"An intimate voyage into Japanese culture and spirituality, culminating in one of Japan's most sacred places. Marie Mutsuki Mockett's family owns a Buddhist temple 25 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In March 2011, after the earthquake and tsunami, radiation levels prohibited the burial of her Japanese grandfather's bones. At the same time, Mockett grieved for her American father, who had died unexpectedly. As Japan mourned thousands...

In 1971, author and film scholar Donald Richie published a poetic travelogue about his explorations of the islands of Japan's Inland Sea, recording his search for traces of a traditional way of life as well as his own journey of self-discovery. Twenty years later, filmmaker Lucille Carra undertook a parallel trip inspired by Richie2s by-then-classic book, capturing images of hushed beauty and meeting people who still carried on the fading customs...

"Step back into old Japan in this fascinating travelogue of the famous Kiso Road, an ancient route used by samurai and warlords, which remains much the same today as it did hundreds of years ago. Travel with William Scott Wilson, esteemed translator of samurai philosophy, along Japan's famous Kiso Road (Kisoji in Japanese), an ancient and historic route that runs from north to south through the Kiso Valley in the Japanese Alps. The road was officially...

"Born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and an American father in 1997, Christine Mari Inzer spent her early years in Japan and relocated to the United States in 2003. The summer before she turned sixteen, she returned to Tokyo, making a solo journey to get reacquainted with her birthplace. Through illustrations, photos, and musings, Inzer documented her journey. In Diary of a Tokyo Teen, Inzer explores the cutting-edge fashions of Tokyo's trendy Harajuku...

A charming collection of quirky insights into Japanese culture. The Magic of Japan is writer Hector Garcia's intensely personal account of his fifteen years in Japan. A self-professed "otaku" or Japanese anime geek since childhood, Garcia has worked for a Japanese software company, mastered the language, and become one of Japan's most popular bloggers. This book is the culmination of his experiences and showcases Garcia's unique ability to delve beneath...

"An immersive journey through the culture and cuisine of one Japanese town, its forest, and its watershed--where ducks are hunted by net, saké is brewed from the purest mountain water, and charcoal is fired in stone kilns--by an American writer and food stylist who spent years working alongside artisans. One night, Brooklyn-based artist and food writer Hannah Kirshner received a life-changing invitation to apprentice with a "saké evangelist" in...