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

Updated December 31, 2024
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The travelling cat chronicles
Arikawa, Hiro
Paper Book
A book that "speak[s] volumes about our need for connection--human, feline or otherwise" (The San Francisco Chronicle), The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a life-affirming anthem to kindness and self-sacrifice that shows how the smallest things can provide the...
The Decagon House murders
Ayatsuji, Yukito
Paper Book
A classic Japanese murder mystery inspired by the golden age of British crimewriting.
Shogun : a novel of Japan
Clavell, James.
Paper Book
The classic epic novel of feudal Japan that captured the heart of a culture and the imagination of the world, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author and unparalleled master of historical fiction, James Clavell After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few...
Beyond me
Donwerth-Chikamatsu, Annie
Paper Book
In the spirit of A Place to Belong, this remarkable novel-in-verse examines the aftershocks of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in 2011 through the eyes of a young girl who learns that even the smallest kindness can make a difference. March 11, 2011 ...
Diary of a Tokyo teen : a Japanese-American girl travels to the land of trendy fashion, high-tech toilets and maid cafes
Inzer, Christine Mari
Paper Book
**2017 Creative Child Magazine Preferred Choice Award Winner** **2017 Moonbeam Children's Book Award Gold Medal Winner** A book for comic lovers and Japanophiles of all ages, Diary of a Tokyo Teen presents a unique look at modern-day Japan through a young...
Tokyo ever after
Jean, Emiko
Paper Book
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...
Fifty words for rain : a novel
Lemmie, Asha
Paper Book
A Good Morning America Book Club Pick and New York Times Bestseller!   From debut author Asha Lemmie, "a lovely, heartrending story about love and loss, prejudice and pain, and the sometimes dangerous, always durable ties that link a family together." -...
Calling the wind : a story of healing and hope
Ludwig, Trudy
Paper Book
Inspired by the Wind Telephone in Japan, this poignant story explores the stages of grief, the healing power of hope, and the unbreakable family bonds that connect us all. From the acclaimed author of The Invisible Boy and the award-winning illustrator of One. In a...
The boy from the dragon palace : a folktale from Japan
MacDonald, Margaret Read
Paper Book
2012 Storytelling World Award Best Children's Books of the Year 2012, Bank Street College 2011 NYPL 100 Books for Reading and Sharing STARRED REVIEW! "The text is nicely repetitive and includes satisfyingly disgusting nose...
Shuna's journey
Miyazaki, Hayao
Paper Book
An early single volume manga with story ideas seen in later Miyazaki works. A story about a prince who left his kingdom and went to the west to look for a golden ear. Based on a Tibetan folk tale. In Japanese. Annotation copyright Tsai Fong Books, Inc. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.
The tatami galaxy : a novel
Morimi, Tomihiko
Paper Book
*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. ...
The rope artist
Nakamura, Fuminori
Paper Book
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...
Mina's matchbox
Ogawa, Yo?ko
Paper Book
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...
The blossom and the firefly
Smith, Sherri L.
Paper Book
From the award-winning author of Flygirl comes this powerful WWII romance between two Japanese teens caught in the cogs of an unwinnable war, perfect for fans of Salt to the Sea, Lovely War, and Code Name Verity. Japan 1945. Taro is a talented...
Stranger in the Shogun's city : a Japanese woman and her world
Stanley, Amy
Paper Book
*Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Biography* *Winner of the 2020 National Book Critics Circle Award* *Winner of the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography* A vivid, deeply researched work of history that explores the life of an unconventional woman...
The puzzle box : a novel
Trussoni, Danielle
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER . "A fun, DaVinci Code-style blend of puzzles, mysticism and high-octane action" (People, Best Books of the Month), from the author of The Puzzle Master "This rip-roaring adventure thriller is an escapist puzzle box of delights- a...
Lonely castle in the mirror
Tsujimura, Mizuki
Paper Book
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!  A Studio Ghibli-esque work of Japanese translation "that lays bare the anxieties and desperation--and the small triumphs--of adolescence" (Locus), for fans of Mieko Kawakami's Heaven. Seven students find unusual common ground in...

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