Author: Murasaki Shikibu Description: Written in 11th-century Japan, The Tale of Genji is considered the first novel ever written. Murasaki Shikibu, its author, created a fictional framework developed around romantic relationships among the Japanese nobility in the latter half of the Heian period. The novel is extensive, with numerous characters and a complicated web of relationships. For the reader, it can be difficult to remember the characters, I personally turned to some schemes found online to have a clearer picture. The central relationship is between Genji and Murasaki, but this only covers a small part of the novel. I was surprised, from the point of view of the writing, by…

Author: Haruki Murakami Description: Collection of texts written in the first person by Murakami, which give an autobiographical touch. Obviously, nowhere is this aspect clear, the stories being shrouded in mystery and sometimes magic, in the defining note of the Japanese writer. Year: 2020 MyRating (1-5): ***

Author: Akira Mizubayashi Description: A warm novel about music and the bonds it creates between people, regardless of religion, ethnicity or political regimes.Anchors: Rosamunde (Schubert), Gavotte in rondo (Bach). Cremona and Mirecourt (centers of great luthiers). Year: 2019 MyRating (1-5): ****

Author: Natsuko Imamura Description: Book for which the author received the Akutagawa Prize (2019) – about the mysterious lady in the purple skirt, her job at the hotel, relationships and envy. A story in the spirit of Japanese literature, with feelings well placed in an apparent simplicity of everyday life. Year: 2019 MyRating (1-5): **

Author: Yoko Ogawa Description: Dystopia, put by Time magazine in the same basket as 1984, Fahrenheit 451 or One Century of Solitude. The word, memory and story in relation to the material world. Although I can’t say that it captivated me, I’m sure it is memorable for the unusualness of the idea. Year: 1994 MyRating (1-5): **

Author: Yukio Mishima Description: Collection of short stories, in the spirit of beautiful Japanese simplicity. Contains Tale on a Promontory, Haruko, The Circus, The Butterfly, The Lioness, A Boring Journey, and A Morning of Pure Love. Year: 1946 MyRating (1-5): **

Author: Yamamoto Tsunetomo Description: 1710-1716. Collection of texts attributed to Yamamoto Tsunetomo, a Buddhist priest, following discussions with the samurai Tsuramoto. The latter integrated them into the book Hagakure, in 1716. Among Yamamoto’s comments are several perspectives that surprise by their topicality or by the subtlety with which various human traits or ways of approaching social relations were illustrated. On the other hand, especially in the second half, the observations and teachings related to the way the Japanese related to death are difficult to assimilate in the current cultural context (most likely, different even in relation to other value systems from the same period, the beginning of the 18th century,…

Author: Yasushi Inoue Description: The story of Yang Guifei, the favorite wife of Emperor Xuanzong of China (713-756), during the Tang Dynasty (capital at Chang’an). From the beginnings to the An Luchan revolt. Verses by the poet Du Fu (712-770) appear. Cover by Qian Xuan (13th century Chinese painter). The night attack (710) is mentioned. In the final battles, each side had over 250,000 soldiers… Year: ? MyRating (1-5): ****

Author: Yasunari Kawabata Description: Three short stories contained in the same volume (The Lake, The Arm, Quickly Shake It). The Lake is about Gimpei, the teacher who followed women. A world of demons, ghosts, and an unstable personality. / The Arm is a short piece of writing in the surrealist style. / “Quickly Shake It” (from Iroha Uta, a poem from the Heian period, in which all the basic characters in the Japanese lexicon are used, only once) is about two girls murdered by a mentally ill potential murderer, an event seen through the eyes of a novelist emotionally involved in the relationship with the girls. Year: 1954 MyRating (1-5):…

Author: Michio Kaku Description: Space flights, life extension, transhumanism, humanity in the Universe (or multiverse), string theory, wormholes, Planck energy, dark matter, dark energy, etc. More or less bold perspectives on the future of humanity. The text is somewhat easier to assimilate when talking about a short time horizon (e.g. populating Mars) and a little more difficult to understand the projections for thousands or hundreds of thousands of years in the future. The author is a top physicist and the words gain authority. Very interesting: the proximity of human flights to Mars (the influences of private investments), the qualities of the graphene material, the role of the Moon in the…

Author: Haruki Murakami Description: Murakami reveals to readers a series of backstage aspects of the novelist’s profession. Interesting how he translates his writings into English, to simplify expression. Year: 2015 MyRating (1-5): ***

Author: Yasunari Kawabata. Yasuushi Inoue Description: The Izu dancer is written by Kawabata. The Counterfeiter, Obasute and The Full Moon are written by Yasushi Inoue. I recommend The Counterfeiter, it beautifully captures the drama of life lived in the shade of a larger tree. Year: – MyRating (1-5): ***

Author: Dominique Loreau Description: A collection of useful tips that can harmonize life. For my taste, a little pushed the limit of “must”, without convincing arguments (the author’s extremely thin summary to justify the wide range of topics in which she offers detailed advice)… If everyone takes something from there, I think it can be useful. Personally, I liked the first part, about minimalism in furnishings (interesting comment that minimalism is not cheap!) Year: 2017 MyRating (1-5): **

Author: Yutaka Yazawa Description: A review of many facets of Japanese society. Written unpretentiously, humanly, in a friendly tone. It captures many interesting aspects, from relationships between people to food, vacations, celebrations, etc. Excellently edited Year: 2018 MyRating (1-5): ****

Author: Inazo Nitobe Description: Book written directly in English, by an erudite Japanese writer. Let’s not forget that in 1900 Japan had just emerged from the Meiji era, so it was in full accelerated transition from feudalism to capitalism, and traditional Japanese culture was exposed to remarkable tensions. Inazo Nitobe presents with a high dose of objectivity numerous reasons behind some aspects specific to the Japanese archipelago. Fascinating for those interested in the Japanese culture and who are open to martial arts, which were part of the backbone of a society led by samurai. Year: 1900 MyRating (1-5): ***

Author: Pierre Fayard Description: A review of the way the Japanese do business, in which they organize themselves at company level. Links with the cultural and philosophical foundation specific to the archipelago. Part 1 of the book highlights concepts such as budo (the samurai’s anchoring in the immediate present), do (the path), kata (method, technique), ba (the common space, the ensemble, the flow). Part 2 provides examples of how Japanese companies see the relationship to business and society (in a cultural environment where the collective takes precedence over the self). There is much talk about the knowledge society and about the transfer of knowledge between members of an organization, between…

Author: Yasunari Kawabata Description: The relationship between a city man and a geisha from the mountainous region of snowy onsens. A landscape of Japanese nature and Japanese traditions. Year: 1935–1937 MyRating (1-5): ***

Author: Haruki Murakami Description: The relationship between the owner of a famous restaurant in Tokyo and an elderly politician. Year: 1960 MyRating (1-5): ***

Author: Haruki Murakami Description: Several plans unfolding during a night in Tokyo, plans that intertwine. The ending is more difficult to understand, the narrative does not lead on a clear path between A and B, but in a non-Euclidean geometry, in a space-time charged with Murakami’s specific relativity. Written with attention to detail, to psycho-social typology. Year: 2004 MyRating (1-5): ***

Author: Yukio Mishima Description: Beautiful in its simplicity, in the Japanese spirit. Somehow, the auther uses same ingredients that sell in the West, namely sex & crime, but dressed in a different garment. Writing of a modern-day samurai. Year: 1963 MyRating (1-5): ***