Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Read a book from each of the regions of Japan.

Here is a link to the regions to get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...

Time Limit: None
Genre: Any

Here is a list of the 8 main regions:


1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya):
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima)
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka):
5. Kantō (Tokyo)
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

This looks like fun! I love Japan. Not sure how I could identify books for this challenge. Any ideas?

I'm in!

Summary post
Completed:

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya): Murder at Mt. Fuji
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima): The Crazy Iris and Other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo) The Snow Empress
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka) The Chrysanthemum Chain
5. Kantō (Tokyo): Salvation of a Saint
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands) The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama) Japanese Pilgrimage
8. Tōhoku (Sendai) :Strong in the Rain: Surviving Japan's Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Dlmrose

Kantō - Tokyo: Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino

Chūbu - Lake Yamanaka: Murder at Mt. Fuji by Shizuko Natsuki

Tōhoku - Strong in the Rain: Surviving Japan's Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster by Lucy Birmingham

Journey Through Japan


1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya)
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima) - The Housekeeper and the Professor
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka) - Memoirs of a Geisha
5. Kantō (Tokyo) - Norwegian Wood
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

I think they all take place in Tokyo but I'd recommend anything by Sujata Massey. The first in the series is The Salaryman's Wife. I also loved Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto.

Summary post 4

Kansai - Kobe - The Chrysanthemum Chain by James Melville

Hokkaido - The Snow Empress by Laura Joh Rowland

Kyushu - Dejima - The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

Sounds wonderful, especially during spring: cherry blossom time!!

Here's my list:

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya)
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima) 3/16/14
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo) 3/23/14
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka)
5. Kantō (Tokyo) 3/20/14 3/17/14
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

Summary post 4

Chūgoku - Hiroshima: The Crazy Iris and Other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath by Kenzaburō Ōe

Shikoku - Japanese Pilgrimage by Oliver Statler

Here's mine so far (from north to south):

1. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
2. Tōhoku (Sendai)
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
3. Kantō (Tokyo)
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
Nana, Vol. 1 by Ai Yazawa
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
4. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya)
Kappa by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
5. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka)
6. Chūgoku (Hiroshima)
Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)

Adding Kanto: An Artist of the Floating World


1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya): Thousand Cranes
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima): The Housekeeper and the Professor
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo): Dance Dance Dance
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka): After the Quake and The Tale of Genji
5. Kantō (Tokyo): An Artist of the Floating World
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands): Almost Transparent Blue
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama): Kafka on the Shore or Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids
8. Tōhoku (Sendai): The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches

Is it about author or place of action?

I just discovered this challenge and will also give it a try.
Here's what I've read so far:

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya): Kitchen
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima): The Honjin Murders
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka): After the Quake
5. Kantō (Tokyo): Sputnik Sweetheart
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands): A Pale View of Hills
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Sendai): Die Kieferninseln

Completed: 6/8

Adding Kyūshū:

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya): Thousand Cranes
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima): The Housekeeper and the Professor
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo): Dance Dance Dance
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka): After the Quake and The Tale of Genji
5. Kantō (Tokyo): An Artist of the Floating World
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands): Silence
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama): Kafka on the Shore or Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids
8. Tōhoku (Sendai): The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches

Adding Shikoku:

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya): Thousand Cranes
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima): The Housekeeper and the Professor
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo): Dance Dance Dance
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka): After the Quake and The Tale of Genji
5. Kantō (Tokyo): An Artist of the Floating World
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands): Silence
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama): Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids
8. Tōhoku (Sendai): The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches

Sam wrote: "Is it about author or place of action?"

Place of action

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya):
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima)
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka): Some Prefer Nettles, Rashomon and Other Stories
5. Kantō (Tokyo)
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

Adding Chūgoku:

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya): Thousand Cranes
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima): Kokoro
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo): Dance Dance Dance
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka): After the Quake and The Tale of Genji
5. Kantō (Tokyo): An Artist of the Floating World
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands): Silence
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama): Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids
8. Tōhoku (Sendai): The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches

Wayne Goin Big in Japan Challenge

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya):
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima): Hawaii
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka):
5. Kantō (Tokyo)
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

Starting : 2020-05-22

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya):
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima)
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka):
5. Kanagawa: La Papeterie Tsubaki
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

Wayne Goin Big in Japan Challenge (2/8)

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya):
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima): Hawaii
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka):
5. Kantō (Tokyo): The Gift of Rain
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

My journey through Japan was done with manga.

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya): , , ,
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima):
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo):
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka):
5. Kantō (Tokyo): ,
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands):
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama):
8. Tōhoku (Sendai):

Wayne Goin Big in Japan Challenge (3/8)

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya):
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima): Hawaii
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka):The 47th Samurai
5. Kantō (Tokyo): The Gift of Rain
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

Wayne Goin Big in Japan Challenge (4/8)

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya):
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima): Hawaii
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka):The 47th Samurai
5. Kantō (Tokyo): The Gift of Rain
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama): Kafka on the Shore
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

I lived in Japan for 3.5 years and wrote a novel set in Osaka, Japan.


Blurb: Chloe Haven has her whole world turned upside down when her dad suddenly announces they're moving to Japan - weeks before her freshman year of high school starts! She has no idea how she is ever going to live without her best friend and almost boyfriend, Noah. Within just a few weeks, Chloe is living 6,393 miles away from Noah, attending an international school of just over twenty people. She reminds herself not to get attached or be amazed because she will be out of the country the second she gets a chance to escape. But, as the year goes on, she grows closer with the people there and starts to build friendships and bonds unlike any she's ever had before. Jayden, the guy who rides the train home with her each day, breaks down her barriers even further and makes her wonder if Japan could actually be a long-term adventure she could enjoy.

Planned and completed reading for my literary travels of Japan; regions listed from northeast to southwest:

1. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami

2. Tōhoku (Sendai)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches by Matsuo Bashō
✔️The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi

3. Kantō (Tokyo)
I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima
Requiem by Shizuko Gō
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
✔️The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Out by Natsuo Kirino
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
✔️Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

4. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya)
A Daughter of the Samurai by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto
✔️Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda

5. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka)
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon
Some Prefer Nettles by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
Kabuki Dancer by Sawako Ariyoshi
Geisha, a Life by Mineko Iwasaki

6. Chūgoku (Hiroshima)
Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa
Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa

7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
Botchan by Natsume Sōseki
A View by the Sea by Shōtarō Yasuoka

8. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
Twelve Views from the Distance by Mutsuo Takahashi
A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

Journey through Japan:

1. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
Der Spielplatz der Götter by Natsu Miyashita

2. Tōhoku (Sendai)
✔Die Kieferninseln by Marion Poschmann (Miyagi) 2018/03/22

3. Kantō (Tokyo)
The Box Man by Kōbō Abe (Tokyo)
✔Aufwachen in Shibuya by Anna Cima (Tokyo) 2020/03/26
✔Der Himmel ist blau, die Erde ist weiß by Hiromi Kawakami (Tokyo) 2020/08/14
✔Herr Nakano und die Frauen by Hiromi Kawakami (Tokyo) 2021/12/07
Am Meer ist es wärmer by Hiromi Kawakami (Kanagawa)
Out by Natsuo Kirino (Tokyo)
✔The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea by Yukio Mishima (Yokohama) 2022/03/04
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
✔Die Ladenhüterin by Sayaka Murata (Tokyo) 2020/03/22
✔Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki (Tokyo) 2021/07/28
✔Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto (Tokyo) 2019/11/15

4. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya)
Das Seidenraupenzimmer by Sayaka Murata (Nagano)

5. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka)
The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (Osaka)

6. Chūgoku (Hiroshima)
✔The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa (Hiroshima) 2020/12/15

7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)

8. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
Silence by Shūsaku Endō (Nagasaki)
✔Zimmer frei in Nagasaki by Éric Faye (Nagasaki) 2019/11/23
✔A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro (Nagasaki) 2022/04/13

Great list. Some fantastic reading there, I'm sure.

(I would've liked to have seen some Nagagami Kenji there though. Maybe "The Cape?")

Starting date: February 2022

🇯🇵1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya): The Murder in Mansion Hakuba by Keigo Higashino
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima)
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka):
🇯🇵5. Kantō (Tokyo): Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama): previously read Kafka on the Shore & Botchan
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

Jasmine wrote: "Here's mine so far (from north to south):

1. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
2. Tōhoku (Sendai)
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
3. Kantō (Tokyo)
[book:A Wild Sheep Chase|1..."

If you haven't read anything touching on Kansai, try Osaka! Osaka! It seems to be unknown but full of info and humor.

Journey Through Japan
Started: January 2023

Progress: 0/8

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya):
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima)
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka):
5. Kantō (Tokyo)
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Sendai)

Count me in for this one.

1. Chūbu (Mt. Fuji, Nagoya)
2. Chūgoku (Hiroshima)
3. Hokkaidō (Sapporo)
4. Kansai aka Kinki (Nagahama, Shiga) - Nagahama to Be, or Not to Be by Beriko Scarlet ✓
5. Kantō (Tokyo) - 2 by Yokoyama Hideo ✓
6. Kyūshū (Fukuoka, Ryukyu Islands)
7. Shikoku (Matsuyama)
8. Tōhoku (Miyagi) - Haikyu!!, Band 1 by Furudate Haruichi ✓