Recommendations based on "South of the Border, West of the Sun: A Novel"

A TIME BESTBOOK OF THE YEARA WASHINGTON POST BEST FEEL GOOD BOOK OF 2023For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, a charming, internationally bestselling Japanese novel about how the perfect book recommendation can change a readers’ life.What are you looking for? So asks Tokyo’s most enigmatic librarian. For Sayuri Komachi is able to sense exactly what each visitor to her library is searching for and provide just the book recommendation to help them find it.A restless retail assistant looks to gain new skills, a mother tries to overcome demotion at work after maternity leave, a conscientious accountant yearns to open an antique store, a recently retired salaryman searches for newfound purpose.In Komachi’s unique book recommendations they will find just what they need to achieve their dreams. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library is about the magic of libraries and the discovery of connection. This inspirational tale shows how, by listening to our hearts, seizing opportunity and reaching out, we too can fulfill our lifelong dreams. Which book will you recommend?

Hiroshima-born Sadako is lively and athletic--the star of her school's running team. And then the dizzy spells start. Soon gravely ill with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease," Sadako faces her future with spirit and bravery. Recalling a Japanese legend, Sadako sets to work folding paper cranes. For the legend holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the extraordinary courage that made one young woman a heroine in Japan.

These translated poems were written by 2 ladies of the Heian court of Japan between the ninth and eleventh centuries A.D. The poems speak intimately of their authors' sexual longing, fulfillment and disillusionment.

Now available to today s readers in an enhanced new edition with photographs, this acclaimed work offers a complete portrait of the life and the far-reaching influence of the man many Japanese critics refer to as "the father of modern haiku." Beichman puts Shiki s brief, energetic life, his personality, and his fertile work--including haiku, tanka, and diaries--into fascinating context. As the earliest to write haiku that were modern in both theme and subject, Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) is a prominent figure in modern Japanese literature. Born one year before the Meiji Restoration, he was in many ways a transitional figure, with his writings standing midway between the pre-modern and modern periods and his character and life shaped by both. Janine Beichman takes care in this elucidating work not to overemphasize Shiki s popular image as a haiku poet, and informs readers about other important yet little-known aspects of Shiki s work. Includes translations acclaimed for their sensitivity, as well as understandable literary analysis.

In his perfectly crafted haiku poems, Basho described the natural world with great simplicity and delicacy of feeling. When he composed The Narrow Road to the Deep North he was a serious student of Zen Buddhism setting off on a series of travels designed to strip away the trappings of the material world and bring spiritual enlightenment. He wrote of the seasons changing, of the smell of the rain, the brightness of the moon and the beauty of the waterfall, through which he sensed the mysteries of the universe. These travel writings not only chronicle Basho's perilous journeys through Japan, but also capture his vision of eternity in the transient world around him.

Past and present collide when an American missionary unearths an ancient Japanese scroll and becomes entangled with the nobleman whose family’s history lies in the delicate pages in this “timeless tale of intrigue and romance” (Booklist) from the author of Cloud of Sparrows.“One of the most impressive feats of storytelling to come along in years.”—San Francisco Chronicle BooksAn embattled family. A centuries-old secret. An epic tale of courage, love, and betrayal. In the year 1311, in the highest tower of Cloud of Sparrows Castle, a beautiful woman sits by the window, watching as enemies gather below. As she calmly awaits her fate, she begins to write, carefully setting down on a scroll the secret history of the Okumichi clan . . . of the gift of prophecy they share and the extraordinary destiny that awaits them.For six centuries, these writings lay hidden—until they are uncovered by an American missionary named Emily Gibson, who arrived in Edo harbor in 1861. Soon an extraordinary man would enter her life: Lord Genji of the Okumichi clan, a nobleman who must defend his embattled family—and confront forbidden feelings for an outsider in his midst. Emily soon finds a mission of her own: translating Genji’s ancestral history. But as Emily sifts through the fragile scrolls, she begins to see threads of her own life woven into the ancient writings. And soon a hidden history comes to life, and with it a secret prophecy that has been shrouded for centuries, and may now finally be revealed.

From the acclaimed author of Malice and Newcomer, a confounding murder in Tokyo is connected to the mystery of the disappearance and death of Detective Kaga's own mother.A decade ago, Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga went to collect the ashes of his recently deceased mother. Years before, she ran away from her husband and son without explanation or any further contact, only to die alone in an apartment far away, leaving her estranged son with many unanswered questions.Now in Tokyo, Michiko Oshitani is found dead many miles from home. Strangled to death, left in the bare apartment rented under a false name by a man who has disappeared without a trace. Oshitani lived far away in Sendai, with no known connection to Tokyo - and neither her family nor friends have any idea why she would have gone there.Hers is the second strangulation death in that approximate area of Tokyo - the other was a homeless man, killed and his body burned in a tent by the river. As the police search through Oshitani's past for any clue that might shed some light, one of the detectives reaches out to Detective Kaga for advice. As the case unfolds, an unexpected connective emerges between the murder (or murders) now and the long-ago case of Detective Kaga's missing mother.The Final Curtain, one of Keigo Higashino's most acclaimed mysteries, brings the story of Detective Kaga to a surprising conclusion in a series of rich, surprising twists.

"Cartoonist Keiji Nakazawa was seven years old and living in Hiroshima in the early days of August 1945 when the city was destroyed by an atomic bomb dropped by the United States. Starting a few months before that event, his ten-volume saga Barefoot Gen shows life in Japan after years of war and privations, as seen through the eyes of seven-year-old Gen Nakaoka. In Volume Nine, Gen continues to confront one setback after another -- the loss of his home, the death of a friend -- when a chance encounter gives new direction to his life. An impoverished but talented artist takes Gen under his wing and teaches him to paint. Inspired by the artist's assertion that 'art has no borders, ' Gen vows to become an artist himself, and takes a job as apprentice to a local poster painter. Despite merciless bullying from his boss and the older apprentices, Gen perseveres in the pursuit of his new calling"--Page 4 of cover.

"It's not easy squeezing your life into a suitcase and hopping on a plane halfway across the world. Then again, the most meaningful things in life are never easy. In this hilarious comic book, Grace weaves fact and fiction - to create an authentic window into the life of an American living in Tokyo. Joined by her husband, Ryosuke, and their imaginary pet rabbit, Marvin, watch as this young couple tries to carve out a little slice of 'home' deep in the concrete jungle of Tokyo, without going crazy."--Amazon.com.

In this book, the two field mice celebrate winter while discovering the joy of friendship and generosity. Guri and Gura are having a snowball fight when, suddenly, they come upon huge footprints in the snow. Following the prints to their house, they find inside an unexpected winter guest - an old man with a long white beard. With a joyous 'Merry Christmas', he presents Guri and Gura with a beautiful cake, which they share with their friends in the forest.