The Japan Society Review

By Laura Imai Messina In The Library of Heartbeats, the heart stands out as the central theme, infusing this charismatic tale with depth and resonance. Review by Renae Lucas-Hall

By Yamada Futaro Set in 1869, two decades after the Black Ships forcibly lifted Japan’s policy of isolationism and Western ideas began to flow into the country, The Meiji Guillotine Murders takes place in a fraught but fascinating time of clashing institutions and ideologies Review by Chris Corker

By Hanako Footman Hanako Footman’s debut novel, Mongrel, follows parallel stories of three Japanese women: Mei, biracial and living in Surrey, Yuki, a musician in London and Haruka a hostess in Tokyo. Review by Shehrazade Zafar-Arif

By Christopher Harding ‘What is real? Who says? How should we live?’ - These are the three questions that lie at the core of Christopher Harding’s eminently readable effort on Asia, expanding the scope of his previous books focused on Japan to now encompass the continent as a whole. Review by Laurence Green

By Jamie Ryder This multi-layered book by the founder of Yamato magazine, is difficult to categorise but it certainly is informative and thoroughly enjoyable offering a series of reviews of personalities in their factual historical, and occasionally mythological, contexts. Review by Trevor Skingle

By Jake Adelstein Written with the insight of an expert on Japanese organised crime, investigative journalist Jake Adelstein presents a biography of a yakuza, through post-war desperation, to bubble-era optimism, to the present. Review by Trevor Skingle

By Naomi Pollock The Japanese House Since 1945 is a large format 400 page book that takes us on a journey through architect-designed houses built in Japan from 1945 to the present. Review by David Tonge

By Julian Sedgwick A ghostly journey through Northern Japan in search of yokai monsters and the Otherworld, told equally in manga and prose. Review by Hananircia Tchinhenha

By Abe Naoko The winning charm of Abe’s book is the epic scale of its historical lens, which draws so much of its power from human subjects that lived through the full panoply of change our world underwent through the 20th century. Review by Laurence Green

By John Dougill In "Off the beaten Tracks in Japan", John Dougill provides an excellent account of his journey by train from the Northern most point of Japan in Hokkaido to the Southern tip of Kyushu. Review by George Mullins