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  1 0 There's Memoirs of a Geisha...not a bad bit of brain-candy. I found Shogun very absorbing, but I like James Clavell's work a lot. YMMV. Geni answered in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by Basil… 0 0 Yeah, Memoirs of a Geisha was another good one. Forgot about that one. : ) Basil commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 Hi there Lidididi, Big in Japan is published by a local publisher called Chin Music Press, and they've published another novel called Oh! A Novel of Mono No Aware by Todd Shimoda that I reviewed last year. Also: Have you read anything by Amélie Nothomb? She's a Belgian writer who writes almost exclusively about Japan. Her novel Fear and Trembling, about a foreign temp worker in a Japanese corporation, is especially good, and there was a pretty good movie made of it a few years ago that's available at Scarecrow, too. Paul Constant answered in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I picked up a book called American Fuji by Sara Backer last year and was really impressed by it. I got it for cheap and had low expectations, but it turned out to be decent read. Not amazing, but worth your time. http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780425230091-1 A lot of fiction set in Japan written by non-Japanese is going to be pretty terrible, since you have to live there for twenty years before you can write about it. If you don't mind branching out into non-fiction, I've heard Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein is good, and it seems really interesting. As far as translations go, Yukio Mishima is great. His short story Patriotism is hands down the best short story I've ever read. You might also try to find some science fiction short stories. I found a collection at a used bookstore a few years back (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Japanese-Science-Fiction-Stories/dp/156980124X ), and it was an interesting read. Christopher Hussein Graffeo answered in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 1 For books my favorite is Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. It's probably also his most accessible book so it'd be a good place to start. I think it's a bit Catcher in the Rye. The rest of his works are pretty funky and acid trip-y. Too bad BLACK RAIN isn't a book. Perfect answer! 'shroom please. James answered in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by Lidididi, James, and Basil… 0 0 Already read it, and as I said in the question, I'm mostly looking for English language works. No shroom for you! Lidididi commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 So I guess Battle Royale, Brave Story, and Yukio Mishima are bad answers too. I would then go with Shogun as the best non-Japanese novel about Japan. Also check out the mini-series. James commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 This thread is weird. Basil commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 A fun series is by Sujata Massey, starting with the Salaryman's wife. Mysteries, sort of. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_3?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sujata+massey&x=0&y=0&sprefix=suj ozchick answered in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 Although it only partially takes place in Japan, Pynchon's "Vineland" has some really great visual scenes that take place there, like a great pan out at the end of a scene where the reader finds that the characters are standing in a giant lizards footprint, there are also mad scientists and lesbian ninjas. Its been about ten years but the book totally stuck with me. It is very readable for Pynchon, but most of it takes place in California. whiskeydick answered in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 Snow Country by Nobel-Prize winner, Yasunari Kawabata is good. Ellis Avery's The Tea House Fire. elenita answered in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 I just read a short novel called Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto - really good! slackerina answered in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 1 Shogun: http://www.amazon.com/Shogun-James-Clavell/dp/0440178002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264610963&sr=1-1 Battle Royale: http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Royale-Koushun-Takami/dp/156931778X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264611191&sr=1-3 Brave Story: http://www.amazon.com/Brave-Story-Novel-Paperback-Miyuki-Miyabe/dp/1421527731/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264611281&sr=1-1 Shogun is a classic. Battle Royale the book is amazing. Brave Story was a really surprising find for me. I really ended up loving it. Hope that helps. : ) Basil answered in Books & Writing over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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