The Japan Society Review

By Arthur Stockwin and Kweku Ampiah An important new book by two senior British scholars of Japan discussing the main issues facing Japan. Their conclusion is that ‘The new Japan that is emerging…will be more controlled, less democratic [...] Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

Edited by Rachael Hutchinson and Leith Douglas Morton The book is particularly refreshing because it does not tackle Japanese literature from an exclusively chronological perspective. Instead, the essays are grouped thematically, creating sections on space and [...] Review by Alice French

Directed by Gary Lennon A Doctor’s Sword had the potential to explore an interesting, off-beat topic – the relationship of Ireland to Japan during WorldWar II. The complexity of the subject expands when one considers the 50,000 [...] Review by Roger Macy

Directed by Huang Ya-li Le Moulin comes from the name of a poetry society in Taiwan in the 1930s. Its authors, like most educated people in Taiwan at the time, wrote entirely in Japanese. This particular society wrapped itself in [...] Review by Roger Macy

Deceptively simple in appearance yet heavy in content, the Sphinxing Rabbit series of books starting with Her Sovereign Majesty aims to communicate tenets of freedom in an entertaining manner. Review by John O'Sullivan

Directed by Naoko Yamada Based on a manga series of the same title, A Silent Voice tells the story of Ishida Shoya, a spiky haired loner who comes to deeply regret bullying his deaf class mate Nishimiya Shoko. Yamada navigates [...] Review by Poppy Cosyns

By Shibasaki Tomoka Recently divorced after a short-lived marriage and still reeling from the death of his father, Taro lives on his own in a one-bed flat in a condemned apartment block. The story follows him and his two [...] Review by Eluned Gramich

Edited by Sir Hugh Cortazzi, James McMullen and Mary-Grace Browning Carmen Blacker was an outstanding scholar of Japanese culture, known internationally for her writings on religion, myth and folklore. A third of the volume comprises significant extracts from the author's diaries [...] Review by Jim E Hoare

By Kawakami Hiromi The book incorporates three short stories of an abstract and surreal nature.The stories are distinctly different from one another but follow a unifying theme of yearning, desire and longing in the minds of young [...] Review by Harry Martin

By Kittredge Cherry Three decades after its original publication, the book remains a rare resource for Japanese learners and those who wish better to understand how the Japanese language expresses womanhood. Review by Charlotte Goff