Japanese Book and Film recommendations

Last night, I joined 10 other members from Brighton Japan Club to share our Japanese book and film recommendations.

We had a great mix of ideas, from contemporary Netflix dramas to 18th century haiku poems, from a modern violent horror films to a silent black and white classic.

Japan’s most famous author, Haruki Murakami’s books came up prominently, but it was also nice to see hear of new writers such as Yoko Ogawa whose short story The Tale of the House of Physics came highly recommended.

I really enjoyed the event, and I hope everybody who attended did too.

We plan to meet again next week to decide on a book and film to read and watch and then to compare views on it. Please join us next Thursday night and share your ideas if you can.

The recommended books and films from last night’s event are below

Books

The Tale of the House of Physics by Yoko Ogawa

Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

The Pocket Haiku by Sam Hamill

The Little House by Kyoko Nakajima

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Films / Dramas

Midnight Diner (Netflix drama)

Shoplifters (directed by Hirokazu Koreeda)

Samurai Gourmet (Netflix drama)

The Naked Island (directed by Kaneto Shindo)

Ichi the Killer (directed by Takashi Miike)

When Marnie Was There (directed by Miyazaki Hayao)

Asobi Asobase (anime)

What would you add to the list?