children's literature for decades to come.
'Factory Girls': Verses for the workers, who toiled all day long
Takako Arai's newest poetry anthology in English, "Factory Girls," takes readers into the vanishing world of Japan's textile industry.
'Underground': The thematic keystone to Haruki Murakami's oeuvre
In the 20 years that have passed since the publication of Haruki Murakami's nonfiction "Underground," it remains both an outlier and a springboard for the career that would follow.
'Children of the Mist' delves deep into the spiritual allure of Shikoku's Iya Valley
Inspired by the comments of Japanologist Alex Kerr, Shintaro Miyawaki photographs not just the natural beauty of Iya Valley, but people's past and present interaction with it.
What ‘Fukushima 50’ can teach us about crises
Author and journalist Ryusho Kadota on how the nation's handling of the 3/11 triple disaster bodes for its ongoing response to COVID-19.
'The Only Gaijin in the Village' offers laugh-out-loud lessons from Japan's proud countryside
Iain Maloney's "The Only Gaijin in the Village" is a thought-provoking, lively examination of one immigrant's quest to create a new home outside his country of birth.
'Shadow of the Fox': Secrets, scrolls and an epic quest to save the world
Demons, spirits and other things that go bump in the night come to life in Julie Kagawa's epic young adult fantasy "Shadow of the Fox."
'Vampiric: Tales of Blood and Roses from Japan': Short stories to sink your teeth into
Vampires may not have a traditional place in Japanese literature, but since the 1910s plenty of writers have tackled the dark — often sexy — subject, albeit with a Japanese twist.
