There is so much beauty, mystery and excitement in Japanese history and culture. The best books about Japan explore Japanese art, theology, architecture, theater, and food.
To really understand Japan, it’s vital to get a rounded view of the Land of the Rising Sun by reading the best books on Japanese culture and history – both modern and ancient.
You are reading: Books on japanese culture
from the second world war to the present, through the emergence of the video game industry, animation and culture. from the rise of Buddhism in the 7th century to the Meiji Restoration 150 years ago, and all the art, culture, war, and changes that came and went along the way.
all that and more can be found here in these ten best books about japan (both history and culture).
5 best books on Japanese culture
Japanese culture is often romanticized by people all over the world, and this is not without reason. there are many aspects of Japanese culture that are impressive and from which to learn.
This ranges from technological innovation to social manners and thanks to shared philosophies.
If you’re looking for the best books on Japan that explore the cultural side of Japanese history, from anime and video games to more abstract philosophical concepts, here are five of the best books on Japanese culture.
These books about Japan can help you enjoy and expand your understanding of Japanese culture, both past and present.
pure invention of matt alt
pure invention is, to put it bluntly, one of the most powerful books on Japanese culture you’ll ever read.
Whether you’re interested in Japanese culture because you grew up with anime, manga, video games, and hello kitty, or you’re interested in it from an economic, political, and industrial perspective, both interests are met here.
This is a very new book, but it will go down as one of the best books on Japan, period.
In pure invention, matt alt approaches modern japan history (from world war ii to the present day) through the lens of its popular culture and how that pop culture (anime, fashion, karaoke and walkmans, toys and games, kawaii culture, etc.) literally conquered the 20th century.
This book is elegantly and passionately written, with a phenomenal amount of research behind it. We learn a lot about the people who led the charge: the designers, toymakers, artists, animators, and businessmen who shaped modern Japan.
There are few books about Japan as influential and inspiring as Pure Invention.
lost japan by alex kerr
alex kerr is a fascinating person. An American who moved to Japan in his early adult years, he mastered the language very quickly.
From here, Kerr built a house in the countryside and wasted no time in researching and forming an obsession with Japan’s traditional arts culture. And that’s what lost japan is all about.
In this fantastic book on Japanese culture, Alex Kerr explores famous traditions and arts from throughout Japanese history (tea ceremonies, bunraku and noh theatre, calligraphy, and much more).
Explores the history and traditions, dedication and mastery, origins and legacies of these diverse arts and crafts of Japan.
if you are looking for the best books about japan because you are fascinated by traditional arts and crafts (theater, design, painting, writing), then lost japan is the book about japanese culture you are looking for.
fifty sounds of polly barton
Fifty Sounds is an exploration and experience of Japanese culture through immersion and language learning. At the age of twenty-one, Polly Barton took up the jet program and found herself on a small Japanese island.
During her time as a teacher, Barton fell deeply in love with the Japanese language. she fell in love with its sounds, its onomatopoeia, its singularities and its way of distilling life experiences.
In Fifty Sounds, we see how the Japanese language led Barton to experience new feelings and see the world differently. she led her life down a unique path that eventually led her to become a Japanese to English translator.
if you are looking for one of the best books on japan to perfect the japanese language, this is the place. Fifty Sounds explores modern Japanese culture through a linguistic and philosophical lens. It’s also laugh-out-loud fun, full of tragic moments, love, sex, and frustration. deeply philosophical and hilarious in equal measure.
japanese tattoos: history, culture, design by brian ashcraft and hori benny
brian ashcraft has spent twenty years living in osaka and writing for publications like kotaku and the japan times. She has also published multiple books on Japan, from the history of whiskey to the cultural revolution led by the Japanese schoolgirl.
in Japanese tattoos: history, culture, design, ashcraft explores exactly that. After all, Japanese tattoos are famous all over the world.
Tattoo lovers who have no real interest in Japanese culture still enjoy tattoos depicting dragons, koi fish, phoenixes and cranes. but where does all this come from, culturally speaking?
This photo-packed book explores the art of tebori (the traditional act of tattooing in Japan), as well as interviews with leading Japanese tattoo artists working today.
See Also: Power Book II Ghost season 3 potential release date and more
If you’ve ever wanted to better understand the imagery and background of Japanese tattoos, and how tattoos have historically been such an integral part of Japanese culture, this is the book for you.
forest bathing by hector garcia and francesc miralles
héctor garcia found international fame with his book a geek in japan but his latest book in collaboration with francesc miralles explores a more specific philosophy of japanese culture. forest bathing examines the practice and benefits of what the Japanese call shinrin yoku.
In an increasingly busy world of grueling work culture, rising levels of pollution, and exponential growth in urban population, it’s more important than ever that we find a way to unplug, escape to nature, and reconnect with the earth. .
The Japanese practice of shinrin yoku has countless physical, emotional, and mental health benefits, all of which are explored here in this book.
Like the best books on Japan, this one is both very specific and very broad. Although it addresses the concept within Japanese folk philosophy, it also spans the globe and examines how other cultures have traditionally done similar things.
bathing in the forest unites Japanese culture with the world and at the same time shows us what is so unique about Japanese philosophy.
ikigai: the japanese secret for a long and happy life by hector garcia and francesc miralles
Before Garcia and Miralles released Forest Bathing, they burst onto the scene as a pair of breakout writers with their book Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.
Like the Danish concept of hygge, ikigai has become a very popular word in recent years, but there really are some really fascinating lessons to be learned here, as well as some revealing historical and cultural facts and details to be found. .
This is not a light and fluffy self-help book by any means, Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life discusses the philosophy of finding purpose or meaning in life.
The book explores how that idea has been approached by different peoples of Japan, both geographically and historically.
The best books about Japan explore some seemingly intriguing aspect of Japanese history, culture, or philosophy and try to give us a better understanding of that topic.
in ikigai, garcia and miralles absolutely pull this off. there are insights to be found in this, easily one of the best books on Japanese culture.
read more: the best books on minimalism and sustainable living
6 best Japanese history books
Since Japan has such a rich and fascinating history, and elements of its history that are so famous throughout the world, there is an undeniable appeal for people who want to read the best books about Japan, especially Japanese history.
>
many of us want to better understand the samurai and shoguns, Shinto and Buddhism, the post-war transformation of modern Japan, the history of Japanese writing systems, art, literature and aesthetics, here there are five Japanese history books to answer all those questions and more.
stranger in the city of the shogun: a woman’s life in 19th century japan by amy stanley
This is a book that manages to do a lot of things very, very well. Stanley should perhaps be praised more for her ability to take the largely unknown story of a woman who lived two hundred years ago and discover enough of her story to then transform it into something as compelling and narrative-driven as a novel.
A Stranger in Shogun City doesn’t just read like a beautiful historical novel set in Edo period Japan; it also doubles as a gripping and illuminating Japanese history book, painting a vivid and detailed picture of both city and rural life.
Starting in the snowy country of Japan, Stranger in the Shogun’s City follows the early life of Tsuneno, the daughter of a local monk, as she grows up in a world similar to Belle’s, hoping for more than just this provincial life.
> p>
married and divorced three times before the age of thirty, only to later move to edo (the city we now call tokyo).
At the time, Edo was Japan’s growing and expanding military and commercial capital, and Tsuneno travels there to discover the beating heart of his nation. he must learn, adapt and understand. everything we read is true, based on amazing and diligent research by amy stanley.
A Stranger in the City of the Shogun is an excellent Japanese history book, as engaging and flowing as any novel.
brings to life a fascinating period in Japanese history and sheds light on the life of a woman from a place no one knows, a woman who swims upstream to do something different with her life.
history of japan: in search of a nation by christopher harding
everything changed in the mid-nineteenth century. Until that time, Japan had been living for more than 200 years in a time known as the Edo period: an era of national peace after centuries of civil war.
with the opening of japan’s borders came a period of westernization in fashion, architecture, law and economics.
from here, japan went to war with russia, forged an empire, captured taiwan and korea, and became an axis power during world war ii. Then out of economic loss and devastation came a new cultural revolution that led to the Japan we know today.
All this, and much more, is explored in rich and fascinating detail in Christopher Harding’s fantastic book, Japan Story: In Search of a Nation (1850 – Present).
This book is an almost intimate narrative history of Japan from the street level, and a must-read Japanese history book for anyone curious about Japan’s political, economic, and empirical history.
the japanese: a story in twenty lives by christopher harding
See Also: The Bestselling Books of 2012
Christopher Harding’s second book on this list is a fantastic continuation of the history of Japan. While Harding’s first book covered a specific and limited portion of Japanese history, the Japanese has a much broader scope and handles that scope wisely.
the japanese follows the entire history of japan, starting so far back in time as to fall into myths and unconfirmed stories, before making twenty time jumps to find ourselves in the present day.
The conceit here is that Japan’s history is taught to us through twenty select historical figures: politicians, artists, inventors, samurai and more. important and impressive people, famous and forgotten alike.
Each of the twenty people from Japanese history discussed here represent their era in some way.
They get a chapter focused on their lives, deeds and achievements, but that chapter will also provide a lot of political and cultural background details to build the world of japan they lived in.
Japanese is an attractive and dynamic book with much to teach us. it’s a clever and addictive way of conveying so much disparate information, stringing it together, tightly contextualizing it, and making it easily digestible for any reader interested in finding the best books about japan.
a brief history of japan: samurai, shogun and zen by jonathan clements
jonathan clements is one of my favorite writers: an expert on Chinese and Japanese history, the author of books on both, and a fluent speaker of both languages.
an impressive character by any definition. A Brief History of Japan is one of Clements’ most recent books, one of his shortest, most accessible, and yet broadest in terms of subject matter.
if you are looking for a concise history of japan, you will surely find it here. This book covers more than 1,500 years of Japanese history with clarity, simplicity, and a lot of passion. You’ll come to understand Shinto, Samurai, Zen Buddhism, Sengoku Jidai, and much more.
You’ll also learn fascinating facts about many of the most infamous people in Japanese history (like how Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was gay, and in 14th-century Japan, that was no big deal).
A Brief History of Japan is written with fantasy, character and true passion. When it comes to the best books on Japan (history or culture), this is one I can’t recommend highly enough. it’s a fun and riveting moment through and through.
the bells of old tokyo by anna sherman
anna sherman’s approach to writing is poetic and infectious. In The Bells of Old Tokyo, she embarks on a journey through Japan’s capital, through its narrow yokocho alleys and tallest towers, searching through Tokyo’s history to try to understand the very soul of the city. p>
This book is very personal and enjoyable, spearheaded by Sherman’s own narrative and interwoven with his own discoveries and lessons learned.
In my own review of The Bells of Old Tokyo, I commented that “this book is packed with little-known facts, funny jokes, sad moments, and cultural meditation.”
and so, as someone with a deep adoration for tokyo, its people, its art and its history, I found myself hungry for more, drying my highlighters and letting my pens run dry, increasingly drawn to sherman’s historical narrative and staff.”
The bells of old Tokyo draw the line between Japanese culture and Japanese history, giving us plenty of facts, context, and narratives for both. a life-changing book about japan, no doubt.
bending adversity by david pilling
When I first moved to Tokyo, this was a book I read very early. Bending Over Adversity is an inspiring look at how Japan’s collective approach to innovation, design, community, and growth has ensured the nation’s survival and flourishing time and time again.
However, the context of overcoming adversity is more specific. It is very much a modern history book about Japan, first exploring the effects of the 2011 tsunami and subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, as well as how Japan responded to the disaster on a community level.
From here, pilling travels back in time to post-war Japan in the 20th century, the economic bubble of the 1980s, the bursting of that bubble, and what came after.
In Overcoming Adversity, David Pilling interviews authors and writers on topics such as democracy in Japan, feminist art and literature, economic trends, and many more huge concepts.
is a rich and illuminating book from start to finish. Combining adversity with Japanese history and sheer invention will give readers a perfect insight into 20th-century Japanese history and culture.
a samurai story by jonathan lopez-vera
translated from Spanish by russell calvert
You can’t properly dive into a stack of Japanese history books without at least one of them being dedicated to the samurai. In many ways, as the history of the samurai demonstrates, for much of Japanese history, the samurai were quintessentially Japan.
There is a blurring of the lines between sword-wielding warriors, the political establishment, and countless historical events that is impossible to avoid.
A History of the Samurai is a very clear and concise Japanese history book. there’s very little fluff here, with chapters keeping the facts and key details to paint a neat and vivid timeline of 1000 years of Japanese history.
Each chapter has multiple optional subsections, each of which focuses on a specific person or time. they’re optional, but they provide fascinating context for readers interested in learning the intricate details of a certain period, person, or battle.
jonathan lopez-vera has done a stellar job here of essentially painting a broad historical picture of japan through the context of its samurai class. This is not so much a book about the samurai from a cultural or traditional perspective as the complete story of a millennium of Japanese history.
read more: manga with stubborn female leads
like this? save it for later!
See Also: 12 cuốn sách kinh điển mà mỗi sinh viên nên đọc trước khi tốt nghiệp