The Japan Society Review

By Davinder L. Bhowmik and Steve Rabson (eds.) This new collection of Okinawan literature refutes the image of a peaceful land where danger comes at the fangs of the habu snake or the box jellyfish rather than the tensions between its inhabitants. Review by Charlotte Goff

By Murakami Ryū The stories of this collection, connected by topics of prostitution and unusual sexual proclivities, include shocking elements. From a trucker that enjoys self-emasculation and dressing up as a woman to the [...] Review by Chris Corker

By Erica Facey This delightful bilingual collection is made up of one-vertical-line haiku in the Japanese, and 3-line haiku in English. The Japanese section meets its English counterpart in the middle coming the other way. Review by Chris Beckett

By Douglas Clark Clark has scoured the archives, journals and relevant family records for photographs and sketches of the principal legal players so as to build up a fairly comprehensive picture gallery of them all – the most [...] Review by Chris Roberts

By Michael Lucken In this interdisciplinary study, the author attempts to both discern the past in contemporary Japanese art, while also focusing on its innovative characteristics, unpicking and complicating the idea of Japan as [...] Review by Dominika Mackiewicz

Directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu Director Kore-eda has produced another gentle masterpiece – a family drama dealing with death, desertion, vulnerability, responsibility and loss. That the four main protagonists are women with with strong [...] Review by Susan Meehan

By Ito Shun Cosmic Birds comprised twenty mechanical assemblages dancing in the ghostly offices and spaces of the old Municipal Bank located in the very heart of Birmingham. The site of the show contributed to the [...] Review by Dominika Mackiewicz

By Susan Southard This work joins an increasing number of books about the enormity of suffering undergone and delivered by the Japanese more than 70 years ago. Southard’s motivation to research the story of the hibakusha [...] Review by Elizabeth Ingrams

By Alex Kerr From the first page readers find themselves guided through the author’s extraordinary journey through vivid accounts of traditional Japanese life, from the landscape of Shikoku to the dressing rooms of Tokyo’s [...] Review by Harry Martin

Directed by Tetsuya Nakashima This film festival of independent Japanese cinema, run from a small gallery space on Brick Lane, is a great example of how a group of friends can get together and produce a vibrant, successful cultural event. Review by Annabelle Sami