Japan Focus

Growing up in the mountains of Japan, Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929) dreamed of becoming an artist. One day, she had a vision in which the world and everyt...

Intended to be a generic line for the Seiyu Supermarket Group, Muji was launched in Japan in 1980, as Mujirushi Ryohin, which means “no-brand quali...

This volume includes nine of Junji Ito's best short stories, as selected by the author himself and presented with accompanying notes and commentary...

A severed hand is found in a van in the outskirts of Tokyo at the same time as contractor Kenichi Takaoka goes missing, leaving his garage covered ...

The Dark Side of Japan is a collection of folk tales, black magic, protection spells, monsters and other dark interpretations of life and death fro...

translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter A charmingly warm and hopeful story of love, friendship, and the power of human connection. Award-winning Ja...

Translated by Allison Markin Powell Among the jumble of paperweights, plates, typewriters and general bric-a-brac in Mr Nakano's thrift store, ther...

Battle-tested project leader at a PR firm and slippery bachelor, Sakuma sees himself as a player. His smug self-regard doesn't seem entirely unfoun...

In 1613 the missionary Father Pedro Velasco's dream comes true. For the first time, the Japanese are going to cross the Pacific Ocean. And he is go...

What Happens Next? follows a child's hilarious, wildly inventive train of thought following the death of his grandfather and the discovery of his j...