Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES May 26, 2018
'Of Dogs and Walls': A concentrated hit of Yuko Tsushima
by Kris Kosaka
Pick up this small chapbook for a double dose of classic Japanese short fiction from Yuko Tsushima.
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES May 19, 2018
Yasunari Kawabata's 'Dandelions' probes the nature of mental illness
by Damian Flanagan
Initially published by Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972) in 22 installments between June 1964 and October 1968, and subsequently revised from his notes after his death, "Dandelions" examines the nature of memory.
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES May 12, 2018
Kenzaburo Oe's 'Seventeen and J: Two Novels': 1960s Japan on the brink of social revolution
by Damian Flanagan
On the cusp of the 1960s sexual revolution and the anti-Vietnam War movement, "Seventeen" and "J" are intriguing primers on the seething social turbulence of the age.
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES May 5, 2018
by Martin Laflamme
The "Konjaku Monogatari" is one of Japan's oldest collection of stories. Many are supernatural folktales that warn against foxes and demons. All are meant to educate.
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Apr 28, 2018
'Japanese Architecture as a Collaborative Process': A must-read to understand Japanese architecture
by Don O'Keefe
Dana Buntrock's fieldwork highlights the collaborative nature of architecture, manufacturing and construction in Japan.
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Apr 21, 2018
'As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams' brings to life the lucid prose of the Sarashina Nikki
by T.C. Jones
The "Sarashina Nikki" is a classic of Japanese literature. The life of the narrator, one spent largely turned away from the world, is revealed in translation through prose that transcends cultural and historical distance.
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Apr 14, 2018
'The Man in the High Castle': Exploring a world in which the Axis powers reign supreme
by Nicolas Gattig
First published in 1962 and recently made into a series for Amazon TV, Phillip K. Dick's novel imagines a counterfactual World War II, in which Germany and Japan have conquered Europe and America.
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Apr 7, 2018
Lose yourself in 'The Face of Another,' Abe's existentialist fantasy
by Damian Flanagan
Losing face and the public humiliation associated with it is something that we all dread but, in Kobo Abe's 1964 fantasy "The Face of Another," the metaphorical term is made real.
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Mar 31, 2018
'The Bridge Over the River Kwai' explores the cultural pride and folly of the Asia-Pacific War
by Nicolas Gattig
A war between nations is innately a clash of cultures. Pierre Boulle's best-selling novel "The Bridge Over the River Kwai," first published in English in 1954 and made into a movie by David Lean, mixes military fiction with the cultural pride and folly of ...
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Mar 24, 2018
'Quicksand': A racy transition from old Tanizaki to new
by Damian Flanagan
A young lady from Osaka begins to attend an art class and, while painting a picture of the Kannon (the goddess of mercy), substitutes the head for that of a beguiling student. Soon, she is drawn into a complex web of lesbian passion, pitted ...
Books | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Mar 17, 2018
In 'The Rape of Nanking' Iris Chang deconstructs the horrors of war
by Kris Kosaka
Iris Chang's groundbreaking work, "The Rape of Nanking" is widely credited with publicizing the World War II atrocity that many in Japan continue to deny or belittle as exaggeration. Graphically observant to multiple atrocities, it is not a book for the faint-hearted. Despite ...
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Jan 6, 2018
In 'The Tokyo-Montana Express,' Richard Brautigan sees Japan with a fresh eye
by Nicolas Gattig
There is a magical realism to the first steps in a new country. Some of the finest prose to convey this enchantment is Richard Brautigan's short story collection "The Tokyo-Montana Express," first published by Delacorte Press/Seymor Lawrence in 1980. Like stations on a fantasy ...