Books May 16, 2020
‘The Tatar Whirlwind’: A regional romp of pirates and princesses
by Martin Laflamme
The 17th century provided boundless material for the setting of Ryotaro Shiba’s final novel, “The Tatar Whirlwind.”
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Nov 24, 2018
by Robert P. Largess
"Clouds Above the Hill" portrays, in rich detail, the first generation to grow up in the Meiji Era and culminates in Japan's surprising victory in the Russo-Japanese War.
National / History Oct 23, 2018
Historical jury still out on Japan's Meiji Restoration
by Reiji Yoshida
On July 27, 1853, the Tokugawa shogunate was in crisis. Shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi passed away from what today is believed to be heat exhaustion at Edo Castle in the heart of Edo, present-day Tokyo. Abe Masahiro, the top samurai bureaucrat under the shogun, had an ...
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES May 9, 2015
'The Last Shogun' is a rare translation of Ryotaro Shiba's historical fiction
by Iain Maloney
Ryotaro Shiba was one of Japan's most popular writers of historical fiction, described in Frank Gibney's introduction to "The Last Shogun" as "Japan's national writer ... his name on a book virtually guarantees a wide readership." The Last Shogun Ryotaro ...