The Widow, the Priest and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island Review by Tina deBellegarde With The Widow, the Priest and the Octopus Hunter, Amy Chavez has presented us with a gift of cultural preservation. The author conducted a year-long oral history project on the Island of More…
Category: Blog
Review—Kanazawa by David Joiner
Joiner adds a layer of reading pleasure by intertwining key aspects of Izumi Kyōka’s works into his own narrative.
Review—Places, by Setouchi Jakuchō
Review—Heaven, by Mieko Kawakami
Excerpt—The Wedding Party, by Liu Xinwu
Set at a pivotal point after the turmoil of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Liu Xinwu’s tale weaves together a rich tapestry of characters, intertwined lives, and stories within stories
Review—Where the Wild Ladies Are
In Matsuda’s collection, familiar ghosts are treated as commonplace: They are neither surprising nor frightening as they comfortably situate themselves in the modern world
Review—Buddhism and Modernity: Sources from Nineteenth-Century Japan
First Book—The Short Story Collective


A thirteen-part journey through contemporary Japan taking in themes as disparate as mental illness, Buddhism, the human drive for validation, workplace harassment, cults, tourist pollution, and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Amazon international
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A thirteen-part journey through contemporary Japan taking in themes as disparate as mental illness, Buddhism, the human drive for validation, workplace harassment, cults, tourist pollution, and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Review—On Haiku, by Hiroaki Sato
Hiroaki Sato reveals how the radical brevity of the haiku genre contains worlds within worlds. This is a book to cherish, and which nurtures in return.
First Book—Can Machines Bring Peace?: Hope in a Post-Apocalyptic Age
“First Book” is a column where we ask first-time authors what inspired them to write their debut book/novel/translation. Books on Asia: What’s your book’s elevator pitch? Floor Kist: The novel is about a young diplomat who builds a Thinking Machine to bring peace, but instead, it discovers a plot for war. BOA: Can you explain More…


















