The Japan Society Review

By Philip Harper Kodansha, 2006, 96 pages including glossary, photographs, ISBN: 9784770029980 Review by William Farr

By Tokugawa Tsunenari, translated by Tokugawa Iehiro International House of Japan, Tokyo, 2009, 200 pages including index and 30 pages of black and white engravings of famous places of Edo, ISBN978-4-903452-14-2 Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

By Peter Lowe In series Global Conflict and Security since 1945, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, 312 pages including notes, bibliography and index, ISBN 978-0-230-52123-0 Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

Published by the Japan-British Society, Tokyo, March 2009 (anyone interested in obtaining a copy of this book should contact the Japan British Society in Tokyo: http://www.japanbritishsociety.or.jp/) Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

Directed by Yōjirō Takita Okuribito (Departures), winner of the 2009 Oscar for “Best Foreign Language Film,” opens with a mesmerising winter scene in the photogenic Shōnai area of Yamagata Prefecture and doesn’t fail to continue impressing, amusing and tugging at the heart strings. Review by Susan Meehan

Directed by Jonathan Man, Performed at the Southwark Playhouse, 19 February 2009 Review by Susan Meehan

By Susumu Nagara Japan Publications Trading Company, 2008, 383 pages Paperback £22.99. ISBN-13: 978-4889962345 Review by Roberta Ignirri

The Business, Life and Letters of Frederick Cornes: Aspects of the Evolution of Commerce in Modern Japan,1861-1910 By Peter N. Davies Global Oriental, 2008, 514 pages including index and appendices, plus a CD of the letters, Hardback £75. ISBN 978-1-905246. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

By Robert Twigger Phoenix Publications, 1999, 320 pages. Hardback £7.99. ISBN: 9780753808580 Review by William Farr

Directed by Wei Te-Sheng The story features Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule, Japan’s surrender in World War II in 1945, a Japanese school teacher’s love for a Taiwanese girl, and his departure from Taiwan. Review by Fumiko Halloran