In Tatsuhiko Shibusawa’s allegorical novel Takaoka’s Travels, there are questions about whether a lifelong dream to reach the Buddha’s place of origin is worth it. Takaoka... Read More

In Hiromi Kawakami’s short story collection "Dragon Palace", bizarre encounters guide lonely people onto new paths. In these stories, troubled lives are forever changed by... Read More

In Hiromi Ito’s novel "The Thorn Puller", a woman cares for her aging relatives across two continents while trying to maintain a life of her own. In Japan, Ito’s parents... Read More

Azby Brown looks to the past to find future methods for sustainable living in "Just Enough". Centering his studies on Edo-era Japan, Brown focuses on the concept of the... Read More

A husband and wife must reconcile their differing visions of their future in David Joiner’s evocative novel "Kanazawa". Emmitt’s work as an English professor leaves him... Read More

Robert Whiting’s memoir "Tokyo Junkie" details his long-standing relationship with Japan’s populous, quirky capital. Whiting first arrived in Japan as a US Air Force... Read More

One of the first things Tracy Franz learns as a yakimono deshi, an apprentice of traditional Japanese pottery, is that “it is the nothingness in the middle that determines the... Read More

An alternating narrative creates a subtle yet intense and multilayered portrait of Okinawans. Shun Medoruma’s "In the Woods of Memory" is a powerful novel of compact... Read More

Osamu Tezuka was a towering figure in Japanese manga and anime, referred to as the God of Manga and Japan’s Walt Disney. Despite his importance in the development of these... Read More

The Inland Sea of Japan, described by Donald Richie, is “a nearly landlocked, lakelike body of water bounded by three of Japan’s four major islands,” a place where... Read More

“My disgust had a smell: the smell from the hospital, from the apartment—the telltale odor of death. My heart raced. I could feel them behind me: a thirsty pack, their... Read More

Every New Year’s Day, the Emperor and Empress of Japan host Utakai Hajime, the year’s first poetry reading, at the Imperial Palace. The poetic theme is announced in advance,... Read More