{"id":24489,"count":16,"description":"Which books to read about Japan, its history, its novels, its literature? We asked experts to recommend the best books in their field or area of interest and you'll see some of their choices below.\r\n\r\nFor a short book that gives insight into the history of Japan, we recommend Inventing Japan<\/em><\/a> by Ian Buruma. The book covers the period from 1853 to 1964, the dramatic period in Japanese history that saw the Meiji Restoration, World War II and the American occupation as well as the beginnings of the astonishing Japanese economic miracle that catapulted Japan into one of the world's economic powerhouses. For a gripping nonfiction book about contemporary Japan, Ghosts of the Tsunami <\/em><\/a>is a good choice.\r\n\r\nIf you're looking for one of the classics of Japanese literature, the book you're looking for is The Tale of Genji<\/em><\/a> by the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikubu. It is a doorstopper, so if you're only mildly interested, the manga version of The Tale of Genji<\/em> by Waki Yamato<\/a> might be a better fit.\r\n\r\nOf the big names of the 20th century, it's the Japanese author Kenzabur\u014d \u014ce<\/a> who won the Nobel Prize for literature, back in 1994. Haruki Murakami<\/a> is probably better known outside Japan, and several of his books, including The Windup Bird Chronicle<\/em><\/a>, have been recommended on Five Books.\u00a0<\/em>\r\n\r\nIf you're travelling to Japan and looking for a lighter read or a book to read on the plane, a detective novel is no bad place to start, and we have an interview recommending five classic Japanese mysteries.<\/a>\r\n\r\nJapanese Authors<\/a> | Japanese History Books<\/a> | Best Japanese Novels<\/a> |","link":"https:\/\/fivebooks.com\/category\/world\/asia\/japan\/","name":"Japan","slug":"japan","taxonomy":"category","parent":5616,"meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivebooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/24489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivebooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivebooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/taxonomies\/category"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivebooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/5616"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivebooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts?categories=24489"},{"href":"https:\/\/fivebooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book?categories=24489"},{"href":"https:\/\/fivebooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/books_like_this?categories=24489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}