The Japan Society Review

By Sato Hiroaki Sato Hiroaki’s examination is a close, comprehensive look at the Ako Incident through the context of its times, portraits of the main protagonists, and its literary legacy in the haiku of the avengers. Review by Trevor Skingle

By Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard A tale of the life of Yasuke, the African mercenary-turned-samurai who found himself, against all odds, immersed in the very heart of political and military power in 16th century Japan, thousands of miles from [...] Review by Laurence Green

With Kyogen masters Juro Zenchiku and Daijiro Zenchiku Music Kyogen Scrooge is an innovative theatrical production that combines Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Japanese traditional comedy play Kyogen, and contemporary music. Review by Alice Baldock

By Lafcadio Hearn This collection of fantasy tales is a great example of how literature has evolved and should continue to evolve in every sense of the word; in representation, theme and language. Review by Azmina Sohail

By Neil Jackson This book discusses the architectural influence that Japan and the West have had on each other during the last 150 years. Based on extensive research, this book provides a synthetic overview that brings [...] Review by Andrew Nishiyama Taylor

By Ogawa Yoko The novel takes place on an unnamed island where, for the past 15 years, things have regularly disappeared, not just physically but from memory. This disappearance is enforced by the Memory Police, the [...] Review by Jill Dobson

By Luiz Hara The Japanese Larder goes beyond being simply a recipe book and rather is an informative introduction to a wide and varied range of those Japanese ingredients. It helps to expel the myth that Japanese food [...] Review by Laura Richardson

By Michael Wert In this very handy sized and concise book of just over one-hundred pages Professor Michael Wert attempts to explain in easy to understand terms the origins and development of the samurai, that most [...] Review by Trevor Skingle

By Durian Sukegawa Durian Sukegawa’s Sweet Bean Paste is a tender story chronicling the unlikely bond between an ex con and an elderly lady with a shadowy past. The novel starts in a comical vein like a classic ‘odd couple’ [...] Review by Chris Arning

By Jeremy A. Yellen The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere is in fact a truly timely addition to the historiography of modern Japan in general and a fundamental contribution to the study of the Japanese wartime [...] Review by Francesco Cioffo