 | The Roads to Sata: A 2000-mile Walk Through Japan (Travel Library) by Alan Booth
Buy used from: £2.00 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.
|
 | Looking for the Lost: Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan (Kodansha globe series) by Alan Booth
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £3.54 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.
|
 | Hitch-hiker's Guide to Japan by Will Ferguson
Buy used from: £2.58 Blissfully funny, but also with some real depth. Gives a great feel for how Japan is now, through a disarmingly simple travel framework.
|
 | Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology by Steven D. Carter
Buy new: £18.16 / Used from: £21.21 Sample some Japanese poetry in quiet, unaffected translations, with romanised versions of much of the original Japanese. Soul-soothing.
|
 | 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.
|
 | The Making of Modern Japan by MB Jansen
Buy new: £14.95 / Used from: £12.92 You can't afford the Cambridge history, so buy this. Ludicrously good value for money.
|
 | Japan (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) by Chris Taylor
Buy used from: £0.50 God bless Lonely Planet. Knocks all other Guide books into oblivion.
|
 | Japan by Rail by Ramsey Zarifeh
Buy used from: £3.64 But this is also excellent. If you're going, get a Rail Pass first, and then get this book. Have a great trip.
|
 | Japanese Made Easy by Tazuko Ajiro Monane
Buy new: £3.34 / Used from: £2.77 Easily the best cheap and comprehensible introduction to the language. If you want more, try the BBC materials too.
|
 | Fruits by Shoichi Aoki
Buy new: £12.97 / Used from: £6.90 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.
|
Listmania!
