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