Japanese Fiction
Filter
Sold out
Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel |
Vintage
South of the Border, West of the Sun
$8.90
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.86
$8.90
- Unit price
- / per
If you’ve ever found yourself haunted by the roads not taken, "South of the Border, West of the Sun" will resonate with you. Murakami masterfully weaves a tale that's as intimate as it is universal, exploring the torment of what-ifs and the bittersweet nature of life's choices. It's the kind of book that stays with you, urging a contemplation of your own past and present.
Sold out
David James Karashima, Ito Ogawa |
Alma
Publishing
Company
The Restaurant of Love Regained
$8.34
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.54
$8.34
- Unit price
- / per
Returning home from work, Rinko is shocked to find that her flat is totally empty. Gone are her TV set, fridge and furniture, gone are all her kitchen tools, including the old Meiji mortar she has inherited from her grandmother and the Le Creuset casserole she has bought with her first salary. Gone, above all, is her Indian boyfriend, the maitre d' of the restaurant next door to the one she works in. She has no choice but to go back to her native village and her mother, on which she turned her back ten years ago as a fifteen-year-old girl. There she decides to open a very special restaurant, one that serves food for only one couple every day, according to their personal tastes and wishes. A concubine rediscovers her love for life, a girl is able to conquer the heart of her lover, a surly man is transformed into a loveable gentleman - all this happens at the Katatsumuri, the magic restaurant whose delicate food can heal any heartache and help its customers find love again.
Sold out
Akira Yoshimura
|
Canongate
Books
Ltd
One Man's Justice
$6.98
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.93
$6.98
- Unit price
- / per
Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been destroyed. Japan is in ruins and occupied by the Americans.Takuya, an ex-officer in the Imperial Army, has returned to his native village only to learn that the Occupation authorities are intensifying their efforts to apprehend suspected war criminals. And those who are found guilty are being sentenced to death.Fearing that his role in the execution of a number of American pilots, Takuya takes to the road and becomes a fugitive in his own country.One Man's Justice is both a reflection on the murky reality of war and a page-turning novel of pursuit and escape.
Sold out
Keigo Higashino, Alexander O. Smith |
Abacus
A Midsummer's Equation : A DETECTIVE GALILEO NOVEL
$7.64
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.93
$7.64
- Unit price
- / per
Manabu Yukawa, the physicist known as "Detective Galileo," has traveled to Hari Cove, a once-popular summer resort town that has fallen on hard times. He is there to speak at a conference on a planned underwater mining operation, which has sharply divided the town. One faction is against the proposed operation, concerned about the environmental impact on the area, known for its pristine waters. The other faction, seeing no future in the town as it is, believes its only hope lies in the development project.The night after the tense panel discussion, one of the resort's guests is found dead on the seashore at the base of the local cliffs. The local police at first believe it was a simple accident-that he wandered over the edge while walking on unfamiliar territory in the middle of the night. But when they discover that the victim was a former policeman and that the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, they begin to suspect he was murdered, and his body tossed off the cliff to misdirect the police.As the police try to uncover where Tsukahara was killed and why, Yukawa finds himself enmeshed in yet another confounding case of murder. In a series of twists as complex and surprising as any in Higashino's brilliant, critically acclaimed work, Galileo uncovers the hidden relationship behind the tragic events that led to this murder.
Sold out
Louise Heal Kawai, Seichō Matsumoto |
Bitter
Lemon
Press
A Quiet Place
$7.64
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.57
$7.64
- Unit price
- / per
While on a business trip to Kobe, Tsuneo Asai receives the news that his wife Eiko has died of a heart attack. Eiko had a heart condition so the news of her death wasn't totally unexpected. But the circumstances of her demise left Tsuneo, a softly-spoken government bureaucrat, perplexed. How did it come about that his wife—who was shy and withdrawn, and only left their house twice a week to go to haiku meetings—ended up dead in a small shop in a shady Tokyo neighborhood?When Tsuneo goes to apologize to the boutique owner for the trouble caused by his wife’s death he discovers the villa Tachibana near by, a house known to be a meeting place for secret lovers. As he digs deeper into his wife's recent past, he must eventually conclude that she led a double life...
Sold out
$9.82
- Unit price
- / per
The Fire Kimono is another dazzling historical mystery set in feudal Japan from acclaimed author Laura Joh Rowland.Japan, March 1700. The strife between Sano Ichiro, the samurai detective who has risen to power in the shogun's court, and his enemies has escalated to the brink of war.When a long-buried skeleton with mysterious links to the shogun suddenly comes to light, Sano and his wife, Reiko, who defies social conventions by joining in his investigations, must confront dangerous secrets. What was Sano's own mother doing on the night when a burning kimono ignited a blaze that nearly destroyed the city? The shogun gives Sano and Reiko just three days to find out--or risk losing not only their position at court but their families' lives.
Sold out
Jay Rubin, Haruki Murakami |
The
Harvill
Press
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Regular price
$17.51
$6.66
62% off
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 4.15
Regular price
$17.51
$6.66
62% off
- Unit price
- / per
Toru Okada is an apparently happy man, drifting through life in a vague, blameless and somewhat apathetic manner. Then one morning his wife leaves for work and never returns.
Sold out
Laura Imai Messina, Lucy Rand |
Manilla
Press
The Phone Box At The Edge Of The World
$6.06
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.86
$6.06
- Unit price
- / per
We all have something to tell those we have lost.On a windy hill in Japan, in a garden overlooking the sea stands a disused phone box. For years, people have travelled to visit the phone box, to pick up the receiver and speak into the wind: to pass their messages to loved ones no longer with us.When Yui loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami, she is plunged into despair and wonders how she will ever carry on. One day she hears of the phone box, and decides to make her own pilgrimage there, to speak once more to the people she loved the most. But when you have lost everything, the right words can be the hardest thing to find.Then she meets Takeshi, a bereaved husband whose own daughter has stopped talking in the wake of their loss. What happens next will warm your heart, even when it feels as though it is breaking.
Sold out
Yasunari Kawabata
|
Penguin
Group
The Sound of the Mountain
$8.45
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.86
$8.45
- Unit price
- / per
Ogata Shingo is growing old, and his memory is failing him. At night he hears only the sound of death in the distant rumble from the mountain. The relationships which have previously defined his life - with his son, his wife, and his attractive daughter-in-law - are dissolving, and Shingo is caught between love and destruction. Lyrical and precise, The Sound of the Mountain explores in immaculately crafted prose the changing roles of love and the truth we face in ageing.
Sold out
$6.93
- Unit price
- / per
Kikuji has been invited to a tea ceremony by a mistress of his dead father. He is shocked to find there the mistress's rival and successor, Mrs. Ota, and that the ceremony has been awkwardly arranged for him to meet his potential future bride. But he is most shocked to be drawn into a relationship with Mrs. Ota - a relationship that will bring only suffering and destruction to all of them. Thousand Cranes reflects the tea ceremony's poetic precision with understated, lyrical style and beautiful prose.
Sold out
$6.50
- Unit price
- / per
The exquisite last novel from Nobel Prize-winning author Yasunari Kawabata.Ineko has lost the ability to see things. At first it was a ping-pong ball, then it was her fiancé. The doctors call it 'body blindness', and she is placed in a psychiatric clinic to recover. As Ineko's mother and fiancé walk along the riverbank after visiting time, they wonder: is her condition a form of madness - or an expression of love? Exploring the distance between us, and what we say without words, Kawabata's transcendent final novel is the last word from a master of Japanese literature.
Sold out
$8.04
- Unit price
- / per
Yukio Mishima’s The Temple of Dawn is the third novel in his masterful tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility. Here, Shigekuni Honda continues his pursuit of the successive reincarnations of Kiyoaki Matsugae, his childhood friend. Travelling in Thailand in the early 1940s, Shigekuni Honda, now a brilliant lawyer, is granted an audience with a young Thai princess—an encounter that radically alters the course of his life. In spite of all reason, he is convinced she is the reincarnated spirit of his friend Kiyoaki. As Honda goes to great lengths to discover for certain if his theory is correct, The Temple of Dawn becomes the story of one man’s obsessive pursuit of a beautiful woman and his equally passionate search for enlightenment.
Sold out
Yasunari Kawabata, Edward G. Seidensticker |
Penguin
Books
Snow Country
$7.30
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.6
$7.30
- Unit price
- / per
Shimamura is tired of the bustling city. He takes the train through the snow to the mountains of the west coast of Japan to meet with a geisha he believes he loves. Beautiful and innocent, Komako is tightly bound by the rules of a rural geisha and lives a life of servitude and seclusion that is alien to Shimamura – their love offers no freedom to either of them.Snow Country is both delicate and subtle, reflecting in Kawabata's exact, lyrical writing the unspoken love and the understated passion of the young Japanese couple.
Sold out
Yasunari Kawabata, J. Martin Holman, Vanja Lantz |
Shoemaker
&
Hoard
The Old Capital
$8.50
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.74
$8.50
- Unit price
- / per
The Old Capital is one of the three novels cited specifically by the Nobel Committee when they awarded Kawabata the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968. With the ethereal tone and aesthetic styling characteristic of Kawabata's prose, The Old Capital tells the story of Chieko, the adopted daughter of a Kyoto kimono designer, Takichiro, and his wife, Shige.Set in the traditional city of Kyoto, Japan, this deeply poetic story revolves around Chieko who becomes bewildered and troubled as she discovers the true facets of her past. With the harmony and time-honored customs of a Japanese backdrop, the story becomes poignant as Chieko’s longing and confusion develops.
Sold out
$7.44
- Unit price
- / per
The successful writer Oki has reached middle age and is filled with regrets. He returns to Kyoto to find Otoko, a young woman with whom he had a terrible affair many years before, and discovers that she is now a painter, living with a younger woman as her lover. Otoko has continued to love Oki and has never forgotten him, but his return unsettles not only her but also her young lover. This is a work of strange beauty, with a tender touch of nostalgia and a heartbreaking sensitivity to those things lost forever.
Sold out
$8.82
- Unit price
- / per
Set in a remote fishing village in Japan, The Sound of Waves is a timeless story of first love. It tells of Shinji, a young fisherman and Hatsue, the beautiful daughter of the wealthiest man in the village. Shinji is entranced at the sight of Hatsue in the twilight on the beach and they fall in love. When the villagers' gossip threatens to divide them, Shinji must risk his life to prove his worth.
Sold out
$8.06
- Unit price
- / per
'Life for sale. Use me as you wish. I am a twenty-seven-year-old male. Discretion guaranteed. Will cause no bother at all.'When Hanio Yamada realizes the future holds nothing of worth to him, he puts his life for sale in a Tokyo newspaper, thus unleashing a series of unimaginable exploits.A world of revenge, murderous mobsters, hidden cameras, a vampire woman, poisonous carrots, espionage and code-breaking, a junkie heiress, home-made explosives and decoys reveals itself to the unwitting Hanio. Is there anything he can do to stop it?
Sold out
Christine Wunnicke, Philip Boehm |
New
Directions
The Fox and Dr. Shimamura
$8.90
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.05
$8.90
- Unit price
- / per
60% off est. retail
"The Fox & Dr. Shimamura" is a mesmerizing mix of historical narrative and mythical elements that wraps around you like a fever dream. If you're fascinated by the meeting points of different cultures, the mingling of science and superstition, and enjoy a narrative that moves fluidly through time and reality, you'll find this book an intoxicating read. Christine Wunnicke offers a narrative feast, season with a touch of sardonic humor, that will captivate anyone interested in the psychological tapestries of the human mind.
Sold out
Natsume Sōseki, Jay Rubin, Haruki Murakami |
Penguin
Classics
Sanshiro
$7.51
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.82
$7.51
- Unit price
- / per
Sōseki's work of gentle humour and doomed innocence depicts twenty-three-year-old Sanshirō, a recent graduate from a provincial college, as he begins university life in the big city of Tokyo. Baffled and excited by the traffic, the academics and – most of all – the women, Sanshirō must find his way amongst the sophisticates that fill his new life. An incisive social and cultural commentary, Sanshirō is also a subtle study of first love, tradition and modernization, and the idealism of youth against the cynicism of middle age.In his introduction, Haruki Murakami reflects on his fascination with Sanshirō, how the story differs from a European coming-of-age novel and why it has come to be a perennial classic in Japan. This edition also contains suggestions for further reading, notes and a chronology.
Sold out
Jay Rubin, Haruki Murakami |
Penguin
Classics
The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories
$8.78
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 4.13
$8.78
- Unit price
- / per
A major new anthology of great Japanese short stories introduced by Haruki Murakami.This fantastically varied and exciting collection celebrates the great Japanese short story collection, from its origins in the nineteenth century to the remarkable practitioners writing today. Curated by Jay Rubin (who has himself freshly translated several of the stories) and introduced by Haruki Murakami this is a book which will be a revelation to many of its readers. Short story writers already well-known to English-language readers are all included - Tanizaki, Akutagawa, Murakami, Mishima, Kawabata, Yoshimoto - but also many surprising new finds. From Tsushima Yuko's 'Flames' to Sawanishi Yuten's 'Filling Up with Sugar', from Hoshi Shin'ichi's 'Shoulder-Top Secretary' to Yoshimoto Banana's 'Bee Honey', The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories is filled with fear, charm, beauty and comedy.
Sold out
Kenzaburo (Deborah Boliver Boehm) translator Oe, Deborah Boliver Boehm |
Atlantic
Books
Death by Water
$14.81
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.22
$14.81
- Unit price
- / per
BRAND NEW, Exactly same ISBN as listed, Please double check ISBN carefully before ordering.
Sold out
$5.90
- Unit price
- / per
It is 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, has just embarked on a motoring trip through the west of England that will become a journey deep into his past...
Sold out
$7.74
- Unit price
- / per
Written during the 1960s, this courageous work explores the intolerance and bigotry faced daily by Japan's largest minority group, the Burakumin.
Sold out
$8.90
- Unit price
- / per
If the thought of a family's troubles interwoven with personal resilience speaks to you, "Shame in the Blood" may resonate deeply. Miura Tetsuo encapsulates the grit of a protagonist battling his perceived hereditary curse, creating a sense of empathy for his quest to break free from a dark past. The narrative's rich texture, navigating through trials toward hope, could offer a profound reading experience for anyone intrigued by the complexities of family and destiny.
Sold out
Haruki Murakami
|
Random
House
Uk
Killing Commendatore
$12.50
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.91
$12.50
- Unit price
- / per
The much-anticipated new novel from the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author of 1Q84 and Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Killing Commendatore is an epic tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art—as well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby—and a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.
Sold out
$6.72
- Unit price
- / per
From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day comes a devastating new novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss. As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special–and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric, Never Let Me Go is another classic by the author of The Remains of the Day.
Sold out
$8.90
- Unit price
- / per
56% off est. retail
"Never Let Me Go" offers a haunting journey that echoes with readers long after the last page. It combines an elegant narrative of growing up with the piercing realization of one's purpose in a world that is at once familiar and disquietingly off-kilter. Ishiguro's refined storytelling invites introspection and a deep emotional connection, making it perfect for those who appreciate literature that stays with you and prompts reflection on life's delicate balances.
Sold out
Yei Theodora Ozaki, Lucy Fraser |
Tuttle
Publishing
Japanese Folktales : Classic Stories from Japan's Enchanted Past
$6.92
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.69
$6.92
- Unit price
- / per
Japanese Folktales is one of the most complete collections of stories translated to English and introduces the reader to the vast world of Japanese ghouls, goblins, ogres, sea kings, magical birds, dragons, and of course, Momotaro, the Peach Boy. Japanese folklore is richly imaginative and the 22 classic stories collected here are some of the most popular ever told. Each story transports the reader to a different realm of magical kingdoms, mysterious seas, and mythical lands including:The story of goldfish dancers and carp musicians who entertain a brave warriorThe tale of a lonely girl whose life is changed by a shining disc left by her motherThe explanation of how the jellyfish lost its bonesAnd the adventures of a boy born from a peach that washes up on a riverbank that every Japanese child knows by heart.These well-loved folk tales are sure to delight readers young and old while introducing them to Japan's vivid fantasy tradition.
Sold out
$13.90
- Unit price
- / per
"Klara and the Sun" might resonate with you if you're drawn to narratives that weave technology with the tender fabric of human condition. Ishiguro's thoughtful prose and Klara's unique perspective as an AI could touch you deeply, making you ponder over the complexities of love and the human need for connections. The book's contemplative nature might stay with you long after you've turned the final page.
Sold out
Haruki Murakami
|
Vintage
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
$7.90
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.84
$7.90
- Unit price
- / per
63% off est. retail
If you're looking for a journey through the mystic and mundane, Murakami’s "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" could be a perfect choice. The collection offers a tapestry of quirky and emotionally resonant narratives, all delivered with Murakami's signature blend of the surreal and the everyday. A read that could leave you contemplating the intricate dance of chance and choice in life.
Sold out
Paul St. John Mackintosh, Kenzaburō Ōe, Maki Sugiyama |
Grove
Press
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids
$6.18
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.81
$6.18
- Unit price
- / per
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids recounts the exploits of 15 teenage reformatory boys evacuated in wartime to a remote mountain village where they are feared and detested by the local peasants. When plague breaks out, the villagers flee, blocking the boys inside the deserted town. Their brief attempt to build autonomous lives of self-respect, love, and tribal valor is doomed in the face of death and the adult nightmare of war.
Sold out
$8.62
- Unit price
- / per
A woman goes into a bakery to buy a strawberry cream tart. The place is immaculate but there is no one serving so she waits. Another customer comes in. The woman tells the new arrival that she is buying her son a treat for his birthday. Every year she buys him his favourite cake; even though he died in an accident when he was six years old. From this beginning Yoko Ogawa weaves a dark and beautiful narrative that pulls together a seemingly disconnected cast of characters. In the tradition of classical Japanese poetic collections, the stories in Revenge are linked through recurring images and motifs, as each story follows on from the one before while simultaneously introducing new characters and themes. Filled with breathtaking images, Ogawa provides us with a slice of life that is resplendent in its chaos, enthralling in its passion and chilling in its cruelty.
Sold out
E. Dale Saunders, Kōbō Abe |
Tuttle
Publishing
The Woman in the Dunes
$9.68
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.89
$9.68
- Unit price
- / per
This beautiful novel by one of Japan's most important writers is also one of the most strangely terrifying and memorable books you'll ever read. The Woman in the Dunes is the story of an amateur entomologist who wanders alone into a remote seaside village in pursuit of a rare beetle he wants to add to his collection. But the townspeople take him prisoner. They lower him into the sand-pit home of a young widow, a pariah in the poor community, who the villagers have condemned to a life of shoveling back the ever-encroaching dunes that threaten to bury the town. An amazing book.
Sold out
$7.19
- Unit price
- / per
“Like attending seasons of elegant tea parties—each one resplendent with character and drama. Delicious.”—Maxine Hong Kingston The story of two women whose lives intersect in late-nineteenth-century Japan, The Teahouse Fire is also a portrait of one of the most fascinating places and times in all of history—Japan as it opens its doors to the West. It was a period when wearing a different color kimono could make a political statement, when women stopped blackening their teeth to profess an allegiance to Western ideas, and when Japan’s most mysterious rite—the tea ceremony—became not just a sacramental meal, but a ritual battlefield. We see it all through the eyes of Aurelia, an American orphan adopted by the Shin family, proprietors of a tea ceremony school, after their daughter, Yukako, finds her hiding on their grounds. Aurelia becomes Yukako’s closest companion, and they, the Shin family, and all of Japan face a time of great challenges and uncertainty. Told in an enchanting and unforgettable voice, The Teahouse Fire is a lively, provocative, and lushly detailed historical novel of epic scope and compulsive readability.
Sold out
Donald Keene, Osamu Dazai |
New
Directions
No Longer Human
$8.90
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.95
$8.90
- Unit price
- / per
60% off est. retail
If you're intrigued by the complexities of cultural shift and personal identity, "No Longer Human" might speak to you deeply. It's not just a novel; it's a haunting journey through a man's internal struggle with societal expectations and self-worth. Perfect for those who appreciate psychological depth and existential reflections mirrored in a rapidly changing world.
Sold out
$8.26
- Unit price
- / per
60% off est. retail
In the Tokyo suburbs four women work the draining graveyard shift at a boxed-lunch factory. Burdened with chores and heavy debts and isolated from husbands and children, they all secretly dream of a way out of their dead-end lives.A young mother among them finally cracks and strangles her philandering, gambling husband then confesses her crime to Masako, the closest of her colleagues. For reasons of her own, Masako agrees to assist her friend and seeks the help of the other co-workers to dismember and dispose of the body. The body parts are discovered, the police start asking questions, but the women have far more dangerous enemies -a yakuza connected loan shark who discovers their secret and has a business proposition, and a ruthless nightclub owner the police are convinced is guilty of the murder. He has lost everything as a result of their crime and he is out for revenge.Out is a psychologically taut and unflinching foray into the darkest recesses of the human soul, an unsettling reminder that the desperate desire for freedom can make the most ordinary person do the unimaginable.
Sold out
Allison Markin Powell, Fuminori Nakamura |
Soho
Crime
Last Winter We Parted
$7.73
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.37
$7.73
- Unit price
- / per
Instantly reminiscent of the work of Osamu Dazai and Patricia Highsmith, Fuminori Nakamura’s latest novel is a dark and twisting house of mirrors that philosophically explores the violence of aesthetics and the horrors of identity.A young writer arrives at a prison to interview a convict. The writer has been commissioned to write a full account of the case, from the bizarre and grisly details of the crime to the nature of the man behind it. The suspect, a world-renowned photographer named Kiharazaka, has a deeply unsettling portfolio—lurking beneath the surface of each photograph is an acutely obsessive fascination with his subject.He stands accused of murdering two women—both burned alive—and will likely face the death penalty. But something isn’t quite right. As the young writer probes further, his doubts about this man as a killer intensify, and he struggles to maintain his sense of reason and justice. Is Kiharazaka truly guilty, or will he die to protect someone else?Evoking Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa’s “Hell Screen,” Last Winter, We Parted is a twisted talea that asks a deceptively sinister question: Is it possible to truly capture the essence of another human being?From the Hardcover edition.
Sold out
Yukio Mishima
|
Vintage/ebury
(a
Division
Of
Random
After the Banquet
$7.99
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.7
$7.99
- Unit price
- / per
Reissued along side The Sound of the Waves plus three classics works by Junichiro Tanizaki.
Sold out
$8.97
- Unit price
- / per
"You've long set your heart against it, Axl, I know. But it's time now to think on it anew. There's a journey we must go on, and no more delay..."The Buried Giant begins as a couple set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years.Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel in nearly a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge, and war.Included on TIME Magazine's "THE 100 BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME"
Sold out
Yasunari Kawabata, Edward G. Seidensticker |
Vintage
The Sound of the Mountain
$7.13
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.86
$7.13
- Unit price
- / per
Librarian's note: An alternate cover of this ISBN can be found here.Ogata Shingo is growing old, and his memory is failing him. At night he hears only the sound of death in the distant rumble from the mountain. The relationships which have previously defined his life - with his son, his wife, and his attractive daughter-in-law - are dissolving, and Shingo is caught between love and destruction. Lyrical and precise, The Sound of the Mountain explores in immaculately crafted prose the changing roles of love and the truth we face in ageing.
Sold out
Pico Iyer
|
Black
Swan
The Lady and the Monk : Four Seasons in Kyoto
$4.17
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.79
$4.17
- Unit price
- / per
The Lady and the Monk( Four Seasons in Kyoto) <> Paperback <> PicoIyer <> VintageBooks
Sold out
$5.15
- Unit price
- / per
Two prostitutes are murdered in Tokyo. Twenty years previously both women were educated at the same elite school for young ladies, and had seemingly promising futures ahead of them. But in a world of dark desire and vicious ambition, for both women, prostitution meant power. Grotesque is a masterful and haunting thriller, a chilling exploration of women's secret lives in modern day Japan.
Sold out
Haruki Murakami
|
Vintage
Classics
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle : Vintage Classics Japanese Series
$9.46
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 4.15
$9.46
- Unit price
- / per
Enter the surreal and enchanting world of Haruki MurakamiToru Okada's cat has disappeared.His wife is growing more distant every day.Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has recently been receiving.As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada's vague and blameless life, spent cooking, reading, listening to jazz and opera and drinking beer at the kitchen table, are turned inside out. He embarks on a bizarre journey, guided by a succession of characters, each with a tale to tell.'Mesmerising, surreal, this really is the work of a true original' The TimesPart of the VINTAGE JAPANESE CLASSICS series - five masterpieces of Japanese fiction in gorgeous new gift editions.
Sold out
Ralph McCarthy, Ryū Murakami |
Bloomsbury
In The Miso Soup
$5.64
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.62
$5.64
- Unit price
- / per
It's just before New Year, and Frank, an overweight American tourist, has hired Kenji to take him on a guided tour of Tokyo's nightlife. But, Frank's behaviour is so odd that Kenji begins to entertain a horrible suspicion: his client may in fact have murderous desires. Although Kenji is far from innocent himself, he unwillingly descends with Frank into an inferno of evil, from which only his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Jun, can possibly save him.
Sold out
$8.90
- Unit price
- / per
If you're intrigued by the interplay of the delicate yet intense themes of life, death, and personal transformation, 'Kitchen' is a book that will resonate with you. Banana Yoshimoto masterfully intertwines emotions and culinary spaces with a narrative that's both comforting and challenging, reflecting the complexities of modern life and relationships. It's a lovingly crafted story that'll leave you contemplating long after the last page.
Sold out
Amanda Lee Koe, Cyril Wong, Ng Yi-Sheng |
Ethos
Books
Eastern Heathens: An Anthology of Subverted Asian Folklore
$10.90
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.38
$10.90
- Unit price
- / per
If you've ever been fascinated by the stories that have traveled through Asian cultures, "Eastern Heathens" will speak to that nostalgia with a fresh and provocative twist. Amanda Lee Koe and Ng Yi-Sheng gather a collection of tales that challenge traditional narratives, making it a great pick for those who enjoy folklore with a side of rebellion. This anthology invites its readers to look at familiar legends through a lens that questions and reframes the old stories, perfect for readers looking for both cultural depth and innovative storytelling.
Sold out
Shūsaku Endō, Martin Scorsese, William Johnston |
Picador
Silence : Film tie-in
$7.79
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 4.08
$7.79
- Unit price
- / per
With an introduction by Martin ScorseseIt is 1640 and Jesuit priest Sebastian Rodrigues sets sail for Japan determined to help the brutally oppressed Christians there. He is also desperate to discover the truth about his former mentor, rumoured to have renounced his faith under torture. Rodrigues cannot believe the stories about a man he so revered, but as his journey takes him deeper into Japan and then into the hands of those who would crush his faith, he finds himself forced to make an impossible choice: to abandon his flock or his God...
Sold out
Kakuzō Okakura, Christopher E.G. Benfey |
Penguin
Classics
The Book of Tea
$6.90
- Unit price
- / per
Goodreads rating: 3.86
$6.90
- Unit price
- / per
Ostensibly a modest treatise on the tea ceremony, The Book of Tea is also a sardonic and insightful examination of the Western view of Japan and its civilization, from a Japanese citizen who was given such a thoroughly Western education that he learned nothing of his traditional culture until he was eleven. This book also suggests a deep connection between beauty and war, and between flowers and social mores. When first published, The Book of Tea fascinated foreign audiences with the major role of tea and its many ceremonies have played in the culture of Japan. This edition is accompanied by an introduction by Christopher Benfey, which explores Okakura's career in the arts establishment, his flair for the English language and his relationship with the United States, and includes suggested further reading.
Sold out
$7.86
- Unit price
- / per
‘A fine debut – fast-paced and bleak, with a vivid setting and gut-wrenching twists.’ MICK HERRON‘A vivid and noirish tale of an Englishman abroad discovering that you can run from everything but yourself. James Buckler is one to watch.’ SIMON BECKETT, bestselling author of The Chemistry of Death********The funny thing with suffering is just when you think you’ve suffered enough, you realize it’s only the beginning.Alex thought running away would make everything better. Six thousand miles from the mistakes he’s made and the people he’s hurt, Tokyo seems like the perfect escape. A new life, a new Alex.The bright lights and dark corners of this alien and fascinating city intoxicate him, and he finds himself transfixed by this country, which feels like a puzzle that no one can quite explain. And when Alex meets the enigmatic and alluring Naoko, the peace he sought slips ever further from his grasp.After all, trust is just betrayal waiting to happen and Alex is about to find out that there’s no such thing as rock bottom. There’s always the chance it’ll get worse . . .
Sold out
$7.05
- Unit price
- / per
When Pico Iyer decided to go to Kyoto and live in a monastery, he did so to learn about Zen Buddhism from the inside, to get to know Kyoto, one of the loveliest old cities in the world, and to find out something about Japanese culture today -- not the world of businessmen and production lines, but the traditional world of changing seasons and the silence of temples, of the images woven through literature, of the lunar Japan that still lives on behind the rising sun of geopolitical power.All this he did. And then he met Sachiko.Vivacious, attractive, thoroughly educated, speaking English enthusiastically if eccentrically, the wife of a Japanese "salaryman" who seldom left the office before 10 P.M., Sachiko was as conversant with tea ceremony and classical Japanese literature as with rock music, Goethe, and Vivaldi. With the lightness of touch that made Video Night in Kathmandu so captivating, Pico Iyer fashions from their relationship a marvelously ironic yet heartfelt book that is at once a portrait of cross-cultural infatuation -- and misunderstanding -- and a delightfully fresh way of seeing both the old Japan and the very new.