Books on Japanese Language and Culture
This is an old list of the books in my personal library. I will update as time allows.
Categories:
- Dictionaries
- Textbooks / Lesson Books
- Grammar & Construction Refs
- Other Language Books
- Cultural Books
- Travel Guides
- Cookbooks
Color Key:
- Essential/Awesome
- Recommended
- No Opinion Expressed
- Avoid It
Dictionaries
Basic Japanese-English Dictionary
The Japan Foundation
1986
0-19-864328-4
Martin's Concise Japanese Dictionary
Samuel E. Martin
Tuttle Language Library
1994
0-8048-1912-2
Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary, 4e
Koh Masuda, Editor in Chief
Kenkyusha
1974
4-7674-2025-3
Textbooks / Lesson Books
Nakama 1
Seiichi Makino, Yukiko Abe Hatasa, Kazumi Hatasa
Houghton Mifflin
1998
0-669-27583-2
Nakama 1 Workbook/Laboratory Manual
Seiichi Makino, Yukiko Abe Hatasa, Kazumi Hatasa
Houghton Mifflin
1998
0-669-27585-9
Nakama 2
Seiichi Makino, Yukiko Abe Hatasa, Kazumi Hatasa
Houghton Mifflin
2000
0-669-28504-8
Nakama 2 Workbook/Laboratory Manual
Seiichi Makino, Yukiko Abe Hatasa, Kazumi Hatasa
Houghton Mifflin
2000
0-669-28507-2
Colloquial Japanese
Noboru Inamoto
Tuttle Language Library
1972
0-8048-1581-X
Grammar & Construction Refs
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui
The Japan Times
1989
4-7890-0454-6
A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar
Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui
The Japan Times
1995
4-7890-0775-8
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Sentence Patterns
Naoko Chino
Kodansha International
2000
4-7700-2608-0
501 Japanese Verbs
Roland A. Lange
Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
1998
0-7641-0285-0
Japanese Verbs and Essentials of Grammar
Rita L. Lampkin
Passport Books
1995
0-8442-8406-8
Japanese Verbs
Roland Lange
Barron's
1991
0-8120-4525-4
Japanese Grammar
Carol and Nobuo Akiyama
Barron's
1991
0-8120-4643-9
Power Japanese: All About Particles
Naoko Chino
Kodansha International
1991
0-87011-954-0
Power Japanese: Japanese Verbs at a Glance
Naoko Chino
Kodansha International
1996
4-7700-1985-8
Other Language Books
Japanese Vocabulary
Carol and Nobuo Akiyama
Barron's
1991
0-8120-4743-5
13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese
Giles Murray
Kodansha International
1999
4-7700-2302-2
Japanese Street Slang
Peter Constantine
Tengu Books
1992
0-8348-0250-3
Mangajin's Basic Japanese Through Comics
Weatherhill
1993
0-8348-0452-2
Mangajin's Basic Japanese Through Comics, Part 2
Mangajin, Inc.
1996
0-9634335-4-7
Japanese Idioms
Nobuo Akiyama and Carol Akiyama
Barron's
1996
0-8120-9045-4
Everyday Japanese: A Basic Introduction to the Japanese Language and Culture
Edward A. Schwarz and Reiko Ezawa
Passport Books
[no date]
0-8442-8500-5
Using Japanese Slang
Anne Kasschau and Susumu Eguchi
Yenbooks
1995
4-900737-36-4
Power Japanese: T-Shirt versus Necktie Japanese: Two Levels of Politeness
Hiroko Fukuda
Kodansha International
1995
4-7700-1834-7
Power Japanese: Making Sense of Japanese: What the Textbooks Don't Tell You
Jay Rubin
Kodansha International
1998
4-7700-2310-3
Power Japanese: Basic Connections: Making Your Japanese Flow
Kakuko Shoji
Kodansha International
1997
4-7700-1968-8
Power Japanese: Core Words and Phrases: Things You Can't Find in a Dictionary
Kakuko Shoji
Kodansha International
1999
4-7700-2388-X
Power Japanese: Common Japanese Phrases
Sanseido (compiler), John Brennan (translator)
Kodansha International
1997
4-7700-2072-4
Power Japanese: Strange but True: A True-Life Japanese Reader
Tom Gally
Kodansha International
1997
4-7700-2057-0
Power Japanese: How to Sound Intelligent in Japanese: A Vocabulary Builder
Charles De Wolf
Kodansha International
1993
4-7700-1747-2
Power Japanese: Flip, Slither and Bang: Japanese Sound and Action Words
Hiroko Fukuda
Kodansha International
1993
4-7700-1684-0
Power Japanese: Read Real Japanese
Janet Ashby
Kodansha International
1994
4-7700-1754-5
Power Japanese: Living Japanese: A Modern Reader
Marc Bookman, Kazuko Fujii, Michiko Mishima
Kodansha International
1995
4-7700-2035-X
Power Japanese: Animal Idioms
Jeff Garrison, Masahiko Goshi
Kodansha International
1996
4-7700-1668-9
Japanese in Plain English
Boye Lafayette De Mente
Passport Books
1987
0-8442-8505-6
Kanji/Kana
The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary
Jack Halpern
Kodansha International
1999
4-7700-2335-9
A Guide to Writing Kanji and Kana, Book 1
Wolfgang Hadamitzky and Mark Spahn
Tuttle Language Library
1991
0-8048-1685-9
A Guide to Writing Kanji and Kana, Book 2
Wolfgang Hadamitzky and Mark Spahn
Tuttle Language Library
1991
0-8048-1686-7
Kanji Pict-O-Graphix
Michael Rowley
Stone Bridge Press
1992
0-9628137-0-2
250 Essential Kanji for Everyday Use, Vol II
Kanji Text Research Group, University of Tokyo
Tuttle Language Library
1998
0-8048-2102-X
Japanese Kana Workbook
P. G. O'Neill
Kodansha International
1967
0-87011-039-X
Cultural Books
Japan: True Stories of Life on the Road
Donald W. George and Amy Greimann Carlson, eds.
Travelers' Tales Guides
1999
1-885211-04-X
History of Japanese Art
Penelope Mason
Prentice Hall, Inc.
1993
0-13-016395-3
Cultural Atlas of Japan
Martin Collcut, Marius Jansen, Isao Kumakura
Facts on File, Inc.
1988
0-8160-1927-4
The Great Festivals of Japan
Hiroyuki Ozawa
Kodansha International
1999
4-7700-2394-4
Japanese Garden Design
Marc P. Keane
Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Co.
1996
0-8048-2071-6
The Enigma of Japanese Power
Karel van Wolferen
Vintage Books
1990
0-679-72802-3
Senryu: Haiku Reflections of the Times
Selected by Bitoh Sanryu
Mangajin, Inc.
1997
0-9634335-6-3 (US)
4-916079-05-1 (Japan)
Discovering Cultural Japan, 2e
Boye Lafayette De Mente
Passport Books
1995
0-8442-8483-1
The Book of Tea
Kakuzo Okakura
Dover Publications Inc.
1964 (orig pub 1906)
486-20070-1
Bushido: The Way of the Warrior
John Newman
Gallery Books
1989
0-8317-1031-4
The Japanese Have a Word for It
Boye Lafayette De Mente
Passport Books
1997
0-8092-8316-9
Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business
Boye Lafayette De Mente
NTC Business Books
1994
0-8442-8530-7
Behind the Japanese Bow
Boye Lafayette De Mente
Passport Books
1993
0-8442-8491-2
Japan Encyclopedia
Boye Lafayette De Mente
Passport Books
1995
0-8442-8435-1
Etiquette Guide to Japan
Boye De Mente
Yenbooks
1990
0-8048-1643-3
Japan Made Easy: All You Need to Know to Enjoy Japan, 2e
Boye Lafayette De Mente
Passport Books
1995
0-8442-8528-5
Bringing Home the Sushi
Laura K. Silverman, ed.
Mangajin, Inc.
1995
0-9634335-2-0 (US)
4-916079-01-9 (Japan)
The Essence of Modern Haiku: 300 Poems by Seishi Yamaguchi
Seishi Yamaguchi
Mangajin, Inc.
1993
0-9634335-0-4
0-9634335-3-9
Japanese Children's Favorite Stories
Florence Sakade, ed.
Tuttle Publishing
1958
0-8048-0284-X
Learning to Bow: An American Teacher in a Japanese School
Bruce S. Feiler
Ticnor & Fields
1991
0-395-58521-X
NTC's Dictionary of Japan's Cultural Code Words
Boye Lafayette De Mente
NTC
1994
0-8442-8391-6
The Japanese Mind
Robert C. Christopher
Fawcett Columbine
1983
0-449-90120-3
The Japanese Way: Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the Japanese
Norito Takada, Rita L. Lampkin
Passport Books
1997
0-8442-8377-0
The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture
Mark Schilling
Weatherhill
1997
0-8348-0380-1
Japan Today: A Westerner's Guide to the People, Language and Culture of Japan
Theodore F. Welch, Hiroki Kato
Passport Books
1990
0-8442-8535-8
Japanese Cultural Encounters & How to Handle Them
Hiroko C. Kataoka with Tetsuya Kusumoto
Passport Books
1991
0-8442-8531-5
How to Take a Japanese Bath
Leonard Koren
Stone Bridge Press
1992
0-9628137-9-6
Ninja: The True Story of Japan's Secret Warrior Cult
Stephen Turnbull
Firebird Books
1991
1-85314-109-7
Max Danger: The Adventures of an Expat in Tokyo
Robert J. Collins
Charles E. Tuttle Co.
1987
0-8048-1531-3
Travel Guides
Japan: The Rough Guide
Jan Dodd and Simon Richmond
The Rough Guides
1999
1-85828-340-X
Cookbooks
Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art
Shizuo Tsuji
Kodansha International
1980
0-87011-399-2 (US)
4-7700-0758-2 (Japan)
The Japanese Kitchen
Hiroko Shimbo
The Harvard Common Press
2000
1-55832-176-4 (hard cover)
1-55832-177-2 (paperback)
Japanese Cooking for the American Table
Susan Fuller Slack
HPBooks
1996
1-55788-237-1