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10 Must-Read Books About Japanese Culture

I've always been very fond of books, despite life's ups and downs, and since I took an interest in all things Japan, I've been trying to find books which talk about various aspects of Japanese culture. There's absolutely loads of them on the web, however, I made a list of those that—in my opinion—are a must-read if you're interested in knowing more about Japanese culture. 

I've started to get through this list myself and I look forward to reading them all, so let me show you my list of  10 must-read books about Japanese culture! If you click on each photo, you'll be directed to its buy page on Book Depository.

The Book of Yokai by Michael Dylan Foster

I've always been intrigued by legends and myths, and Japanese folklore is surely one of my favourite things at the moment. I find the concept of how legends came to be is quite fascinating and, among all the different books I found on this subject, this was the one that immediately caught my attention. 

🌸🌸🌸 

Ikigai by Hector Garcia

This book recently came to me, and I'm hopeful it will help me get out of the rough patch I've been in for some time. The term Ikigai (生き甲斐) is a Japanese concept which refers to something that gives a person a sense of purpose, a reason for living. 

I feel like it's kind of a self-help book, it has exercises and prompts to write down, and since I believe Japan is my sense of purpose, I hope it will help me mantain the positivity I'm working hard to keep during this pandemic. 

🌸🌸🌸

The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo

I became very interested in this topic after I did an online course on Sadoo, the Japanese tea ceremony. It was quite interesting, and by chance I came across this book afterwards. 

The Book of Tea discusses the philosophy behind the tea ceremony, and I think it's must-read book if you want to understand Japanese culture better. 

🌸🌸🌸

A Japanese Mirror by Ian Buruma

Although at first glance this is a book I wouldn't normally choose for me, I was intrigued by the "technical" aspect where—instead of everyday life—cinema, television, and arts are analysed instead. 

I feel like this book has more of a raw vibe to it, so it'll be very interesting to read it.

🌸🌸🌸

The Japanese Mind by Roger J. Davies

One thing I've learnt about Japanese culture is that public eye is important—if not almost vital—to Japanese society, and I was immediately drawn to The Japanese Mind by Roger J. Davies because he wrote about aspects that are very topical even today. 

I also find very interesting that there are questions at the end of each chapter, so I feel like this would be a great pick for a book club.

🌸🌸🌸

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

I've recently read Convenience Store Woman and for me it was a very eye-opening book. If you're into Japan, you cannot not know what a konbini is, and it was really fascinating to learn about the rules of social interaction from the point of view of a konbini worker. 

I won't spoil the story, but it's definitely another book I would recommend if you want to understand Japanese culture better. 

🌸🌸🌸

The Tale of Murasaki by Liza Dalby

I really adore historical fiction, so it was obvious that The Tale of Murasaki had to be included in my list of 10 must-read books about Japanese culture. 

Mystical rice fields, a royal court, and political intrigue in ancient Japan? Where do I sign!!

🌸🌸🌸

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Memoirs of a Geisha is kind of a must if you want to learn about Japanese culture, an another historical novel I need to include in my list. 

Just like I'm fascinated by historical Japan, I am also mesmerised by the figure of a Geisha and her role in ancient Japanese society, so I can't wait to read this. 

🌸🌸🌸

Shōgun by James Clavell

This is another historical novel that needed to be included in my list. If you ask people about books on Japanese culture, Shōgun is one of the first they will mention, especially if they're talking about Samurai. 

It seems there's also a bit of romance in there, so I'm sure readers of this genre will also enjoy this book!

🌸🌸🌸

The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi

Lastly—but certainly not least in my heart—The Book of Five Rings is one you absolutely must read.

This book is extra special to me for different reasons, and it's about another important aspect of Japanese culture: martial arts. If you have a curious mind, I think this book is definitely for you!


So, there you have it! 10 must-read books about Japanese culture. I'd be interested in knowing if you've read any of these books, or if you have others you think it'd be worth including, so please leave a comment and share your recommendations!

次回まで。♥

I'm already familiar with subscription boxes, I bought a couple back when I was a book blogger, and even tried an anime one. 

I've tried a Japanese snack box as well, which was absolutely fantastic, but I wanted to try new stuff. I came across Zenpop while searching for Japanese snacks subscription boxes, and they offer different options, from stationery to sweets, and so on. However, I'd already tried a snack box, so I decided to go for their Japanese Ramen Pack. 

According to the description on their website, each ZenPop Ramen Pack includes:

  • Full sized servings of Japanese Noodles, shipped direct from Japan!
  • The newest and most popular varieties of instant noodles
  • Limited edition, regional, and / or seasonal products
  • Favorite ramen types like tonkutsu, shoyu, and shio
  • Discover udon, soba, yakisoba, and more Japanese dishes

I went for the month-to-month subscription—priced at $31.19 (which is about €30)—because I honestly just wanted to try it out, and I have to say that the price is definitely worth the box contents. There were 7 full-sized servings of Japanese noodles, and I'm really excited to show you what I got and my opinion on each! 

The theme for the August 2022 box was Ramen Hanabi and, as explained in their booklet (which can be downloaded from a QR code, isn't it cool?!), Summer (natsu, 夏) in Japan is the season of fireworks (hanabi, 花⽕, literally, fire flowers). Sitting by the riverside and watching the skies light up in rainbows of colors is a summer-favorite activity. You’ll always need some food while watching, so why not bring some tasty Japanese ramen?

The booklet also contains cooking instructions and timing for each serving, which was awesome because I can't read Japanese that well yet! 😅

Are you ready for some tasty ramen now? *The following are in order as they appeared in the booklet.

Charumera Cup Consommé Tomato Flavor from Myojo


Myojo Foods Co., Ltd. presided by Akihiro Toyome is releasing a new collaboration design version of the long-selling brand Myojo Charumera in preparation of the One Piece Red (ワンピース フィルム レッド) movie release. Are you ready for this? If you haven’t yet watched One Piece, it’s been one of the most popular anime of the last decade. To celebrate the occasion, not 1 but 2 tasty limited-time One Piece designs are hitting the shelves. Which one do you have in your pack? Consommé Tomato Flavor is what lies beneath the lid: full of flavors and red like the movie! The tomato bouillabaisse flavor is made with an addition of seafood, because, what else would pirates eat while sailing the Red Line? 

I'll admit I'm not a fan of One Piece, but I was really curious to try this since it didn't seem to be particularly spicy—and also because I like tomatoes. It was utterly delicious, and actually one of my favourites among this selection!

Shio Ramen Donburi Kanitama Style from Sanyo Syokuhin


Ise, one of Japan’s most sacred places as it hosts the Imperial family’s shrine: Ise Jingu (伊勢神宮). Sapporo Ichiban surprises us again with delicious flavors made from local products. Mie prefecture (三重県) boasts a beautiful coastline and fresh seafood from the ocean. In this Ultraman collaboration, the main ingredient is Ise lobster that gives all its umami to the soup. It’s combined with some rich miso and gives some depth to the whole experience. The dish is topped with eggs, green onions and some wakame seaweed!

I'm not a big fan of fish either, actually, and I was genuinely worried because the majority of noodles cups contained fish. However, this was heavenly! I'm not exaggerating, it may be because I've never had lobster before, but it was truly exquisite, and it is a strong contender for the best ramen in this box.

Ikasumi Yakisoba from Peyoung


One of Japan’s standard dishes, yakisoba (やきそば) comes with some new, original flavors: Ikasumi (イカスミ, squid ink). Peyoung is behind this innovation. The company has been making those since the 1970s. Contrary to the common yakisoba recipe, this one is not stir-fried the classic way. The black and white hard package has also spilled a lot of Japanese food blogger’s ink, as it’s quite unique and eye-catching. Filled with squid and garlic toppings, the dish is very tasty, and the sauce reaches near perfection! Cabbage is the vegetable of choice for such a dish, and Peyoung did not forget to add a sizable portion.

Unfortunately this was a big miss, which was quite disappointing as it was supposed to be the "premium" noodles. 

Super Cup 1.5 Bai Seafood Flavor Setouchi Lemon Shitate Ramen from Acecook


This product is a new product of the "Super Cup 1.5x" series in collaboration with AOASHI, which is familiar to a long-selling brand released in 1988, and this time it is a limited-time product released so far under the title of "Heisei's blockbuster revival series". This dish gained popularity for its seafood flavor that uses seafood soup stock mixed with pork, initially released in May 2001. It has been newly developed with the same taste from the early Heisei era (平成時代) to satisfy everyone’s nostalgia. Spicy seafood oil is the decisive factor for the taste! The "seafood oil" that condenses the taste of seafood such as squid, scallops, and shrimp is combined with the spiciness of chili peppers and a hint of delicious Setouchi lemons (瀬戸内レモン)!

This was a really good ramen! I did not enjoy it as much as I would have loved, though, because the lemon taste was a bit too strong for my liking, but it was very very tasty. Also, I feel I'm obliged to point out that nooo, I did not buy this subscription box just because it was featuring an anime whose theme song was made by my favourite JRock band...

Hiyashi Stamina Niku Soboro Soba from Toyo Suisan


Summers in Japan are hot and humid. Eating a steaming bowl of ramen might not always be the best option, unless you want to feel like taking a 3-hour nap right after. Rest assured, Japan has prepared many alternatives, including a wide range of cold noodles. We’ve selected the "Cold stamina meat soboro soba", characterized by its solid taste with the spiciness of chili oil and the richness of garlic. Soboro (そぼろ) refers to ground meat, fish, or eggs that are cooked into fine, crumbled pieces. In this case, the soba (そば) noodles come with meat. The dish is light, and flavorful and comes with gentle aromas.

This was another good one. I like soy sauce, so the soba was very flavourful. It was a little bit spicy but it was bearable, and the toppings were an appetising addition!

Nissin Men Syokunin Yuzu Shio Flavor from Nisshin


Nissin’s Menshokunin (麺職⼈) series is always fun to eat. Especially when they decorate their packaging with beautiful hanabi (花⽕, fireworks). The concept of those noodles is simple: make them yourself. For the summer months, we’ve selected a delicious yuzu shio (柚⼦しお) flavor that is both, tasty and refreshing. This newly released product replaced the traditional vegetable flavors by yuzu, a fresh citrus fruit popular in Summer. The portion is very generous, and a detail that makes it stand out, is the deliciousness of chicken oil! The yuzu soup, which has a refreshing aroma of yuzu and a rich flavor of seafood, goes well with the non-fried whole grain noodle. Topped with eggs and green onions, it’s a dish that remains simple, yet packs a punch of flavors!

Sadly, this one was a slight miss. I mean, the seafood flavour was okay, but the yuzu was way too strong for me—even more than in the AOASHI ramen—so I couldn't fully enjoy it. 

Maru Uma Tottori Gyukotsu Ramen from Acecook


Tottori (⿃取), Japan’s least visited prefecture is host to many beautiful sceneries, and tasty food. This dish is actually from one of the region’s most famous ramen stores: Kamikotsu. Fans have been traveling to the location for over 60 years to enjoy the unique taste of local ramen. Characterized by the soy sauce flavor paired with beef bones (⽜⻣), the noodles come with a slight sweetness and lovely beef aromas. The dish is finished with black pepper that elevates the whole combination and leaves you with a satisfying aftertaste. The noodles are non-fried, medium thick, chewy, and exactly what you’d want in that kind of ramen. Together with some char siu, bean sprouts, and green onions, those ramen are awesome!

This ramen was quite exquisite! The beefy flavour combined with the soy sauce was an utterly good match, and I enjoyed it a lot!

🍜🍜🍜

Overall, I'm considerably satisfied with this box. Yes, there were a couple of misses, but the majority was truly tasty, and I also discovered new flavours that I now like. Plus, I have to say that the portions are very filling, so I can understand why Japanese people eat this a lot. 

Have you tried Zenpop Japanese Ramen Pack? Or any other Ramen subscription box? Let me know in the comments!

次回まで。♥
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ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Fran!

I'm a Content writer & huge tea lover, currently self-studying Japanese. I can also be found gaming, watching Asian dramas, or Japanese period films.

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