Here are 100 books that The Lost Wolves of Japan fans have personally recommended if you like
The Lost Wolves of Japan.
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I have always been fascinated by natural history and dreamed of becoming a paleontologist—until I took my first Japanese language class in college and got “hooked” on that. Eventually, I wound up with a doctorate in Japanese history and spent 30 years teaching at a university in Tokyo. At first, most of my research was on Japanese foreign relations. But I retained a strong interest in science and the environment. After a while, I realized that I could combine that with my love of history and that the result could be relevant to contemporary environmental problems. Serendipity at work! Currently, I’m editing a second book on Japanese environmental history, this one focusing on historical climate change.
There are many other books about the Japanese “triple disaster” (earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown) of 2011, but none that engages so closely and with such resonance on the human element.
The author’s interviews with survivors allowed him to reconstruct events up to and beyond the devastation of Ishimaki City. Most poignant was the fate of students and teachers at Ogawa Elementary School, who drowned following mistaken advice to stay put in the face of the oncoming tsunami.
In places, the account was so painful it left me with tears in my eyes. Read it to learn from the tragedy and to honor those whose lives were lost as well as those who survived against all odds.
'The definitive book on the quake which killed more than 15,000 people.' Mail Online 'You will not read a finer work of narrative non-fiction this year.' Economist 'A breathtaking, extraordinary work of non-fiction.' Times Literary Supplement 'A future classic of disaster journalism.' Observer
On 11 March 2011, a massive earthquake sent a 120-foot-high tsunami smashing into the coast of north-east Japan. By the time the sea retreated, more than 18,500 people had been crushed, burned to death, or drowned.
It was Japan's greatest single loss of life since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I have always been fascinated by natural history and dreamed of becoming a paleontologist—until I took my first Japanese language class in college and got “hooked” on that. Eventually, I wound up with a doctorate in Japanese history and spent 30 years teaching at a university in Tokyo. At first, most of my research was on Japanese foreign relations. But I retained a strong interest in science and the environment. After a while, I realized that I could combine that with my love of history and that the result could be relevant to contemporary environmental problems. Serendipity at work! Currently, I’m editing a second book on Japanese environmental history, this one focusing on historical climate change.
It tells the story of one of Japan’s worst manmade environmental disasters. The author documents the suffering of victims of mercury poisoning caused by consuming seafood tainted by industrial waste. The lyrical descriptions of people and place contrast starkly with the sheer horror of the events being depicted.
There are other books on Minamata disease, but this one—part oral history and part “new journalism”—hits closest to home. I couldn’t stop reading it.
In the early 1950s, numerous cases of organic mercury poisoning were discovered in the fishing villages around Minamata, Japan. Yet for decades after, victims of what is now known as Minamata disease suffered neglect, discrimination, and ostracism by Minamata residents, local government, labor unions, Minamata disease certification committees, and fishers' cooperatives. Fifty years later, renewed efforts began to conserve the environment and reconcile with victims of poisoning, including a flurry of museum-building, citizen waste recycling campaigns, and conferences, symposia, and exhibitions. But this rapprochement in the 1990s took place slowly and with difficulty, as the pain of previous decades was…
I have always been fascinated by natural history and dreamed of becoming a paleontologist—until I took my first Japanese language class in college and got “hooked” on that. Eventually, I wound up with a doctorate in Japanese history and spent 30 years teaching at a university in Tokyo. At first, most of my research was on Japanese foreign relations. But I retained a strong interest in science and the environment. After a while, I realized that I could combine that with my love of history and that the result could be relevant to contemporary environmental problems. Serendipity at work! Currently, I’m editing a second book on Japanese environmental history, this one focusing on historical climate change.
This is not just one of my favorite books on Japanese history; it is one of my favorite books, period.
Written by a team of Japanese and American historians and geologists, it solves a three-hundred-year-old mystery: What caused the tsunami that struck northeast Japan, sans earthquake, in January 1700? (Spoiler alert: The culprit was an M9 temblor along the Pacific coast of North America, which left clues in the geological record and the historical memory of Native Americans.)
The book is profusely illustrated and extremely easy to understand, even for those without a background in the geology of Cascadia or the history of Japan. I can’t recommend it highly enough; I was completely blown away.
A puzzling tsunami entered Japanese history in January 1700. Samurai, merchants, and villagers wrote of minor flooding and damage. Some noted having felt no earthquake; they wondered what had set off the waves but had no way of knowing that the tsunami was spawned during an earthquake along the coast of northwestern North America. This orphan tsunami would not be linked to its parent earthquake until the mid-twentieth century, through an extraordinary series of discoveries in both North America and Japan. The Orphan Tsunami of 1700, now in its second edition, tells this scientific detective story through its North American…
LOT 16 WAS NEVER TO BE SOLD. Generations pass and the estate’s directive is overturned.
Situated on a grassy hilltop overlooking a lake and wildlife preserve, the 30-acre parcel is perfect for Nora and Dex. They’ll escape their city’s rising crime, build a home with an amazing view, work remotely,…
I have always been fascinated by natural history and dreamed of becoming a paleontologist—until I took my first Japanese language class in college and got “hooked” on that. Eventually, I wound up with a doctorate in Japanese history and spent 30 years teaching at a university in Tokyo. At first, most of my research was on Japanese foreign relations. But I retained a strong interest in science and the environment. After a while, I realized that I could combine that with my love of history and that the result could be relevant to contemporary environmental problems. Serendipity at work! Currently, I’m editing a second book on Japanese environmental history, this one focusing on historical climate change.
This book was utterly sui generis when it was published in 1989; with it, Totman singlehandedly created the field of Japanese environmental history.
It also had a huge impact on me personally, showing me how I could combine my interest in environmental issues with my research as a historian. The book’s basic argument is that with such a dense population, Japan today should be an environmental wasteland, but it is instead a beautiful, verdant country thanks to sustainable resource use over many centuries.
Totman focuses specifically on silviculture (forest management) during the Edo period (1600–1867). Viewed in retrospect, his argument is a little oversimplified, but the book remains a must-read for anyone interested in Japan’s environmental history.
This inaugural volume in the Ohio University Press Series in Ecology and History is the paperback edition of Conrad Totman's widely acclaimed study of Japan's environmental policies over the centuries. Professor Totman raises the critical question of how Japan's steeply mountainous woodland has remained biologically healthy despite centuries of intensive exploitation by a dense human population that has always been dependent on wood and other forest products. Mindful that in global terms this has been a rare outcome, and one that bears directly on Japan's recent experience as an affluent, industrial society, Totman examines the causes, forms, and effects of…
I grew up on the West Coast of the US and became fascinated with Japanese culture after I enrolled in a Japanese language course in college. I changed my major from geology to Asian Studies and went on to get a doctorate in Japanese history from Stanford. The first place I lived in Japan was on the western island of Kyushu, historically Japan’s front door to the outside world. This experience led to a lifelong interest in early Japanese foreign relations. Fun fact: despite being from the US I have now lived most of my life in Japan teaching history at a Japanese university.
This one might seem a bit of a stretch. If you are familiar with the Ainu you know they are an ethnic minority from Japan’s northern island, Hokkaido, whose culture exhibits many similarities to that of native Americans from the Pacific Northwest. So why would a book about the Ainu have anything to do with foreign relations or Japan in world history? Well, because Hokkaido was originally not part of Japan and the Ainu were independent of their southern neighbors. This book, an exhibition catalogue, is not only the single best source of information in English about Ainu history and culture but also a visual feast.
As soon as the Ainu became known outside Japan in the early 1800s, scholars recognized that their history was different from that of surrounding Japanese, Korean, and Siberian peoples. This book presents a broad range of contemporary scholarship on Ainu studies by leading European, American, and Japanese scholars, and by native Ainu artists and cultural leaders. Using materials from early, unpublished Ainu collections in North America, supplemented by archaeological, archival, and modern Ainu art from Japan, Ainu culture is presented here as a rich blend of traditional and modern belief. Like other extant native cultures, the Ainu have survived by…
I’m the bestselling author of various books on traveling in Japan, such as Super Cheap Japan and Super Cheap Hokkaido. Over the years, I have also written professionally for several websites and publications, such as the Japan National Tourist Association, GaijinPot, Japan Visitor, and All About Japan. I hope to spread the joys of traveling in Japan, even if you’re on a tight budget!
The most sparsely populated prefecture in Japan is also one of the least visited by foreign tourists. This book is trying to change this, though, and does a splendid job at showing off the best snow spots, volcanic landscapes, and rural hot springs.
Author Aaron Jamieson has lived on the island for more than a decade, and it shows, as he is able to reveal countless hidden wonders that readers would have never known about if it wasn’t for this book. I’ve used it for two trips up north already, but there is still a lot more to do in the book.
**Featured by Ski Asia on their list of "Best Gifts for People Who Love Skiing in Japan" "...if you're looking for more information on Japan's number one ski island, then this is a fantastic book for you or that other person who loves skiing in the land of the rising sun!"
Embark on an unforgettable journey across Japan's vast northern island!
This stunning guide covers all the places and experiences that foreign and Japanese visitors alike find so fascinating about Hokkaido-including the island's spectacular volcanic landscapes, the world's best powder skiing and some of Japan's most incredible ramen and sushi!…
Think how tough it is to reach adulthood in today's complicated world. Now imagine doing so in front of a global audience. That's what growing up in show business is like. Every youthful mistake laid bare for all to see. Malefactors looking to ensnare the naive at any turn. Each…
I’m a scholar of environmental history with a focus on human-animal relationships. I’ve also studied the histories of slavery and the African Diaspora, and in my book I’ve fused approaches from these two fields to look at how human-animal relations and networks shaped the expansion of slavery and slave trading from West Africa to the Caribbean in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. My scholarship is also an outgrowth of my teaching, and I regularly teach American environmental and cultural history at California State University, Northridge. I finished my PhD in history at Rutgers University, and my research has recently been funded by the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William & Mary.
Jakobina Arch is an outstanding scholar of early modern Japan, and her book follows the lives and afterlives of whales in Tokugawa Japan in rich detail. The book is also an excellent international narrative, as Arch dives into the legacy of American whaling in the Pacific World that impacted the Japanese whaling industry.
Japan today defends its controversial whaling expeditions by invoking tradition-but what was the historical reality? In examining the techniques and impacts of whaling during the Tokugawa period (1603-1868), Jakobina Arch shows that the organized, shore-based whaling that first developed during these years bore little resemblance to modern Japanese whaling. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from whaling ledgers to recipe books and gravestones for fetal whales, she traces how the images of whales and by-products of commercial whaling were woven into the lives of people throughout Japan. Economically, Pacific Ocean resources were central in supporting the expanding Tokugawa state.…
I have lived in Japan for the last 30 years but my love for manga, anime, and games is much older and dates back to when UFO Robot Grendizer was first shown on Italian TV a fateful summer evening in 1978. Many years later, I was able to turn my passion for all things Japanese into a job and now I regularly write about politics, society, sports, travel, and culture in all its forms. However, I often go back to my first love and combine walking, urban exploration, and my otaku cravings into looking for new stores and visiting manga and anime locations in and around Tokyo.
Together with TV anime, the first video games (e.g. Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong) arrived in Italy between 1978 and 1981 and completely changed the way my friends and I spent our free time and pocket money. Ten years later I moved to Japan and, again, spent insanely long hours in dark game arcades playing Virtua Fighter. If, like me, you are a game addict, this book will tell you everything you need to know about game history and the intricacies and main personalities of each genre, from shooting and fighting games to retro and card-based games. It’s a huge saccharine high. Now excuse me but I gotta have my fix.
Home of Sega, Nintendo, and Sony, Japan has a unique and powerful presence in the world of video games. Another thing that makes Japan unique in the gaming world is the prevalence of game arcades. While the game arcade scene has died in the U.S., there are 9,500 "game centers" in Japan with more than 445,000 game machines. Arcade Mania introduces overseas readers to the fascinating world of the Japanese gemu senta. Organized as a guided tour of a typical game center, the book is divided into nine chapters, each of which deals with a different kind of game, starting…
I’m a Tokyo-based writer who first came to Japan during university to live with a host family and study the language. After a stint in Shanghai, Japan brought me back in 2012 and I’ve lived here ever since. I’ve cycled across remote Okinawan islands, wandered Kyoto’s cobblestone lanes, and trekked to mountaintop temples in heavy snow. But some of my best memories have happened over homemade plum wine at a friend’s dinner table. I’ve written two books published by Moon Travel Guides and countless articles on Asia, with some being chosen for “best of” lists by The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, andReal Clear World.
Written by the 20th century’s leading interpreter of things Japanese, this travel memoir has a timeless, elegiac quality. Donald Richie lived in Tokyo, but he based this work on a series of trips through the waterways and fishing villages of the glittering Inland Sea. Beyond his beautiful sketches of the seascape itself, his warm, human interactions with fishermen, aunties, merchants, and monks give voice to a disappearing side of Japan. They also serve as a mirror into the metaphorical inland sea within himself––the good, bad, and ugly––which he freely reveals. Seeing the world Richie describes vanish evermore in the decades since, the book’s resonance only grows with age. This is why I find myself diving back into it again and again.
"An elegiac prose celebration ...a classic in its genre."-Publishers Weekly In this acclaimed travel memoir, Donald Richie paints a memorable portrait of the island-studded Inland Sea. His existential ruminations on food, culture, and love and his brilliant descriptions of life and landscape are a window into an Old Japan that has now nearly vanished. Included are the twenty black and white photographs by Yoichi Midorikawa that accompanied the original 1971 edition. Donald Richie (1924-2013) was an internationally recognized expert on Japanese culture and film. Yoichi Midorikawa (1915-2001) was one of Japan's foremost nature photographers.
Katy: The Woman Who Signed the Declaration of Independence
by
Betty Bolté,
One woman, Mary Katharine Goddard, signed the Declaration of Independence and risked hanging by doing so.
She was supposed to marry and have children, living the ‘normal’ life of an 18th-century woman. Destiny said otherwise. Instead, at the behest of her impulsive brother, she moved from one colony to another,…
I lived and taught in Asia for over 30 years and love the place to bits. Leaving Oxford for Singapore may have seemed like a daring adventure in 1980, but it complemented my doctoral research and introduced me to a wonderful set of students who have enriched my life ever since. Asia has a fascination for me that I can’t resist. I have written and edited 15 books on naval and defence themes, much of which have been set in the Asian continent. An associate editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography for the past 25 years, I am also the editor for the series Cold War in Asia.
If you know your Pacific War and are familiar with all the major land and sea battles, you may think there’s not much that’s new to discover about the campaign for Okinawa. And maybe there isn’t. But for those who aren’t specialists, this book will prove fascinating. It’s not a page-turner in the accepted sense of the term because most pages appall with the dreadful futility of it all. I couldn’t read more than a dozen pages at a time without feeling a sense of desperation at the almost casual sacrifice of lives on both sides in this war of attrition. No wonder many veterans of Okinawa found it difficult to talk about the horror of it afterward and carried dark memories of their tortured experiences to their graves.
From the award-winning historian, Saul David, the riveting narrative of the heroic US troops, bonded by the brotherhood and sacrifice of war, who overcame enormous casualties to pull off the toughest invasion of WWII's Pacific Theater -- and the Japanese forces who fought with tragic desperation to stop them.
With Allied forces sweeping across Europe and into Germany in the spring of 1945, one enormous challenge threatened to derail America's audacious drive to win the world back from the Nazis: Japan, the empire that had extended its reach southward across the Pacific and was renowned for the fanaticism and brutality…
