What to Read if You’re Visiting Japan

All of Higashino’s books are great, but this is one of the best, and it happens to be the first in the Detective Galileo series. We follow Detective Ksuanagi of the Tokyo Police as he tries to piece together the mysterious events surrounding a murder where we, the reader, already know who committed the crime.

Haruki Murakami is probably the most famous Japanese author in the world, and maybe you’ve read some of his books before. I have a lot that I really enjoyed. This one, however, is one of my favorites. It’s two stories in one, and although others can criticize it for not being a good blend, it is the distinctions within this book that distinguish it for me. See what I did there?

This is a short, heartwarming novel broken into four parables following a narrative flow. Each section of the book teaches the main character (and us) another lesson. Quick to read, it manages to be easy to read yet very meaningful in substance. It is a love letter to books from all of us that love books. Also, it will give you some interesting insights into the culture and dynamics in Japanese high schools and the hikikomori culture.

There’s a good chance you may have heard of this book, as it has been around a while. If not, it is a quiet, subtle book that gives you insight into the dynamics of Japanese culture, family, and community. Also, the main character is bordering on what the Japanese call a day-old Christmas cake (e.g., a woman who isn’t married at 25).

If you are looking to dip a toe into the magical realism genre without committing to a heavy-hitter like Murakami, this might be the book for you. This short novel is set in a magic photo studio that lets the recently deceased review photos of their lives in a spinning lantern of memories and select a cherished memory. Where does the lantern land? That changes for each of us.

Sadly, I think this book is underrated by readers. It’s a novel in vignettes, following interconnected characters through their nights working and living in Tokyo. The reader not only gets a really interesting peek into Tokyo life for graveyard workers, but the setting is quite visceral as well.

If you wonder why Japan has so many books with cats in it, that’s because cats are symbols of good luck in Japan. I photographed many happy kitties blissfully chilling around many places in Japan. I didn’t know their venerated status at the time, but it all makes sense now. There’s a myth that if you are nice to cats, they will return the favor. That is the premise of this charming book.