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Recommend me some great books or novels about Japan.

post #1 of 10
7/17/11 at 4:26pm
Thread Starter 

I'm looking for great books, fiction/non-fiction/historical...any will do, about Japan. Japanese history, Japanese society, Japanese culture...I'm just looking to read and learn more about the country, and if that knowledge is presented in compelling prose, even better.

 

I understand that that covers a lot of ground, so I'll list the themes in order of (my) interest:

 

 - Classical and Feudal Japan.

 - The clash between modern Japanese culture and traditional Japanese culture.

 - The contemporary shape of Japanese society. Hierarchy, social classes, foreign relations and perceptions, gender/race/sexuality etc.

 - The Meiji Restoration period

 - World War 2 Japan.

 

Any recommendations?

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post #2 of 10
7/22/11 at 7:12am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dgun_(novel)...you ARE taking the piss, right...?[/url]

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post #3 of 10
7/22/11 at 7:17am

Dance, Dance, Dance, Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami are great novels which all have some thematic links to the cultural changes in Japan in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

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post #4 of 10
7/22/11 at 11:01am

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob Zoet.

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post #5 of 10
7/22/11 at 2:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham View Post

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dgun_(novel)...you ARE taking the piss, right...?[/url]


I grew up with this book in the house, but never read it. Someone suggested it on another forum, so I already have it in mind. Thanks.

 

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post #6 of 10
7/28/11 at 8:39am
Thread Starter 

Just an update: Shogun has been great so far.

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post #7 of 10
1/18/12 at 3:55am

I heard a lot about book named Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, quite popular over there though not read it but one of my friend told me about it!!!

 

 

composite fibre

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post #8 of 10
1/18/12 at 6:09am

Yasunari Kawabata was an incredible Japanese writer who won the Nobel Prize but has been largely forgotten.  His best known books are Snow Country and A Thousand Cranes but they're all great.   Interestingly, that recent movie Sleeping Beauty completely rips off one of Kawabata's stories without credit. 

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post #9 of 10
1/20/12 at 6:17am

Yup, Kawabata is a must ( "Beauty and Sadness" has to be one of the most twisted and darker love stories ive ever read), but other greats are Kenzaburo Oe and Yukio Mishima; I'd also reccomend fing a good translation of "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki for your old times Japan fix.

As for light novels, "Welcome to the NHK"  (which got adapted as an anime series) is a nice look at the darker side of geek culture in japan.

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post #10 of 10
1/20/12 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ryoken View Post

Yup, Kawabata is a must ( "Beauty and Sadness" has to be one of the most twisted and darker love stories ive ever read), but other greats are Kenzaburo Oe and Yukio Mishima; I'd also reccomend fing a good translation of "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki for your old times Japan fix.

As for light novels, "Welcome to the NHK"  (which got adapted as an anime series) is a nice look at the darker side of geek culture in japan.


AGREE!  I've read most of Mishima's books and one by Kenzaburo Oe.  Great stuff. 

 

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