The Japan Society Review

By Simon Alexander Collier What would have happened if the serious British diplomat, Ernest Satow, had gone to Japan with a rather less studious colleague, whose main interests were women and wine? The answer is [...] Review by Sir Graham Fry

Exhibition at Somerset House. On the first day of spring 2012 a new exhibition opened up at Somerset House, although it is easy to get side tracked by Somerset House’s terrace which is always popular on warm spring days and by the spectacular sight […] Review by Michael Sullivan

Talk by Professor Jun Morikawa. Professor Jun Morikawa, author of Japan and Africa: Big Business and Diplomacy (1997), spoke to the Japan Discussion Group at Chatham House on Japan-Africa relations. His basic thesis appeared to be that Japan’s Ministry of […] Review by Jason James

By Keigo Higashino. Keigo Higashino was born in Osaka in 1958. In 2006 he won the 134th Naoki Prize and the 6th Honkaku Mystery Grand Prize for his novel, The Devotion of Suspect X, which had been published the previous year. [...] Review by Michael Sullivan

By Ian McArthur. Editor’s note: Henry James Black was born in Adelaide, Australia on 22 December 1858. Due to his father’s work he lived in Japan from the age of three. He worked as an English teacher for about a decade before becoming a rakugoka […] Review by Inoue Atsuko (in Japanese)

by Timon Screech. Professor Timon Screech is Professor in the History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and is a Japanese art expert who has made a particular study of the art of Tokugawa Japan […] Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

By Pat Lyttle Japanese Street Style claims to be ‘the first book of its kind to showcase the most innovative and cutting-edge looks in Japan today.’ There certainly does seem to have been a gap in the market since Fruits and Fresh Fruits […] Review by Ali Muskett

By Elin Lindqvist, Published by Langenskiöld (see note at bottom), 2012, ISBN: 978-91-87007-04-0 Review by Ali Muskett Elin Lindqvist, journalist and author of three novels in Swedish, was born in Japan in 1982 and lived there for two years as a child. She currently lives in England, but has maintained a strong connection with Japan, […]

By Junko Kitanaka (Paper | 2011 | $29.95 / £19.95 | ISBN: 9780691142050Cloth | 2011 | $75.00 / £52.00 | ISBN: 9780691142043264 pp. | 6 x 9 |5 halftones. 1 line illus) Review by Sandra Lawman In this very scholarly book, Junko Kitanaka gives a clear view of the history of depression in Japan, its […]

By Lian Hearn, Quercus Publishing, 2011, 400 pages, ISBN 978-0-85738-297-9; £12.99 Review by Susan Meehan Blossoms and Shadows is an absolutely riveting piece of historical fiction which brings alive a fascinating period of late nineteenth century Japanese history. The book begins in 1857 and spans ten years, which are the twilight of the Bakufu (the […]