Japan reading list: Spring break 2009
A few new books you might be interested in:
Black Jack, Volume 4
The latest in Vertical‘s wonderfully-produced English translations of one of Japan’s greatest manga series. When you read this and other previous volumes of the series, its not hard to see why Tezuka has been called “the god of manga.”
Eat Sleep Sit: My Year at Japan’s Most Rigorous Zen Temple
Nonomura’s book about experiencing life at the Zen monastery of Eihei-ji has sold over 100,000 copies since it was first published in Japanese back in the 1990′s. The English translation will not be released in America until April 1st, but it’s already on bookstore shelves in Japan (and is on Amazon.co.jp). I’m currently a few chapters into it and although I don’t usually enjoy reading books about spirituality, I’ve found that Nomura’s descriptions of monastic life to be quite interesting. Read the book and educate yourself about proper Zen toilet etiquette, such as the proper chant to recite when you flush!
Strongholds of the Samurai: Japanese Castles 250-1877 
Turnbull continues to churn out books about the history of the samurai period! His other samurai history books published by Osprey are usually quite short, but this one will be about 200 pages.
Japan’s Open Future: An Agenda for Global Citizenship
This book, which argues that Japan should take a more active and outward-looking stance towards the rest of the world, is the only book on Amazon.com that references the Gaijin Hanzai File in its bibliography. Sample sections of the book can be read on its official website.
Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster’s Daughter
This book already received lots of good reviews when its hardcover edition was published in 2007. If you missed it before, get yourself a copy of the far cheaper paperback edition that has just been released.
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