Here’s a collection of books to help expand your knowledge about Japan. I’ve referred to these books for my various writing projects. This list skews toward history because that’s my thing. You will also find English translations of landmark Japanese literary works, which everyone interested in Japan ought to read. The Art of the Samurai…
Category: History
Small History and Big History
History has two different and related types: small and big. Big history is what you learn in school. It’s the major events of the past: the American Revolution, World War II, the Thirty-Years War, Sengoku Jidai, and so on. Big history usually has some sort of date you needed to memorize. Small history sits on…
Hagakure: the Art of the Samurai
The Hagakure appears obsessed with seppuku when you read through it. In the book, Yamamoto Tsunetomo collected myriad accounts of samurai from Saga domain along with various proverbs and lessons. Tsunetomo lived during the long peace of the Edo period as a custodian of Lord Mitsushige’s books. He worked from theory, which is why seppuku…
“My Japan,” A World War II Anti-Japanese Propaganda Film
My Japan takes an interesting tact with how it tried to spur Americans to buy war bonds. The film claims to be a captured Japanese propaganda film aimed at demoralizing Americans. The film was, in fact, produced by the War Finance Division of the United States Office of War Information in 1945. The film uses a…
Okakura Kakuro’s “The Book of Tea”
Okakura wrote The Book of Tea in 1906. The books seeks to bridge and explain the Eastern perspective to the West. At the time, most people weren’t familiar with Japan, China, or Korea. Japan had opened to the West in 1853. Fifty-three years isn’t a lot of time for people to understand another culture. As…
Lafcadio Hearn’s Japan
Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) offered a view into Japan during the Meiji Restoration with his books: Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Out of the East, Kokoro, The Boy Who Drew Cats, In Ghostly Japan, Kwaidan, and other books. He lived in Japan for 14 years before his death; his writings provide a snapshot of the land and…