Books on Asia is your guide to finding quality books on Japan and Asia, including travel, literature, current events, and culture. Explore Asia in-depth. Hosted by Amy Chavez.
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Sep 28, 2026 · 34:36
Japan by Charinko: Tom Gibb’s 2,500-Kilometer Ride John Ross chats with Tom Gibb about his cycling adventures in Japan, the subject of his newly released Charinko . In the summer…
Sep 21, 2026 · 28:50
Amy and John talk about recent travels in Japan including great museums, treasure halls full of ancient art and manuscripts, and travel by ferry vs. shinkansen. (Don't miss the…
Sep 7, 2026 · 20:46
Alternative title: Lonely Planet arc—from pre-internet days to Instagram + a new Japanese etiquette tip + a couple more guidebook options Amy opens the show with her recent…
Aug 24, 2026 · 35:39
Adachi Masao (born 1939) has lived one of the most extraordinary lives in Japanese cinema. He has made experimental films, worked with leading figures of the Japanese New Wave,…
Aug 17, 2026 · 33:34
Stephen’s childhood in Bendigo, Australia, gave him early exposure to Chinese culture and food. Nineteenth-century gold rushes brought numerous Cantonese workers to the town, and…
Aug 10, 2026 · 34:50
For Tyrel Eskelson, a Canadian academic living in Hokkaido, curiosity about Taiwan-related news stories turned into something of an obsession; there were months of travel,…
Aug 3, 2026 · 33:14
Today 31 US bases sit on a landmass smaller than Rhode Island, and Okinawans remain Japan's poorest people. Why is this? And what is the US military presence actually doing…
Jul 27, 2026 · 29:50
Old Lhasa – A Biography of a Sacred City Michael Aldrich joins John Ross to discuss Old Lhasa: A Biography, his richly detailed portrait of Tibet’s historic capital. It’s the…
Jul 20, 2026 · 19:53
China’s Golden Age on the Western Bookshelf China may seem like a big story today, but its presence on Western bookshelves was even greater during the 1930s. Books about China…
Jul 6, 2026 · 24:20
Amy breaks down Japan's most prestigious literary prizes — starting with the twin titans of the Japanese book world, the Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes, both announced twice a year,…
Jun 22, 2026 · 35:04
John Ross chats with Eryk, his Formosa Files co-host, about the International Booker Prize-winning novel Taiwan Travelogue . Set in colonial Taiwan in 1938, the story is told by…
Jun 15, 2026 · 33:19
Episode Notes Today we're talking with Tina deBellegarde about short stories: What makes a good short story, and why certain short story writers are so appealing. Tina has been…
Jun 8, 2026 · 30:28
Whistling Arrows and Heavenly Horses: The Han-Xiongnu War John Ross speaks with Scott Forbes Crawford about his book The Han-Xiongnu War, 133 BC–89 AD . For more than two…
Jun 1, 2026 · 33:39
Amy Chavez talks to Don Weiss, currently mid-way through the Shikoku Pilgrimage — Japan's 1,300 km Buddhist route that has been walked for almost as many years. Pilgrims share…
May 25, 2026 · 29:20
Sima Qian – China’s Grand Historian (with Tim McGirk) John Ross chats with repeat guest Tim McGirk about Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BC), the Father of Chinese History. He earned this…
May 18, 2026 · 31:46
M. G. Sheftall has lived in Japan since 1987. He has a PhD in international relations and modern Japanese history from Waseda University in Tokyo. Since 2001, he has been a…
May 11, 2026 · 28:32
Sightseeing Japan John Ross is joined by Jason Nieling and Paul Bresin of the Sightseeing Japan Podcast , which started back in 2019 and now has over 160 detailed but fun…
May 4, 2026 · 32:37
Simon Elegant’s City on Fire : A Novel of Hong Kong John chats with writer and journalist Simon Elegant about his third novel, a crime thriller set during the Hong Kong protests…
Apr 27, 2026 · 34:23
Amy Chavez talks with Jane Lawson about her book Secret Japan: An Insider's Guide to Deeper Travel in the World's Most Fascinating Country (Simon & Schuster, 2026). Jane…
Apr 20, 2026 · 26:14
Amy Chavez talks with Alex Kerr about his book Finding the Heart Sutra: Guided by a Magician, an Art Collector and Buddhist Sages from Tibet to Japan (Penguin U.K., 2020). Kerr…
Apr 13, 2026 · 29:40
John talks to Anna Beth Keim about her acclaimed biography, Heaven Does Not Block All Roads: A History of Taiwan Through the Life of Huang Chin-tao . Huang Chin-tao (1926–2019)…
Apr 6, 2026 · 31:49
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…
Mar 30, 2026 · 32:33
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…
Mar 23, 2026 · 35:09
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…
Mar 16, 2026 · 34:49
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…
Mar 9, 2026 · 34:10
Amy discusses the relationship between anti-foreign sentiment, overtourism, and tourist manners in Japan. Protests in Kyoto, Kamakura, and Tokyo claim that overtourism negatively…
Mar 2, 2026 · 36:50
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…
Feb 23, 2026 · 27:26
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…
Feb 16, 2026 · 33:32
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…
Feb 9, 2026 · 29:46
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…
Feb 2, 2026 · 25:15
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…
Jan 26, 2026 · 32:15
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…
Jan 19, 2026 · 15:27
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…
Jan 12, 2026 · 28:18
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…
Jan 5, 2026 · 29:59
The 1910 Japan-Britain Exhibition – with Formosa Files In this special crossover episode, John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith from Formosa Files: the History of Taiwan Podcast…
Dec 29, 2025 · 18:53
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…
Dec 22, 2025 · 34:04
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…
Dec 15, 2025 · 29:31
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…
Dec 8, 2025 · 40:36
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,…
Dec 1, 2025 · 40:49
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…
Nov 24, 2025 · 42:08
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…
Nov 17, 2025 · 38:04
Sam Baldwin tells John Ross about some ingredients behind the success of his self-published memoir For Fukui’s Sake: Two Years in Rural Japan (the subject of a previous chat…
Nov 10, 2025 · 35:34
In his novel China Running Dog, a young man in his early twenties lives in Shanghai in the year 2000, in a greed-crazed free-for-all moral and lawless vacuum created by the…
Nov 3, 2025 · 32:47
The Wondrous Elixir of the Two Chinese Lovers – Tim McGirk The novel tells the story of archaeologist Ned Sheehan's discovery of two ancient Chinese tombs at a Maya site in…
Oct 27, 2025 · 28:47
Lauren Scharf talks about Japan's minka, kominka and akiya houses in Japan. MinkaCon 2025 , is an event to be held from Nov. 7-9, in Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture. The…
Oct 21, 2025 · 35:29
A Tale of Three Tribes in Dutch Formosa (by Yao-Chang Chen, translated by He Wen-ching) Sitting in for Amy is the duo John Ross & Eryk Michael Smith of Plum Rain Press and the…
Oct 14, 2025 · 32:28
Asia Bookroom exhibits their most precious items at rare and antiquarian book fairs in Melbourne, Sydney, and Hong Kong. Look for them at the Sydney Rare Book Fair from Oct.…
Oct 6, 2025 · 43:15
Adelstein introduces the people behind Mt. Gox, one of the world's largest Bitcoin exchanges, based in Tokyo and run by Frenchman Mark Karpeles. As a reporter for The Daily Beast…
Sep 29, 2025 · 43:53
In this episode we cover traditional Japanese gardens and how ancient gardens were related to nature, geomancy, literature and Japanese concepts of wabi-sabi , yugen , and mono…
Sep 22, 2025 · 30:20
Books discussed include: Korean Wilds and Villages (1938) by Swedish zoologist Sten Bergman The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why it Matters , by BR Meyers…
Sep 15, 2025 · 33:25
Amy Chavez and Hector Garcia discuss his recently released book, The Spirit of Shinto , and how Shinto’s worldview permeates pop culture—anime, manga, films—where good and evil…
Sep 9, 2025 · 51:09
Amy Chavez opens the show by asking Friedman to give a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away on July 25, 2025. Friedman then turns to the reason for writing his book,…
Sep 1, 2025 · 37:59
A few of Takemori's favorite books on Japan are: Hitomachi , a photo book by Araki Noboyoshi Walking The Kiso Road by William Scott Wilson (See our podcast episode with the…
May 7, 2025 · 17:34
Lina Terrell is a translator of Japanese historical texts. Today we are going to talk about her recently released translation of The Legacy of the Ryukyu Kingdom: An Okinawan…
Mar 31, 2025 · 35:10
Igor Prusa , Ph.D. is a Czech scholar in Japanese and media studies, currently affiliated with Ambis University Prague and Metropolitan University Prague. He received PhDs in…
Feb 19, 2025 · 25:11
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, Amy Chavez talks with Baye McNeil talk about being a black minority in Japan, Japanese views of black people, the "African Samurai,"…
Jan 27, 2025 · 24:29
Podcast host Amy Chavez talks with Michael Pronko, a Tokyo-based writer of murder, memoir, and music. He is professor of American Literature at Meiji Gakuen University. During…
Dec 16, 2024 · 23:58
Paul Martin is a Japanese sword expert who has worked at the British Museum and traveled extensively in Japan to study swords and armor. Martin's new book Japanese Swords and…
Oct 30, 2024 · 25:05
Burritt Sabin was born in New York City and came to Japan as a naval officer in 1975. His professional career in Japan started as a journalist, and he quickly moved into writing…
Sep 24, 2024 · 33:17
Amy Chavez speaks with Lesley Downer, an expert on Japanese culture and history who writes both fiction and non-fiction. Her novels transport readers to the intriguing world of…
Aug 13, 2024 · 32:31
Amy Chavez talks with Robert Whiting about his recently released book Gangsters, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies: The Outsiders Who Shaped Modern Japan (Tuttle, April, 2024). They…
Jul 30, 2024 · 8:11
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, host Amy Chavez talks to author John Stevens about his new book The Lotus Moon: Art and Poetry of Buddhist Nun Otagaki Rengetsu…
Dec 14, 2023 · 36:50
Author and travel-writer Angus Waycott talks about his 8-day walk around Sado Island off Niigata Prefecture in the Japan Sea. He gives us in-depth accounts of: a mujina…
Nov 15, 2023 · 37:43
We talk with publisher Peter Goodman and author/translator Frederik L. Schodt about artificial intelligence as it relates to writing and publishing books. Frederik L. Schodt 's…
Oct 31, 2023 · 35:43
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with author and translator Frederik L. Schodt, who has written/translated many books on Japan including The…
Jun 21, 2023 · 34:13
In this episode of the BOA podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with John Ross, a New Zealand writer based in Taiwan. Ross has spent three decades in Asia, starting as a freelance…
May 12, 2023 · 37:05
In 2021 John Rucynski--who has been living in Japan on and off since 1994--self-published A Passion for Japan through Blue Sky Publishing. In this anthology, which includes 31…
Feb 14, 2023 · 36:40
Stephen Mansfield, author of Tokyo: A Biography (Tuttle, 2017), is a British writer and photo-journalist based in Japan. His photo-journalism work has appeared in over 60…
Jan 23, 2023 · 41:31
In this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, host Amy Chavez sits down with writer, translator, and professor of Japanese at Western Michigan University, Jeffrey Angles. He is…
Dec 12, 2022 · 35:05
Sarah Coomber is the author of The Same Moon (Camphor Press, 2020), a memoir about what happened when she traded out her wrecked Minnesota life for two years in rural Japan. The…
Oct 24, 2022 · 46:39
In this episode of the BOA podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with Azby Brown, a long-time resident of Japan and author of Just Enough: Lessons from Japan for Sustainable Living,…
Sep 26, 2022 · 33:47
In this episode of the BOA podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with Maud Rowell about her new book Blind Spot: Exploring and Educating on Blindness (404 Ink, 2021). Maud is a…
Aug 19, 2022 · 45:30
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, podcast host and island-dweller Amy Chavez and Gifu countryside villager Iain Maloney discuss their experiences living in Japan's…
Jul 1, 2022 · 24:02
Podcast host Amy Chavez talks to Robert Weis, curator of the Luxembourg Natural History Museum's upcoming exhibit, “Spirit of Shizen – The Nature of Japan through 72 Seasons,”…
Jun 9, 2022 · 33:44
Amy asks Poulton to explain the difference between reading Noh plays and seeing a Noh performance. Poulton goes into great detail on the subject, including why and how the same…
May 16, 2022 · 23:30
This week author and translator John Stevens joins us from Hawaii. Stevens has penned many books over his long career, mainly dealing with Japanese martial arts, poetry, and…
Apr 6, 2022 · 32:28
Abby Denson is the award-winning author of Cool Japan Guide: Fun in the Land of Manga, Lucky Cats and Ramen , Cool Tokyo Guide: Adventures in the City of Kawaii Fashion, Train…
Feb 13, 2022 · 26:21
In this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, podcast host Amy Chavez talks with novelist David Joiner about his new novel that takes place in…
Jan 13, 2022 · 32:46
In this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, host Amy Chavez talks with anthropologist, shamisen player, author, and translator Liza Dalby about…
Nov 13, 2021 · 35:13
In this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press , podcast host Amy Chavez talks with Kathleen Burkinshaw in the U.S. about her book The Last Cherry…
Oct 8, 2021 · 39:44
On this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, we have guest interviewer Lisa Wilcut speaking with award-winning writer and translator Meredith…
Jul 14, 2021 · 34:28
On this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press , Alex Kerr is returning to the show . Alex is author of such notable books as Lost Japan , Dogs and…
Jul 2, 2021 · 25:25
Today on the Books on Asia Podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with the co-editors of Yamamba: In Search of the Japanese Mountain Witch , just released by Stone Bridge Press. Rebecca…
Jun 18, 2021 · 37:26
Cathrine Pawasarat, author of Gion Festival: Exploring its Mysteries , is one of the founders of the Clear Sky Retreat Center in British Columbia, Canada. Her previous book is…
Jun 7, 2021 · 33:19
Today we're talking with Tina deBellegarde about short stories, what makes a good short story, and why certain short story writers are so appealing. Tina has been nominated for…
May 6, 2021 · 32:49
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, show host Amy Chavez talks with Robert Whiting about his just released memoir Tokyo Junkie: 60 Years of Bright Lights and Back…
Apr 19, 2021 · 26:27
This episode starts out with Amy asking Wes for some tips on using mountain huts while hiking: What time to arrive, whether you should book meals, if you need reservations, and…
Apr 7, 2021 · 31:19
This episode starts out with Amy and Janine talking about Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) and the poetic reforms that took place from 1868 during Japan's transition from the Edo to the…
Mar 8, 2021 · 26:14
Partial Transcript “Welcome to the Books on Asia podcast, I’m your host, Amy Chavez, and today we have with us Alex Kerr who is going to talk with me about his newly published…
Jan 19, 2021 · 31:11
Amy talks with author, journalist, and Times correspondent Richard Lloyd Parry about his books Ghosts of the Tsunami about the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami and People Who…
Jan 19, 2021 · 13:13
Amy Chaez talks with Lena Baibikov who has translated Haruki Murakami’s non-fiction works from Japanese into Russian. Lena has translated What I Talk About When I Talk About…
Jan 19, 2021 · 32:06
Amy talks with William Scott Wilson, author and translator of over a dozen books on Japan and China. They briefly discuss a few of these including, Hagakure: The Book of the…
Jan 19, 2021 · 28:40
Barry Lancet chats with podcast host Amy Chavez about Lancet's popular thriller series including Japantown, Tokyo Kill, Pacific Burn , and The Spy Across the Table based on the…
Jan 19, 2021 · 30:34
Amy meets up with Juliet Winters Carpenter to talk about her 70 or so translated works of Japanese literature including Shion Miura’s The Great Passage , Minae Mizumura’s A True…
Jan 19, 2021 · 37:46
Amy talks with Dr. Judith Pascoe in her office on the campus of Florida State University while a Brontëesque storm rages outside their window. Pascoe discusses aspects of her…
Jan 19, 2021 · 28:39
John Dougill talks about Japan’s indigenous religion of Shinto, its kami (deities) and the designation of Ise Shrine as the center of worship for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.…
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