The Japan Society Review100
Book Stage F m Arts and Events Rev ew
japansociety

Japan Book Review

Volume 1 No. 2 March 2006

Editor: Sean Curtin

Managing Editor: Clare Barclay

Welcome to the first edition of Japan Book Review. We hope
the new-look format for the reviews will enhance yourenjoyment of this highly popular feature. The theme for thisinaugural issue is memoirs and we are featuring four newly
released books under this heading ranging from the lifetime
memories of the distinguished scholar Geoffrey Bownas to Crown
Prince Naruhito's account of his two years at Oxford. You will alsofind several other reviews of recent Japan-related publications.
The Society is working hard to ensure we provide you with thevery best and most up-to-date book reviews. Our newly redesigned
website currently has the full complement of all our recent reviews
and will soon be expanded to include a comprehensive archive
section. We hope this additional feature will make the Japan Society
the best source for on-line reviews, giving you plenty of reasons forregularly visiting our website.
Visit our website at: http://www.japansociety.org.uk
Book reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html

Contents
1) Japanese Journeys - Writings andRecollections
2) The Thames and I - A Memoir of
Two Years at Oxford
3) Spitfires in Japan: From
Farnborough to the Far East
4) The Magatama Doodle - One
Man's Affair with Japan, 1950-2004
5)
The
Turbulent
Decade:Confronting the Refugee Crises of the1990s6) Valuing Intellectual Property inJapan, Britain and the United States
7) Reporting the Russo-Japanese War,
1904-5: Lionel James's first wirelesstransmissions to The TimesW

For those still hungry for more quality reviews, check out our
website that now boasts over 40 reviews and is being expanding
with new material every week.
New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html

Contents(1) Risk Management and Innovation in
Japan, Britain and the United States(2) The Left in the Shaping of Japanese
Democracy: Essays in honour of J.A.A.
Stockwin(3) Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbolof Modern Japan(4) Jomon Reflections: Forager life and culture in the prehistoric Japanese archipelago(5) That Last Glorious Summer 1939:
Shanghai - Japan(6) Culture, Community and Change in a
SapporoNeighborhood,
1925-1988

japansociety

japansociety

Japan Book Review

Volume 1 No. 3 May 2006

Editor: Sean Curtin

Managing Editor: Clare Barclay

elcome to the second edition of Japan Book Review. In
this issue we have some sharply contrasting books,
starting off with a look at how the latest developments
in risk management are sustaining Japanese capitalism and thenturning in the opposite direction to chart the decline of the left inJapanese politics. The next two books span the spectrum of history
from the shinkansen, icon of Japanese modernity, to the prehistoric
Jomon period. The regular memoirs section features a personalaccount of life in prewar Shanghai and Tokyo. We also examine abook on the development of a remote Japanese outpost that was
eventually swallowed up by an expanding metropolis.

Japan Book Review

Volume 1 No. 4 July 2006

Editor: Sean Curtin

T

New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html

Contents(1) Enigma of the Emperors(2) To The Kwai - And Back; war
Drawings 1939-1945(3) Family and Social Policy in Japan(4) Garden Plants of Japan(5) Multicultural Japan: Palaeolithic to
Postmodern(6) Flyboys: A True Story of Courage(7) Brokered Homeland:Brazilian Migrants in Japan

Japanese(8) Art and Nature: Healing - Design for
health in the UK and JapanI

n this sizzling July issue, we aim to lift your spirits a little after
Japan's World Cup disappointment. We have a fine selection of newreviews including two gripping tales of romance, a pair of stimulating biographies, a groundbreaking historical analysis and much more. We
also feature our very first theatre review as part of our efforts to expand thereview project. By sheer coincidence, Yukio Ninagawa's brilliant new interpretation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus mirrors Japan's performanceagainst Brazil: a hopeful beginning followed by a brutal massacre a hopeful beginning followed by a brutal massacre (fortunately Shakespeare's
homeland fared a little better).
On the website and in print we will soon be featuring plays, films andother events. Visit the website regularly to keep up to date with the latest
developments and a huge array of web-only reviews (while you are there,
please participate in our members survey and win a fabulous night out).
The review-related Japanese Perspectives project is still being developed,
but we hope to launch it soon, so stay tuned.
Wishing you all a good summer.
Sean Curtin
New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html(8)ASEAN-Japan
Cooperation:
A
Foundation for East Asian Community

New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html(2) Falling Blossom(3) East and West(4) Foreign Images and Experiences ofJapan: Volume I: First Century AD-1841(5) The Blue Furoshiki(6) Titus Andronicus

Enigma of the Emperors: Sacred
Subservience in Japanese History,

Kawada Ryokichi - Jeannie Eadie's Samurai: the Life and Times of a Meiji
Entrepreneur and Agricultural Pioneer,

By Geoffrey Bownas,

Edited by Ruth Taplin

by Ben-Ami Shillony

by Andrew Cobbing and Masataro Itami,

Global Oriental, 2005, 264 pages, ISBN 1-905246-01-3

Routledge, 182 pages including index, ISBN 0-415-36806-5

Global Oriental, 2005, ISBN 1-901903-34-6, 312 pages (including
index and bibliography), £45.

Global Oriental, 2006. £35, ISBN 1-901903-02-8 and 978-1-901903-02-7, pp 288, including appendixes, notes, bibliography and index.

Review by Sean Curtin

Geoffrey Bownas, who turned 82 in 2005, is a master of the
mot juste and as this vivid scene from the introduction to his
memoir of a lifetime's involvement with Japan illustrates, thisfascinating book can grip like a novel at times. His sharp eye
and keen ear range from poetry to politics and bring alivesome of the key figures and incidents in Japan's progress frompoverty to prosperity in the second half of the twentiethcentury. As the pioneer of Japanese studies at Oxford andSheffield, he can call on a depth of scholarship that few canmatch, but he writes with the warmth and humanity ofThis groundbreaking book offers fresh insights andanalysis on the distinctive ways business in Japan, the UnitedStates and the United Kingdom responds to risk andinnovation. Assessing and managing risk is becoming
increasingly important to both domestic and international
companies, especially in Japan where firms are struggling tokeep pace with the fast moving global environment. Several
chapters focus on Japan, particularly those by Anthony
Trenton, a legal specialist in intellectual property law, andMasatoshi Kuratomi, the Development Bank of Japan's UK
representative. This very timely collection of research papers,
edited by Professor Ruth Taplin the director of the Centre forJapanese and East Asia Studies, emphasizes the need for astrong cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach to risk
management (RM) in today's rough and tumble global market.
She observes, "In a globalized world it is becoming imperative
to understand the variations in risk taken at a cultural level,
which affect business decisions profoundly."

japansociety Japan Book Review: January 2006

japansociety Japan Book Review: March 2006

Editor: Sean Curtin

Contents

Managing Editor: Clare Barclay

Along with our usual great selection of new book reviews in this issue
we offer our first proper film review of the award-winning andhighly popular movie Hula Girls. We now hope to start regularreviews of major Japanese films and DVD releases to complement our bookline-up. You will also find a preview of the thought-provoking debut novel
Under the Sun along with our main features and Japanese language bookreviews. Finally, please keep on sending in your letters and comments about
what you would like to see in Japan Book Review. Also please remember if
there is a book or movie you would particularly like to make a comment about,then either e-mail us (info@japansociety.org.uk) your thoughts or post them tous. We will put your comments up on the Reader's Comments section of thewebsite and when possible publish some of them.

Sean Curtin

New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html(1) Hirohito: The Showa Emperor
in War and Peace(2) "Koizumi no Shori, Media no
Haiboku" (Victory for Koizumi,
Defeat for the Media(3) Britain and Japan: BiographicalPortraits, volume VI(4) The Japanese Housewife
Overseas(5) Long Nights Alone(6) Reader's comments: Long
Nights Alone(7) Hula Girls(8) Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman(9) Warriors of Art: A Guide toContemporary Japanese Artists(10) Under the Sun (Preview)

Hirohito: The Showa Emperor in War and Peace,
Ikuhiko Hata, edited by Marius B.Jansen,
ISBN 978-1-905246-35-9, pages 272 including notes and index, Global Oriental, 2007.
Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
So much has been written about the Showa Emperor that some readers may
ask whether there is anything more to be said about a man who would hardly
have left much lasting impression if he had been born in any other walk of life.
But Professor Ikuhiko Hata's book provides some interesting insights into theemperor's personality, as well as into aspects of modern Japanese history.
Professor Ikuhiko Hata, professor emeritus of Nihon University, has delved
deeply into the source material available in Japanese and English and hasinterviewed many of the participants in the events he describes. The results of
his researches impressed the late Professor Marius Jansen, a doyen of Japanese
historical studies in the USA, and we must be grateful to him and the publishers,
Global Oriental, for bringing these fascinating studies to the attention of English
speaking students of modern Japanese history.
This is not a new biography of the Showa Emperor but a series of historicalstudies of events in which he was closely involved. The first essay deals with thejapansociety Japan Book Review: October 2007

Reviews by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
In Britain there are now many interracial marriages and the prejudices against
such unions have largely disappeared especially in the case of marriages between
British and Japanese. The same is largely true of enlightened circles in Japan.
Where prejudices do continue they are more likely to be based on classconsciousness than on racial grounds. But in the first hundred years or so after
the end of the Tokugawa era there were strong objections against such unions
especially among the new Japanese elite. There were, however, a number of wellknown and successful interracial marriages as well as some failures. One
outstanding example of a successful Anglo-Japanese match was that between
Baron Sannomiya Yoshitane who became Grand Master of the Ceremonies to theImperial Household in the late Meiji period. Another was that of Mutsu
Hirokichi, son of Mutsu Munemitsu, Japanese Foreign Minister, with Ethel later

Professor Shillony emphasises that, "The political weaknessof the Japanese emperors was balanced by the extraordinary
stability of their dynasty. The effete emperors occupied an

The Japan Society Review
Book, Stage, Movie, Arts and Events Review

Japan-UK Reviews

Volume 2 No. 6 December 2007
Issue No. 12

Editor: Sean Curtin

Contents

Managing Editor: Clare BarclayIn our final issue of 2007, we have some excellent reviews and previewsof the latest Japan-related books hot off the printing press. Our firstarticle looks at a major new work by Sir Max Hastings on the dramatic
final year that lead to Japan's wartime defeat. We also feature three recently
published Japanese language books which offer insights into the Koizumi
years and the US-Japan relationship. New reviewer William Farr offers his
verdict on a Japanese hot springs book, there is also another riveting reader'sreview plus lots more reviews and previews. Finally, Japan Book Review says
a tearful farewell to our Managing Editor Clare Barclay. Clare has worked onJapan Book Review for over two years and we could not have produced it
without her. Many thanks on the readers' behalf and we will miss you.

Sean Curtin
New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html(1) Nemesis: The Battle for Japan,
1944-45(2) Nichi-Bei Dohmei-toiu
Riarizumu(3) Koizumi Kantei Hiroku(4) Kozo Kaikaku No Shinjitsu:
Takenaka Heizo Daijin Nisshi(5) Getting Wet: Adventures in theJapanese Bath
(6) Divorce in Japan: Family,
Gender, and the State, 1600-2000(7) Reader's comments: Under theSun(8) North Korea in the 21st Century,
An interpretative guide(9) Preview: Outsourcing andHuman Resource Management(10) Preview: Tokyo Look Book

Nemesis: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45
by Max Hastings
Harper Press, 2007, 673 pages including index, notes and bibliography, £25.
Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Sir Max Hastings, who was a former editor of The Daily Telegraph and The
Evening Standard, is Britain's ablest war historian. This book which covers thedeath and destruction which accompanied the end of the war with Japan follows
his account in Armageddon of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
This is not a dry description of battle strategy and tactics but a lively accountof the various campaigns from Burma to Okinawa which led up to Japan's
defeat. The author includes many 'human interest' stories which show what thebattles were like to the participants on both the allied and Japanese sides.
Heroism, cowardice, suffering, appalling injuries and cruel deaths all have theirplaces in this often heart rending and moving book.
Hastings is frank about the defects and flawed personalities of many thepoliticians, admirals and generals involved. One of the few to emerge as both agood general and as a fine human being is General Slim who led British forces
to victory in Burma. On the American side he praises in particular Admiraljapansociety Japan Book Review: December 2007

Welcome to 2008’s first exciting edition of The Japan
Society Review. Within our new-look publication you
will find the usual wide-ranging selection of riveting
review articles on the latest Japan-related books andfilms. In this issue we have some fascinating pieces
spanning Japanese politics and literature to gardening
along with a look at some recent fictional books plus
our regular film feature and much much more! Thisissue marks our return to regular publication and in the
coming months the Reviews team will be providing
you with the latest and most up-to-date reviews.
Sean Curtin(1) Governing Japan, Divided Politics in a Resurgent Economy(2) Under the Sun(3) Myth, Protest and Struggle in Okinawa(4) The Last Concubine(5) The Straw Sandal or The Scroll of the Hundred Crabs(6) Kamome Diner(7) Designing and Creating Japanese Gardens(8) One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each(9) The Japanese Way - Garden Designs

New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html...................................................................................................................................................................................

Governing Japan
Divided Politics in a
Resurgent Economy
by J.A.A. Stockwin

Blackwell Publishing,
Oxford, 2008, 298 pages
including index and tables.
Paper Back £19.99
Hard Back £55.00
ISBN-13: 978 -1405154154

liberal versus illiberal ideas,” “of ageing society anddiverging life-chances,” and “of national status androle.” He considers that these crises are “all relatively
serious, actually or potentially,” but Japan as “amajor and dynamic economic power” has a basically
democratic structure and “the political system has
repeatedly demonstrated its capacity to overcome
crises and achieve reasonably satisfactory solutions toproblems.”

His analysis, which takes due account of economic andsocial as well as political factors, is based on careful
Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi research and observation and his judgements are fairand objective. He occasionally allows himself to makesome shrewd and pointed comments, for instancethat “prime ministers in Japan may be categorized as
ranging from weak to moderately effective”. At thepresentation of his book at Daiwa House in London
recently, he gave the palm to Shigeru Yoshida, but also
praised Hayato Ikeda and Junichiro Koizumi.

Professor Arthur Stockwin, who was until recently
Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies in the
University of Oxford, is the leading British expert on
Japanese politics. His aim in this book has been “tomake at least partly comprehensible what to theoutside observer (and indeed to many Japanese
themselves) often appears to be the great muddleof Japanese politics.” His analysis is succinct and hehas managed to unravel most of the complexities ofJapanese politics.
This is the fourth edition of a work which was first
produced in 1975, but many important changes havetaken place in the way Japan is governed since thelast edition in 1999. Much of the book attempts toassess these changes. This entailed rewriting a large
section which now covers the political scene up to theappointment of Mr Yasuo Fukuda as Japanese Prime
Minister in 2007.

After an introduction headed “Why Japan and its
Politics Matter” Stockwin gives useful summaries of
the historical, social and economic background. He
also discusses the attempts at political reform in the
1990s and writes about “the Koizumi Effect” in thetwenty-first century.
This section is followed by a chapter which tries toanswer the question “Who Runs Japan?”. In this hediscusses the theories of writers such as Chalmers
Johnson and Karel van Wolferen and notes that while
Japan has unique features it is not “uniquely unique.”In commenting on the changing character ofStockwin identifies “six broad areas of crisis.” These elections he explains the differences in the makeare crises “of political power and accountability,” “of up of constituencies following the replacement
political participation and non-involvement in politics,” of multi-member constituencies by a mixture of“of the Constitution and political fundamentals”, “of single member constituencies and an element of

by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney,

Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

The nationalists of today, who speak of these youngsters as
heroes and quote their sacrifice as beacons for theregeneration of modern Japan, and the Yasukuni shrine andthe Yushukan museum, which glory in their deaths, delude
themselves and the Japanese people. They died totally

It is also a myth that these young men were martyrs to becompared with the suicide bombers who attacked the twin
towers and the London underground. They did not become
kamikaze out of a religious fervour whether for the Emperor
or for Japan. They did not attack civilian targets and were notterrorists.
This book is a reminder not only of the brainwashing of theyoung carried out by the pre-war Japanese military but also of
the brutal treatment of anyone thought to be an intellectual.
"Kasuga Takeo never recovered from the innumerable
beatings he received on the base. His superiors told him that
corporal punishment would instil a 'soldier's fighting spirit' injapansociety Japan Book Review: September 2006

Contents(1) Rivals: How the power struggle between China, India andjapansociety

Japan-UK Review

Japan Book Review - Japan Stage, Movie, Arts and Event Review

Contents

Managing Editor: Clare Barclay
Our last issue of 2006 reviews an exciting selection of new books ideal forthe rapidly approaching holiday season. We also launch our new Arts Review
feature with a look at two recently published works, both offered at specially
discounted prices for our readers. As those who visit our website regularly will
already know, we are now reviewing much more than books and havewidened our scope to cover movies, the stage, arts and Japan related events.
Our expanded activities mean it is no longer possible to include everything we
review in print, but on our website you will be able to find the "full Monty" aswell as an extensive archive of book reviews. Links to all the new material andon-line features are also included in this issue.
Finally, from all our regular reviewers and the staff of the Japan Society, a
big thank you to our readers for their support, comments and helpful feedback
during the year. In 2007 we will endeavor to maintain the momentum withmore in-depth quality reviews. Seasons greetings and a good 2007

Sean Curtin
New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html(1) Mrs. Ferguson's Tea-Set, Japan and
The Second World War(2) Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, andNationalisms(3) Nationalism and Internationalism inImperial Japan(4) Japan and the Illustrated London
News(5) Edo no igirisu netsu(6) Pars Japonica: The First Dutch
Expedition to Reach the Shores of Japan(7) Japanese Popular Prints - fromvotive slips to playing cards(8) A Japanese Menagerie Animal pictures by Kawanabe Kyosai(9) Madmen in the Courtyard

Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
The SS Autmedon was sunk by the German raider Atlantis,
masquerading as the British auxiliary cruiser Antenor on 11
November 1940 south-West of Achin Head on the north-western tip of Sumatra on her way to Penang. The Germans discovered on the ship 'Most Secret' papers being sent to theO

Sean Curtin
New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html

japansociety Japan-UK Review: December 2006

Book, Stage, Movie, Arts and Events Review

1) Who Was Responsible? From
Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor
2) Hirohito and the Making ofModern Japan
3) Representing the Other inModern Japanese Literature4) The Book of SAKE, a
Connoisseur's Guide
5) Administrative Reform in Japan
6) Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns:
Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822
7) Japan Extolled and Decried Carl
Peter Thunberg and the Shogun's
Realm, 1775-1796

Who WasResponsible? From
Marco Polo Bridge
to Pearl Harbor,
Edited by James E. Auer,
The Yomiuri Shimbun, 2006,
ISBN4-643-06012-3, 410 pages
including index, £20, available
through JP-Books (UK) Ltd,
Lower
GroundFloor(Mitsukoshi), Dorland House,
14-20 Regent Street, London
SW1Y 4PH. Tel:. 020 7839
4839. Fax: 020 7925 0346
(e-mail: jp-bookslondon@lineone.net.)
Special 10% discount on this book by quoting your Japan
Society membership at the store or in mail order purchases.
Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Tsuneo Watanabe, the editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri
Shimbun, which has a circulation of over ten million, thelargest of any Japanese newspaper, established in 2005 a
committee of Japanese journalists. The committee was toVolume 2 No. 2 April 2007

Editor: Sean Curtin

Contents

Managing Editor: Clare Barclay

In this colourful spring issue our main theme is photographic books
about Japan and we review an excellent selection of new books on
the topic. We can only present a very limited number of photographsfrom these books in the following pages, but if you visit our website you
will find a host visual gems. As usual, we also have some great reviews of
new historical works plus exciting general interest books. The featured
Japanese courtyard gardens book also boasts an array of impressive on-line
photographs. Finally, don't forget that our printed edition only represents
a fraction of our new reviews, all of which can be found on the website
along with movie and stage reviews.

Sean Curtin
New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html(1) Photography in Japan 1853-1912(2) Old Japanese Photographs:
Collectors’ Data Guide(3) Tokyo Love Hello(4) Hokusai's Project: The Articulationof Pictorial Space(5) Innovation and Business
Partnering in Japan, Europe and theUnited States(6) Philipp Franz von Siebold and The
Opening of Japan: A Re-Evaluation(7) A History of Japan, 1582-1941:
Internal and External Worlds(8) Courtyard Gardens of Kyoto's
Merchant Houses

Japan Book Review

produce a careful historical analysis with the aim of telling theJapanese people, a majority of whom were born after the war:
"Who was responsible for starting the Sino-Japanese War and
the Pacific War, why they did so and why the nation kept
fighting until many of its cities had been almost completely
reduced to ashes." The committee worked for fourteen months
studying a wide range of documents and sources. This book in
English and two volumes in Japanese contain the findings ofthis committee.
While this book inevitably cannot tell the whole story it is adevastating critique of Japan's leadership in the Showa War
which the Yomiuri calls the period 1931-45. It does not pull
any punches. It states boldly that "Japan misread theprevailing international situation in 1941 when it went to war
against the United States." Japan failed to formulate
realistically its war aims or an exit strategy. "For Tojo andothers the establishment of the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere through war with the United States andBritain was Japan's last resort to make China surrender." TheJapanese army's refusal to withdraw from China scuppered
any hope in 1941 that War could be avoided. A comparison in1940 between the national strength of Japan and the USA in
1940 (page 115) reveals the extent of Japan's gamble inattacking America. The misreading of intelligence,
assessments based on wishful thinking, combined with coverups of failures made defeat inevitable. Prime Minister General
Hideki Tojo was for instance only informed of the defeat at thebattle of Midway "more than a month later (page 149)."
The report makes clear that the army and the navy werejapansociety Japan-UK Review: February 2007ww

japansociety

Japan-UK Review

Japan Book Review - Japan Stage, Movie, Arts and Event Review

Japan Book Review

The story which Seki relates in this book is a fascinating one
and I found it difficult to put it down. He describes in graphic detail the voyage of the Automedon and the action which led
to her loss. He follows the survivors from her crew and passengers through their hardships, captivity and release as wellas the adventures of those who managed to escape. The reader also learns what happened to them after the war ended.
Two survivors attended the launch of the book at Daiwa Japan
House in London on 2 November 2006.

The Japan Society Review

Contents

Managing Editor: Clare Barclay
ur first issue of 2007 features a major new Japanese book on theSecond World War, "Who Was Responsible?" which has generated
considerable international debate. We also review other books on
the topic which examine different aspects of Japan's wartime past. You will
also find the usual broad selection of stimulating reviews on the latest books
about Japan. In this issue we look at new works on Japanese literature, Sake
brewing, administrative reforms and have a special section on books about
early European travellers to Japan. You will find exclusive special offers on
many of the books reviewed. Please remember that this publication only
represents a fraction of the reviews available on our website. We also review
movies, the stage, arts and Japan related events. Japan-UK Review isconstantly adding new on-line articles, so it is definitely worth a weekly visit
to the homepage.

Ambassador Eiji Seki, the author of this book, thinks that
the Japanese misinterpreted the intelligence in these documents which were out of date by the time the papers reachedthem. He believes that this was an influential factor in theJapanese decision to attack Pearl Harbour and open hostilities
in December 1941.

by Eiji Seki,ISBN 978-1-905246-28-1, pp 187 including plate section, notes, bibliography and index, Global Oriental, 2006, £20.

Volume 2 No. 1 February 2007

Editor: Sean Curtin

British Commander-in-Chief in the Far East. These 'contained
extremely detailed information on the Royal Navy's and the
RAF's armaments and positions, the defence of Singapore andpossible response measures to Japanese aggression, as well as
an analysis of the roles of Australia and New Zealand.' This
was a hugely important find and steps were taken by theGerman commander of the Atlantis, Captain Rogge, to ensurethat these papers were delivered as soon as possible toGerman intelligence in Japan. They were then soon in
Japanese hands.

japansociety

Japan-UK Review

Japan Book Review - Japan Stage, Movie, Arts and Event Review

Japan Book Review
Mrs Ferguson's
Tea-Set, Japan and
The Second World
War: The Global
Consequences
Following
Germany's
Sinking of the SS
Automedon in
1940

japansociety

Japan-UK Review
Volume 1 No. 6 December 2006

Editor: Sean Curtin

The End of Imperial Japan
Ruining and crumbling
Decadence
Nothing will be left
The end of all; All will crumble
Japan will meet its finale
That taboo
Catastrophe

University of Chicago Press, 2006, 246
pages, ISBN 0-226-61950-8 (available
via internet from Blackwells in Oxford
for £16 plus postage).

Many myths have grown up about the young Japanese men
who were forced to carry out suicidal attacks on allied ships in
the final stages of the Pacific War. They were for the most partnot volunteers in the real sense of the word. They wereordered to 'volunteer' and knew that they were in any casedestined to die. Many of them, as these diaries reveal weresensitive and educated young men, who were among thebrightest of their generation. Their diaries and letters maketragic reading.

Contents(1) Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of JapaneseStudent Soldiers(2) The Thought War: Japanese Imperial
Propaganda(3) Leaves from an Autumn of Emergencies:
Selections from the Wartime Diaries ofOrdinary Japanese(4) In the Faraway Mountains and Rivers:More Voices From A Lost Generation ofJapanese Students(5) Japanese Telecommunications: Market
and Policy in Transition(6) The Opening of Japan 1853-1855(7) Rondon nikki, 1936-7(8) Frog in the Well: Portraits of Japan by
Watanabe Kazan 1793-1841(9)Defending Japan's Pacific War: The Kyoto
School Philosophers and Post-White Power(10) Japanese Samurai and battles up to 1603
(11) The Chichibu Mikado(12)The Japanese Mission to Europe, 15821590: The Journey of Four Samurai Boys
through Portugal, Spain and Italy

unnecessarily and without delaying Japan's inevitable defeat.
They were not as Japanese propagandists would have us
believe martyrs for the Emperor and for Japan. Hayashi
Tadao, one of those whose writings are quoted in this volume
in 1945, foresaw what Japan faced. He wrote a poem whichreads as follows:

Japan-UK Review

Japan Book Review - Japan Stage, Movie, Arts and Event Review

Volume 2 No. 3 June 2007

Editor: Sean Curtin

Contents

Managing Editor: Clare BarclayJ

une was an exciting month for us with the publication of two muchanticipated Japan Society supported books, "Japanese Envoys in Britain,
1862-1964: A Century of Diplomatic Exchange" and "Britain and Japan:
Biographical Portraits, Volume VI." Both were launched at an enjoyable joint
event held on Tuesday 19th June at the Daiwa Foundation's Japan House in
London. In this issue we are reviewing the Envoys book and our next issue willfeature Biographical Portraits (for a preview see back-page). The main themeof this issue is new publications on recent Japanese history. You will find somestimulating reviews on this topic and a few others on more contemporary
subjects. With the Upper House elections scheduled for the end of July, ournext issue will focus on Japanese politics.
Have a good summer!

Sean Curtin

New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html(1) Japanese Envoys in Britain, 18621964: A Century of Diplomatic
Exchange(2) Culture and Power in Germany andJapan: The Spirit of Renewal(3) Kita Ikki and the Making ofModern Japan: A Vision of Empire(4) A Reader in Edo Period Travel(5) Innovation and Business Partneringin Japan, Europe and the United States(6) Britain and Japan in the TwentiethCentury: One Hundred Years of Tradeand Prejudice(7) Japan's Foreign Policy Maturation(8) Britain and Japan: BiographicalPortraits, Volume VI (Preview)

Photography in Japan 1853-1912,
320 pages, 350 photographs (colour and black and white), Periplus
Editions Tuttle Publishing, 2007, ISBN 080486337, £45

Old Japanese Photographs: Collectors'
Data Guide,
Terry Bennett,

Contents

Japanese language book reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_japan.htmll

Compiled and edited by Ian Nish,

Volume 2 No. 4 August 2007

Editor: Sean Curtin

Managing Editor: Clare Barclay

Mirroring the recent seismic shifts in the Japanese political world, there
have also been some equally significant changes for Japan Book
Review. This issue marks an important milestone in the developmentof the Reviews project as we launch our new regular reviews of Japanese language books, publish our first fictional book reviews and introduce our new
readers' comments section. While we have published reviews of Japanese language books in the past, we have now greatly expanded this project in collaboration with the Global Communications Platform in Tokyo and with assistance from the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) Japan-U.S.
Discussion Forum in Washington. Our on-line version is designed to provide a
new resource for reviews of Japanese language books and we hope it willdevelop into an important educational resource. Due to demand from ourreadership we are also beginning reviews of fictional books as well as publishing readers' comments about books we review. I hope these developments will
enhance your enjoyment of this publication. Finally, remember that our website has a great many more reviews that we are unable to print.

Sean Curtin

Japan Book Review
Japanese Envoys in Britain, 1862-1964: A
Century of Diplomatic Exchange,

Terry Bennett,

Japan Book Review - Japan Stage, Movie, Arts and Event Review

New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html(1) Nihonyo Tsuyoki Kunito Nare (JapanBe a Strong Nation),(2) Utsukushii Kuni E (Toward a Beautiful
Country)(3) Atomic Sushi: Notes from the Heart ofJapan(4) Reader's comments: Atomic Sushi(5) China and the Global Energy Crisis(6) The Impact of the Russo-Japanese War(7) From Mahan to Pearl Harbor: The
Imperial Japanese Navy and the UnitedStates(8) The Contemporary Tea House: Japan's
Top Architects redefine a Tradition(9) Japanese Envoys in Britain, 1862-1964: A
Century of Diplomatic Exchange(10) Create Your Own Japanese Garden: A
Practical Guide(11) Britain and Japan: BiographicalPortraits, Volume VI(12) Kita Ikki and the Making of Modern
Japan: A Vision of Empire

Japan Book Review

Global Oriental/Japan Society, 2007, 255 pages, ISBN 978-1905246-32-8, £55.00

Nihonyo Tsuyoki Kunito Nare
(Japan Be a Strong Nation),

Review by Sean Curtin

by Yoshiko Sakurai,

This is a highly readable and excellently researched bookwhich skilfully charts the lives of Japan's envoys to the United
Kingdom during the first century of Anglo-Japanese relations(1862-1964). Just as now, a hundred years ago London was avibrant global capital but its political importance was far
greater than today. This meant that Japan's representatives in
London were often prominent political figures or rising starsof the diplomatic world. Thus, two former ambassadors,
Takaaki Kato (1908-12) and Shigeru Yoshida (1936-38) went on
to become Prime Minister. Yoshida is considered to be one ofJapan's greatest postwar leaders and his time in London offerssome enlightening insights about his character and style.

Diamond (Tokyo), 2007, 304 pages, ISBN 978-4-478-00140-0
Review by Takahiro Miyao
Ms. Yoshiko Sakurai is a well-known journalist and social critic in Japan,
especially famous for her rightwing and sometimes ultra-nationalistic stance.
She regularly contributes her essays on social issues to various journals andmagazines, and this book is a collection of such contributions of the past year
or so. Her interests are wide-ranging, from such domestic issues as
bureaucratic reform and education reform to such international problems as
the history issues and the North Korea problem, a fact that can be seen in thetable of contents in this book.

Reviews by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

While only a very select few can capture the premiership,
many of the ambassadors and ministers covered in the bookattained the key post of Foreign Minister. Also a host of juniorofficials went on to become prominent figures after serving in
London during the early stages of their careers, these included

japansociety Japan-UK Review: April 2007

japansociety Japan-UK Review: June 2007

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308 pages, over 200 illustrations, Bernard Quarritch, 2006, ISBN10: 0-9550852-4-1, and ISBN-13: 978-0-9550852-4-6, £65.

Her current state of mind is clearly expressed in the Introduction, where she
maintains that the US is gradually losing its power, whereas China is rapidly
increasing its presence and influence in Asia. In particular, Ms. Sakurai
emphasizes that China has adopted "shrewd tactics" to isolate Japan morally byjapansociety Japan-UK Review: August 2007

Volume 3 No. 3 (2008) Issue 15

Issue 14 Volume 3 Number 2 (2008)

Editor: Sean Curtin
Managing Editor: John Toppon

Contents

Kamikaze
Diaries:
Reflections of JapaneseStudent Soldiers,

japansociety Japan Book Review: July 2006

Volume 3 No. 1 (2008) Issue 13

Editor: Sean Curtin
Managing Editor: John Toppon

Japan Book Review

Japan Book Review

Century, (Random House Group) 2006, £12.99, ISBN 9781844138203 (from Jan 2007) ISBN 1844138208, pp 314, including notes andacknowledgements.

.....................................................................................................................................

Volume 2 No. 5 October 2007
Issue No. 11

Falling Blossom: A British Officer's Enduring Love for a Japanese Woman,
by Peter Pagnamenta and Momoko Williams,

japansociety Japan Book Review: May 2006.....................................................................

Japan-UK Reviews

The book, which evolved out of earlier research firstpublished in Japanese under the title of Haha Naru Tenno,
covers the political, cultural and religious background to the'emperor' system in Japan from mythological times down tothe present day. I have put the term 'emperor' in quotes as
whatever else they were Japanese 'emperors' were neverequivalent to emperors in China or Russia. Nor were they everemperors in the Roman sense of the term 'imperator' or
generalissimo.

Book, Stage, Movie, Arts and Events Review

Japan Book Review

Japan Book Review

This well-researched and scholarly study by Professor
Shillony of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will interest
not only students of Japanese history but also all thoseconcerned for the future of the imperial institution in Japan.

The Japan Society Review

japansociety

japansociety

Review by Sir Hugh CortazziS(7) Japan's Love-Hate Relationship with
the West

Contents(1) Kawada Ryokichi Jeannie Eadie'sSamurai

Risk Management and Innovation in
Japan, Britain and the United States,"That night, Mishima was less brusquely cheerful thanusual. We ate dinner in sombre silence …At about 2.30 a.m.,Mishima stood up, barked gruffly that he would be back in aminute and shuffled out. Ten minutes later, he swaggeredback into the study with the panache of the overlord in aclassical samurai film. He had stripped down to afundoshi…He was carrying a long sword…"

Volume 1 No. 5 September 2006

Editor: Sean Curtin

eptember 2006 will be remembered as a historic month for Japan
with the birth of the first male heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne
in 41 years and the election of a new prime minister to replace theflamboyant Junichiro Koizumi. The focus of this issue of Japan Book
Review also has a strong historic flavour with an excellent selection of newreviews. War diaries and memoirs form this issue's main theme, with several new books offering deep insights into people's wartime thinking andreasoning while powerfully chronicling the terrible human suffering of
ordinary individuals during the period. We also review two books thatanalyze the propaganda and philosophy that underpinned the wartime
military regime. As usually, we also have a stimulating selection of reviews
covering a broad spectrum of topics, this time ranging from Japan's rapidly expanding telecommunications sector to noteworthy Samurai battles,
plus our new theatre review feature of major Japanese productions staged
in the UK. All of this is only a fraction of what you will find available on
our website, which contains many more new reviews.
Sean Curtin

Japanese Journeys - Writings andRecollections,

Review by Mike Barrett

japansociety

Japan Book Review
Managing Editor: Clare Barclay

Managing Editor: Clare Barclay

his issue provides you with another great selection of stimulating
reviews, this time covering everything form the Chrysanthemum
Throne (Enigma of the Emperors) to the Chrysanthemum itself(Garden Plants of Japan). We also have two griping books (Flyboys and To
the Kwai and Back) for the regular memoirs section as well as fourthought-provoking books on Japanese social issues (Family and Social
Policy in Japan; Multicultural Japan; Brokered Homeland and Art andNature: Healing).
You will find many more fascinating reviews, which space does not permit us to print, on our website. The website is rapidly expanding and continuously being updated with new material. We will soon also be launching a trial on-line book tie-in series call Japan Perspectives, where we hopeto highlight books in a specialized field. More on this next issue.
Finally, we appreciate all the comments, suggestions and requests you
have made. Keep them coming in. We greatly value your input and takeyour views into consideration as we continue to develop and improve thebook review project both in print and on-line.
Sean Curtin

Editor: Sean Curtin
Managing Editor: John Toppon

Contents(1) The 1940 Tokyo Games: The Missing Olympics

Japan will shape our next decade
During August it was just about impossible for (2) Japanese Diplomacy in the 1950s
In this issue our regular review team offers you anotheranyone on planet earth (and possibly beyond) not (3) Jitsuroku Koizumi Gaikoexcellent selection of the latest books on Japan. Sir Hugh (2) Pal Hanji, Tokyo Saiban Hihan to Zettai Heiwa-shugi(4) Chronicles of My Life, An American in the Heart of Japanto have known that the Beijing Olympics were
Cortazzi looks at a stimulating new book by Bill Emmott (3) Waga Jinsei No Utagatari - Showa No Aikan
being held. Offering the perfect antidote to the New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html“Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and (4) Minka, My Farmhouse in Japan
Japan will Shape our Next Decade.” As the title indicates, (5) Death of a Salaryman
2008 Olympic media-onslaught, Professor Ben-Ami Archive: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html
it explores how the future dynamics between Japan, (6) Japan’s Imperial Forest, Goryorin, 1889-1945
Shillony, one of our regular review team, has
We are grateful to our regular reviewers:
China and India might evolve and the possible regional (7) Netto Senso
produced a fascinating review of a new book on
Sir Hugh Cortazzi
and global impact. This is followed by Fumiko Halloran’s
the Olympics that never were, the forgotten 1940
Fumiko Halloran
review of a Japanese language book which examines theTokyo Olympics. Sir Hugh Cortazzi, another stalwart
Takahiro Miyao
dissenting legal opinion of Indian Judge Radhabinod Pal, New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
reviewer, follows this up with a piece on Japanese
Ben-Ami Shillony
who out of the 11 Allied judges was alone to argue for the Archive: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html
diplomacy in the 1950s while Fumiko Halloran, also
Mikihiro Maeda
acquittal of all Class A war criminals at the Internationala member of the regular team, looks at a fascinating
Ian NishSean Curtin
Military Tribunal for the Far East. This work is of particular
Japanese language book on Prime Minister Junichiro
Anna Davisinterest as Justice Pal has become a key figure for some
Koizumi’s foreign policy written by political insider
We are grateful to our regular reviewers:
Susan Meehanrevisionist Japanese historians and former Prime Minister
Isao Iijima, who was Koizumi’s executive secretary.
William Farr
Shinzo Abe visited Pal’s son while on a prime-ministerial Sir Hugh Cortazzi
If that dazzling Troika doesn’t satisfy your thirst for
Tomohiko Taniguchi
visit to India in August 2007. On the popular literature Fumiko Halloran
reviews then we still have an excellent account offront Anna Davis gives us the rundown on a highly Takahiro Miyao
the new Donald Keene book.
readable new novel Death of a Salaryman. This issue also Ben-Ami Shillony
Sean Curtin
sees a return to our focus on important new Japanese Mikihiro Maeda........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Ian Nishlanguage books with some insightful reviews by our
Sean Curtin
The 1940 Tokyo Games: them. Although the reader knows how the story
regular reviewers Takahiro Miyao and Mikihiro Maeda. Anna Davis
The Missing Olympics – will end, the author manages to maintain suspense
One of this publication’s key objectives is to highlight Susan Meehanthroughout the book.
Japan, the Asian
influential and popular Japanese language books in order William Farr
to give readers a flavour of the contemporary Japanese Tomohiko Taniguchi
Olympics and the
The main contribution of this monograph is thebook scene.
Olympic Movement
presentation of the various backgrounds against
Sean Curtin
which this affair evolved. The rise and fall of the 1940......................................................................................................................................................................................................
by Sandra Collins
Olympiad project is described in the contexts of the
Routledge, London and New Olympic movement, the political developments in
2 “A Continent Created,” he sets the scene, stressing
Rivals: How the Power
York, 2007, 198 pages.
that the future belongs to Asia. He notes thatJapan at that time, the international relations in
Struggle Between
Hard Back £65.00
although the concept of Asia is meaningless toEast Asia, the war with China, the press and public
China, India and Japan
ISBN-13: 978-0415373173
most Asians and that there are as yet few unifying
opinion in Japan and abroad, and the JapaneseWill Shape Our Next
regional institutions, Asia is becoming more like
Review by Ben-Ami Shillony and Western personalities that played a role in
DecadeEurope in the way in which its economies arethis episode. There are no villains or heroes in thisbecoming increasingly integrated. Chapter 3
by Bill Emmott
narration. As the story develops, we see how great
The 1940 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games are a nonis devoted to China. In this he reminds readers
ideals, as often happens, become entangled inAllen Lane, London, 2008,
event, because they never happened. Promotedthat a major problem in considering the Chinese
the web of national, organizational, and personal
314 pages including notes
by Japanese organizations since the early 1930s,
economy is the unreliability of Chinese statistics.
interests, and how important decisions are madeand index.
decided on by the IOC (International Olympic
He notes the view that communist rule in China is
without adequate understanding and with no way
Hardback £20.00
Committee) in 1936, and given up by the Japanese
there to stay.
of predicting their results.
ISBN -13: 978-1-846-14009-9
in 1938, they were soon forgotten, overshadowed
Chapter 4 contains his main discussion of modern
by the war with China and the Second World War. As Collins shows, the Japanese were eager to host
Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Japan. In this he comments on the way in which the
When the Tokyo Olympics, the first ones in Asia, the 1940 Olympic Games for both external andJapanese economy has developed since the war
finally took place in 1964, few remembered and few internal reasons. They hoped that staging theseThis new book by Bill Emmott, the former editor and he draws attention to the ironic comment bycared to mention the unpleasant circumstances games would establish Japan’s status as a first-rateof The Economist and author of two books about Lech Walesa, who led Poland’s solidarity movement
under which the previous attempt to hold the modern power, which is an Asian empire and themodern Japan, has been widely reviewed in the and who visited Japan several times, that Japan
games there was conceived and abandoned. leader of the non-Western world. Against growingpress. In this review I propose to concentrate was “the only truly successful example of socialism
Sandra Collins exhumes this fascinating story and international criticism of Japan’s agression on the
primarily on his comments about Japan, although that had ever existed.” He also repeats a joke hebrings it back to life. Using a variety of sources, continent, the Olympic Games were consideredJapan is only one of the three powers whose future had heard in 2005 about Chinese students studying
she describes the day-to-day developments which to be a form of “people’s diplomacy,” that would
Emmott discusses in this thought provoking book. at a university in Tokyo: “The Chinese students are
led to the selection of Tokyo for the 1940 Olympic generate foreign good will. The Tokyo Olympiad
Games, and later to Japan’s decision to relinquish was to coincide with the 2,600th anniversary of the
In chapter 1 “Asia’s New Power Game” and chapter asked why they spend so much of their spare time..

japansociety

Volume 1 No. 1 January 2006

Editor: Sean Curtin

Assistant Editor:Clare Barclay....................................................................................................

japansociety

Japan Book Review

ssue 100 Vo ume 17 Numbe 4 August 2022

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The Japan Society Review100
Current and former editors celebrate the 100th
issue of the Japan Society Review sharing theirmemories and challenges editing the publication
In the Beginning.
The Genesis of Japan Society Review
by Sean Curtin

Sharon Kelly, both of whom devoted a lot of time andeffort to make our first year’s run a success. Duringthat 12-month period, we attracted a diverse group

Former Japan Society chairs Sir Hugh Cortazzi and Sirof quality reviewers with a wide-range of interests

John Whitehead provided the promethean fire fromwhich gave the Japan Society Review lots of sparkle

which the Japan Society Review was forged. Backand energy. Prominent amongst these regular, earlyin early 2005, Sir John, the then Japan Society chair,reviewers were Professor Ian Nish, Fumiko Halloran, Sir

asked me if I could create a book review publication.

Hugh Cortazzi, Susan Meehan, Mike Barrett, Professor

In 1994, I’d launched the highly successful Hokkaido-

Ben-Ami Shillony and Takahiro Miyao.

based magazine Polestar (which incidentally is still

Heidi Potter and John Toppon joined the Society

going strong in 2022). I was tasked with creating a newteam during our second year, giving us a new burst ofSociety forum for members’ reviews.

creative thrust. They streamlined the publication and

Sir Hugh was an immensely enthusiastic reviewer

fine-tuned the layout, taking the Japan Society Review

who provided several reviews for the initial publication

to new heights. While I continued as editor, John took

which was very well received. We produced two issues

on the new role of managing editor from issue 13 toin 2005 and due to their popularity, decided to publish

33 to focus on improving presentation and production

on a regular bi-monthly basis starting in January 2006.

values.

This is when the Japan Society Review was formally

During this time, the Japan Society Review

launched as a regular publication and our official firstdeveloped a loyal readership, many of whom began

issue hit the stands.

providing us with occasional reviews, which allowed

The nascent publication also greatly benefited
from the dynamism of the then Japan Society office

us to become a truly membership-driven publication.
However, as gatekeeper, Heidi always set a very

team, especially Clare Barclay, assistant editor, and2Issue 100 Volume 17 Number 4 (August 2022)

high standard for reviews, so the quality of articles
was always superb and it was a joy to edit.

Now the Japan Society Review has reached
the amazing milestone of issue 100 and it remains

After John left the team, Jack Cooke took on

an incredibly dynamic read with a wide-range ofthe role of managing editor, accelerating the Japanfascinating reviews and articles. It was a great honour

Society Review’s evolution, making us a more visually

to be its inaugural editor, but the project would notappealing and slick production while expanding thehave got far without the incredible enthusiasm of ourtype of reviews and articles we featured. We reachedearly reviewers, especially the boundless energy of Sir

issue 50 in April 2014 and by then the Japan Society

Hugh Cortazzi who provided at least one review for

Review was a dynamic, pulsating publication witheach of our first fifty issues, and the dedication of theits own gravitational field which drew in a constantSociety office team.

stream of top-notch reviews. Having been at the helm

The Japan Society Review is so much more

for almost a decade, it seemed that issue 50 was thethan the sum of its parts and in many respects is theperfect time for me to bow out and let a new editor

embodiment of the Society itself. Its trajectory is firmly

inject fresh ideas and vision into the enterprise.

set upwards to the stars and it is destined to power
forward to issue 1000 and beyond!§

An Extraordinary Breadthof Japanese Culture
by Jack Cooke

would prompt fierce competition between writers
desperate to review the same thing.
For the most part though, the Japan Society

The best part of editing the Japan Society Review was

Review was a showcase for an extraordinary breadth

the sheer variety of the job. Occasionally, a freshlyof Japanese cultural offerings. We were lucky to haveimported, cellophane-wrapped DVD or book woulda brilliant cast of contributors, unpaid but passionate,

land on my desk, but the Japan Society Review alsoeach with their own special area of interest, whether

made space for archival treasures, classic films or rareclassical Japanese literature or modern Japanese

tomes from the Japan Society’s own library.

cinema.

There were, of course, sporadic challenges. One

The last issue I edited was number 50, so it’sreviewer made a habit of describing a novel’s entire plot

wonderful to see the publication still going strong at

in minute detail, so that on finishing their review there

issue number 100, and with a more engaging offering

was little point in reading the actual book! Sometimes

than ever. §the arrival of a much-anticipated new novel or film

Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews/

3

Reflecting the Japan Society’s Multifaceted
Relationship with Japan
by William Upton

review material. If I managed to find the right book,film or play to pique their interest I sometimes evenreceived a review in return. The result was a collection

Working at the Japan Society brought me into contact
with a far broader range of people than any job I’ve had
before or since -- academics, students, entrepreneurs,bankers, diplomats, politicians, missionaries, artists,
actors, translators, chefs and sommeliers. Each camewith differing expertise, experiences and perspectives,
and with the looming prospect of the next issue of theJapan Society Review, each was a potential contributor
in my eyes. Fortunately for me, people generally
proved to be enthusiastic at the prospect of receiving

Learning and Enjoying
by Alejandra Armendariz-Hernandez

My role as editor of the Japan Society Review began in2017 when I took over William Upton as Communicationand Events officer at the Society. At the time, I didn’t knowmuch about the process of editing a publication nor forthat matter about the amount of effort and dedicationthat lays behind each issue. However, being aware of therichness and diversity of Japan-related content available
in the UK, I was certain that the Review was an excellent
way to keep track of new books, films and events as wellas to discover new perspectives about Japanese culture,
history and society.
My aim as editor has always been to show thatrichness and diversity both in terms of subjects andpoints of view. With the help of publishers, reviewers,
4of reviews that reflected the full breadth of the Japan
Society’s multifaceted relationship with Japan.
Spontaneous and unsolicited contributions meantthat we often ended up with two reviews of the same
book or play. If I didn’t known that it was the same,the differing accounts could leave me believing I had
write-ups of different books, from different genres. As
Isaiah Berlin quipped when recounting the story of
how Irving Berlin was mistakenly invited in his place
to dinner with Winston Churchill: ‘There are many
versions of this story – all true.’and colleagues, I have tried to include different typesof reviews in each issue presenting a varied selection ofacademic monographs, literary works, films, exhibitions
and more recently even Netflix series! I have been always
keen to mix authors and topics considered high culture
with mainstream works in the conviction that Japan isfar from a monolithic culture but rather more complex
and vibrant than is sometimes assumed. I hope readers
have been able to appreciate this variety and to learn
and enjoy reading the bimonthly issues of the Review asmuch as I have learned and enjoyed editing them.
Now as the current editor of the publication at thetime of its 100th issue, I can only say that it has been an
honour to continue the amazing work done by previous
editors and to work with a brilliant and dedicated groupof reviewers over the years. I look forward to the next
hundred issues to come!§
Issue 100 Volume 17 Number 4 (August 2022)

The Japan Society Review100
Explore the Japan-related recommendations ofbooks, films and events from our dedicatedreviewers, editors and trustees
Alejandra Armendariz-Hernandez

Chris Arning

EditorReviewer--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In the Woods ofMemoryby Medoruma Shun

After Dark
by Murakami Haruki
HaikaSoru series
Science fiction, fantasy
and horror
www.viz.com/haikasoru

A powerful, thoughtprovoking novel that helps
us understand the history
and legacy war andcolonialism in Okinawa; a must-read on the 50th
year anniversary since Okinawa was reverted toJapan in 1972.

Denderaby Sato Yuya
A riveting and hilarious take on ubasute, thelegendary practice of abandoning the elderlyin the mountains to die, as well as a compelling
depiction of ageing from a female perspective.

Ikeda Ryoji
Digital Art
www.ryojiikeda.com
Souzou: Outsider Art from Japan
Exhibition, 28 March-30 June 2013,
Wellcome Collection, London
Souun Takeda
Calligraphywww.souun.net

The Changelingby Oe Kenzaburo
Inspired by the deathof Oe’s brother in law,filmmaker Itami Juzo, thenovel offers an interestingreflection about death, art
and friendship.

Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews/

5

Stephen Barber

Cameron Bassindale

Japan Society Trustee

Reviewer--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During lockdown I watched (or rewatched) all
Kurosawa Akira’s best samurai films. Of these I
nominate Rashomon (1950) and Seven Samurai(1954).
In the highly original Rashomon he conjures up
a haunting, tortured ambience in Heian Japan,
contrasting different accounts of the same
murder. Seven Samurai is a much longer film,
but unforgettable for the agonising build-up
to the final attack on a besieged village, withsome astonishing scenes of horsemanship.
Hayasaka Fumio’s scores, introducing traditional
instruments into a Western orchestra, arechillingly evocative.
For sheer breathtaking panache, though,nothing beats the climax to Throne of Blood(1957), Kurosawa’s masterful take on the
Macbeth legend.

Ring
directed by Nakata Hideo
Ring marked the arrival of Japanese horror films
into the global consciousness. Its importanceto world cinema really cannot be understated.
Until the release of Ring, horror as a genre wasdominated largely by men with knives chasing
drunk American teenagers around. Ring
showed the world that horror movies can be
subtle and terrifying, that pulling punches canlead to a climax which changed a genre forever.

Samurai William:
The Adventurer who
Unlocked Japanby Giles Milton
Milton’s epic account ofWilliam Adams’ journeyfrom Gillingham, Kent toJapan is a thoroughly well researched, emotive
page turner. It is an important story; one which
gives us a comprehensive account of the startof Japan’s opening to England and the world
at large. Readers will surely be amazed at thelengths these intrepid adventures went to,seeking fame and fortune. This is a must-readfor anyone interested in the history of AngloJapanese relations.

Kitchenby Yoshimoto Banana
Yoshimoto Banana is one of Japan’s most prolificand well-known authors, churning out dozens ofnovels in a career which has spanned well over
30 years. In Kitchen, Yoshimoto deals with grief
and familial love with a tenderness which is truly
touching. So too is her description of what it’s
like to experience Japan in the late eighties asa transgender woman; readers with an interestin comparing British and Japanese attitudes willfind much to sink their teeth into with this book.
6

Issue 100 Volume 17 Number 4 (August 2022)

Roger Buckley
Reviewer---------------------------------------------------------Three authors, three entertainments and all
three granted global fame via inclusion in
the international Everyman’s Library listing.
Let’s ignore the purists, forget the critics oforientalism/occidentalism and simply rejoice.
My personal links are almost non-existent but
here goes anyway:

Snow Country
by Kawabata Yasunari
Strolling down Gion one summer afternoon I
spied Kawabata chatting away with the owner ofa prohibitively expensive antique shop. He wasclearly enjoying splurging on the rewards
from winning the Nobel. Crassly, I barged inand congratulated him as best I could on his
remarkable success. And then weeks later I
spotted him again - this time in everyone’s
favourite club in Akasaka where he was sitting
quietly amidst blaring rock music surrounded
by a bevy of pretty groupies. The face with its
piercing eyes was exactly the same but theTokyo noise could hardly have been moredifferent from the Kyoto milieu. Yet the earlier
writing on Izu dancer and the denizens of thesnow country surely, I like to imagine, hadparallels for the author with the determinedclubbers of the contemporary “mugen” scene.

Fireworks
by Angela CarterI never met Angela Carterbut had the undeserved
good fortune to get toknow her one morning in
London. It began when awhite-gloved archivist wheeled in what looked
like an overloaded hospital trolley into that holyof holies - the special manuscripts shrine of the
British Library.

>>Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews/

Possessing zero literary qualifications I
had somehow found myself with the rareopportunity to be the first to slice open
the uncatalogued mounds of the recently
purchased Carter papers. Much among thescribbled files and typed up papers of theaspiring novelist would be beyond me but
portions that found their way into Fireworks
were also there to be rediscovered. Her earlymonths in Tokyo and down on the coast were
there waiting to be charted.

Childhood Years: A Memoir
by Tanizaki Jun’ichiro
On Tanizaki my only fifth-hand anecdote would
be of memories of literary matrons in Tokyomuttering their disapproval of his widow’s
proud remarks on “my Junichiro”. And why
should not she be proud? Even the journalism of
his youth is enticing.

Jack Cooke
Editor----------------------------------------------------------The Woman in the Dunes
by Abe Kobo
Abe’s masterpiece and a work of extraordinary
imaginative power. A city entomologist on
a weekend break becomes entrapped in ahouse buried in sand dunes. The brilliant film
adaption, directed by Teshigahara Hiroshi, is so
uncomfortable it will make you itch all over.

The Roads to Sataby Alan BoothA minor travel classic
recounting a 2000-mile
journey on foot, from
Hokkaido to Kyushu, in the
1970s. Alan Booth is aa wonderful guide and his mastery of Japanese
language and folklore makes for an enduring
portrait of the countryside.
>>7

Jack Cooke
Editor----------------------------------------------------------The Youth of Things
by Stephen Dodd

In this beautiful collection, Dodd rescues theshort stories of Motojiro Kajii from oblivion,translating a definitive selection and paying
tribute to the tragically short life of a Japanesewriter who died at thirty-one.

to come to terms with anation’s warring past, andalso to highlight the powerof cinema as a medium
for healing. Delivered witha bouquet palette andsurrealist asides, beneath theartistry is an entreaty torecognise historical failures, as well as anaffirmation of youth and its ability to change
the future for the better. As likely to induce tears
as evoke joy, Labyrinth of Cinema never feels
stretched despite its three-hour runtime.

Wonderful Fool
by Endo Shusaku

The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea
by Mishima Yukio

An endearing tale that
follows the hapless but wellmeaning Gaston Bonaparte;from his arrival in Japan,
through a series of accidents,

This short work by Japan’s most controversial
writer can be read in a few hours, but theconclusion will stay with the reader for weeks. A
novella that builds in tension from the start anddoes not let up until the inevitable tragedy at the
final page, this is a novel so blessed with imagery
and a narrative tightness that the impulse to readalways wins out against the natural inclination to
avert one’s eyes.

to a dramatic and uplifting ending.

The Ginger Treeby Oswald Wynd
Oswald Wynd spent hischildhood in Tokyo, thenthree years as a prisoner of
war in the 1940s. His most
famous novel spans the 20th

The Night is Short, Walk on Girl
directed by Yuasa Masaaki

century and a troubled love affair with Japan thatmirrors his own.

Chris Corker
Reviewer----------------------------------------------------------

Labyrinth of Cinema
directed by Obayashi Nobuhiko

While Obayashi is best known for his zany
cult-classic Hausu, his final work, Labyrinth ofCinema, is a sprawling and ambitious attempt>>8Outside of his somewhat nihilistic offerings on
Netflix, much of Yuasa’s oeuvre is overflowing
with a palpable, youthful energy, often
complemented with lyrical flow and fantasticalnarratives that themselves are so heartpoundingly alive that they leave an audience
breathless. Nowhere is this more apparent thanin his 2017 offering The Night is Short, Walk on
Girl.

>>
Issue 100 Volume 17 Number 4 (August 2022)

Based on a novel by Morimi Tomihiko, the writerof The Tatami Galaxy and Penguin Highway,
the plot of one girl’s bar crawl seems borderline
mundane, but within his framework of surrealist
simplicity, Yuasa brings an entire generation andits conflicts to life.

Dance, Dance, Danceby Murakami Haruki
Murakami’s real strength ishis endurance, having been
writing consistently since
1979 and showing no sign ofslowing down.
Now internationally-renowned, it’s hard to
imagine a time when he had but a small if
dedicated readership. Dance Dance Dance,
however, was written during such a period.
Penned with a bemused cynicism, the novel
deals with the pitfalls of fame and parenthood,
all the while having its characters wrestle withan existential dread that ultimately culminatesin murder. Delving just as readily into farce as it
does into tragedy, its portrayal of the darker sideof idol culture is particularly penetrating.

Onibabadirected by Shindo Kaneto
Onibaba is a claustrophobic fever dream. Whilewestern directors like David Lynch have had
success with their own dreamscapes, Shindo’s
film is unique in being so charged with sexual
tension, and at times virulent hatred, that one
can’t help but imagine the dreamer thrashingabout in their bed. Set in 14th century during aperiod of civil war, the film acts as a cautionary
tale on both the violence of desire and thepitfalls of overbearing parenting. Making
incredible use of the contrast of black and white,
the viewer is left only with the impression of anangry, passionate red.

Katie Croft
Reviewer----------------------------------------------------------

Inside Japanese Gardens: From
Basics to Planning, Management andImprovement
by Masuno Shunmyo
This handbook by the well-known garden
designer, academic, author and Buddhist
monk Masuno Shunnmyo is my favourite andmost often used reference guide to Japanesegardens. Unlike most books written foramateur garden-lovers in the West, this manualcontains explanations and diagrams giving
details on everything from tools, tree and rockplacement and pruning techniques. Those thatare interested in language will also appreciatethat it includes the Japanese names for plants,
techniques and so on. Unfortunately, it is quite
hard to get hold of in English but any other bookby Masuno will also be worth your time.

The Garden of Evening
Mists
by Tan Twan Eng
This is the book that got
me interested in Japanesegardens and inspired me to go
on my first work trip to Japan.
Although written by a Malaysian author, thedescription of the Japanese-style garden at the centreof the story is exquisite and cannot fail to capture yourheart.

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: Informal
Talks on Zen Meditation and Practiceby Suzuki Shunryo
This influential book on Zen buddhism practice
was published long before I was born and has
been read by millions of people. But there’s
a good reason for it’s popularity: Suzuki’s
lighthearted and enjoyable prose makes difficult
to understand concepts enjoyable and beguiling>>
Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews/

9

Katie Croft

Bill Emmott

Reviewer

Japan Society Chairman & Reviewer--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

without the frustration of denser works.
Although it’s a slim volume, there is so much inthere that I find myself returning to it regularlyboth as part of a meditation practice and to try togain a better cultural understanding of Japan.

Old Enough! はじめておつかい!
TV show available in Netflix UK
If you’re having a bad day, nothing will cheer you
up as much as watching a Japanese toddler as
they go on their first solo errand in this adorable
and innocent reality programme. Each episode is
between 5-10 minutes long and follows a child(sometimes younger than 3) as they go out on
their own to do a small errand for their parents.
Immensely popular, はじめておつかい! has beenrunning for over 30 years in Japan and is now
available to watch on Netfilx in the UK.

The Japanese Garden Society’s Annual
Conference and Events
The Japanese Garden Society in the UK runs
Japanese garden related events and activities
all over the UK throughout the year, including
an annual conference. I met gardeners fromJapan and around the world whilst learning
a great deal through attending the Japanese
Garden Society’s lectures, day trips and practicalworkshops. Volunteering in their garden
maintenance activities at public and private
Japanese-style gardens around the UK is also
great fun and a good learning opportunity.
Up-to-date information is available on theirwebsite www.jgs.org.uk.

10

I am drawn to books and films that give me
insights into the way Japanese people think, theway society works and what one might call the“back stories” of those many things in Japaneseculture and society that at first we notice andthen start to take for granted.
When a friend suggested I recommend Abe
Kobo’s masterpiece The Woman in the Dunes(1962) for a book club I am a member of, wewere all blown away by his dystopian vision but
also his perception of human nature.
I loved all Itami Juzo’s satires on Japanesesociety, especially those like The Funeral (1984)
and A Taxing Woman (1987) that came out inthe 1980s at the time of the bubble economy
and represented both a wonderful poppingof pomposity and a gentle but sharp rebuff tohypocrisy and corruption, which seemed to me
hugely healthy.

To understand Japan’s culture, history andforeign policies through the ages and today,
it is vital to know of thecountry’s love-hate-fear
relationship with China,
which is why Ezra Vogel’s
last major book before hedied, China and Japan:
Facing History (2019), wasin my view his greatest
achievement. But thento understand Japan’scontemporary culture,society and even global
influence, Matt Alt’s surveyof pop culture, Pure
Invention: How Japan’s
Pop Culture Conquered theWorld (2020) also seems
to me absolutely essential
reading.

Issue 100 Volume 17 Number 4 (August 2022)

0.5mmdirected by Ando Momoko

Laurence Green
Reviewer----------------------------------------------------------

Convenience Store
Woman
by Murata Sayaka
The field of Japanese
literature in English
translation is constantly
morphing, beholden to
constant shifts and emphasis in terms of passing
trends and vague ideas of what the image ofJapan we get through its literature ‘should’ lookand feel like. But if there’s any book that hasdone more than most to promote the cause
in recent years, it has to be Convenience Store
Woman. Riding high on a concerted marketingpush and some exceptionally brilliant coverart design, Murata Sayaka’s quirky story not
only shines as a finger-on-the-pulse beacon ofcontemporary Japanese pop culture, but has
also helped open the floodgates for translationsof other big names in the world of Japanese
female writers, like Kawakami Mieko. At the timeof writing, Convenience Store Woman has nearly
5000 starred ratings on Amazon, with Murakami
Haruki’s classic Norwegian Wood the only
volume of Japanese literature to boast more.

Lady Joker
by Takemura Kaoru
This classic of Japanese crime fiction from the
1990s was sadly greeted by a rather mutedcommercial response on its English language
release, due to an initially US-only publication as
well as being split into two separate volumes. A
UK release did eventually follow, and the criticalresponse - at any rate - was more favourable,with many hailing this sprawling tale as similar
to sleek televisual procedural dramas like The
Wire. Based on a real-life case of CEO kidnappingin the murky depths of Japan’s post-boom
corporate realm, the stark realism and gritty
characterisations make Lady Joker an utterly
engrossing read, despite its length.

I fondly remember the screening of thisfilm at the British Library in 2017, which was
accompanied by a talk from its director; Ando
Momoko. Starring the director’s sister, Ando
Sakura, (who will be familiar to many from her
starring role in Koreeda Hirokazu’s Shoplifters),
this 3 hour 18 minute-long epic sadly seems
unlikely to see a conventional release in the UK
any time soon. Fans of its unflinching gaze at
the overlooked margins and taboos of Japanesesociety are advised to check out Ando’s earlier
directorial work Kakera: A Piece of Our Life (2010),
which is available from Third Window Films.

Your Name
directed by Shinkai Makoto
Director Shinkai Makoto had long been hailed asa rising star in the anime industry, but it was Your
Name that really sealed his status as one of themedium’s biggest and brightest talents. Taking
both his signature visual style and thematic
motifs, Your Name is a cinematic tour de forceof euphoric scope and scale; perhaps the single
work that best represents everything anime
has to offer to viewers. Its soundtrack - by the
popular Japanese pop-rock band Radwimps - isalso an absolute marvel.

>>

Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews/

11

Martin Hatfull

Jenni Schofield

Japan Society Deputy Chairman

Reviewer--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Snow Country
by Kawabata Yasunari

Alice in Borderland
TV series available in Netflix UK

A quintessentiallyJapanese novel exploring
relationships, social
constraints and the powerof the unsaid.

Alice in Borderland is an eight-part series
focusing on Arisu and his friends Karube andChota, who find themselves in an alternative
version of Shibuya where everyone hasdisappeared, where they are forced to take partin a series of games in order to stay alive. Thishorror-thriller series provides an insight into themalaise felt by many young people who arestruggling to find their place among a rapidlychanging society, with pressures to follow thesame path to employment their parents did,despite those same roles no longer exist. A mustwatch for fans of Squid Game.

Killing Commendatore
by Murakami Haruki
Fantasy, the artist’s experience, the influence ofhistory on the present. Give in to it and don’t try
too hard to understand it.

Convenience Store Woman
by Murata Sayaka
Vital female perspective on the challenges ofcontemporary urban life.

Tokyo: Art andPhotography
Stunning catalogue ofan outstanding recent
exhibition at the Ashmolean
Museum in Oxford.

My Neighbour Totoro
directed by Miyazaki Hayao
Enchanting animation which also conveys a real
sense of Japan’s relationship with the natural world.

Queer East Film Festival
Annual film festival in London
Queer East is a film festival dedicated toshowcasing LGBTQ+ films from East Asia, hosted
in multiple cinemas across London every spring.
With works showcased from large distributors
and smaller independent artists alike, there
is always something for everyone across the
programme. Cinematic programmes such as
the Artists Moving Images series, where a seriesof small arthouse films are shown back-to-backsurrounding a theme, are especially enjoyable.
This year’s festival also included a VR experience,
which transported the viewer to a fantasised gay
sauna.

>>
12

Issue 100 Volume 17 Number 4 (August 2022)

Battle Royale
directed by Fukasaku Kinji
Battle Royale, both the 1999 novel by Takami
Koushun and the film directed by Fukasaku Kinji
in 2000, are responsible for birthing an entire
genre of media named after it, with battle royale
video games especially dominating the market.
Battle Royale follows a high school class who
are transported to an island and told to kill one
another, and that the last person standing cango home. Dealing with the disenfranchisementof younger generations and the damage
intergenerational dispute can cause, Battle
Royale is a classic, and a must-watch staple ofmodern Japanese cinema.

Trevor Skingle
Reviewer---------------------------------------------------------During its history Japan has, to a greater or
lesser extent, been wrapped up in wars, either
internecine or with other nations. These threevery different books take three very different
perspectives on this issue. Japan’s own formativeinternecine strife (Nobunaga prepared theingredients, Hideyoshi baked it and Ieyasu ateit), the events of the post WWII occupation by
the British Commonwealth Occupation Force
and, during WWII, the treatment of Westerners
in Japan. Fascinating, occasionally horrific, andthorough in the treatment of their subject matterthey reveal the turmoil which has given birth to amodern nation which has taken its rightful placeon the world stage.

Sengoku Jidai:
Nobunaga, Hideyoshi
and Ieyasu: Three
Unifiers of Japanby Danny Chaplin

Ben-Ami Shillony
Reviewer---------------------------------------------------------Britain has encouraged the learning and researchof Japan throughout the world by inviting
scholars of Japan to its first-class universities
and libraries to engage in research. Oxford andCambridge have become the places whereanyone interested in Japan, including Japanesescholars, meet and discuss in an intellectually
rewarding atmosphere. Some of these Britishbased lectures and seminars have become firstclass books.

Turning Points in Japanese History
edited by Bert Edstroem

Travels in Atomic
Sunshine: Australia
and the Occupation ofJapan
by Robin Gerster

Honoured andDishonoured Guests:
Westerners in WartimeJapan
by W Puck Brecher

Carmen Blacker: Scholar of Japanese
Religion, Myth and Folkloreedited by Hugh Cortazzi
Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews/

13This beautiful book unpacks this myth, tracing
how the idea of harmony with the natural world
flourished in Japanese art as rural life receded.

Taniguchi Tomohiko
Reviewer----------------------------------------------------------The Life and Death of
Yukio Mishima
by Henry Scott-Stokes

Mishima’s Sword:
Travels in Search of a
Samurai Legend
by Christopher Ross

Japanese Journeys:
Writings andReflections: Writingsand Recollections
by Geoffrey Bownas

William Upton
Editor----------------------------------------------------------

Japan and the Culture of the Four
Seasonsby Shirane Haruo
Japan’s tradition of elegant representations of
nature in its poetry, art and ceremonies gavebirth to the idea that the country and its people
enjoy a privileged relationship with nature.

>>
14

Cowboy Bebop
directed by Watanabe Shinichiro
Before joining the Japan Society I worked asa musician, and my introduction to Japaneseculture came when I played the infamous leadsaxophone part for Kanno Yoko’s Tank! theopening theme to the cult animé Cowboy Bebop.
I subsequently binge-watched all 26 episodes,
and its inscrutable jazz noir aesthetic and stunningsoundtrack made a big impression on me.

Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen
Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists
by Kay Larson
This book centres on how John Cage’s
encounters with Daisetz T. Suzuki changed
the course of Western music. Kay Larson is a
respected art critic and practicing Buddhist, andthis biography is equal parts hagiography andparable. Nevertheless, taken with a pinch ofsalt it gives a fascinating insight into Cold War
Japan, America and the lives of one of the 20th
century’s great musicians and thinkers.

Professor Risley and the Imperial
Japanese Troupe: How an American
Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan -and Japan to the West
by Frederik L. Schodt
An alternative account of Japan’s rapidly
developing relationship with the West at theturn of the 20th century, centred on the intrepid
Japanese acrobats who toured the world on ashoestring.

>>

Issue 100 Volume 17 Number 4 (August 2022)

Garden Rainby Takemitsu Toru
The music of Takemitsu Toru
has enjoyed something of arevival over the past decade,and any burgeoning Japanese composer mustendure comparison with this colossus of mid20th century classical music. Garden Rain is acollection of his chamber music of the 1960s and
70s, capturing a period in which his conflicting
tendencies as colourful impressionist andascetic modernist coalesced into an instantly
recognisable style.

David Warren
Former JS Chairman & Reviewer----------------------------------------------------------

Ghosts of the Tsunami
by Richard Lloyd ParryAn unforgettably moving
account of the devastating
impact of the 2011
earthquake and tsunami on
one Tohoku community,
which ranks alongside John
Hersey’s Hiroshima as a record of unimaginablecalamity.

Spring Snowby Mishima Yukio
In Michael Gallagher’s superb translation, thebest and most accessible volume in his tetralogy,
The Sea of Fertility, a wonderful evocation of the
lives of spoilt rich kids in the early Taisho era.

Tokyo Story
directed by Ozu Yasujiro
A timeless study of aging parents, whosechildren are drifting away from them, facing theend of their lives alone.

Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews/

Beau Waycott
Reviewer----------------------------------------------------------

Toddler-hunting &Other Stories
by Kono Taeko
At once both a prominent
member of the post-war
joryu bungaku genre and a
key figure in genre’s
dismantlement and participation into simply
bungaku, this collection of Kono’s fiction
focuses mainly on short stories of the 1960s,
with translator Lucy North’s afterword to the
new edition adding some fascinating modern
discourse to some of the startling themes. Fansof Tanizaki will also no doubt appreciate thenumerous parallels Kono took from her idol.

The Karma of Words : Buddhism andthe Literary Arts in Medieval Japan
by William R. LaFleur
Valuable to anyone with an interest in medieval
Japan, LaFleur’s study of Japanese thought
and literature from the 11th century onwards
provides analysis of the Buddhist beliefs of both
high society and the proletariat. The seventh
chapter on kyogen’s relationship with Buddhism
is especially fascinating, not least when followed
by a comparison with noh.

A History of Japanese Political Thought
1600-1901
by Watanabe Hiroshi
David Noble’s smooth translation of Watanabe
Hiroshi’s charting of particularly Confucianbeliefs from the 16th to 20th centuries provides
both a deep characterisation of Confucianism
in China before discussing it in the Japanesecontext from the Tokugawa period. A studentof Maruyama Masao, Watanabe probes somedeep reconsiderations of imperial impositionand legitimisation, especially during the shift into
Meiji.
15

Visit the Japan Society online bookshop to
discover a wide variety of publications on
Japanese history, literature, arts and much more!
British Royal and Japanese Imperial Relations, 1868-2018edited by Peter Kornicki, Antony Best and Sir Hugh Cortazzi
The Japan Society and Renaissance Books (2019)
This new study examines the history of the relations between the British andJapanese monarchies over the past 150 years. Complemented by a significant
plate section, with many rarely seen historical photographs and illustrations,
together with supporting chronologies, British Royal and Japanese Imperial
Relations, 1868-2018 will become a benchmark reference on the subject. It
is also a memorial volume to the late Sir Hugh Cortazzi who died in August
2018, shortly after completing his own contribution to the volume.

The Thames And I: A Memoir of Two Years at Oxford
by Prince Naruhito, Crown Prince of JapanThe Japan Society and Renaissance Books (2019)
Translated by the late Sir Hugh Cortazzi and first published in hardback in
2006, this reprint in softback is published to mark the ascendancy to theimperial throne of Japan of Crown Prince Naruhito in 2019. Prior to becoming
Crown Prince of Japan in 1989, following the death of his grandfather
Emperor Showa, Prince Naruhito studied at Merton College, Oxford, from
June 1983 to October 1985. This marked the first time that anyone in direct
succession to the throne had ever studied outside Japan.

Heaven’s Wind
edited and translated by Angus Turvill
The Japan Society (2018)
Heaven’s Wind is a collection of short stories by five of Japan’s leading
contemporary authors: Kuniko Mukoda – The Otter; Natsuko Kuroda – Ball,
Kaori Ekuni – Summer Blanket; Mitsuyo Kakuta – The Child over There;
and Aoko Matsuda – Planting. Taking its name from one of Japan’s best
known classical poems, Heaven’s Wind (Amatsukaze) is the world’s first dual
language anthology of Japanese women’s writing, including four Naoki and
Akutagawa Prize winners.

16

Issue 100 Volume 17 Number 4 (August 2022)