In April, I visited the Haruki Murakami Library at Waseda University. Officially The Waseda International House of Literature, the building serves as a shrine to one of Japan’s most famous authors, Haruki Murakami. As well as housing first editions of all his literature published all over the world and a recreation of his writing space, …
Teaching the history of East Asia this year has given me the opportunity to conceptualize different ways to teach history – through academic works, literature, and manga. The tetralogy of Yukio Mishima is a series of four novels written by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima, published between 1965 and 1970. The four novels, which are …
As I continue rereading my favorite Japanese literature to prepare for my trip to Japan, I had to revist Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri. I had read this in the build up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the beginning of the pandemic. It was just as powerful the second time around, but rather …
My biggest advice to underachieving students and unhappy people is to read more. It takes time, it is slow, sometimes it is challenging to focus, but it is infinitely rewarding. One can be transported to any place or time and get a deep sense of what anothers experiences are like. I don’t like every book …
A good book is like an old friend. Rereading one is like seeing a friend you haven’t seen in a long time. I remember finding out about Haruki Murakami in college and reading everything he wrote. It has been a while since college, and revisiting Murakami before traveling to Japan has been a treat. Haruki …
The Tale of Genji is considered one of the greatest works of Japanese literature, and is often referred to as the world’s first novel. Written in the 11th century by the noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu, it tells the story of the life and loves of Prince Genji and the court society of Heian-era Japan. The novel …
I’ve talked to a number of people who are disenchanted with modern media and the low quality of entertainment today. A scroll through metacritic shows you that the press pretends new entertainment is good, but the average viewer disagress. Thankfully, there are still books. If you haven’t read the classics, now is a better time …
Yesterday, the Goodreads Books of the Year list was published. Every year, fewer and fewer books on that list appeal to me. This year, the historical fiction top 20 has no books about Japan. Well, not entirely, because one is written about Japanese-occupied Shanghai in 1940. Japan isn’t the only oversight, but several massive nations …
I’ve mentioned before that a great way to prepare for a journey is to read. I wrote about this in Book and a Backpack: Belfast and have continued to read books regardless of where I traveled. Japan is no different. Before I leave for Japan I hope to have read the following: These are not …
I’ve already mentioned that I have had a long interest in Japan. One of my minor fields in college was Asian studies, but even before that I started studying Japan. I remember two of the most memorable books I read in high school, Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa and Shogun, by James Clavell were set in …