I Am A Cat: The Manga Edition by Soseki Natsume is a beautifully illustrated version of a Japanese classic, the original being written over a hundred years ago.
The book contains pearls of Japanese wisdom as a cat walks among the people of Tokyo.
The whole book is beautifully illustrated by Chiroru Kobato. The cats are stunning.
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What You Are Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama is a serenely beautiful Japanese fiction novel. This is a book that will sink into your heart and soothe your soul.
In the story we hear five stories focusing on five different people who are searching for meaningful lives – without realizing that every life is meaningful and every life is valuable. They all need “somebody who believed in me.”
The librarian does not just have a vast knowledge of books, she has a perception of people. She knows just what each individual is looking for. She presents each one with a small gift as well as pointing them in the direction of the books. Each gift is designed to help that person think about their life. “It’s as if she sees me, just as I am.”
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Sisters Under The Rising Sun by Heather Morris is a powerful true story of survival in the Far East during World War II.
The novel starts in 1942 as the Japanese are invading Singapore. The fear and terror at the docks has been captured by the author. Some, make it home. However, the main characters are captured and spend the war in several Japanese P.O.W. camps. This is their story.
The women show much bravery and resilience. They develop a camaraderie, determined to keep going. Comfort is found in the setting up of an orchestra – which is just the women’s voices. They raise morale giving concerts which even the Japanese guards enjoy.
For the women, their war is one of death and disease in the tropical heat, as well as fear, starvation and cruelty. We witness man’s inhumanity to man.
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Four Seasons In Japan by Nick Bradley is a gentle contemporary novel that I read in just one sitting.
Japanese fiction is soothing for the soul, and Four Seasons In Japan is no exception. There is a calmness and an ethereal beauty to the story.
This is a book within a book as we meet a young translator whose love for novels has gone cold. An accidental encounter with a book left behind on a train, awakens her passion for books once more.
The reader travels from Tokyo to rural Japan as a character goes to stay with his grandmother. He longs to find himself and to decide what to do with his life. Pressure from his mother to become a doctor has unsettled him.
We were created to follow our own dreams and not the dreams of others.
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