(In no particular order)
The Land of the Rising
Yen, George Mikes
- lovingly pointing our the foibles of this nation too
Zeit für Japan, Gert Anhalt
- the non-standard guide to Japan
KIE - Kateigaho International
- lovely mag for Japan's arts & culture
Tokyo Now & Then -
an explorer's guide, Paul Waley
- history of all districts - not only bordellos are fascinating
Unuseless Japanese
Inventions, Kenji Kawakami
- Cindogu - elaborate or unconventional solutions to
non-pressing problems
Kanji Pictographix,
Michael Rowley
- mnemonics for jap. characters - which are harder to remember
than the character
70 Japanese Gestures
- how to say "your underwear is showing" without speaking japanese
Mokusei !, Cees Nooteboom
- love story showing insider knowledge of jap. society - but slow
Fear and Trembling, Amélie Nothomb
- beautifully written inside view of jap.
corporations and role of women
Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904)
- born in Greece, illegally married a
black woman in US, influenced creole cooking, translated Maupassant,
quoted in James Bond film, became Japanese citizen
Hiroshige: 100 Famous Views of Edo, Melanie
Trede and Lorenz Bichler
- beautiful pictures with helpful academic
text by our friends Melanie and Lorenz
Oishinbo, Tetsu Kariya,
Akira Hansaki
- manga about quest for perfect meal - translated but still turn pages right to left
The Makioka Sisters, J. Tanizaki
- very famous but quite turgid novel about Japanese tradition
World Food - Japan, lonely planet
- especially good on local variations and practical tips
Haiku, Reclam e.g. On a withered branch/a crow
has settled.../autumn nightfall
- interesting introduction to provenance
and understanding and translation of 17 syllables
Japanische Jahreszeiten, Tanka und Haiku aus 13 Jahrhunderten, Coudenhove, Manesse
- alternative translation for poems on the 5 (including New Year!) Japanese seasons
Japan, lonely planet
- ditto, well researched and masses on every area
The Man in the High Castle,
Philip K. Dick
- brilliant social/political utopia of world if Japan and
Germany had won the war
Japan, Dorling-Kindersley Eyewitness Travel Guide
- the standard, but beautifully illustrated, guide to Japan
Japan, Bucher Verlag
- beautiful pictures of ancient and modern Japan
Ando by Masao Furuyama,
Taschen
- the only architect who really knows how
to do concrete
Architecture in Japan by
Philip Jodidio, Taschen
- Spooky, square buildings in Omotesando,
Roppongi etc. and why Japanese cities are the way they are
Araki, Stern Fotografie
- beautiful Kaori, with ropes and without
TimeOut: Tokyo
- excellent guide by insiders
Kunst
aus Japan, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Berlin/New York
- dig those Kimonos with Mickey Mouse
Japanische
Farbholzschnitte, Taschen Verlag
- poor quality pictures and long boring texts on fascinating subject
Darum nerven Japaner, Christoph Neumann
- thing you wish you didn't know about the Japanese
Mobile Suit Gundam, Kazuhisa Kondo
- classic Manga comic
At Home with Japanese Cooking, Elizabeth Andoh
- excellent manual for all Japanese staples
Japans 99 irdische Paradise
- boring: grey texts, maps and pics - no paradise
Haruki Murakami e.g. A Wild Sheep Chase
- weird stories by the Japanese master
Ryokan, Gabriele Fahr-Becker
- the concepts behind the traditional inns
The Hotel Book - Great Escapes Asia, Christiane
Reiter
- these look so good it makes you want to go there
Sex
and the Floating World, Timon Screech
- academic treatise on woodcuts used, ahem, "in conditions of
solitary pleasure"
Pons, Japanisch Powerkurs fuer Anfänger
- you're not going to learn Japanese in a hurry
Gateway to Japan, Kinoshita
& Palevsky
- encyclopaedic guide to Japan
Japanese Cooking A Simple Art, Tsuji
- don't be put-off by the fact that this
book is over 25 years old, has few photographs, more than 500 pages and
that it "takes 20 years to acquire enough experience to make truly
perfect rice"!
Tsukiji, Ted Bestor
- the world's biggest fish market
(described by boring academic)
Merian Japan 2010
- more useful hints for the traveller
Merian Tokyo und Japan Dezember 1992
- "enorme Schulden ... größte Spekualtion der
Wirtschaftsgeschichte ... mittels Buchwertexplosion reicher gerechnet
... nun geplatzt ... Verzerrung der Einkommensverteilung dort
Gesellschaft zu destabilisieren ...gewaltiges Kunstkapital ... Geld
beliebig vermehrbar ... Finanazapparat über Nach zu einer Krisenbranche
... "Casino-Kapitalismus" ... der Steuerzahler wird die Zeche zahlen"
- sounds familiar ? The above is based on events "in der zweiten Hälfte
der achtziger Jahre" - so 1987, not 2008 - but twenty years before:
toujours la même chose with the bankers ...
Mondtränen,
Bürohelden und Küchengerüchte, Schmitt
- less useful, longwinded articles
Wrong about Japan, Peter Carey
- a father discovers Japan through travels with his son
The Xenophobe's Guide to the Japanese, Sahoko Kaji
- what is likeable and less likeable
Taishita koto nai jinsei, Helga Sentivany
- talks with aged Japanese ladies
Railway Timetable, JR Group
- indespensable for the Rail Pass user
Inemuri
- wie die Japaner schlafen, Brigitte Steger
- academic treatise on the instant nap/meditation at work
see more about what I think of Japan