Japanese Literature discussion

Please nominate your suggestions for the Mar/Apr 2025 NonFiction (NF) poll to this thread. Pick a book you haven’t read. It should be available, at least, in UK and US. I will also check to see if there are translations outside of English since we have forum members from all over the world. Also, we would Appreciate any comments on how we could improve a non-fiction process and group read.

The discussion thread for Confessions of a Yakuza: A Life in Japan's Underworld will stay open for more comments. There is also a buddy read open for Prisoners from Nambu: Reality and Make-Believe in 17th-Century Japanese Diplomacy.

Thank you,
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I'll nominate Takarazuka .

It's available on Amazon US/UK, at least. But GR doesn't list any translations of it.

Bill wrote: "I'll nominate Takarazuka .

It's available on Amazon US/UK, at least. But GR doesn't list any translations of it."

I'd be more than happy to reread that one :)

How many books can we nominate? I'm currently a bit hyper focused on the era/setting of Prisoners from Namb, so I'd like to suggest Titia: The First Western Woman in Japan, Christ's Samurai: The True Story of the Shimabara Rebellion, or In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians: A Story of Suppression, Secrecy and Survival. The latter two are widely available, I think.

I'd be interested in Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival and Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World, both are available in the kindle-shop in English.

Carola,

How about Japan in Print , about the development of books after 1600? I've read and greatly appreciated a couple of other books by Berry.

Bill wrote: "Carola,

How about Japan in Print , about the development of books after 1600? I've read and greatly appreciated a couple of other books by Berry."

Sign me up!

Japan in Print , about the development of books after 1600.
This text looks very interesting for a history NF.

And Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival for a contemporary post-Fukushima NF.

I am planning to read Titia and, at least some of, a history of the VOC in late Feb or March. This is a follow up from Prisoners of Nambu which was a great NF that showed up in the last nominations. I read it as part of a buddy read after finishing the last number one selection..

I’m down for both Japan in Print and Pure Invention.(Takarazuka appeals but is over $30 in any format, which exceeds my personal comfort zone, )

I will set up a poll on 1 Feb with all the books in the nomination thread at that time.

I like reading about the nominated texts because of the discoveries therein.

The NF group read poll for Mar/Apr 2025 is now open. Located at the bottom of the main Japanese Literature page.

Note: I left Titia: The First Western Woman in Japan in the poll BUT it is out of print (in English), expensive, and hard to find. I have a copy and would be glad for a buddy read if anyone is interested.

I think we will go to buddy reads for this set of NF selections for March/April 2025. There wasn’t a firm consensus for a group read.
I have several on this nomination list that I would like to read so just post to buddy reads of any interests. I also have a copy of Japan in Print.
regards, Jack