04 - A book set in Japan (host of the 2020 Olympics)

[Sara]

First to mind for me:

Shōgun
Memoirs of a Geisha
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
The Samurai's Garden

Listopia link: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

[Drakeryn]

Confessions - contemporary novel about a middle school teacher who discovers her daughter was murdered by two of her students. (Also works for the WOC author prompt, since the author is Japanese)

[Piajensen13]

Most of Haruki Murakami's books takes place in Japan.

[Jenn]

Convenience Store Woman
Tokyo Ueno Station

[Jenn]

Pachinko

[Anabell]

I am going to Japan next year so am looking forward to reading several books taking place in Japan. So will really look forward to your suggestions.
So far I will read The Way of the 88 Temples: Journeys on the Shikoku Pilgrimage

[C.L.]

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley takes place in Japan. It's the sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and comes out in February 2020.

[Piajensen13]

Cece wrote: "The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley takes place in Japan. It's the sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and comes out in February 2020."
I've been so looking forward to her next book, but didn't know it would take place in Japan. Can't wait to read it.

[Ann]

I highly recommend by Natsuo Kirino

[Hannah]

I read both Pachinko and Confessions this year. Both were very good.

[Jenn]

I had to read Naomi for an Asian Civ class and I enjoyed it.

As I said in the thread for the Olympic host prompt, Tokyo Ueno Station deals with both the 1964 and 2020 Olympics and takes place in Tokyo.

[K.L.]

The Salaryman's Wife is a great mystery set in Japan, and the first book in a series of 11.

The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn is also a great read if you enjoy young adult mysteries.

[Linda]

I liked Convenience Store Woman

[Di]

This one caught my eye in the local bookshop... I'm going to go with it

[Karin]

The Housekeeper and the Professor is excellent and is also by a Japanese author.

Shōgun is historical fiction set in Japan.

[Lexi]

I really like Shipwrecks as one of favorite books this year but be very careful with reading reviews and many do not label a very major spoiler.

[Tytti]

Drakeryn wrote: "(Also works for the WOC author prompt, since the author is Japanese)"

I am pretty sure the Japanese wouldn't appreciate being called "people of color", as it sounds racist even to me... It's very much a US term and not exactly politically correct in most other countries, I believe. And I wouldn't use it for Africans or Latin Americans, either, or anyone else really, except maybe for US Americans.

[Drakeryn]

I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?

[Alex]

Silence

Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering

xxxHolic, Vol. 1 if manga counts. Actually this would work for the Olympics prompt too since it's set in modern-day Tokyo.

[Karin]

Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"

My understanding is that persons of colour are anyone who isn't white. Japan has a long history of racism in and of itself although things are changing there now, but I suspect it would depend on who you ask and where they live. AND here is an article by an East Asian woman who is angry when people don't call East Asians people of colour https://nextshark.com/east-asians-peo....

[Kristen]

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Wonderful true story

[Nadine in NY]

Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"


You’re not wrong

[Lukutar ☘]

[Brandon]

Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 1: The Assassin's Road

The Usagi Yojimbo series is another great choice for this challenge.

[Tytti]

Nadine wrote: "Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"


You’re not wrong"

Maybe that's true in the US where people are still categorized by "race" (which says a lot about the country...) but I doubt that a Japanese author living in Japan defines herself by a term invented and used almost solely by Americans and one that probably doesn't actually mean anything to her (not to mention that her skin looks about as white as mine). She isn't American so could you please keep your racist labels to yourself and not apply them to the rest of the world that doesn't agree with them? (And where a Caucasian means a person from the Caucasus region, not a racial definition that, ironically, probably doesn't include the real Caucasians.)

Also that article seems to have been written by an Asian American and she only writes about issues concerning USA, so I doubt she is talking for all the Asian people living in Asia, only (maybe) for those living in the US. It's still an US American perspective, not an Asian one.

[Jen W.]

I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn - part of the book is set in the US, but most of it is set in Japan.

[writer...]

Popsugar 2020 Challenge ~
Japan features in

To the Farthest Shores by Elizabeth Camden

[Robyn]

Piajensen13 wrote: "Cece wrote: "The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley takes place in Japan. It's the sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and comes out in February 2..."

Cece wrote: "The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley takes place in Japan. It's the sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and comes out in February 2020."

Oh yay I didn't know it was going to be a series! I'm so excited now. Loved the first one so much.

[Chandra]

The Warcross duology by Marie Lu takes place in Japan! I read it this year and it was a lot of fun!!

[Nadine in NY]

Tytti wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"


You’re not wrong"

Maybe that's true in the US where people are still categorized by "race" (which says..."


Tytti - You've made it clear that you don't like the term. But you know that neither I nor anyone else in this group created the term, nor did we create this list, so arguing about its offensiveness is not productive here. You are free to interpret it in a way that works for you, or to ignore it entirely and make a new category for yourself.

[Agnieszka]

Karin wrote: "The Housekeeper and the Professor is excellent and is also by a Japanese author..."

I agree it's a great book I read it recently and loved it so much I plann to read all the books my library has as soon as possible.

So my books for this propt will be either Das Museum der Stille lit. transl: The Museum of Silence or Schwimmen mit Elefanten lit. transl: Swimming With Elephant(s)

[Michelle]

Ann wrote: "I highly recommend by Natsuo Kirino"

I LOVED this book. I'm going to try her book Real World for this prompt. The ratings aren't quite as high but it sounds interesting anyway.

[Michelle]

Murakami is one of my favorites, and I highly recommend his books The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (probably his best, in my opinion) and Norwegian Wood (my second fave, and the only one of his books that is 100% realistic, instead of his usual surrealistic style. This one is particularly depressing though). I haven't enjoyed his short stories as much, personally, and his latest book was super disappointing, in my opinion.

[Hannah]

If I can get a copy through my library, I’m going to read The Woman in the White Kimono. It’s a dual timeline book with part of the present day set in the US, but hopefully enough of the book is set in Japan for it to count.

[Beth]

I'm thinking of doing The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike for this one

[Rachel]

I have been wanting to read Warcross so I am going to pick this one.

[The Chapter Conundrum (Stacey)]

Rainbirds by Clarissa Goenawan works for this prompt too :)

[Karin]

Tytti wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"


You’re not wrong"

Maybe that's true in the US where people are still categorized by "race" (which says..."

Someone in Japan might not, but there are many people of Japanese descent her who do, so the question is, since this is an American challenge, to we go by the American definition of the definition in the country of the author?

My mother's family comes from the very first country in the world to outlaw slavery back in 1117 AD (Iceland, whose history has been wrongly stereotyped as primarily pillaging Vikings--easy to google this) and my dad from a religion that has been both abolitionist and pacifistic since its inception about 500 years ago, and his family on both sides comes from generations of this. Since coming to Canada both sides of my family have been becoming more multi-racial through marriage and partnership and my entire family is accepting of this When one of my adopted brothers came out as gay in 1984 almost everyone was immediately accepting, plus my dad already knew but waited for him to come out). BUT I do have one aunt on my dad's side who was very mean to my brother about that, so I am not saying my family has all been accepting.

SO, what I find since coming to live in the US is that I am stereotyped before even opening my mouth, and so is almost everyone else.

[Tanu]

A Pale View of Hills would be a good one for this, although it is a bit confusing. I’ve chosen Pachinko

[Darci]

I'm probably going with Warcross. However, My Brother's Husband, Volume 1 also looks really good.

[Ellyn]

Hiroshima, if anyone is looking for a short, easy, nonfiction read.

[SadieReadsAgain]

I'm going for Geisha of Gion, which is apparently the story of the woman that Memoirs of a Geisha is based on. I loved that book when I read it about ten years ago, but apparently Mineko Iwasaki didn't like what he did with her story so she wrote this.

[Angela]

Goodreads automatically sorts books by the setting, should it be listed in the description.
https://www.goodreads.com/places/25-j...

[Books, Brews & Booze]

The Official Godzilla Compendium: A 40 Year Retrospective

[Brooke]

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
A book that focuses on the female body & revolves around the stories of three women in Japan.
Will be published April 17, 2020

[Emma]

For anyone who likes creative fantasy the Red Winter trilogy Red Winter is one of my favorites. It was such a unique idea and a very interesting mix of Japanese mythology.

[Angelina]

Kazuo Ishiguro some of his earlier books would work.

[Angelina]

The Earthquake Birdseen the film on netflix and that’s in Japan don’t know the book

[SJP_Winter]

I'm currently reading Audition by Ryu Murakami

[Jenny Dahl Bakken]

Lian Hearn´s books are set in a (fictional) Japan, but clearly Japan.