In an extended celebration of United Nations World Book Day, Week 5 of our Friday Favorites series bring you reading recommendations from the JASH staff.
Across the Nightingale Floor Tales of the Otori — by Lian Hearn
Choucho Musubi (ちょうちょむすび) — by Yoshitomo IMAE
The Gate (門) — by Natsume SOSEKI (夏目 漱石)
The Dancing Girl of Izu (伊豆の踊子) — by Yasunari KAWABATA (川端 康成)
Katamimi no Ooshika (片耳の大シカ) — by Hatoju MUKU (椋鳩十)
Suiccho Neko (スイッチョねこ) — by Jiro OSARAGI (大佛次郎)
All books can be ordered through Kinokuniya or purchased through Amazon.
Happy reading!
IKUYO
Image from Amazon
Katamimi no Ooshika (片耳の大シカ)
by Hatoju MUKU (椋鳩十)
A large one-eared deer serves as the protector of the island of Yakushima in Kagoshima Prefecture.
Local hunters saw the deer as a prize kill. Frequent attempts were made on the deer’s life, until a storm forces the deer and hunters to explore conflict and coexistence.
KEIKO
Image from Amazon
Choucho Musubi (ちょうちょむすび)
by Imae Yoshimoto (今江祥智)
The family of Pepone the leopard is searching for a way to help him grow whiskers.
Despite the concerns of those around him, whisker-less Pepone learns to embrace his individuality.
LAUREN
Image from Amazon
Across the Nightingale Floor
Tales of the Otori
by Lian Hearn
Takeo is orphaned when a warlord massacres his village.
Explore a land of incomparable beauty torn by civil war; an ancient tradition undermined by spies and assassins; and a society of rigid castes and codes subverted by love.
This is the first book in a stunning trilogy of historical/fantasy novels.
MEGUMI
Image from Amazon
The Dancing Girl of Izu (伊豆の踊子; Izu no Odoriko)
by Yasunari KAWABATA (川端 康成)
A young male university student on a solo summer excursion encounters a group of traveling performers and becomes taken with the young dancing girl of the itinerant quartet.
This well-known short story is by Japan’s first Nobel Prize-winning author.
Kawabata combines the beauty of old Japan with modernist trends to create a lyrical and elegiac memory of early love.
English translation available.
MIDORI
Image from Amazon
Suiccho Neko (スイッチョねこ)
by Jiro OSARAGI (大佛次郎)
Despite warnings from his mother, Shirokichi the kitten swallows a grasshopper while yawning. Follow Shirokichi’s adventures as the grasshopper continues to chirp from inside his belly.
This children’s book is recommended reading by the National School Library Council and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
PATSY
Image from Amazon
The Gate (門; mon)
by Natsume SOSEKI (夏目 漱石)
Sosuke, a humble clerk, and his loving wife Oyone lead a quiet life on the margins of Tokyo, following years of exile and misfortune from having married without the consent of their families.
This delicately emotional tale of “life endured rather than lived” explores the stages of maturity and evolving relationships with family and society.
Considered one of the central masterpieces of 20th-century Japanese literature, as well as Soseki’s favorite work.
English translation by William Sibley.