Oyuki kigan 0 Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Reccommendations please! Anything with interesting insights, humor, history, etc. I'm looking for some new reading material. If anyone else is interested, here a a few that i liked The Inland Sea by Donald Ritchie- The prose is amazing, and he does have some remarkable insights into the culture as he writes semi-fictionally about his trip to the islands in the straight between Honshu and Shikoku Lost Japan and Dogs and Demons, by Alex Kerr- Kind of a set. One is a love letter to Japan about the culture and beauty that he loves, and the other is a lamentation about the forces that are eradicating that beauty. Some people think he is too romantic about the whole thing, but i tend to side with him. Oh, and Lost Japan was the first book by a foriegner to win a Japanese literary prize Zen at War by Brian Daizen Victoria- An interesting history of how Zen and Buddhism in general was trwisted from its nonviolent roots to serve the war effort in Japan. A different take on the fascist movement, for those interested in Japan's wartime history Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella Bird- A traveller's account of Meiji Japan by a Victorian lady (with all her Victorian views). She travels from Tokyo up to Hokkaido, and spends time with the Ainu, with very interesting snapshots of life at that time. Interesting to see how some things have dramatically changed, and how some things she records have not. Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Ferguson- I laughed my ass off. A really funny (and sometimes poignant) account of this one Canadian dude's mission to hitchike Japan from end to end. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Dave Barry, the most comprehensive guide to Japan one can get. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Dave Barry was funny. "Other Japan: Voices Beyond the Mainstream" by David Suzuki and Kebo Oiwa is another that seems along the lines of Oyuki's taste. Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 I liked that one too (i'm a big David Suzuki fan). The cases against a 'uniform' Japanese society are interesting, but unfortunately the voices for it are too rare. Link to post Share on other sites
boardbaka 3 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 the tokyo tabloid (classified!) ones are good imhao- they are short snippets of japanese life as translated from the dailys - Spa! magazine and the like- I agree with you on Dogs and Demons for sure. Also Highly recommend "UGLY AMERICANS" and "SAVING THE SUN" if you are interested in the days of the bubble economy and subsequent collapse of certain japanese securitie houses - the latter is about Shinsei bank and its not hard going at all Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Samurai William was pretty good. Its all about the British Guy who came over here in the 1600's and became a respected advisor to Tokugawa Ieyasu. The character John Blackthorne in the book Shogun is based on this guy, he was the real life "Anjin-san". The Last Shogun was also pretty interesting, about the last Tokugawa shogun I've not read it yet, but I fancy it, its called The American Shogun, about MacArthur and his his relationship with Hirohito Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Read: Heike Monogatari Taiko Monogatari Musashi all are by the same author, Yoshikawa Eiji. Fantastic books. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I read a few chapters of First Into Nagasaki, reminds me of The Rape of Nanking...brilliant. Check it out mate. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Yeah I quite fancy that one as well. Rape of Nanking was a good read. Harrowing stuff Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 I wouldn't say The Rape of Nanking was a GOOD read, but an eye-opening one. However there has been a lot of criticism about how much of the book was factual. Acedemic historians, even not from the ultra-nationalist slant, have trouble with the numbers she states. On the other hand, its not like the whole thing was a work of fiction either. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 I second 'Shogun' - that is my favourite book ever! not just japan-related. 4.5/5 star rating on Amazon from 296 readers: http://www.amazon.com/Shogun-James-Clavell/dp/0440178002 So much of what happens to Anjin-san is comparable to what happens us coming over today. The best thing about it is the ambiguity of the characters. There's no good or bad guys! Everyone is out for themself, they just have different ways of going about it - just like real life. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 James Clavell I liked 'Gaijin' too. The time period was interesting (right before the Meiji restoration). Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 The only other James Clavell I read was 'King Rat' - it was excellent but didn't have the emotional impact of Shogun. Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 Oh, and maybe not about Japan specifically, but a 'Japanese' view of nature and farming (no, not the lets protect out\r forests and rape Southeast Asia kinda view) is Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution わら一本の革命 Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Its still a good read though Oyuki, not in the "smiling, having a party" sense but a good read nontheless. The historians you mean, are they Japanese? I have read all of Clavell's Asian saga books and they are all good, but Shogun is definitely best, with Tai-pan a good second. If you like Shogun, then take a look at Samurai William. Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 Both Japanese and some foriegn historians as well. I read a paper a while back about it. I'll see if i can dig it up Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 cool. Even if the numbers are inflated a little, its still a travesty, one which the Japanese refuse to recognise Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 i couldn't find the original article, but the wiki page is pretty in-depth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_Nanking_(book) Link to post Share on other sites
tripitaka 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 'Tokyo Underworld' by Robert Whiting is the most hard-case and hard-boiled books I've read about Japan. Even though it's about the rise and fall of an American shyster, you get a perspective of Japanese attitudes post-WWII. Apparently, Hollywood's onto the script. Roland Barthes' 'Empire of Signs' is worth a read if you want to get all post-modern and abstract. Actually, it gave me a fresh way of looking at Japan. Ian Buruma's 'Behind the Mask: On Sexual Demons, Sacred Mothers, Transvestites, Gangsters, Drifters, and Other Japanese Cultural Heroes' was the first serious book I read about Japan and is engaging and objective. I've never read Alan Booth's 'Road to Sato' but hope to do so in the future. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 'Confessions of a Yakuza' is really good. Link to post Share on other sites
smellyfeet 0 Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 When I first came here I bought every book there was about Japan. Then suddenly I went off them and haven't read any since. Confessions of a Yakuza sounds quite interesting though. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 its an easy read, you get through it quite quickly, some good stories and action. i seem to remember it was more like his life story rather than lots of yakuza info. Link to post Share on other sites
tripitaka 0 Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I thought Karl Taro Grenfeld's 'Speed Tribes' about the wilder side of Japanese culture was good when it came out but it's dated now. 'Pink Samurai' by Nicholas Bornoff is also a very good book that is thorough and interesting. Pop culture books about Japan can be a little tedious at times but there's a lot of good books on Japanese film. Check out Midnighteye.com Link to post Share on other sites
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