Books on Asia

Show Notes Mike Freiling was born in San Francisco. His interest in poetry was first kindled in the mid-‘60’s, when he attended high school near the Haight Ashbury district, and attended readings by American Beat poets Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, and Lenore Kandel. Freiling attended University of San Francisco and MIT and helped co-found MIT’s literary magazine Rune. He studied poetry under David Ferry at Wellesley. After receiving his PhD, he was named a Luce Scholar with an appointment to Kyoto University, In 2014, Freiling returned to Kyoto where he and his wife Satsuki Takikawa co-translated They Never Asked, an anthology of senryu poetry written by Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. Today we’re going to talk about his translation of the 100 Poems From Old Japan published by Tuttle in 2025, some 46 years after Freiling's first draft.   The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Bruce Rutledge and Chin Music Press John talks to Bruce Rutledge, founder of Chin Music Press, about running an independent Asia-focused press, the origins of the company in Tokyo, and the move to Seattle, where Chin Music now has a bookstore in Pike Place Market. They talk about Chin Music’s highly successful graphic novel trilogy on the Japanese American incarceration experience during World War II. The wide-ranging conversation is an honest celebration of the challenges and pleasures of independent publishing. Chin Music Press books mentioned in the episode include: Their very first book, an anthology called Kuhaku, published in 2005. Goodbye Madame Butterfly: Sex, Marriage and the Modern Japanese Woman by Sumie Kawakami (2007/2010) Japan’s Urushi Craftsmen: Can Old World Artistry Survive in the 21st Century? by Bruce Rutledge (2020) When the Waves Came by Michael Larson (2020) WE HEREBY REFUSE: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration) by authors Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura and illustrators Ross Ishikawa and Matt Sasaki (2021). Fighting for America: Nisei Soldiers by Lawrence Matsuda (Author) and Matt Sasaki (Artist) Those Who Helped Us: Assisting Japanese Americans During the War by Ken Mochizuki (Author) and Kiku Hughes (Illustrator) Seattle Samurai: A Cartoonist’s Perspective of the Japanese American Experience by Kelly Goto (Author) and Sam Goto (Drawings) The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Steven Herman spent 1990-2006 in Japan, most of those years with Voice of America. He served as South East Asia Bureau Chief as well as North East Asia Bureau Chief for the Korean Penninsula & Japan. Over his 16 years living in Japan he covered the Kobe Earthquake as well as the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster, which he said was "covering three disasters at the same time." He also recounts his more recent days as a White House Foreign Correspondent, especially his time as a traveling pool reporter. You'll learn what it's like to fly on Air Force One, why he got banned (twice) from X by Elon Musk, that "Presidential M&M's" are a thing, and his best advice for those wanting to write a book about their experiences in a foreign country. Finally, he gives a concise account of what happened to VOA in the Trump Administration, his role as a whistle-blower, and tells us why DOGE shut them down. Herman retired from VOA in mid 2025 and now teaches journalism. In this latter discussion, he reveals how he blew the biggest scoop ever in his journalism career. Herman is currently the executive director of the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy & Innovation in the School of Journalism & New Media at the University of Mississippi. Some of Herman's favorite books on Japan are: Notes in Japan, by Alfred Parsons (1896) No Surrender: My 30-year War the autobiography of Noda Hiro (1974, transl. Charles S. Terry) The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa (Princeton Univ. Press, 1991) Links You can find Steve Herman on social media at: Mastadon, Blue Sky, Threads, Substack, LinkedIn and Instagram The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

John Ross speaks with English travel writer and photographer David Leffman about his new book, A Murder in Yunnan: The Unsolved Killing of a British Diplomat on China’s Southwestern Frontier. The conversation begins with David’s own long engagement with China, which started with a difficult first trip in 1985, and then continued a decade later with work on The Rough Guide to China. In the 1860s, the British dreamed of opening a profitable overland trade route into China from British India via Burma. The 1868 Sladen Expedition scouted a route from Bhamo in Burma to Tengyue/Tengchong in Yunnan, China. The going was difficult because the southwestern frontier area had been devastated by prolonged Muslim uprisings and banditry. The Browne Expedition tried again in 1875. Augustus Raymond Margary, a young British diplomat and gifted Chinese speaker, joined this second expedition after making a remarkable overland journey from Shanghai across the breadth of China. But tragedy soon struck. Margary’s murder near the border – what became known as the Margary Affair – turned into a diplomatic crisis, nearly provoking a third Anglo-Chinese war. This BOA episode contains no spoilers; David doesn’t reveal who he thinks killed the young Englishman, but we do run through some of the many suspects and look at the fallout from this true crime case. And, as icing on the cake, we even hear about a Burmese mission to Peking with elephants as tribute. A Murder in Yunnan is published by the Hong Kong-based Blacksmith Books. It’s due out April 7, 2026 but can be preordered now. To learn more about David Leffman’s writing, visit his website. John has written reviews for Bookish Asia of David’s earlier China books. The Mercenary Mandarin: How a British adventurer became a general in Qing-dynasty China. John also did a related author interview with David for this book. Paper Horses: Woodblock Prints of Gods from Northern China The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Amy discusses the relationship between anti-foreign sentiment, overtourism, and tourist manners in Japan. Protests in Kyoto, Kamakura, and Tokyo claim that overtourism negatively impacts the daily lives of locals. Right-wing populist groups like the Sanseito party further use overtourism to fuel anti-foreign sentiment. With Japan's aging population, and only 59% of the Japanese people in the working age range, foreign workers are being brought to Japan to fill jobs, creating a perceived burden to locals, who are already battling overtourism. Amy also shares examples of poor tourist behavior that exacerbates anti-foreign sentiment. She emphasizes the importance of understanding and respecting Japanese culture to improve the tourist experience. Lastly, she offers tips from her book on how to be polite because, actually, many Japanese manners are not that obvious! The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

On March 1, ferries from Japan's main Island of Honshu to Sado Island (Niigata Prefecture), started running again after their long winter slumber waiting for the frothy Sea of Japan to settle and for calmer winds to set in for reliable crossings. Let's celebrate Spring in Japan with this previous Books on Asia episode with author and travel-writer Angus Waycott who talks about his  8-day walk around Sado Island.  Waycott gives us in-depth accounts of: a mujina (tanuki-worshipping) cult, funa-ema (literally "ship horse pictures"), exile (including those of Zeami and Buddhist priest Nichiren), and the controversy behind the Kinzan gold mine and its "slave labor," all topics that he recorded in his book Sado: Japan's Island in Exile, originally published by Stone Bridge Press in 1996 and re-issued as an e-book by the author 2012 and 2023. Book Description: "Given the choice, no-one ever went to Sado. For more than a thousand years, this island in the Sea of Japan was a place of exile for the deposed, disgraced or just plain distrusted — ex-emperors, aristocrats, poets, priests and convicted criminals alike. This book rediscovers the exiles’ island, explores the truth about its notorious gold mine, tracks down a vanishing badger cult, and drops in on the home of super-drummer band Kodo. Along the way, it paints a vivid picture of one of Japan’s most intriguing backwaters, now emerging from a long exile of its own." About the Author Angus Waycott is an author and travel writer whose books have been published in the UK, USA, Japan and the Netherlands. He has been the voice of TV news broadcasts, commercials, and award-winning documentaries, voiced "character" parts in game software and anime productions, and worked as a copywriter, publisher, teacher, translator, lighting designer, and staircase builder. His books are Sado: Japan's Isand in Exile, Paper Doors: Japan from Scratch (2012), The Winterborne Journey: along a small crack in the planet (2023), and National Parks of Western Europe (2012). Check out his short video on Sado Island. The Books on Asia Podcast is sponsored by Stone Bridge Press. Check out their books on Japan at the publisher's website. Amy Chavez, podcast host, is author of Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan and The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. Subscribe to the Books on Asia podcast. The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Robert Norris has lived in Japan since 1983, mostly in Dazaifu, near Fukuoka, Kyushu. After retiring from university teaching in 2016, he returned to his long-standing passion for writing. The result was a heartfelt memoir about his life – and his mother’s – titled: The Good Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise: Pentimento Memories of Mom and Me (Tin Gate, 2023). In this episode with John Ross, we hear about Robert’s decades in Japan, from his early days learning Japanese through a local softball team, to his later academic career, including his time as a university dean. Naturally, the conversation also turns to books, and some of his favorite works of Japanese fiction. Books & Authors mentioned: The Woman in the Dunes by Abe Kōbō (published in Japanese in 1962; English edition, and film adaptation 1964).No Longer Human by Dazai Osamu (Original Japanese title Ningen Shikkaku, published 1948, English. Edition 1958).The Breaking Jewel by Oda Makoto (English edition, 2003, translated by Donald Keene) Sakaguchi Ango’s short story “The Idiot” ("Hakui," published 1946). In the discussion, Robert Norris referred to the "Buraiha" (無頼派 “decadent school” literary movement), comparing these post-WWII writers to the Beat Generation in the US. The school is associated with Dazai Osamu, Sakaguchi Ango, and contemporaries. Learn more about Robert Norris and his writing at his website. (This episode was originally released on the Bookish Asia Podcast with Plum Rain Press in 2024). The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

In a tribute to the 2026 Winter Olympics being held right now in Cortina, Italy, Amy takes up a discussion of skiing in Japan. Japan has hosted the Winter Olympics 2 times: 1972 (Sapporo) and 1998 (Nagano). Amy introduces previous Washington Post Tokyo Bureau Chief T.R. Reid's guidebook called Ski Japan! (Kodansha, 1993). T.R. Reid lived in Japan for five years during the early 1990's. When the Gulf War started, the world turned its attention to that news, leaving foreign journalists in Japan with some unexpected free time. Reid and his family took action: they went skiing! The result is his 1993 guide to skiing in Japan, called Ski Japan!Tasked with updating the book for 2026-27 skiing and snowboarding audience, Amy talks about some of the points in Reid's book: things that have changed as well as those that have not, and the affects of mass-tourism on Japan's ski resorts.Ski Resorts Mentioned:Niseko, Asahidake, Furano, Naeba, Hakuba Valley, Madarao and Tangram Ski Circus, and Myoko Ski Resorts.Literary Ski SpotsYasunari Kawabata's Snow Country took place in Yuzawa Onsen, the train station you get off at to get to Naeba Ski Area. There's a Snow Country museum behind the station which is excellent.In Sapporo's Odori Park, there is a statue of Ishikawa Takuboku (1886-1912), author and poet: A Handful Of Sand, Romaji Diary and Sad Toys.In Asahikawa, Hokkaido, there is the lovely, contemplative Miura Ayako Literature Museum dedicated to the Christian novelist who lived from 1922-1999, and wrote Shiokari Pass as well as other works not yet translated into English. It's a lovely 30-40 minute walk through the snow from the back of Asahikawa station.There are also several statues and plaques dedicated to the two Austrian fathers of Japanese Skiing: Theordore Von Lerch and Hannes Schnieder. Von Lerch monuments can be found in the front of Asahikawa Airport in Hokkaido, and at Joetsu, Niigata, the latter considered the birthplace of skiing in Japan.   The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

John Ross talks to Lee Moore about his book, China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read (2025, Unsung Voices Books). The book looks at the four important China-related stories that often make headlines: Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong. In this conversation, Lee and John focus mainly on the history of Xinjiang and the Uyghurs, but also cover a wide range of other topics. Hoping to reach a broad audience, Lee took an unusual approach to writing China’s Backstory; although a scholar, he uses colloquial translations of Chinese texts, peppers his paragraphs with colorful language, and generally has a lot of fun. The approach is sure to generate controversy. The book is factually sound, however (it comes with endnotes), and has numerous literary references, as we would expect from the host of the long-running Chinese Literature Podcast.Lee Moore’s book: China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read (2025, Unsung Voices Books).Lee’s podcast: Chinese Literature Podcast Lee Moore’s book recommendationsHe went with three books on China which he describes as “old school scholarship” and ones that most BOA listeners will likely not have read.  1. Michael Pollak’s Mandarins, Jews and Missionaries: Jewish Experience in the Chinese Empire (1980, Jewish Publication Society of America)2. Sarah Paine’s Imperial Rivals: China, Russia and Their Disputed Frontier (1996, M. E. Sharpe)3. Hodong Kim’s Holy War in China: The Muslim Rebellion and State in Chinese Central Asia, 1864-1877 (2004, Stanford University Press)     The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Amy muses on the death of guidebooks due to the internet and reminisces about some oldies but goodies on Japan, from John Murray's Handbook for Travellers in Japan (1891) to more recent guidebooks specializing in hiking mountains and pilgrimages. Books MentionedJohn Murray's Handbook for Travellers in Japan (1890's)Japanese Customs and Manners by Mock Joya (Sakurai Shoten/JTB, 1951)Japanese Etiquette: An Introduction (World Fellowship Committee of the Tokyo WYCA, Charles E Tuttle Co., 1955)Japanese Etiquette, by Bun Nakajima (1955, 1957)Western Manners and English Conversation, by Glenn F. Baker (Sanseido, 1937)Japan Inside Out by Jay, Sumi & Garet Gluck (1964, 1992)Tokyo Subway Guide: Including 40 Bilingual Station Maps, by Boye Lafayette DeMente (Kodansha, 2002)A Guide to Food Buying in Japan, by Caroyn R. Krouse (Tuttle, 1986)A Birdwatcher's Guide to Japan, by Mark Brazil (Kodansha International, 1987)Etiquette Guide to Japan, by Boye De Mente (Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1990)Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 2018)Hiking and Trekking the Japan Alps and Mount Fuji by Tom Fay and Wes Lang (Cicerone, 2019)Japan's Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage, by Kat Davis (Cicerone, 2019) The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester (with Tim McGirk)John Ross talks with Tim McGirk about Simon Winchester’s masterpiece, The Man Who Loved China. That man was Joseph Needham, an eccentric Cambridge biochemist who traveled through war-torn China to document the nation’s scientific heritage. The ensuing book series, Science and Civilisation in China, revealed the world’s debt to Chinese science. John and Tim discuss the “Needham Question” (why China, once the global leader in technology, fell behind) and the scandal that almost ended his academic career. McGirk, a former foreign correspondent who knows Winchester from his early journalism days, shares some reporting anecdotes. Tim also explains how the life of Joseph Needham inspired his own historical novel, The Wondrous Elixir of the Two Chinese Lovers. Books mentionedThe Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom by Simon Winchester (HarperCollins, 2008).Science and Civilisation in China: Needham’s monumental series. Volume 1 was published by Cambridge University Press in 1954.The Diamond Sutra: considered the world’s oldest dated printed book (AD 868).The Wondrous Elixir of the Two Chinese Lovers by Tim McGirk (Plum Rain Press, 2025) People mentionedJoseph Needham: The Cambridge scientist who documented China’s early scientific achievements.Lu Gwei-djen: A scientist from Nanjing who sparked Needham’s interest in Chinese culture, and, after a 51-year romance, his second wife.Dorothy Needham: Joseph’s first wife and a fellow brilliant scientist.H.T. Huang: A refugee from Malacca who served as Needham’s secretary during his epic China expeditions.Zhou Enlai: The Premier of the People’s Republic of China and Needham’s wartime friend who invited him to investigate biological warfare allegations. Selected locations mentionedCambridge University, the UK, specifically Caius College (pronounced “keys”).Chungking (Chóngqìng): China’s wartime capital.Dunhuang: Home of the Mogao Grottos, a vast complex of Buddhist cave temples in northwest China, and where the Diamond Sutra was discovered.    The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

This episode of the Books on Asia podcast introduces new fiction and non-fiction on Japan to be published this year, along with two upcoming books on Taiwan. We present the books here in the order they appear on the podcast. Listen to the episode for more information on each title:Phantom Paradise: Escape from Manchuria, by Kay Enokido(Bold Story Press, January 13, 2026)Kokun: The Girl from the West, by Nahoko Uehashi (transl. Cathy Hirano)(Europa Editions, January 13, 2026)When the Museum Is Closed, by Emi Yagi (transl. Yuki Tejima)(Soft Skull Press, January 27, 2026)Hooked: A Novel of Obsession, by Asako Yuzuki (transl. Polly Barton)(HarperVia, March 17, 2026)Sisters in Yellow, by Mieko Kawakami (transl. Laurel Taylor and Hitomi Yoshio)(Knopf, March 31, 2026)Hollow Inside, by Asako Otani (transl. Ginny Tapley Takemori)(Pushkin Press, May 5, 2026)Japan’s Anime Revolution!: Twenty Animated Films That Changed the World, by Jonathan Clements(Tuttle Publishing, May 12, 2026)Troubled Waters, by Ichiyō Higuchi (transl. Bryan Karetnyk)(Pushkin Press Classics, May 26, 2026)Upcoming 2026 Releases from Plum Rain Press : Taiwan 22: Travels in Paradox, by Tyrel EskelsonRelease date to be announcedHidden Formosa: Life and Travels in Rural Taiwan, an anthology( ed. John Ross)Release date to be announced The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Thomas Bird was living in Southern China when he decided to explore the country by train and write a book about it. He first attempts to trace the steps of Bruce Chatwin after reading an article of his in the New York Times, but eventually decides to just go with the flow, traveling far and wide on China's old railway during the pre-Covid years 2014-2019. He seeks out old lines and trains and chronicles the people he meets along the way to tell readers what China is like today. The result is Harmony Express: Travels by Train Through China.Books and authors included in the discussionRiding the Iron Rooster (1988), by Paul TherouxForgotten Kingdom: Nine Years in Yunnan 1939-48 by Peter Goullart (1955)The Great Walk of China: Travels on Foot from Shanghai to Tibet (2010), by Graham EarnshawBruce Chatwin and Joseph Rock. The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

The 1910 Japan-Britain Exhibition – with Formosa FilesIn this special crossover episode, John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith from Formosa Files: the History of Taiwan Podcast explore how Japan showcased its “model colony” of Formosa (1895–1945). First up is the 1910 Japan–British Exhibition in London, which featured human exhibits – 24 Indigenous Paiwan people from southern Taiwan. Next, they follow Crown Prince Hirohito on his 1923 royal tour of the island, before finishing with the 1935 Taiwan Exposition, a massive event commemorating forty years of rule. To learn more about these stories – and to find other episodes – visit the Formosa Files website.Book recommendation: The primary source for the story of Paiwan tribespeople at the London Exhibition was Lost Histories: Recovering the Lives of Japan’s Colonial Peoples by Kirsten Ziomek (Harvard Asia Center, 2019). The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Amy reads from The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. Chapter 1: The War Widow In 1997, Amy moved to a small island of just 950 people in Japan's Seto Inland Sea. She rented an akiya (empty house) from a widow whose soldier-husband had died in WWII. Six years later, when the widow dies, Amy purchases her home and must finally clear out the old woman's possessions. This is when Amy becomes fascinated with the woman, her life of hardship, and her will to overcome the past. The mystery of this woman's life prompts the author to set out on a year-long journey around the Shiraishi Island to interview the villagers who knew her best.  The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

John Ross, during his schoolboy days in New Zealand, was interested in far-flung places such as South America, Papua New Guinea, Ancient Greece and Rome, as well as books on World War One and Two. He read a lot of youth fiction starting at 10 years old, but as a teenager, had a voracious appetite for nonfiction. In his 20s he discovered a few wonderful fiction writers, but has still kept mostly to nonfiction through the decades.His first books were Willard Price’s Adventure series and Gerald Durrell books on real-life animal collecting. He also read detective and war stories (Biggles) and lots of travel accounts and travel guides.Robert Louis Stevenson was a favorite—Treasure Island, Kidnapped—and later discovered that Stevenson was a very good essayist too. John also enjoyed Rudyard Kipling’s Kim.The ancient Greeks left a great impression on him: Herodotus (The Histories) and Thucydides (The Peloponnesian War)In his early 20s he started reading proper literature:Anna Karenina, Dr Zhivago, George Orwell, and Joseph Conrad. He loved Peter Hopkirk’s The Great Game series featuring colorful adventurers and spies in exotic locations. In his early 30s he discovered Raymond Chandler and in his 40s H.P. Lovecraft.For books on Asia and East Asia, he started reading about Burma in the late 1980s, and early 1990s, and Mongolia in the mid-1990s, and increasingly China and Taiwan, and even some works on Japan.Some well known book titles that made an early impression were Lost Horizon by James Hilton, Burmese Days by George Orwell, The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, and Jonathan Spence’s China books. Also books on Asia by Maurice Collis.Amy’s ReadingAs a child, Amy remembers reading Black Beauty (Anna Sewell, 1877), Walter Farley’s series The Black Stallion (1941), and a book called Ponies Plot (Janet Hickman, 1971). She loved all the required reading for school (some books now banned): English literature such as Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock, Shakespeare’s plays, and lots of Roald Dahl, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and James and the Giant Peach; and American authors John Steinbeck (1930s–1950s), J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye (1951), Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850), Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (1964) and A Separate Peace (1959) by John Knowles. She recalls that in first grade, her teacher read to the class Little Pear (1931), by Eleanor Francis Lattimore, about a Chinese boy.From her parents’ book collection she read Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott (1868), and  Wuthering Heights (1847) Emily Bronte as well as stories by Charlotte Bronte and other classics.In college she moved into more popular literature, again much of it required reading for her classes: works by Thomas Pynchon, Jerzy Kosiński, Blind Date (1977) and The Painted Bird (1965) the latter of which—notably—had a scene on bestiality and would probably be banned as college reading these days!.In high school, her father paid her to read books, and she vividly remembers excerpts from Henry Hazlitt’s The Foundations of Morality (1964), which still influences her choices in life today. She credits her father’s books for her interest in philosophy and a basic understanding of free-market economics.Once she knew she was headed to Japan, she read Edwin Reischauer’s  The Japanese Today (1988), and Japan as Number One, by Ezra Vogel (1979) which were her first books to read about Asia (other than Shogun). For most of her childhood she preferred non-fiction and didn’t start reading fiction seriously till she arrived in Japan and read Haruki Murakami. Now she reads everything!At the end of the podcast Amy & John encourage listeners to write in to ask for suggestions on what books on Asia to give friends or family. They’ll choose one to talk about at the end of each show with appropriate suggested reading. Since the BOA Podcast doesn’t have an email address (yet), they ask you submit requests via social media:Follow BOA on Facebook and contact via Messenger or sign up for the BOA newsletter, from which you can reply directly to each email. There is a BOA Twitter (X) account, but they appear to be locked out at the moment (sigh).They also ask listeners to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review and share it with your friends so that Amy & John can have a happier holiday.May your holidays be bibliophilic: full of black ink, long words, excessive pages and new books! The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Lan Su Garden is a magnificent Ming scholar garden in downtown Portland, Oregon. It opened in 2000, a collaboration between sister cities Portland and Suzhou, hence the name: Lan Su. Photographer and local resident Carol Isaak found refuge there during the Covid pandemic, fell in love with it, and began photographing the oasis through the following seasons and years. The result: her photographic book, Seasons: Lan Su Chinese Garden, published in 2025 by Seattle-based bookstore and publisher Chin Music Press.Carol and John chat about Lan Su, the Asian-American community in the Northwest, and Suzhou’s rich heritage as a center of book culture and scholar gardens, especially during the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644).Also mentioned is the graphic novel We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration by authors Frank Abe, Tamiko Nimura, and illustrators Ross Ishikawa and Matt Sasaki (Chin Music Press, 2021).To see Carol’s work, including photographs of Lan Su, visit her website.  The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

The islands, in order of appearance in the episode, are: Geomun Island (Port Hamilton); the garden island of Oedo (Oe Island – “do” is the Korean word for “island”); Geojedo, site of an important Korean War POW camp and often spelled “Koje”;Ulleungdo and the nearby disputed islets of Dokdo; and the fictional island of Sukhan.Books mentioned in this Episode:A Korean Odyssey: Island Hopping in Choppy Waters (2020) by Michael GibbAnglo-Korean Relations and the Port Hamilton Affair, 1885–1887 (2016) by Stephen A. RoyleThe Hijacked War: The Story of Chinese POWs in the Korean War, (2020) by David Cheng ChangWar Trash (2004) by Ma JinIsland of Fantasy: A Memoir of an English Teacher in Korea (2005) by Shawn MatthewsThe Korea Story (1952) by John C. CaldwellThe Cuttlefish (2005) by Chris Tharp The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Books discussed in this episode, in order of appearance:The Last Great Australian Adventurer: Ben Carlin's Epic Journey Around the World by Amphibious Jeep (Random House Australia, 2017) by Gordon BassOnce a Fool: From Japan to Alaska by Amphibious Jeep by Boye De MenteJapanese Swords and Armor: Masterpieces from Thirty of Japan's Greatest Samurai Warriors (Tuttle, 2024) by Paul MartinThe Modern Japanese Garden by Stephen Mansfield (Thames & Hudson, 2025)The Wondrous Elixir of The Two Chinese Lovers (Plum Rain Press, 2025) by Tim McGirkChina Running Dog, (Plum Rain Press, 2025) by Mark KittoAn American Bum in China: Featuring the Bumblingly Brilliant Escapades of Expatriate Matthew Evans (Camphor Press, ) by Tom Carter (Available in Audio book format, narrated by Eryk Michael Smith)The Cuttlefish, by Chris Tharp (Plum Rain Press, 2025) A Tale of Three Tribes in Dutch Formosa (Plum Rain Press, 2024) by Yao-Chang ChenThe Lotus Moon: Art and Poetry of Buddhist Nun Ōtagaki Rengetsu (Floating World Editions, 2023) by John StevensOther podcasts mentioned:BOA Ep. 56:Ted Goosen on translating Hiromi Kawakami's The Third LoveFormosa Files Podcast about the Amphibious JeepBOA Ep. 39: Paul Martin on Japanese Swords and ArmorBOA Ep. 48: Stephen Mansfield on The Modern Japanese GardenBOA Ep.54: Mark Kitto on China Running DogBOA Ep. 35: John Stevens on The Healing Power of Ōtagaki RengetsuFormosa Files Podcast: Taiwan and Xu Fu, and the Two Chinese Lovers with Tim McGirkFormosa Files Podcast: A Tale of Three Tribes in Dutch Formosa Bookish Asia Podcast: Chris Tharp on The Cuttlefish The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Amy Chavez has a deep discussion with Ted Goossen about Japan, it's emerging culture, it's historically strong women and how Japanese literature and its themes, are changing. In addition to talking about Hiromi Kawakami's novel The Third Love, other mentioned in this podcast episode are feminist Chizuko Ueno, translator John Bester and authors Kanzaburo Oe, Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, Masuji Ibuse and Mieko Kawakami. Goossen is currently reading books by Ruth Ozeki, and short stories by various authors. One older book that made an impression on him was The Anatomy of Dependence by psychologist Takeo Doi, which examines the idea of dependency in relationships among the Japanese.   The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.