Robert Norris has lived in Japan since 1983, mostly in Dazaifu, near Fukuoka, Kyushu. After retiring from university teaching in 2016, he returned to his long-standing passion for writing. The result was a heartfelt memoir about his life – and his mother’s – titled: The Good Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise: Pentimento Memories of Mom and Me (Tin Gate, 2023).

In this episode with John Ross, we hear about Robert’s decades in Japan, from his early days learning Japanese through a local softball team, to his later academic career, including his time as a university dean. Naturally, the conversation also turns to books, and some of his favorite works of Japanese fiction.

Books & Authors mentioned:

The Woman in the Dunes by Abe Kōbō (published in Japanese in 1962; English edition, and film adaptation 1964).
No Longer Human by Dazai Osamu (Original Japanese title Ningen Shikkaku, published 1948, English. Edition 1958).
The Breaking Jewel by Oda Makoto (English edition, 2003, translated by Donald Keene)
Sakaguchi Ango’s short story “The Idiot” ("Hakui," published 1946).
In the discussion, Robert Norris referred to the "Buraiha" (無頼派 “decadent school” literary movement), comparing these post-WWII writers to the Beat Generation in the US. The school is associated with Dazai Osamu, Sakaguchi Ango, and contemporaries.

Learn more about Robert Norris and his writing at his website.

(This episode was originally released on the Bookish Asia Podcast with Plum Rain Press in 2024).

The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.

Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.

The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

In a tribute to the 2026 Winter Olympics being held right now in Cortina, Italy, Amy takes up a discussion of skiing in Japan. Japan has hosted the Winter Olympics 2 times: 1972 (Sapporo) and 1998 (Nagano). Amy introduces previous Washington Post Tokyo Bureau Chief T.R. Reid's guidebook called Ski Japan! (Kodansha, 1993).

T.R. Reid lived in Japan for five years during the early 1990's. When the Gulf War started, the world turned its attention to that news, leaving foreign journalists in Japan with some unexpected free time. Reid and his family took action: they went skiing! The result is his 1993 guide to skiing in Japan, called Ski Japan!

Tasked with updating the book for 2026-27 skiing and snowboarding audience, Amy talks about some of the points in Reid's book: things that have changed as well as those that have not, and the affects of mass-tourism on Japan's ski resorts.

Ski Resorts Mentioned:

Niseko, Asahidake, Furano, Naeba, Hakuba Valley, Madarao and Tangram Ski Circus, and Myoko Ski Resorts.

Literary Ski Spots

Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country took place in Yuzawa Onsen, the train station you get off at to get to Naeba Ski Area. There's a Snow Country museum behind the station which is excellent.

In Sapporo's Odori Park, there is a statue of Ishikawa Takuboku (1886-1912), author and poet: A Handful Of Sand, Romaji Diary and Sad Toys.

In Asahikawa, Hokkaido, there is the lovely, contemplative Miura Ayako Literature Museum dedicated to the Christian novelist who lived from 1922-1999, and wrote Shiokari Pass as well as other works not yet translated into English. It's a lovely 30-40 minute walk through the snow from the back of Asahikawa station.

There are also several statues and plaques dedicated to the two Austrian fathers of Japanese Skiing: Theordore Von Lerch and Hannes Schnieder. Von Lerch monuments can be found in the front of Asahikawa Airport in Hokkaido, and at Joetsu, Niigata, the latter considered the birthplace of skiing in Japan.

The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.

Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.

The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

John Ross talks to Lee Moore about his book, China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read (2025, Unsung Voices Books). The book looks at the four important China-related stories that often make headlines: Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong. In this conversation, Lee and John focus mainly on the history of Xinjiang and the Uyghurs, but also cover a wide range of other topics. Hoping to reach a broad audience, Lee took an unusual approach to writing China’s Backstory; although a scholar, he uses colloquial translations of Chinese texts, peppers his paragraphs with colorful language, and generally has a lot of fun. The approach is sure to generate controversy. The book is factually sound, however (it comes with endnotes), and has numerous literary references, as we would expect from the host of the long-running Chinese Literature Podcast.

Lee Moore’s book: China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read (2025, Unsung Voices Books).

Lee’s podcast: Chinese Literature Podcast

Lee Moore’s book recommendations

He went with three books on China which he describes as “old school scholarship” and ones that most BOA listeners will likely not have read.

1. Michael Pollak’s Mandarins, Jews and Missionaries: Jewish Experience in the Chinese Empire (1980, Jewish Publication Society of America)

2. Sarah Paine’s Imperial Rivals: China, Russia and Their Disputed Frontier (1996, M. E. Sharpe)

3. Hodong Kim’s Holy War in China: The Muslim Rebellion and State in Chinese Central Asia, 1864-1877 (2004, Stanford University Press)

The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.

Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.

The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Amy muses on the death of guidebooks due to the internet and reminisces about some oldies but goodies on Japan, from John Murray's Handbook for Travellers in Japan (1891) to more recent guidebooks specializing in hiking mountains and pilgrimages.

Books Mentioned

John Murray's Handbook for Travellers in Japan (1890's)

Japanese Customs and Manners by Mock Joya (Sakurai Shoten/JTB, 1951)

Japanese Etiquette: An Introduction (World Fellowship Committee of the Tokyo WYCA, Charles E Tuttle Co., 1955)

Japanese Etiquette, by Bun Nakajima (1955, 1957)

Western Manners and English Conversation, by Glenn F. Baker (Sanseido, 1937)

Japan Inside Out by Jay, Sumi & Garet Gluck (1964, 1992)

Tokyo Subway Guide: Including 40 Bilingual Station Maps, by Boye Lafayette DeMente (Kodansha, 2002)

A Guide to Food Buying in Japan, by Caroyn R. Krouse (Tuttle, 1986)

A Birdwatcher's Guide to Japan, by Mark Brazil (Kodansha International, 1987)

Etiquette Guide to Japan, by Boye De Mente (Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1990)

Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 2018)

Hiking and Trekking the Japan Alps and Mount Fuji by Tom Fay and Wes Lang (Cicerone, 2019)

Japan's Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage, by Kat Davis (Cicerone, 2019)

The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.

Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.

The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester (with Tim McGirk)

John Ross talks with Tim McGirk about Simon Winchester’s masterpiece, The Man Who Loved China. That man was Joseph Needham, an eccentric Cambridge biochemist who traveled through war-torn China to document the nation’s scientific heritage. The ensuing book series, Science and Civilisation in China, revealed the world’s debt to Chinese science. John and Tim discuss the “Needham Question” (why China, once the global leader in technology, fell behind) and the scandal that almost ended his academic career. McGirk, a former foreign correspondent who knows Winchester from his early journalism days, shares some reporting anecdotes. Tim also explains how the life of Joseph Needham inspired his own historical novel, The Wondrous Elixir of the Two Chinese Lovers.

Books mentioned

The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom by Simon Winchester (HarperCollins, 2008).

Science and Civilisation in China: Needham’s monumental series. Volume 1 was published by Cambridge University Press in 1954.

The Diamond Sutra: considered the world’s oldest dated printed book (AD 868).

The Wondrous Elixir of the Two Chinese Lovers by Tim McGirk (Plum Rain Press, 2025)

People mentioned

Joseph Needham: The Cambridge scientist who documented China’s early scientific achievements.

Lu Gwei-djen: A scientist from Nanjing who sparked Needham’s interest in Chinese culture, and, after a 51-year romance, his second wife.

Dorothy Needham: Joseph’s first wife and a fellow brilliant scientist.

H.T. Huang: A refugee from Malacca who served as Needham’s secretary during his epic China expeditions.

Zhou Enlai: The Premier of the People’s Republic of China and Needham’s wartime friend who invited him to investigate biological warfare allegations.

Selected locations mentioned

Cambridge University, the UK, specifically Caius College (pronounced “keys”).

Chungking (Chóngqìng): China’s wartime capital.

Dunhuang: Home of the Mogao Grottos, a vast complex of Buddhist cave temples in northwest China, and where the Diamond Sutra was discovered.

The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.

Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.

The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

This episode of the Books on Asia podcast introduces new fiction and non-fiction on Japan to be published this year, along with two upcoming books on Taiwan. We present the books here in the order they appear on the podcast. Listen to the episode for more information on each title:

Phantom Paradise: Escape from Manchuria, by Kay Enokido
(Bold Story Press, January 13, 2026)

Kokun: The Girl from the West, by Nahoko Uehashi (transl. Cathy Hirano)
(Europa Editions, January 13, 2026)

When the Museum Is Closed, by Emi Yagi (transl. Yuki Tejima)
(Soft Skull Press, January 27, 2026)

Hooked: A Novel of Obsession, by Asako Yuzuki (transl. Polly Barton)
(HarperVia, March 17, 2026)

Sisters in Yellow, by Mieko Kawakami (transl. Laurel Taylor and Hitomi Yoshio)
(Knopf, March 31, 2026)

Hollow Inside, by Asako Otani (transl. Ginny Tapley Takemori)
(Pushkin Press, May 5, 2026)

Japan’s Anime Revolution!: Twenty Animated Films That Changed the World, by Jonathan Clements
(Tuttle Publishing, May 12, 2026)

Troubled Waters, by Ichiyō Higuchi (transl. Bryan Karetnyk)
(Pushkin Press Classics, May 26, 2026)

Upcoming 2026 Releases from Plum Rain Press :

Taiwan 22: Travels in Paradox, by Tyrel Eskelson
Release date to be announced

Hidden Formosa: Life and Travels in Rural Taiwan, an anthology( ed. John Ross)
Release date to be announced

The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.

Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.

The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

Thomas Bird was living in Southern China when he decided to explore the country by train and write a book about it. He first attempts to trace the steps of Bruce Chatwin after reading an article of his in the New York Times, but eventually decides to just go with the flow, traveling far and wide on China's old railway during the pre-Covid years 2014-2019. He seeks out old lines and trains and chronicles the people he meets along the way to tell readers what China is like today. The result is Harmony Express: Travels by Train Through China.

Books and authors included in the discussion

Riding the Iron Rooster (1988), by Paul Theroux

Forgotten Kingdom: Nine Years in Yunnan 1939-48 by Peter Goullart (1955)

The Great Walk of China: Travels on Foot from Shanghai to Tibet (2010), by Graham Earnshaw

Bruce Chatwin and Joseph Rock.

The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.

Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.

The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.