A reading list for Japan

I visited Japan in Autumn 2024. As is tradition, I enriched my visit with as much reading about Japan as I could get my eyes on. Below is a list of the more interesting things I have read.

Japanese history

• History of Japan (YouTube) - A fun recap of the entire history of Japan. A classic internet video.
  • Sakoku (Wikipedia) - Japan’s policy of self-isolation from 1633 to 1853.
  • Perry Expedition (Wikipedia) - How American gunboat diplomacy opened up Japan by force.
    • Yamamoto Otokichi (Wikipedia) - The wild story of a Japanese castaway. Think Forrest Gump set during the end of Japan’s isolation.
  • Meiji restoration (Wikipedia) - The opening up of Japan following the Perry Expedition.
    • Datsu-A Ron
    • Boshin War (Wikipedia) - Some Samurai opposed the Meiji restoration as it threatened their status. This is the story of their ill-fated rebellion, which was the background of the 2003 movie The Last Samurai.
• [What did Shinzo Abe mean to Japan?] (BBC) - An overview of prime minister Shinzo Abe’s influence on Japan. He was assassinated in 2022.

Design and crafts

• Katana and especially Japanese swordsmithing - I went on a deep dive about katanas, how they were made, the metallurgy behind them. It’s fascinating how the shape of the katana and the myths about its folded steel all originate from the impurities of the metal they used. This video shows a sword smith who follows the traditional process. Also read about pattern welding, and discussions about Japanese metallurgy.
• Food models is a fascinating practice that goes back centuries. This video shows the craftsmanship that goes into making them, although Wikipedia explains the process a lot better.
• Hanko (99% Invisible) - Japanese people sign documents with a personal stamp. During COVID, this became a problem.
• Japan’s hometown tax (Kalzumeus) - Japanese taxpayers can donate some of their tax money to their hometown, or any town they choose. How a system developed around small towns trying to win over taxpayers from Tokyo.
• Japanese and Chinese font differences - Same characters, different look. How Japanese people can discern apps that were truly designed for them. If you are a software developer, you will especially enjoy Dylan Beattie’s talk at NDC Copenhagen 2022.
• Analyzing the design of unusual Japanese butter tableware (Core77)
• Tokyo’s manhole covers
• Wakaba mark (99% Invisible)
• Meiji-era Japanese oil paintings
• 30-hour days - Japanese signs sometimes write “30時” (30 o-clock) to mean that an event goes past midnight, all the way until 6 AM. This explains why we sometimes saw closing times like “24:30”.

Japanese culture

• Tidying up is not joyful but another misuse of Eastern ideas (Aeon) - A history of the West’s perception of Japanese minimalism, how it’s mostly incorrect, and why that’s alright.
• Some perspective on the Japan earthquake (Patrick McKenzie, 2011) - An overview of how Japanese society prepares for earthquakes.
• Doing business in Japan (Patrick McKenzie, 2014) - The experience of famous entrepreneur Patrick McKenzie as a salaryman and as a business owner in Japan.
  • The forgotten mistake that killed Japan’s software industry (Disrupting Japan) - How Japanese companies dominated the electronics industry for decades, only to fade into irrelevance.
  • Oidashibeya, the Japanese purgatory - How Japanese companies “shelve” employees they no longer need.
• Coffee, sandwiches, underwear, beer: Japan’s beloved konbini (The Guardian)
• An introduction to kissaten culture - The rise and fall of Tokyo’s café culture.
• A guide to Goshuin (Savvy Tokyo) - You can get gorgeous stamps at almost every Japanese shrine for about 500 yen. It’s a lovely souvenir. Some train stations also have their own stamps.
• Japan was the future but it’s stuck in the past (BBC)
• Japan goes from dynamic to disheartened (New York Times, 2010) - How Japanese culture deals with an economic bubble followed by 30 years of stagnation.