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My Current Favorites [December 2021]: My Favorite Books about Japan

December 19, 2021 /

After spending months reading books that were a bit too political and too business-oriented, I wanted to find some lightness again, a bit of travel through novels or autobiographies. Here is my list of books about Japan that I really enjoyed. Some were read a few years ago, and I revisit certain passages from time to time.

Memoirs of a Geisha

I don’t know when my passion for geishas started; I’ve read quite a few books about geishas, the most glamorous and artistic women in Japan. They are not courtesans but artists: they excel in singing, dancing, musical instruments, and also in the art of conversation.

I found two books that I really like, including this one by Arthur Golden. He interviewed numerous geishas and former geishas, and his book became a bestseller, adapted into a film. Unfortunately, both the book and the film made headlines, but for the wrong reasons.

When the book came out, Iwasaki, a former geisha he had interviewed, accused him of lying about certain details: the prostitution of geishas through mizuage & the sexual services required by their danna (a sort of sponsor).

As for the film, the Chinese public was furious to see three famous Chinese actresses playing the three geishas. We all know that the Japanese committed atrocious crimes in China, and the hatred toward Japan hasn’t faded overnight.

Despite the inconsistencies and historical and geographical errors in both the book and the film, the two works truly transport us to pre-war Japan. We shift eras, countries, languages… and are immediately immersed in that glamorous yet bitter world of geishas.

  • Book: Geisha (Amazon link, Fnac link) 8,9€
  • Film (DVD): Memoirs of a Geisha (Amazon link, Fnac link) 20,25€

Geisha: A Life

Following the success of Arthur Golden’s novel, Iwasaki, a very famous former geisha, was angry about the truths twisted by the author. She decided to write her own autobiography to set the record straight, and her book also became a bestseller. She recounts with touching poetry and nostalgia her childhood, her lost paradise, and how she became the most celebrated geisha in Gion. There are some nice details about Japan, like the fact that she has been shaving her face every month since she was one year old. She also talks about the training of geikos (geishas in Kyoto) and the Miyako Odori festival held every spring in Kyoto (it’s thanks to her book that I discovered it and attended with JB.).

She is a geisha at heart, so her writing isn’t as polished as a writer’s, but the content is very interesting. She tried, in vain, to modernize the world of geishas but came up against the weight of tradition.

An Encouragement of Learning

An Encouragement of Learning, published between 1872 and 1876, is the most important work of the Meiji era (1868-1912). Its author, Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901), undertakes a double task: to think about how Japan can and must “achieve civilization” and to convince his compatriots to follow him on this path, which he believes is the only way to avoid colonization by foreign powers.

An absolute bestseller of its time, this book, which played a crucial role in the construction of modern Japan, offers many keys to understanding what the Meiji Restoration really meant for the Japanese.

During the Edo era, Japan completely closed itself off. However, when they saw Westerners everywhere in Asia and faced the threat of being reduced to a colony themselves, the Japanese realized they had to modernize—it was a matter of survival. Missions were sent around the world for two years to observe the Western world and learn from its successes and mistakes. Fukuzawa Yukichi was part of these missions. He brought back many foreign books, but above all, he wrote many books—including one that had a huge impact on Japan, even to this day: An Encouragement of Learning. His book is still a bestseller in Japan, more than a century later.

This book, although essential for understanding the Japanese people’s determination and their devotion to their country, was only translated into French in 2018. However, not only is the translation careful, but the preface and afterword are very comprehensive and help to understand the context and the overall content of the work.

While the first part is the most famous (it is actually a speech given at the opening of a school), the other parts complement it and provide clarifications and critiques. The entire work was written and published over several years.

The content is surprisingly modern. And after reading it, you not only want to learn, keep learning, but also to serve your country as you should. I think the first part could be given to teenagers to read. Because it’s easy to understand (the speech was written to be understood by everyone), and there are sentences that are still true today, such as:

It is said that Heaven creates no man above another nor below another. (…) The difference between the wise and the foolish simply comes down to whether one has studied or not. (…)
The line between freedom and selfishness is crossed when you harm others.

The one responsible for tyranny is not the government, but the people themselves who cause their own misfortune. Since a stupid people calls for tyrannical power, it is logical that good citizens should be led by an enlightened government. And it is because, currently, in our country, we have such a people, that we also have such a government. Should the people become less virtuous, sink into ignorance or illiteracy, and the laws of the land will become more repressive.

Amélie Nothomb’s books

I’ve read so many negative things about Amélie Nothomb, and seeing her photo on the cover of her annual novel doesn’t help: why is it so important to have her face on every novel? But you should never judge a book by its cover, so I started by reading her best book about Japan Ni d’ève ni d’Adam and I was pleasantly surprised.

It’s not easy to find Westerners who master Japanese perfectly, have lived with Japanese people, and can recount with such humor and detail the cultural differences, the difficulties of the language, etc. Amélie Nothomb, in just a few sentences, brilliantly takes us along with her on her adventures in 90s Japan.

Her books are always too short and can be read in a few hours. I highlighted a lot of things because you learn things that exist nowhere else: why she thought her fiancé was part of the yakuza (Japanese mafia) when he had no tattoos? How do you ascend and descend Mount Fuji? Why do you have to pay a conversation partner during dinners? etc. There are passages where you’re absolutely dying of laughter.

Then, her novel Stupeur et tremblements deals with a more serious subject: racism and sexism in Japanese companies. How Japanese culture strips away the little individualism each employee has to aim for overall efficiency. Her experience in a Japanese firm is so incredible that many people accused her of lying, exaggerating, being more a novelist than an autobiographer… But in the middle of this hell on earth, she still finds self-derision, humor… so much so that despite the serious subject of the book, we laugh a lot too.

These are the two novels I recommend with my eyes closed.

The third: La Nostalgie Heureuse is like a Behind the Scenes of a report she did with TV5, to return to Japan after 16 years. This one made me shed way too many tears. I don’t recommend it for its literary value, but for your curiosity. You should know that Amélie Nothomb’s books are translated into Japanese, so her return allows you to see the people she talks about in her books, but also to see how they react during the reunions, as they have also read things written about them. In this book, there’s a passage where her translator confirms that Amélie didn’t exaggerate at all what was happening within Japanese firms, where her former Japanese fiancé reflected on the earthquake and the Fukushima disaster. Apart from that, you learn less about Japan than about Amélie herself.

I advise you to read this book while watching the report – for more information.

In this report, she also explains why her face is everywhere: after the success of her first novel Hygiène de l’assassin, people couldn’t believe that a 23-year-old young woman could write such a book, and that it was necessarily a man behind it – hence her need to put her photo on the cover. Poor Amélie also recounted the gang rape she suffered at age 12, she confessed without shame to hearing a mean voice inside her permanently since that event, and how she silences it through writing. She is a colorful character, but also very touching, and I really struggle to understand the criticism against her. People mainly judge her for her varied vocabulary (attributed to snobbery), but above all her surname – you’d think that in the Francophone world, you can’t be rich and talented. It’s too much for one person.

I sincerely hope this list has given you some reading ideas. Feel free to read our articles (travel diaries & guides) about Japan.

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