 | The Roads to Sata: A 2000-mile Walk Through Japan (Travel Library) by Alan Booth
Buy used from: £0.33 This book overcame all my prejudices about Japan. I was born only 8 years after the war. I've since been to Hiroshima 3 times. Please read this book.
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 | Looking for the Lost: Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan (Kodansha Globe Series) by Alan Booth
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £4.16 Booth died of cancer at 47. This is his swansong to the wonderful country which he loved. Like all his writing, it's warm and generous.
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 | Hitch-hiker's Guide to Japan by Will Ferguson
Buy used from: £12.80 Blissfully funny, but also with some real depth. Gives a great feel for how Japan is now, through a disarmingly simple travel framework.
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 | Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology by Steven D. Carter
Buy new: £16.02 / Used from: £15.28 Sample some Japanese poetry in quiet, unaffected translations, with romanised versions of much of the original Japanese. Soul-soothing.
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 | One Man's Justice by Akira Yoshimura
Buy used from: £0.01 A war story from a Japanese perspective. Utterly gripping, psychologically deep. A perspective on Japanese suffering.
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 | The Making of Modern Japan by MB Jansen
Buy new: £14.20 / Used from: £14.11 You can't afford the Cambridge history, so buy this. Ludicrously good value for money.
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 | Japan (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) by Chris Taylor
Buy used from: £2.00 God bless Lonely Planet. Knocks all other Guide books into oblivion.
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 | Japan by Rail by Ramsey Zarifeh
Buy used from: £10.00 But this is also excellent. If you're going, get a Rail Pass first, and then get this book. Have a great trip.
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 | Japanese Made Easy by Tazuko Ajiro Monane
Buy new: £3.71 / Used from: £8.05 Easily the best cheap and comprehensible introduction to the language. If you want more, try the BBC materials too.
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 | Fruits by Shoichi Aoki
Buy new: £12.97 / Used from: £7.00 Pure fun item. My daughter is going to Japan on the JET scheme. Hope she doesn't blow all HER money on clothes, but fear the worst.
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