The Japan Society Review

By Joshua Frydman This book is a wonderful guide to an enduring fascination with stories and the supernatural in Japan. Frydman’s explanations prove mythology acts as a compass to guide past, present and future generations. Review by Renae Lucas-Hall

By Sarah Teasley Designing Modern Japan is jargon free, easy to read and a thoroughly researched book, packed full of great illustrations that take us on a journey from the middle of the 19th century to present day. Review by David Tonge

By Kawakami Mieko On the whole, All the Lovers in the Night is a novel which will draw you in with its poetry and prose, and make you dissect it line by line in much the same way as its protagonist does in her work. Review by Cameron Bassindale

By Suzuki Izumi Taken as a whole, Terminal Boredom comes on like a high-intensity cocktail of distinctly bizarre tales that invariably, through a particularly slanted, satire-driven look at issues of gender, sex and drug use, force us to see the familiar from new, compelling angles. Review by Laurence Green

By Tsushima Yuko The New York Review of Books’ edition of Woman Running in the Mountains is simultaneously a novel that you could recommend to a first time reader of Japanese literature, and to a seasoned longtime lover who feels they’ve read everything there is to offer from those works available in English translation. Review by Laurence Green

By Onda Riku Time and again, Onda Riku forces us to confront the ugly truths behind the questions: Who are we really? What drives us to act the way we do? And can we ever know the inner thoughts of another? Review by Laurence Green

By Marc Peter Keane From his vantage point as a garden designer and writer based in Kyoto, Marc Peter Keane examines the world around him and delivers astonishing insights through an array of narratives. Review by Katie Croft

By Liane Grunberg Wakabayashi This compelling and insightful memoir reads like a classic love story full of trials and tribulations. Liane Grunberg Wakabayashi’s spiritual journey in Japan from secular to orthodox Judaism is a reflection on transformation, relationships, family values, finding happiness, and being true to oneself. Review by Renae Lucas-Hall

By Murakami Haruki Murakami T: The T-Shirts I Love is an ode to that most humble item of clothing, as the author takes us through a selection of some of the favourites from his own personal wardrobe Review by Laurence Green

By Joy Hendry This book is a heart-warming, funny, informative and highly personal love letter to Kurotsuchi, the small village in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu that anthropologist Joy Hendry first visited in 1975 to undertake a year of fieldwork whilst during her time as a PhD student at Oxford University. Review by Alice French