The Japan Society Review

By Sharon Kinsella This sociological study contains interesting material about aspects of the life of young women in modern Japan. The reader needs to bear in mind that Japan remains a male chauvinist society and Japanese women [...] Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

By Hisaki Matsuura The story is an intriguing one: while wondering through Tokyo backstreets after an unfulfilling romantic affair with a married woman, Otsuki is surprised to bump into one of his old colleagues, Sugimoto, representing [...] Review by Chris Corker

By Nancy Broadbent Casserley This book is based on the Parkes collection of Washi, part of the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. It contains colour reproductions of a wide variety of Japanese handmade papers. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

By Ronald Searle The book tells his story from the fall of Singapore to his survival against the odds and eventual liberation. The text is fairly limited allowing the many finely drawn sketches to tell their own gruesome tale. Review by Sean Curtin

By Mark Peattie, Edward Drea & Hans van de Ven (eds); Franco David Macri Apart from expert analyses of the Chinese and Japanese armies in 1937, the studies concentrate mainly on the war in the north and central belt of China, where Chinese industry and population were [...] Reviews by Ian Nish

By Miyamoto Teru These three stories – spanning decades but always set in Osaka, each by the side of a river – show the daily struggles of a proletariat population, suffering not only from the squalor of poverty but also suffering [...] Review by Chris Corker

By Makiko Sano The book came out in 2013, it is a lovely looking book and a quick flick through reveals many beautiful photos. Before going into the specifics of making sushi, Makiko provides a very thorough explanation of [...] Review by Mike Sullivan

By Christopher Roberts In this meticulously researched book, Dr Roberts presents a detailed account of the work of the British courts operating in Japan under the terms of the 1858 Treaty. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

Edited by Gregory Irvine This book is much more than another book on Japonisme in late ninetenth century Europe. Gregory Irvine describes the way in which Japanese art objects reached the west in a chapter headed [...] Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

By Dazai Osamu This collection of short stories, released recently through the still relatively young Kurodhahan Press, can be seen as a quaint but pleasant divergence from the narrative and themes that fans of Dazai will [...] Review by Chris Corker