| Books
about/set in Japan
-
Impressions of Japan
- Books by Japanese
- Films
Impressions
of Japan |
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Hokkaido Highway
Blues
by Will Ferguson Will
Ferguson, a Canadian teaching English in Japan, hitchhikes
from the south to the north of the country to see the
cherry trees blossom. This is the entertaining story
of his eventful trip. Wonderful insights into Japanese
culture.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Nicky, student at JMJ Manchester
Click here to read about JMJ
- the school, the teachers and the director. |
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The Blue-eyed Salaryman: From
World Traveller to Lifer at Mitsubishi
by Niall Murtagh Niall Murtagh
sheds light on Japanese corporate culture.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended by: Nicky |
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| Books
by Japanese
Let's begin with the enormously popular
phenomenon of Manga, the Japanese graphic novel. These
are not just comic books for children: they are absolutely
mainstream reading amongst Japanese adults. If you are
unfamiliar with manga, have a look at the Wikipedia
entry about it. You can also read about the history
of manga here.
To make a general search for manga
on Amazon.co.uk, please click here.
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As I say, graphic novels are mainstream
reading in Japan. This fact was clearly illustrated
to me when I asked my student Keizo Obayashi (a Senior
Manager at Brother International Europe) whether there
were any Japanese books that he would recommend British
people to read, to give us an idea of Japanese culture.
He said he would think about it and discuss it with
his wife. Two weeks later, he arrived for his lesson
with a package under his arm that his sister-in-law
had sent over from Japan specially. First of all, I
was struck by their extreme thoughtfulness and generosity
in actually giving me the things they recommended. Second,
I was surprised that what they gave me were three manga
books and a magazine (see below)
- not what I would have thought of as novels at all
and yet so completely representative of Japanese culture.
A big thank you to Keizo,
his wife Satomi and her sister Chiaki.
Georgie, Director of JMJ Manchester
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The Wonderful World of Sazae-San:
Vol 1
by Machiko Hasegawa This
is a series of comic strips that first appeared in the
author's local newspaper in 1946 and continued until
1974. It depicts the daily life of a typical Japanese
family, in an amusing yet telling way.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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| You can find the other eleven volumes by
clicking here. |
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Kosaku Shima
by Kenshi Hirokane This is
a series of serious graphic novels about a salaryman
who starts off as Section Chief and is gradually promoted,
though not without struggle and adventure, of course.
The story I've got is the first of
the series when he has become Division Chief, which
unfortunately is not currently available from Amazon.co.uk
(though you may be able to find it elsewhere). However,
you can buy a few of the other Kosaku Shima books from
them.
Be aware (I was quite taken aback!)
that these novels contain occasional, mild but distinctly
adult content.
Click here
to buy a Kosaku Shima book now from Amazon. |
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Doraemon
is a Gadget Cat from the Future. Unfortunately, Amazon.co.uk
does not yet sell these books but you can read an article
about Doraemon by clicking here. |
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Turning
to text-only novels, a contemporary Japanese writer
who has been extremely successful over here is Haruki
Murakami. |
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South of the Border, West of
the Sun
by Haruki Murakami This was the
first one of his I read and I really enjoyed it. A simple
story of Japanese life.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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Recommended by: Georgie, Director of JMJ
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| To search for other books by
Haruki Murakami, please click here. |
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An Artist of the
Floating World
by Kazuo Ishiguro Art and philosophy
in the wake of the Second World War - easier to read
than it perhaps sounds! A clear view of Japanese society,
from the man who depicted English society so perfectly
in The Remains of the Day. Excellent.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended by: Georgie |
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Kitchen
by Banana Yoshimoto A tale of bereavement in
contemporary Japan. Rather slight but worth reading.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Georgie |
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One Man's Justice
by Akira Yoshimura A Second-World-War story
from the Japanese perspective. Tense, disturbing and
utterly brilliant.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Paul, student at JMJ |
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The Salaryman's Wife
by Sujata Massey A light detective story about
a young Japanese-American English teacher living in
Tokyo, who finds a body and decides to investigate.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended
by: Nicky, student at JMJ |
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Kateigaho Magazine
This is a magazine, not
a book, but it does a great job of portraying the traditions,
culture, art and lifestyle of contemporary Japan. After
50 years as a magazine by Japanese for Japanese in Japanese,
it has recently launched an international edition, in
English.
You can read more
about this magazine and, if you wish, subscribe to it
on the International
Kateigaho website.
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Recommended by: Keizo, Satomi and Chiaki |
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| Films |
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The Last Samurai
(2003) Actors: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Timothy
Spall, Tony Goldwyn, Billy Connolly
Certificate: 15
A wonderful film about a disillusioned
captain from the American Civil War who goes to Japan
to train Japanese soldiers and ends up being captured
by the Samurai. Honour, sacrifice and the price of modernisation.
Highly recommended.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Ian, student at JMJ |
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Lost in Translation
(2004) Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray,
Akiko Takeshita, Kazuyoshi Minamimagoe, Kazuko Shibata
Director: Sofia Coppola
Certificate: 15
Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, two Americans adrift
in Tokyo, form a strong bond. A rather odd film, perhaps,
but it resonated emotionally with me.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Sinéad, student at JMJ |
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| Inspired to learn
Japanese? If you live in or
near Manchester, you could start a one-to-one
Japanese course with us tomorrow (or whenever you
like).
If you are a complete beginner, you
might like to have a look at our introduction
to the Japanese language.
Back to Recommended
Reading
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