The Japan Society Review

The August issue of The Japan Society Review presents five reviews that cover a diverse spread of media and topics related to Japan. The opening review explores a two-volume academic work focusing on public diplomacy, human rights, and modern slavery in Japan and the US.

By Kawakami Mieko In 'Heaven' graphic and extreme teenage bullying takes centre stage which makes for uncomfortable reading at times. The novel is also an exploration of friendship and its limits, victimisation, morals, religion and ethics. It is undoubtedly a thought-provoking book, which I continue to digest months after having read it. Review by Susan Meehan

By Tsujimura Mizuki Kagami no Koji, an innovative and tender blend of social commentary and magical realism, is a prizewinning novel by Tsujimura Mizuki published in 2017, with the English translation by Philip Gabriel, titled Lonely Castle in the Mirror, published in 2021. Review by Riyoko Shibe

By Roger Buckley Comprising two volumes, this pioneering study examines how the United States has deployed public diplomacy with Japan to confront Japanese sexual and labour trafficking, while also charting the successes and failures of the US's own record on anti-trafficking practices at home and abroad. Review by Ian Neary

The opening review of our June issue explores the fascinating life and career of Herbert Ponting, the photographer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole.

By Imamura Natsuko Winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, one of Japan’s highest literary honor, Imamura Natsuko is the latest in a growing list of contemporary female authors to be introduced to the British literary scene. Review by Cameron Bassindale

By Herbert Ponting Published in 1910, In Lotus-Land Japan are the Japanese memoirs of Herbert Ponting, the British photographer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole, who offers a detailed account and several photographs of his visits to the country during the Meiji era. Review by Susan Meehan

By Bonnie Kemske Kintsugi: The Poetic Mend is a beautifully illustrated book where artist, Japanese tea ceremony student and author Bonnie Kemske guides us through the origins and techniques of kintsugi, a Japanese art form and repair method to restore broken objects using lacquer and gold. Review by Eleonora Faina

Edited by Rebecca Copeland and Linda C. Ehrlich The Yamamba – the mountain witch, crone, or hag, part of the widely recognised “old woman in the woods” folklore – can be traced back to the Muromachi period (1336-1573), a time of rapid population growth when merchants and villagers began to travel more frequently into the mountains. Review by Riyoko Shibe

By Mori Eto Originally released in 1998 in Japan, Mori Eto’s Colorful - presented now for the first time in an English translation by Jocelyne Allen - will be familiar to many readers through Hara Keiichi’s animated adaptation from 2010. Review by Laurence Green