The Pearl Diver by Jeff Talarigo [in AsianWeek]
Okay, so I've been known to get on a soapbox more often than not about inauthentic voices usurping other people's identities, i.e. white men writing as Asian women, especially sets me off – oh,...
Okay, so I've been known to get on a soapbox more often than not about inauthentic voices usurping other people's identities, i.e. white men writing as Asian women, especially sets me off – oh,...
I confess I have no idea what really happened in this wacky novel, but it was nonetheless entertaining, if only because it's so totally indescribably unpredictable. From what I gathered, there's a love story...
Get ready to turn on all the lights, crawl into bed, and not get any sleep because the sequel to Ring (you know, mysterious videotape that kills in a week if you watch it)...
With one of the best covers I’ve ever seen on an academic text, this diverse collection of essays explores the global phenomenon that was Pokémon (from “pocket monster,” in case you were...
Okay, would-be potters and wannabes like me … so maybe you won’t quite get the results these teachers do (can you say, “wow!”) – but you can hope. Oh, if...
Is it a textbook? Is it a comic book? It’s both, it’s neither. It’s a unique (and clever!) hybrid made up of 30 lessons that use manga to teach basic conversational Japanese....
A collection of five interconnected short stories about five different women going about their lives, singularly alone. While these women seem to be live quiet, detached lives, they are each on the verge of...
An absolutely stunning, breathtaking collection of photos by a self-described Japanese geographer and geography teacher who, over the past 26 years, has traveled to all of China’s 28 provinces and taken over 10,000 photographs....
La La Rose, a stuffed pink rabbit, gets separated from her beloved little girl, Clementine. With the help of various park visitors, La La Rose finally finds her way back into the...
A superbly detailed, wordless journey through Spain with the blue-capped guide on horseback from the award-winning creator of Anno's Journey and Anno's U.S.A. Review: "New and Notable Books," AsianWeek, February 27, 2004 Readers:...
Young Kenji avoids college by working as a "nightlife guide" for foreign tourists through the sleazier sections of Tokyo. When he meets Frank, an overweight American who hires him for...
For the first time, the legendary principles of karate as espoused by Master Funakoshi, called the father of karate, are available in English translation. Rather than focusing on...
What’s wrong with this picture? An Australian journalist spends two years living in Tokyo and writes her first novel, which the PR materials refer to as “an intoxicating...
Oh, if only my thick fingers were so deft! Here’s 80 new creations to try, divided into four sections: Part 1 has basic pieces; Part 2 introduces all sorts of living things;...
A family saga, set in Meiji Japan of the 1880s to the end of World War II, that weaves together the country’s tumultuous history with the story of...
Based on the experiences of the author’s great-grandmother-in-law in Japan, Seam is a touching tale about a young girl named Michi who is apprenticed to the House of Mistress Shinyo, once renowned for creating...
A unique collection of essays that explores the experience of being Japanese in Brazil (during the first half of the 20th century, tens of thousands of Japanese immigrated to Brazil)...
The fantasy epic, begun in Book One: The Leopard Mask, about the platinum-haired orphaned royal twins protected by the mysterious man-beast Guin, continues into Nospherus, a no-man’s land into which the twins...
OK, this one is really odd – but, nevertheless, hard to put down. Yuki's a freelance finance writer whose older brother is found in a decomposing heap. On her way to her parents' home when she...
An energetic, kid-friendly tour (perfect for curious adults, too!) from a sushi bar to Tsukiji (the world’s largest fish market, located in Tokyo) to the sushi history annals, then back to the...