Books

14 September 2024
Peter Hessler intended to tell a different story when he set out to write his engaging memoir, but his carefully laid plans were hijacked by an unexpected series of events. (Source photos Penguin Press, Peter Hessler) 
American author Robert Whiting's latest book performs a valuable service by giving exuberant life to a neglected, underreported era in postwar Japan history. (Source photos Tuttle Publishing, Robert Whiting)
Books

Author unveils treasure trove of hidden stories about postwar Japan

Robert Whiting captures underworld figures, other colorful 'outsiders' of era

7 September 2024
With his book, historian Frederik Cryns wanted to write an accurate, faithful biography of William Adams, the English sailor who inspired the "Shogun" story. (Source photos Reaktion Books, Getty Images)
Books

Books: William Adams, 'blue-eyed samurai' who never was

Japan-based historian and author pieces together puzzle of the would-be English shogun

24 August 2024
In “The Shortest History of Japan,” Lesley Downer presents a fresh perspective on Japan’s 2,000-year national story. (Source photos Lesley Downer, Getty Images)
Books

Books: Japan's millennia-spanning history, told in a nutshell

Author explores how ancient dilemmas are echoed in the modern world

11 August 2024
This 19th-century gold-plated buckle is one of the many extraordinary items featured in Michael Backman's new book, "Malay Silver and Gold: Courtly Splendour from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand." (All photos courtesy of River Books (London))
Books

Books: Gold and silver artworks highlight Malay royal splendor

Lavishly illustrated volume breaks fresh ground in study of courtly regalia and fine craftsmanship

27 July 2024
Co-authors Paul and Yuangrat Wedel put their joint writing skills and imaginations to work in "Dark Karma," the second book in a historical fiction trilogy set in Thailand's central south region. (River Books)
Books

Books: Karma and drama spring to life in Thailand's central south

Second installment of trilogy explores history of cultural assimilation

14 July 2024
"Before We Forget Kindness" is the fifth book in a series written by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, pictured here at Topping & Co. Booksellers of Bath, a city in southwest England, in October. (Courtesy of Pan Mcmillan)
Books

'Cozy fiction' fires British appetite for Japanese novels in translation

Toshikazu Kawaguchi's 'Before the Coffee Gets Cold' tops best-seller chart

21 June 2024
Author Angela Zhang is a legal scholar. (Source photos by Angela Zhang)
Books

Books: Unraveling the complex ties between Beijing and Big Tech

Angela Zhang digs into byzantine dynamics of regulating Chinese online platforms

11 June 2024
A phenomenal talent with a sunny personality, Shohei Ohtani has done much to bridge the gap between Japanese and American baseball.
Books

Books: Why Shohei Ohtani is the world's greatest baseball ambassador

Japanese pitcher and slugger has taken US by storm

2 June 2024
The Melbourne Writers Festival draws more than 50,000 attendees annually and authors from around the world. (All photos courtesy of the Melbourne Writers Festival)
Life

Melbourne Writers Festival returns to full glory

First event since COVID-19 lockdown will host more than 100 authors

7 May 2024
Korean American author Frances Cha has released two very different books since 2020, but both offer enlightening looks at South Korean culture. (Source photos courtesy of Ballantine Books, Crown Books for Young Readers, Frances Cha)  　
Books

Author delivers a South Korean education to the West

Frances Cha's novels penetrate the culture that lies behind K-pop and kimchi

7 April 2024
Located in Yamaguchi prefecture, Junya Ishigami's House & Restaurant combines the family home and workplace for a chef within a single concrete structure embedded in the earth. (© junya.ishigami+associates)
Books

Books: Documenting the genius of Japanese houses

An intimate look at the most important homes designed by architects since World War II

31 March 2024
Daryl Kho's "Mist-Bound" was inspired by the experience of losing his father after a double stroke and vascular dementia. (Nikkei montage/Source photos courtesy of the author)
Arts

Malaysian fantasy novel portrays battle against dementia

Award-winning author's saga widely translated across Asia

16 February 2024
A Gramedia shop inside conglomerate Kompas Gramedia's office compound in Jakarta. The company operates a network of over 100 such stores nationwide. (Photo by Devin Jimie)
Media & Entertainment

Indonesian book giant turns to tech to fight piracy

Kompas Gramedia unit sees promise in blockchain to defend intellectual property

6 January 2024
A local train passes by a field of sunflowers -- and admiring photographers -- in Hyogo prefecture in western Japan. Author John Dougill opted for smaller trains along rural routes for his new travel book.  
Books

Japan travel book offers inspired insights via slow trains

John Dougill's honest observations and deeply personal style leave a lasting impression

4 January 2024
Author Fuchsia Dunlop's latest book, "Invitation to a Banquet," is a feast filled with intriguing dishes and plotlines. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Norton/Sun Kai)
Books

Chinese cookbook provides food for thought

Fuchsia Dunlop's 'Invitation to a Banquet' serves up a multicourse history

2 January 2024
Author Nguyen Phan Que Mai's novel "Dust Child" plays with themes of regret and trauma but retains a lightness and level of description that will likely make many a reader book a ticket to Ho Chi Minh City. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Oneworld Publications and Nguyen Phan Que Mai)
Books

Vietnamese author explores Amerasian experience with compassion and insight

'Dust Child' examines the complexities of family and the sorrows of war

31 December 2023
Zaw Min Naing and Zaw Zaw Aung fell a mature teak yielding four logs measuring 60 feet in total, in Gangaw, Myanmar. (Photo by Tim Webster)
Books

Books: How teak became Asia's blessing and curse

Sweeping history explores passions spawned by the tropical hardwood

22 December 2023
American author Abraham Verghese said his family's background and experience in India served as inspiration for his sweeping 700-page novel. (Nikkei montage/Source photos courtesy of Christopher Michel, Grove Press)
Books

Books: Doctor brings 'day job' sensibility to saga of southern India

Abraham Verghese says 'Covenant of Water' reflects his 'examination skills'

2 December 2023
In "Made in Taiwan," author Clarissa Wei, pictured here in a yellow apron with collaborator Ivy Chen, illuminates facets of the island's cuisine seldom covered in international media. (All photos © 2023 by Yen Wei and Ryan Chen)
Books

Hit cookbook explores the multiethnic roots of Taiwanese cuisine

Clarissa Wei highlights diverse influences to argue that the island's cooking is not 'Chinese' food

1 December 2023
Uthis Haemamool’s “The Fabulist'' is a small-town family saga that dramatizes -- and challenges -- how official Thai history is written, or fictionalized, and intersects with the lives of common people. (Nikkei montage/Photos courtesy of Uthis Haemamool)
Books

Provincial family tale challenges established Thai 'truths'

Uthis Haemamool's 'The Fabulist' pits small stories against grand narratives

23 November 2023
Director Akira Kurosawa on the set of his 1980 historical epic "Kagemusha." The Japanese maestro and his works are the subject of two recent books. (Courtesy of Ian Buruma)
Books

Books: Kurosawa studies offer intriguing new takes on Japanese film great

Writers place renowned director's 30 movies in historical context

12 November 2023
Communist posters are a fixture of Ho Chi Minh City's landscape. "Vietnam: Asia's Rising Star" dismisses the supposed "sanctity of the voting process, or some essential need to have a 'democracy.'" (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Books

Books: Nascent tiger Vietnam constrained by politics

Will economic prosperity fall victim to communist state's authoritarian system?

19 October 2023
Former Singaporean Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan regards China's attempts to influence other countries as a form of psychological manipulation. (Nikkei montage/Source photos courtesy of Straits Times Press Books)
Books

Books: Veteran Singapore diplomat makes a case for 'realism'

Bilahari Kausikan says ASEAN has overstepped, warns countries hosting Chinese diaspora

12 October 2023
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Books

Books: Photographer captures kaleidoscopic Japan

Hans Sautter and a range of essayists focus on rarely seen aspects of society

2 September 2023