The Only Gaijin in the Village by Iain Maloney

It explores politics and economics, design and aesthetics, and even Japanese philosophy and ethics to look at how toys, games, and cartoons from Japan ended up, as the book’s title rightly says, conquering the world. The journey that Pure Invention takes us on really is a captivating one. From here he looks at how this led to anime and Hello Kitty. Matt Alt, a Japan-based writer and translator, begins this book with World War II and the man who created the toy car: a little metal Jeep with a working axel and rolling wheels the kind that countless children have owned over the decades. If you grew up on Japanese anime and video games, if you’ve ever owned a Walkman or a karaoke machine, or if you were ever curious about the economic boom of Japan in the second half of the 20th Century, Pure Invention is for you. Pure Invention - or, to give the book its full title, How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World - is an essential and captivating history lesson for anyone curious about how such things as anime and manga, video games, karaoke, kawaii culture, and Hello Kitty came to dominate global pop culture. To help answer these questions, here are the best Japanese books - Japanese novels, history books, and culture guides - to read before you visit Japan. What is it that the Japanese value? How does their country work with so much harmony and peace? Why is their art as unique and beautiful as it is? But before we do any of this, we should really get a better understanding of what makes Japan special.

Fuji, to shop for anime merchandise in Akihabara. We visit Japan from all over to see the Kinkaku-ji of Kyoto, to climb Mt. Japanese Ghost Stories by Lafcadio Hearnīeautiful Books to Read Before you Visit Japan.An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro.The Only Gaijin in the Village by Iain Maloney.Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami.Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata.How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart by Florentyna Leow.A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun, and Zen by Jonathan Clements.Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Ferguson.

Beautiful Books to Read Before you Visit Japan.