In this issue of Books on Asia, we explore disasters of all kinds from earthquakes, tsunami and volcanic eruptions to dictatorships, religious prosecution, crimes and environmental hazards. The issue spans major events in Japan, the Koreas, Thailand, and Indonesia.

The Hon Podcast features an interview with journalist and Times correspondent Richard Lloyd Parry. Podcast host Amy Chavez talks with Parry about two of his three books People Who Eat Darkness: the Fate of Lucie Blackman, about a high-profile murder case in Japan and Ghosts of the Tsunami, about the Great East Japan Tohoku Earthquake of March 2011.

This issue’s “New Writing” (scroll all the way to bottom of page) features excerpts from an upcoming release by Stone Bridge Press called Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man: 15 years at Studio Ghibli by Steve Alpert, Roger Pulvers’s recent release Peaceful Circumstances and a short-story from Renae-Lucas Hall called “My Cute Kawaii Boutique” from her collection Tokyo Tales.

Go to Issue 7, Disasters: Natural and Man-Made