The Japan Society Review

By Lesley Downer The historical and emotional sweep of this book takes your breath away. This book takes Lesley Downer's tetralogy about the death throes of Japan’s Edo period (1603-1868) to new heights. Review by Elizabeth Ingrams 

By Shiraishi Kazufumi This novel by Naoki Prize winning author Shiraishi Kazufumi begins explaining that the ensuing work was discovered after the sudden death of his friend Mr K. What follows is mostly nihilistic ranting. Review by Poppy Cosyns

By Sir Hugh Cortazzi This volume marks a new high point in this excellent series which profiles people, organizations, and themes related to Anglo-Japanese engagement. The tenth volume is bursting with energy, containing [...] Review by Sean Curtin

By Higuchi Kazunori Foreigners who only meet a few officials and business executives, may foster the idea that the Japanese have no sense of humour. In fact as Higuchi points out laughter and fun have played a significant role in [...] Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

By Ogura Kazuo In this survey Ambassador Ogura looks at Japan’s relations with China and Korea since the earliest times. He notes that previous studies have concentrated on the ideology of the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity [...] Review by Hugh Cortazzi

By Matsumoto Seicho The story begins with a hardworking and dedicated government official receiving the news of his wife’s untimely death while he is away on a business trip in Kobe. This is followed by the proceeding twists [...] Review by Harry Martin

By Wataya Risa Written by a nineteen year old student while she was still at university, the bestselling I Want to Kick You in the Back is a slim, deceptively simple tale about teenage life and love. It won the biannual [...] Review by Eluned Gramich

By Furukawa Hideo Horses, Horses was first published in the Shinchō journal in July 2011, and therefore can be read as an almost immediate autobiographical response to the 3.11 tragedy. As a Fukushima native whose [...] Review by Alice French

By Tawara Machi Salad Anniversary, is a delightfully small-sized book, with a washed pink cover, light but solid. And Tawara Machi’s poems are short but lively and personal. They feel more like an album of small photos telling a [...] Review by Chris Beckett

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