Page 69 - Japan’s Cultural Treasures
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RESOURCES
Suggested Readings
Japan
@YM]ZVPY% , BZ]WO BL] 44 >_Z]d ZQ >`]aTaLW =P^TWTPYNP LYO =POPX[_TZY by Laura Hillenbrand
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, 2PPV TY 5L[LY by Hector Garcia (Culture) A breezy, light overview of Japanese pop culture
_]PYO^ ^`NS L^ XLYRL NZXTN MZZV^ LYTXP LYTXL_PO ʭWX^ LYO SL]LU`V` NZWZ]Q`W ^_]PP_
fashion).
, ?]LaPWWP]ɪ^ 3T^_Z]d ZQ 5L[LY by Richard Tames (History) A concise narrative history of Japan.
(And yes, the title has two “L”s; the series is British).
/LaP -L]]d /ZP^ 5L[LY by Dave Barry (Humor) Humorous and sometimes outrageous
observations about Japanese culture by the famous columnist.
0XM]LNTYR /PQPL_% 5L[LY TY _SP BLVP ZQ BZ]WO BL] 44 by John W. Dower (History) Vividly portrays
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level of Japanese society.
1WLR^ ZQ :`] 1L_SP]^ by James Bradley (History) The personal story of the six soldiers who raised
_SP ʮLR L_ 4bZ 5TXL L^ _ZWO Md _SP ^ZY ZQ ZYP ZQ _SP ^Tc
2PT^SL , 7TQP by Mineko Iwasaki (Memoir) The memoir of a celebrated geisha, rich in details,
culture and the traditions of Kyoto’s Gion Kobu district. Iwasaki, was also the chief source of
information for Arthur Golden’s best-selling novel, 8PXZT]^ ZQ L 2PT^SL.
3T]Z^STXL by John Hersey (History) The true story of six people who lived through the
explosion of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima in 1945. Originally published in 1946, the more
recent editions have extra information, describing what happened later to each of the six
survivors.
4Y_]ZO`N_TZY _Z 5L[LYP^P .`W_`]P POT_PO Md /LYTPW >Z^YZ^VT .`W_`]P :ʬP]^ WZ_^ ZQ MLNVR]Z`YO
information on Japanese society. Some topics covered include: the tea ceremony, geisha, sumo,
Buddhism, and Kabuki.
8PXZT]^ ZQ L 2PT^SL by Arthur Golden (Literature) The runaway bestseller about Sayuri, a
formidable geisha, and her life in the celebrated Gion district of Kyoto in the years before
World War II.
=L^SZXZY 2L_P by I. J. Parker and >STYU` by Laura Joh Rowland (Mysteries) Parker writes the
popular Sugawara Akitada series, set in eleventh-century Japan. Rowland’s series of page-
turners are set in 17th century Japan, and feature samurai Sano Ichiro as the detective. There
are multiple books in each series—the titles we suggest here are good starting places.
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