The Sphinxing Rabbit: Her Sovereign Majesty
Deceptively simple in appearance yet heavy in content, the Sphinxing Rabbit series of books starting with Her Sovereign Majesty aims to communicate tenets of freedom in an entertaining manner. Review by John O'Sullivan
A Silent Voice
Directed by Naoko Yamada Based on a manga series of the same title, A Silent Voice tells the story of Ishida Shoya, a spiky haired loner who comes to deeply regret bullying his deaf class mate Nishimiya Shoko. Yamada navigates [...] Review by Poppy Cosyns
Spring Garden: Loss, friendship and architecture
By Shibasaki Tomoka Recently divorced after a short-lived marriage and still reeling from the death of his father, Taro lives on his own in a one-bed flat in a condemned apartment block. The story follows him and his two [...] Review by Eluned Gramich
Carmen Blacker – Scholar of Japanese Religion, Myth and Folklore: Writings and Reflections
Edited by Sir Hugh Cortazzi, James McMullen and Mary-Grace Browning Carmen Blacker was an outstanding scholar of Japanese culture, known internationally for her writings on religion, myth and folklore. A third of the volume comprises significant extracts from the author's diaries [...] Review by Jim E Hoare
Record of a Night Too Brief
By Kawakami Hiromi The book incorporates three short stories of an abstract and surreal nature.The stories are distinctly different from one another but follow a unifying theme of yearning, desire and longing in the minds of young [...] Review by Harry Martin
Womansword: What Japanese Words Say about Women
By Kittredge Cherry Three decades after its original publication, the book remains a rare resource for Japanese learners and those who wish better to understand how the Japanese language expresses womanhood. Review by Charlotte Goff
The Comfort Women: Historical, Political, Legal and Moral Perspectives
By Kumagai Naoko Kumagai Naoko goes on to discuss the facts that can be firmly established. She asks ‘how much free will did the comfort women have’ and the extent of coercion exercised by the Japanese military [...] Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Gaea Girls
Directed by Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams In Kim Longinotto’s observational documentary the line between reality and staging in the profession of female wrestling (joshi puroresu) is addressed with ambiguity. On the one hand, the training regimes [...] Review by George Barker
Silence
Directed by Martin Scorsese Scorsese has adapted the famous novel of Endo Shusaku. The novel is set mainly around the 1630s at a time when the violent eradication of Christianity in the early Tokugawa era was mainly achieved, apart [...] Review by Roger Macy
Origami for Mindfulness
By Mari Ono Mindfulness has come into popular culture in recent years but it is a concept which is centuries old. Mari’s beautiful book is a joy for the senses and a perfect companion to practice mindfulness. Review by Margaret Russo