Barakamon, Vol. 1


Satsuki Yoshino - 2009
    "Sensei," as he comes to be known, is a city boy through and through, and has never experienced rural life until now. And by the looks of it, he has much to learn! Luckily(?), he has a willing teacher in Naru, the energetic expert islander, to help show him the ropes. But can Sensei keep up with the plucky first-grader, or will he get schooled?! Here unfolds a heartfelt island comedy about a gruff on the outside, soft on the inside urbanite teacher and his new, unfailingly kind island neighbors!

Wolf Children: Ame Yuki (light novel)


Mamoru Hosoda - 2019
    Their relationship was far from ordinary, but she wouldn't have had it any other way. Her joy only grows with the births of Ame and Yuki, who have inherited their father's unique ability to transform. But life is full of both joy and hardship, and Hana is left to bring up her little wolves on her own. Raising human children is hard enough...but how will she handle their wild side, too?In this novelization of his award-winning Wolf Children film, acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda provides a deeper look at the emotional trials and triumphs of a very unique little family.

Tokyo Ueno Station


Miri Yū - 2014
    It is here that Kazu’s life in Tokyo began, as a labourer in the run up to the 1964 Olympics, and later where he ended his days, living in the park’s vast homeless ‘villages’, traumatised by the destruction of the 2011 tsunami and enraged by the announcement of the 2020 Olympics.Akutagawa-award-winning author Yū Miri uses her outsider’s perspective as a Zainichi (Korean-Japanese) writer to craft a novel of utmost importance to this moment, a powerful rebuke to the Imperial system and a sensitive, deeply felt depiction of the lives of Japan’s most vulnerable people.

となりの怪物くん 1 [My Little Monster 1]


Robico - 2009
    This is a story about a boy and a girl who struggle with love and friendship. Opening yourself up to other people forces you to be honest with yourself.となりの席の吉田くんは入学初日の流血事件以来、一度も学校に来ない…。自分の成績と将来にしか興味がなかった水谷雫は、たまたまプリントを届けたため、その吉田春に勝手に友達認定されてしまう。しかも、春の純粋さを知って優しくすると今度は告白までされちゃって…!?

Shōgun


James Clavell - 1975
    Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne's loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed.Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Shōgun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but also one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Shōgun is, as the New York Times put it, "...not only something you read--you live it." Provocative, absorbing, and endlessly fascinating, there is only one: Shōgun.

Starter for Ten


David Nicholls - 2003
    Brian Jackson, a working-class kid on full scholarship, has started his first term at university. He has a dark secret—a long-held, burning ambition to appear on the wildly popular British TV quiz show University Challenge—and now, finally, it seems the dream is about to become reality. He's made the school team, and they've completed the qualifying rounds and are limbering up for their first televised match. (And, what's more, he's fallen head over heels for one of his teammates, the beautiful, brainy, and intimidatingly posh Alice Harbinson.) Life seems perfect and triumph inevitable—but as his world opens up, Brian learns that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

High School Debut, Vol. 01


Kazune Kawahara - 2004
    But now that she's going to high school, Haruna decides to put all of her energy towards getting a boyfriend and having the high school romance of a lifetime. To help in her quest, she enlists cute upperclassman Yoh Komiyama to coach her as she eschews her jock tendencies and turns herself into the kind of girl who can catch a guy. Yoh agrees, with one catch: Haruna had better not fall for him!

Shipwrecks


Akira Yoshimura - 1982
    His people catch barely enough fish to live on, and so must distill salt to sell to neighboring villages. But this industry serves another, more sinister purpose: the fires of the salt cauldrons lure passing ships toward the shore and onto rocky shoals. When a ship runs aground, the villagers slaughter the crew and loot the cargo for rice, wine, and rich delicacies. One day a ship founders on the rocks. But Isaku learns that its cargo is far deadlier than could ever be imagined. Shipwrecks, the first novel by the great Japanese writer Yoshimura to be translated into English, is a stunningly powerful, Gothic tale of fate and retribution.

The Factory


Hiroko Oyamada - 2013
    They each focus intently on their specific jobs: one studies moss, one shreds paper, and the other proofreads incomprehensible documents. Life in the factory has its own logic and momentum, and, eventually, the factory slowly expands and begins to take over everything, enveloping these poor workers. The very margins of reality seem to be dissolving: all forms of life capriciously evolve, strange creatures begin to appear… After a while—it could be weeks or years—the workers don’t even have the ability to ask themselves: where does the factory end and the rest of the world begin?Told in three alternating first-person narratives, The Factory casts a vivid—if sometimes surreal—portrait of the absurdity and meaninglessness of modern life. With hints of Kafka and unexpected moments of creeping humor, Hiroko Oyamada is one of the boldest writers of her generation.

Harold and Maude


Colin Higgins - 1971
    He fakes suicides to shock his self-obsessed mother, drives a customized Jaguar hearse, and attends funerals of complete strangers. Seventy-nine-year-old Maude Chardin, on the other hand, adores life. She liberates trees from city sidewalks and transplants them to the forest, paints smiles on the faces of church statues, and “borrows” cars to remind their owners that life is fleeting—here today, gone tomorrow! A chance meeting between the two turns into a madcap, whirlwind romance, and Harold learns that life is worth living. Harold and Maude started as Colin Higgins’ master’s thesis at UCLA Film School, and the script was purchased by Paramount. The film, directed by Hal Ashby, was released in 1971 and it bombed. But soon this quirky, dark comedy began being shown on college campuses and at midnight-movie theaters, and it gained a loyal cult following. This novelization was written by Higgins and published shortly after the film’s release but has been out of print for more than 30 years. Even fans who have seen the movie dozens of times will find this companion valuable, as it gives fresh elements to watch for and answers many of the film’s unresolved questions.

The Wild Geese


Ōgai Mori - 1911
    The young heroine, Otama, is forced by poverty to become a moneylender's mistress. Her dawning consciousness of her predicament brings the novel to a touching climax.

Bunny Drop, Vol. 1


Yumi Unita - 2006
    In a fit of angryspontaneity, Daikichi decides to take her in himself! But will livingwith this overgrown teenager of man help Rin come out of her shell? Andhang on, won't this turn of events spell doom for Daikichi's love life?!

It's Kind of a Funny Story


Ned Vizzini - 2006
    But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.Ned Vizzini, who himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital, has created a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness.

僕は友達が少ない


Yomi Hirasaka - 2009
    "People? Visible Toka Did you mean ghost," "I was just talking with my friends. Air with my friends!" Friends in the "(useless's guy ...)" Kotaka is but he discuss whether you can have friends What if the night sky, the night sky is useless action force It would make up disappointing part that aims to make. And come to join the club What wrong or one after another disappointing beautiful girl who is -. Awfully fun shame-based youth romantic comedy birth but everyone is either GYARUGE of various and vagus feeling or doing you can play go to the pool or doing they really make friends with? Deviant.Original:学校で浮いている羽瀬川小鷹は、ある時いつも不機嫌そうな美少女の三日月夜空が一人で楽しげに喋っているのを目撃する。「もしかして幽霊とか見える人?」「友達と話していただけだ。エア友達と!」「(駄目だこいつ…)」小鷹は夜空とどうすれば友達が出来るか話し合うのだが、夜空は無駄な行動力で友達作りを目指す残念な部まで作ってしまう。しかも何を間違ったか続々と残念な美少女達が入部してきて―。みんなでギャルゲーをやったりプールに行ったり演劇をやったり色々と迷走気味な彼らは本当に友達を作れるのか?アレげだけどやけに楽しい残念系青春ラブコメディ誕生。

Walking My Second Path in Life: Volume 1


Otaku de Neet - 2017
    Fie, first princess of Daeman, finds herself isolated and stranded in the foreign Kingdom of Orstoll all by her lonesome - effectively having been wed off as a dowry gift in accessory to her sister, Princess Fielle's marriage.Trapped and isolated in a small back garden that once used to be a storehouse, Fie lives her days without purpose, and eventually without food - after the only member of her entourage, the chef, resigns.Just as Fie was about to give in to despair, she finds a pamphlet advertising a squire's test for the Royal Knights of Orstoll - beginning her journey of friendship, hard work, and guts, along with masquerading as a boy to walk her second path in life.What will Fie find along the way?