The Japan Society Review

With five reviews covering a wide range of topics and styles, from an academic monograph to memoirs, fiction, and an art book, the April issue of The Japan Society Review offers an excellent example of the rich variety of Japan-related publications regularly arriving in the UK.

Edited by Katherine Anne Paul with contributions by Katherine Anne Paul & Ikumi Kaminishi A fascinating and long-overdue visual history of Japanese Buddhist art largely dating from the Edo period (1600–1868) to the present day, through one of the USA’s finest collections. Review by Timon Screech

By Irwin Wong Handmade in Japan takes a look inside the workshops of the country's artisans, revealing their endless pursuit of excellence, and what it means to dedicate one's life to the stewardship of irreplaceable cultural heritage. Review by David Tonge

By J. Arthur Stockwin Distinguished author and former Professor of Modern Japanese Studies at Oxford, Arthur Stockwin here explores his personal journey from being the son of medical/dental parents in Birmingham, England, to becoming a specialist in the politics and modern history of Japan. Review by William Horsley

By Mizumura Minae Negotiating ideas of nationhood and belonging, encompassing both language and identity, Mizumura Minae’s 'An I-Novel' offers a semi-autobiographical piece of extraordinary writing about the Japanese-American experience in the 1980s. Review by Laurence Green

By Tsumura Kikuko Although first published in Japan in 2016, There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job is apt for our current times, in which we are all working from home and the boundaries of the professional and the domestic feel more liminal than ever. Review by Beau Waycott

By Ayatsuji Yukito Despite revitalizing the classic murder mystery genre in Japan, The Decagon House Murders is the first of Ayatsuji Yukito’s works to be translated into English. This is surprising considering how steeped the novel is in the Western “whodunit” tradition. And yet, the world Ayatsuji crafts is also distinctly Japanese. Review by Cameron Bassindale

By Nakajima Kyoko Forced to deliver their emotional payload within a compact format, time and again Nakajima lulls us into a sense of comforting security, only to pull a killer twist on us. What we think we know is always only half the story. Review by Laurence Green

This exhibition focuses primarily on how kimonos reflected major socio-economic shifts in the Edo period (1603-1868), a time which witnessed a rapidly changing consumerist culture in Japan. Review by Fiona Collins

By Winifred Bird In this book, journalist Winifred Bird eats her way from one end of the country to the other in search of the hidden stories of Japan's wild foods, the people who pick them, and the places whose histories they've shaped. Review by Katie Croft