Translation
Middle Grade Fiction
The House of the Lost on the Cape
by Sachiko Kashiwaba
illustrated by Yukiko Saito
Restless Books, 19 September 2023
Three generations of women adapt to their new home, and its mythical inhabitants, in the tragic aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake.
★ “A powerful story of healing.” —Kirkus Reviews
A 2024 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book
“A beautiful and other-worldly tale. I loved the blend of myth and lore in this modern story of family and community.”
—Clare Vanderpool, Newbery Medalist and New York Times best-selling author
Order from Restless Books or your favorite bookseller. Check out the anime film!
Temple Alley Summer
by Sachiko Kashiwaba
illustrated by Miho Satake
Restless Books, 6 July 2021 (Hardcover) and 28 May 2024 (Paperback)
A fantastical and mysterious adventure featuring the living dead, a magical pearl, and a suspiciously nosy black cat named Kiriko.
★ “Heartwarming with a supernatural touch, this beautifully captures the magic of childhood.” —Booklist
★ “An instant classic filled with supernatural intrigue and real-world friendship.” —Kirkus Reviews
Winner of the 2022 Mildred L. Batchelder Award
Winner of a 2022 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award
“A sweet ghost story, a mystery, an eerie and unsettling story-within-a-story.”
—Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medalist and New York Times best-selling author
“A page-turner of a mystery, a paean to the transformative power of stories.”
—Philip Nel, Director, Program in Children’s Literature, Kansas State University
Order from Restless Books, Bookshop or your favorite bookseller. Audiobook narrated by Traci Kato-Kiriyama available at Libro.fm.
See also Kirkus Reviews feature and the story “Firstclaw” by Sachiko Kashiwaba at Words Without Borders!
J-Boys: Kazuo’s World, Tokyo, 1965
by Shogo Oketani
Stone Bridge Press, 2011
A novel about Kazuo Nakamoto, a fourth-grader growing up in Tokyo after the 1964 Olympics. Obsessed with hamburgers, U.S. sprinter Bob Hayes, Leave It to Beaver and Popeye, Kazuo also observes the lingering effects of World War II on his changing world.
Order from Bookshop | Website | Review by Hillel Wright
J-Boys
by Shogo Oketani
IBC Publishing, 2013
A bilingual version of J-Boys: Kazuo’s World, Tokyo, 1965 with English and Japanese side by side. Includes praise for the translation from Motoyuki Shibata, University of Tokyo.
Order from Amazon Japan
The Best Asian Short Stories 2018
Story “Festival Time” by Ippei Mogami,
illustrated by Saburo Takada
Kitaab, 2018
The story of a boy learning his percussion part for a village festival threatened by rural depopulation.
Order from Kitaab | Review by Suzanne Kamata
See also “Swing” by Ippei Mogami in Kyoto Journal 82, May 2015.
Young Adult Fiction
A Tapestry of Colours 1: Stories from Asia
Story “Mirror, Mirror” by Sachiko Kashiwaba
Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2021
A boy’s father transforms into his mother at the Snow White Mirror over their yarn shop in regional Japan. Part of a two-volume anthology of Asia-born stories for teens.
Order from Bookshop, Epigram or your favorite bookseller.
Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction—An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories
Story “House of Trust” by Sachiko Kashiwaba
Stone Bridge Press, 2012
A tale of a family, a mountain, and a boy who studies kimono fitting. Part of a 36-story anthology to benefit teens affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Order from Amazon or Amazon Japan | Official blog
Picture Book
My Japan
by Etsuko Filliquet
Kaiseisha, 2017
A bilingual book about day-to-day life in Japan, especially useful for Japanese families raising children abroad.
Order from Amazon Japan or Kaiseisha
Kamishibai
Baby Chick
By Jun’ichi Kobayashi
Illustrated by Eigoro Futamata
Original work by Kornei I. Chukovskii
Translated with Etsuko Nozaka
Doshinsha, 2009
A bilingual kamishibai for young children that celebrates growth and the strong bonds between parent and child.
Order from Amazon Japan or Doshinsha
Adult Fiction
Inside and Other Short Fiction: Japanese Women by Japanese Women
Stories “Inside” by Rio Shimamoto and “The Shadow of the Orchid” by Nobuko Takagi
Kodansha International, 2006
These stories by young author Shimamoto (b. 1983) and Akutagawa Prize winner Takagi (b. 1946) join six others in a collection of contemporary fiction by Japanese women.
Order from Amazon or Amazon Japan
Film
The Book of the Dead
Subtitles
Directed by Kihachiro Kawamoto
100 Meter Films, 2005
A puppet animation film set in eighth-century Nara, depicting the devotion of the young noblewoman Iratsume to quieting the soul of a deceased prince.
Order from Amazon or Amazon Japan | Website