Open Books Challenge 2025: Books Set in Japan or by a Japanese AuthorUnpublished

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The untold story of how Japan became a cultural superpower through the fantastic inventions that captured--and transformed--the world's imagination.   "A masterful book driven by deep research, new insights, and powerful storytelling."--W. David Marx, author of ...

A life-affirming anthem to kindness and self-sacrifice, The Travelling Cat Chronicles shows how the smallest things can provide the greatest joy. We take journeys to explore exotic new places and to return to the comforts of home, to visit old acquaintances and to make new...

A classic Japanese murder mystery inspired by the golden age of British crimewriting.

The brilliant new novel from Muriel Barbery, author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog. A woman journeys to contemporary Kyoto and, by learning to accept new truths about her family and herself, embraces the possibilities of new love From the bestselling author of The Elegance...

NOW A MAJOR GOLDEN GLOBE-WINNING TV SERIES 'Clavell never puts a foot wrong . . . Get it, read it, you'll enjoy it mightily' Daily Mirror This is James Clavell's tour-de-force; an epic saga of one Pilot-Major John Blackthorne, and his integration...

For centuries, the Samurai dominated Japan. Although they have disappeared, their values--honor, loyalty, and bravery-continue to influence Japanese thought today. Where did these fierce warriors come from? How did they achieve such power? This engrossing history recounts the Samurai's foundation...

Haruki Murakami's stories in graphic novel form for the first time! Haruki Murakami's novels, essays and short stories have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into dozens of languages. Now for the first time, many of Murakami's best-loved short stories are...

From the international bestselling author of THE PHONE BOX AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD: a powerful, moving novel of grief, hope, friendship and love based around a real archive on an island in Japan, where people travel to record their heartbeats.

Emiko Jean's New York Times bestseller and Reese Book Club Pick Tokyo Ever After is the "refreshing, spot-on" (Booklist, starred review) story of an ordinary Japanese American girl who discovers that her father is the Crown Prince of Japan! Izumi Tanaka...

A New York Times BestsellerWinner of the Eisner for Best U.S. Edition of International Material--Asia From legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki comes Shuna's Journey, a new manga classic about a prince on a quest for a golden grain that would...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Translated from the Japanese bestseller, a charming and magical novel that reminds us it's never too late to follow our stars. "Mochizuki dazzles in her beautifully crafted contemporary fantasy debut. . . . This gentle fantasy is not to be missed."--...

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE PEN TRANSLATION PRIZE* An unfulfilled college student hurtles through four parallel realities to explore the what-might've-been and the what-should-never-be in this Groundhog Day meets The Midnight Library-esque novel from one of Japan's most popular authors. ...

Two detectives. Two identical women. One dead body-rapidly becoming two, then three, then four. All knotted up in Japan's underground BDSM scene and kinbaku, a form of rope bondage which bears a complex cultural history of spirituality, torture, cleansing, and sacrifice. As Togashi, a junior member...

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE * A TIME BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * From the award-winning, psychologically astute author of The Memory Police, a hypnotic, introspective novel about an affluent Japanese family navigating buried secrets, and their young house guest...

** SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2020 ** A vivid, deeply researched work of history that explores the life of an unconventional woman in Edo - now known as Tokyo - and a portrait of a great city on the brink of momentous change...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER . "A fun, DaVinci Code-style blend of puzzles, mysticism and high-octane action" (People, Best Books of the Month), from theauthor of The Puzzle Master "This rip-roaring adventure thriller is an escapist puzzle box of delights- a...

For fans of BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD, fairy tale and magic are weaved together in sparse language that belies a flooring emotional punch. 'Strange and beautiful. Imagine the offspring of THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE with THE VIRGIN SUICIDES' GUARDIAN

60 years of observation: an American journalist's memoir about Tokyo's modern urban transformation, its criminal underworld and, oh yes, baseball. Tokyo Junkie is a memoir that plays out over the dramatic 60-year growth of the megacity Tokyo, once a dark, fetid backwater and now the...

Loosely inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, the fiendish Gokumon Island is perhaps the most highly regarded of all the great Seishi Yokomizo's classic Japanese mysteries.

"A beautiful translation . . . Yoshimoto deploys a magically Japanese light touch to emotionally and existentially tough subject matter: domestic disarray, loneliness, identity issues, lovesickness . . . [a] nimble narrative." ―ELLE In Moshi Moshi, Yoshie's...

WINNER OF WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 THE NUMBER 2 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK 'A full-fat, Michelin-starred treat' THE SUNDAY TIMES 'Unputdownable, breathtakingly original' ERIN KELLY 'I have been glued to Asako Yuzuki...