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Highlights of Japan

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

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Eyewitness Guide Japan

Eyewitness Guide Japan

by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2013
  • PAPER
  • 408 PAGES

Dazzling illustrations, architectural cutaways and color photographs, along with useful local maps, give this guide to Japan's many attractions a distinct edge. (JPN130, $28.00)

The Art and Culture of Japan

The Art and Culture of Japan

by Nelly Delay

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 160 PAGES
  • CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE
    • >

Lavishly illustrated, this handy pocket encyclopedia introduces the art, architecture and culture of Japan. With 165 archival and modern illustrations and a section of original documents. (JPN51, $12.95)

In Praise of Shadows

In Praise of Shadows

by Junichiro Tanizaki

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 73 PAGES

This extended essay by the great Japanese novelist, first published in 1933, offers tremendous insight into traditional Japanese art, architecture and design. (JPN19, $16.00)

Japan, A Traveler's Literary Companion

Japan, A Traveler's Literary Companion

by Jeffrey Angles

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

This geographically-organized anthology introduces both Japan and its best contemporary writers. (JPN187, $14.95)

Japan Map

Japan Map

by Periplus Maps

  • 2009
  • MAP

This convenient map covers the island nation at a scale of 1:2,000,000, with insets of the major cities. (JPN06, $8.95)

 
70 Japanese Gestures

70 Japanese Gestures


by Hamiru-aqui

  • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 158 PAGES

A clever guide to body language and slang in Japan as demonstrated in 70 witty black-and-white photographs and explanatory text. (JPN193, $9.95)

Fodor's Tokyo's 25 Best

Fodor's Tokyo's 25 Best


by Fodor's Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

A shirt-pocket map and practical guide. (JPN05, $12.99)

Japan Bilingual Map

Japan Bilingual Map


by Kodansha International

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER

This full-color double-sided map includes the entirety of Japan at a scale of 1:500,000, as well as individual maps of Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya and Fuji-Hakone. (JPN209, $14.95)

Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook

Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook


by Yoshi Abe

  • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 259 PAGES

A handy palm-sized guide to pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler. (JPN136, $8.99)

Embracing Defeat, Japan in the Wake of WWII

Embracing Defeat, Japan in the Wake of WWII


by John W. Dower

  • HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 676 PAGES

A social and political history of the postwar years in Japan. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, it's an eye-opening account by a leading scholar of Japanese-American relations at MIT. (JPN54, $19.95)

Geisha

Geisha


by Liza Crihfield Dalby

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 380 PAGES

The observations of an American graduate student who apprenticed as a geisha, interpreting this intriguing role in traditional Japanese society. (JPN49, $26.95)

Getting Wet, Adventures in the Japanese Bath

Getting Wet, Adventures in the Japanese Bath


by Eric Talmadge

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2006
  • HARD COVER
  • 256 PAGES
  • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

Tokyo-based Talmadge journeys from seaside resorts to mountain retreats and megaplexes in this cultural history of Japan through the tradition of the bath. (JPN197, $22.00)

Hiroshima

Hiroshima


by John Hersey

  • HISTORY
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 152 PAGES

Never sensational, this 1946 classic by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Hersey puts a human face on the unthinkable. Hersey explores the tragedy through interviews with residents, scientists and politicians. (JPN20, $7.95)

Inventing Japan, 1853-1964

Inventing Japan, 1853-1964


by Ian Buruma

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 194 PAGES

A favorite writer with keen insight about Japan, Buruma offers an admirably succinct, dramatic history of Japan's transformation from feudal state to host of the 1964 Olympics, with a focus on World War II. (JPN139, $12.95)

Japanese Culture

Japanese Culture


by Paul Varley

  • HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 383 PAGES

Valery traces cultural trends from the emergence of Japanese civilization through the present age, touching on religion, gardens, tea ceremony, the visual arts, theatre, literature and cinema. (JPN84, $24.00)

The Book of Tea

The Book of Tea


by Kakuzo Okakura

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 116 PAGES

A graceful, witty meditation on Japanese aesthetics and culture as reflected through the tea ceremony. A celebrity and cultural ambassador, Okakura was a curator at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. (JPN21, $9.95)

Unsui, A Diary of Zen Monastic Life

Unsui, A Diary of Zen Monastic Life


by Giei Sato

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1973
  • PAPER
  • 142 PAGES

The daily life of the monastery as depicted in 97 watercolor sketches. Giei Sato looks back at his time as an apprentice with warmth and grace. (JPN145, $22.00)

Japanese Art

Japanese Art


by Joan Stanley-Baker

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 223 PAGES

Concise, thoroughly illustrated and comprehensive, this handsome book in the "World of Art" series is a fine survey of Japanese art from the prehistoric period to modern Japan. With 167 illustrations. (JPN08, $19.95)

Japanese Gardens

Japanese Gardens


by Gunter Nitschke

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2007
  • HARD COVER
  • 240 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

In keeping with the aesthetics of a Japanese garden, Gunter Nitschke has produced a simple but elegant tribute with this collection of photographs. (JPN270, $14.99)

The Art of the Japanese Garden

The Art of the Japanese Garden


by Michiko Kimura Young | David Young

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 176 PAGES

An illustrated profile of aristocratic gardens, graveled courtyards, Zen and other Japanese gardens, featuring 250 color photos. (JPN181, $55.00)

36 Views of Mount Fuji, On Finding Myself in Japan

36 Views of Mount Fuji, On Finding Myself in Japan


by Cathy Davidson

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

A thoughtful set of witty reflections on Japan, Japanese culture and the adventure of living overseas by a talented writer who taught at an all women's university in Japan in the 1980s. (JPN65, $23.95)

Dave Barry Does Japan

Dave Barry Does Japan


by Dave Barry

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 210 PAGES

Good will ambassador and columnist Barry takes no prisoners in this outrageous commentary on Japan and its culture. (JPN234, $15.00)

Learning to Bow, Inside the Heart of Japan

Learning to Bow, Inside the Heart of Japan


by Bruce Feiler

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 321 PAGES

As surprising, helpful and informative as it is funny, this is an insightful account of travels and teaching in Japan. Feiler presents anecdotes on the rituals, personality traits and cultural peccadilloes of the Japanese. (JPN111, $13.99)

The Inland Sea

The Inland Sea


by Donald Richie

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 255 PAGES

Richie's masterpiece, more than a travel account, is a beautiful reflection on all things Japanese by one of its most acute observers. (JPN13, $16.95)

Black Arrow

Black Arrow


by I. J. Parker

  • MYSTERY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

Detective Akitada must solve a series of brutal slayings in the northern city of Echigo. (JPN201, $15.00)

Memoirs of a Geisha, A Novel

Memoirs of a Geisha, A Novel


by Arthur Golden

  • LITERATURE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 434 PAGES

The runaway best-selling novel about a geisha in the celebrated Gion district of Kyoto. A major feat of literary impersonation, the novel is rich in period detail and ceremony. (JPN45, $15.95)

Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories

Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories


by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 268 PAGES

Modern and pre-modern clash in this crisp new edition of Akutagawa's celebrated stories. (JPN317, $17.00)

South of the Border, West of the Sun

South of the Border, West of the Sun


by Haruki Murakami

  • LITERATURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Murakami stirs jazz, neon-lit streets, out of the way shrines, hustle and bustle and wonder into this lyrical tale of love in contemporary Tokyo. (JPN213, $14.95)

The Hell Screen

The Hell Screen


by I. J. Parker

  • MYSTERY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

Suguwara Akitada returns in another mystery of 11th-century Japan, with rich ambiance and superb historical detail. This time, a murder in a temple catches Akitada unprepared. (JPN327, $14.00)

The Old Capital

The Old Capital


by Yasunari Kawabata | J. Martin Holman

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 160 PAGES

Kawabata captures perfectly the tension between tradition and new ways in postwar Japan in this lyrical novel set in Kyoto. (JPN185, $15.95)

The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon


by Shonagon Sei | Ivan Morris

  • LITERATURE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

Exquisite short essays and vignettes of Japanese court life in the Heian period. (JPN76, $17.00)

Thousand Cranes

Thousand Cranes


by Yasunari Kawabata | Edward G. Seidensticker

  • LITERATURE
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 147 PAGES

This novella by the great Kawabata may be Japan's best-known literary work, a story of love, grief and redemption. Kawabata's prose is as economical as the tea ceremony itself, and very beautiful. (JPN34, $15.00)

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Japan and North-East Asia

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Japan and North-East Asia


by Shimba Tadao

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 512 PAGES

Featuring 800 color photographs, up-to-date range maps and notes on identification. (JPN264, $40.00)

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