Books - The Rough Guide to Tokyo - page 251

HARUKI MURAKAMI
One of Japan's most entertaining and translated contemporary writers, Haruki Murakami
( W harukimurakami.com), has been hailed as a postwar successor to the great novelists
Mishima, Kawabata and Tanizaki, and talked of as a future Nobel laureate. Many of Murakami's
books are set in Tokyo, drawing on his time studying at Waseda University in the early 1970s
and running a jazz bar in Kokubunji, a place that became a haunt for literary types and, no
doubt, provided inspiration for his jazz-bar-running hero in the bittersweet novella South of
the Border, West of the Sun .
A good introduction to Murakami is Norwegian Wood , a book in two volumes about the
tender coming-of-age love of two students, which has sold over five million copies. The truly
bizarre A Wild Sheep Chase and its follow-up Dance Dance Dance are funny but unsettling
modern-day fables, dressed up as detective novels. Considered among his best works are
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle , a hefty yet dazzling cocktail of mystery, war reportage and
philosophy, and the surreal Kafka on the Shore , a murder story in which cats talk to people and
fish rain from the sky.
After Dark , set in the dead of Tokyo night, has all the usual Murakami trademark flourishes,
from quirky characters to metaphysical speculation, while his mega-opus 1Q84 , a complex tale
of cults and assassins set in 1984, unravels over three volumes totalling more than 1600 pages.

the Libertine collects together a range of essays including
pieces on Japan-bashing, Hiroshima, Pearl Harbor, the
authors Mishima Yukio and Tanizaki Jun'ichirō and the
film director Ōshima Nagisa.
Peter Carey Wrong About Japan . The Booker-prize
winning Australian author treats his anime-obsessed
12-year-old son to a trip to Tokyo, and thoughtfully
arranges interviews with such luminaries as Yoshiyuki
Tomino and Hayao Miyazaki. Carey's befuddled opinions
about anime's cultural impact will strike a chord with many
other parents wondering about their offspring's obsession.
Edmund de Waal The Hare with Amber Eyes: a Hidden
Inheritance . The tale of a family heirloom - some netsuke
carvings found in his uncle's Tokyo apartment - written by
one of Britain's most famous contemporary ceramicists.
Edward Fowler San'ya Blues . Fowler's experiences living
and working among the casual labourers of Tokyo's San'ya
district makes fascinating reading, revealing the dark
underbelly of Japan's economic miracle and blowing apart
a few myths and misconceptions on the way.
Ì Robin Gerster Legless in Ginza . A funny and spot-on
account of the writer's two-year residence at Japan's most
prestigious university, Tokyo's Tōdai. Gerster writes with
an Aussie verve and notices things that many other expat
commentators ignore.
Alex Kerr Dogs and Demons . A scathing and thought-
provoking attack on Japan's economic, environmental and
social policies of the past decades, by someone who first

came to Japan as a child in the 1960s and has been
fascinated by the country ever since. Also worth reading
is his earlier book Lost Japan .
Gunji Masakatsu Kabuki . Excellent introduction to kabuki,
by one of the leading connoisseurs of Japanese drama,
illustrated with copious annotated photos of the great actors
and the most dramatic moments in kabuki theatre.
Ì Simon May Atomic Sushi . British Professor of
Philosophy Simon May looks back over his year as a guest
lecturer at the prestigious Tokyo University. The result is
a highly readable book full of finely observed insights as
May muses over life in Japan, from coping with the surreal
bureaucracy to the intricacies of gift-giving.
Joan Stanley-Baker Japanese Art . Highly readable
introduction to the broad range of Japan's artistic tradi-
tions (though excluding theatre and music), tracing their
development from prehistoric to modern times.
Robert Twigger Angry White Pyjamas . The subtitle
“An Oxford poet trains with the Tokyo riot police” gives
you the gist. Twigger provides an intense forensic account
of the daily trials, humiliations and triumphs of becoming
a master of Aikido.
Robert Whiting Tokyo Underworld . This well-researched
tale follows the ups and downs of Nick Zapapetti, a larger-
than-life Italian American who arrived with the occupying
forces in 1945 and stayed on to become “the king of
Roppongi” and Tokyo's Mafia boss. In the process, Whiting
also charts the history of the yakuza in postwar Japan.

GUIDES AND REFERENCE BOOKS
Enbutsu Sumiko Old Tokyo: Walks in the City of the
Shogun . Tokyo's old Shitamachi area is best explored on
foot, and Enbutsu's guide, illustrated with characterful
block prints, helps bring the city's history alive.

Thomas F. Judge and Tomita Hiroyuki Edo Craftsmen .
Beautifully produced portraits of some of the traditional
craftsmen still working in the backstreets of Tokyo. A timely
insight into a disappearing world.