Category: Japanese books
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βMariko Nagaiβs Imaginary Death: The Genre-Bending Architecture of Wartime Testimonyβ by James AuΒ Kin-Pong Mariko Nagai, Imaginary Death, Punctum Books, 2025. 297 pgs. It is difficult to determine the genre to…
![[REVIEW] βMariko Nagaiβs πΌππππππππ¦ π·πππ‘β: The Genre-Bending Architecture of Wartime Testimonyβ by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/imaginary-death-mariko-nagai.png?w=600)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Uno Chiyo (author), Rebecca Copeland (translator), The Story of a Single Woman, Pushkin Press, 2025. 106 pgs. Everything in Uno Chiyoβs The Story of a Single Woman, translated from…
![[REVIEW]Β βThe Trembling of Memory: Self and Society in Uno Chiyoβs πβπ ππ‘πππ¦ ππ π ππππππ πππππβ by Wani Nazir](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/uno-chiyo-author-rebecca-copeland-translator-the-story-of-a-single-woman-pushkin-press-1.jpg?w=977)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Hiroko Oyamada. Hiroko Oyamada (author), David Boyd (translator), The Hole, New Directions Publishing, 2020. 112 pgs. As a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βUnanswered Questions of Balance: Hiroko Oyamadaβs πβπ π»πππβ by Tyran Grillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/hiroko-oyamada_the-hole.jpg?w=778)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Life Ceremony. Sayaka Murata (author), Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator), Life Ceremony, Granta Books, 2022. 266 pgs. Whenever I encounter the name Sayaka Murata,…
![[REVIEW] “Tender Aberrations: Reading Sayaka Murata’s πΏπππ πΆππππππ𦔠by Tyran Grillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/sayaka-murata-author-ginny-tapley-takemori-translator.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Hiroko Oyamada. Hiroko Oyamada (author), David Boyd (translator), The Factory, New Directions, 2019. 128 pgs. Hiroko Oyamadaβs The Factory weaves…
![[REVIEW] βA Senseless Menagerie: Hiroko Oyamadaβs πβπ πΉπππ‘πππ¦β by Tyran Grillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/the-factory.png?w=562)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yuta Takahashi (author), Cat Anderson (translator), The Chibineko Kitchen, John Murray, 2024. 192 pgs. The Japanese iyashikeiβor healingβgenre has resonated deeply with readers worldwide, offering solace and comfort through…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Dining with the Departed: Yuta Takahashiβs πβπ πΆβπππππππ πΎππ‘πβππ” by Aditi Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/the-chibineko-kitchen-john-murray-1.jpg?w=651)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Idol, Burning. Rin Usami (author), Asa Yoneda (translator), Idol, Burning, Canongate, 2022. 96 pgs. Rin Usamiβs Idol, Burning (γζ¨γγηγγ, 2020) offers an incisive exploration of…
![[REVIEW] “Belief, Devotion, and Estrangement in Rin Usamiβs πΌπππ, π΅π’πππππ” by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/idol-burning-canongate.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Idol, Burning. Rin Usami (author), Asa Yoneda (translator), Idol, Burning, HarperVia, 2022.144 pgs. Japan, for me, has long been a pop music paradise. On my…
![[REVIEW] βWhen a Passion Turns Toxic: Rin Usamiβs πΌπππ, π΅π’πππππβ by Wendy Tokunaga](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rin-usami-author-asa-yoneda-translator-idol-burning.jpg?w=946)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yasunari Kawabata (author), Edward G. Seidensticker (translator), Snow Country, Vintage, 1996. 192 pgs. The short review goes a little something like this: Is it possible for one to love…
![[REVIEW] βLove Lies Wasted: Yasunari KawabataβsΒ ππππ€ πΆππ’ππ‘ππ¦β by A. B. Freeman](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/yasunari-kawabata.jpeg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Banana Yoshimoto (author), Michael Emmerich (translator), Asleep, Grove Atlantic, 2001. 171 pgs. If youβve read Banana Yoshimotoβs celebrated novella Kitchen, there wonβt be much surprise in Asleep for…
![[REVIEW] βThe Art of Retelling, Benign Ghosts and ππππ ππ π΄π€πππ in Banana Yoshimotoβs π΄π ππππβ by Elnura Huseynova](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/asleep_banana-yoshimoto.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Woman in the Purple Skirt. Natsuko Imamura (author), Lucy North (translator), The Woman in the Purple Skirt, Penguin Random House, 2021. 224…
![[REVIEW] βObsessed: On Natsuko Imamuraβs πβπ πππππ ππ π‘βπ ππ’ππππ πππππ‘β by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/the-woman-in-the-purple-skirt.jpg?w=925)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Life Ceremony. Sayaka Murata (author), Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator), Life Ceremony, Granta Books, 2023. 272 pgs. Sayaka Murataβs Life Ceremony is a disturbing…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βWhen The Translations Hit, They Really Hit: Sayaka Murata’s πΏπππ πΆπππππππ¦β by Grace Najmulski](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/life-ceremony_cha.jpg?w=933)
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