Reading List (Japan)

Here are our favourite book recommendations to read before, during or after your travels to Japan.

• Tale of Genji – Lady Murasaki
• Snow Country – Yasunari Kawabata
• Kokoro – Natsume Soseki
• Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami
• Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
• Shogun – James Clavell
• The Waiting Years – Fumiko Enchi
• In Praise of Shadows – Jun’ichiro Tanizaki
• The Diving Pool – Yoko Ogawa
• Rice, Noodle, Fish – Matt Goulding
• Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook – Mark Robinson
• Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen – Elizabeth Andoh
• Tokyo Geek’s Guide: The Ultimate Guide to Japan’s Otaku Culture – Gianni Simone
• Geisha, 25th Anniversary Edition – Liza Dalby
• Zen and Japanese Culture – D.T. Suzuki
• The Power to Compete – Hiroshi Mikitani and Ryoichi Mikitani
• The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan – Ivan Morris
• Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan – Herbert P. Bix
• The Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi – William Scott Wilson
• Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan – Donald Keene
• Japan at War: An Oral History – Haruko Taya Cook and Theodore F. Cook
• Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima – Stephen Walker
• Hitching Rides with Buddha – Will Ferguson
• The Japan Journals: 1947-2004 – Donald Richie
• Lost Japan: Last Glimpse of Beautiful Japan – Alex Kerr
• The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon – Sei Shonagon
• The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, & Issa Robert Hass
• The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture – Roger J. Davies and Osamu Ikeno