Books on Asia

Amy Chavez, John Ross
  • 4.5 (8)
  • Books
  • Updated Biweekly

Books on Asia is your guide to finding quality books on Japan and Asia, including travel, literature, current events, and culture. Explore Asia in-depth. Hosted by Amy Chavez.

  1. 2d ago

    Yamagata 1: Samurai, Beef and Basho

    This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on Yamagata Prefecture, as part of our Travel & Books focus. In this episode, we discuss Michael Booth’s Sushi and Beyond: What the Japanese Know About Cooking, (also known as Super Sushi Ramen Express: One Family's Journey Through the Belly of Japan) which explores the myths and semi-myths behind Japanese beef—from beer-drinking, massaged cows to the influence of breed and diet. You  may be surprised at some of the truths. Then we’ll trace the story of Yamagata's Yonezawa beef, the legendary samurai Uesugi Kenshin, and the influence of British English teacher Charles Henry Dallas, who helped introduce the Yonezawa beef brand to the world. We also follow Matsuo Bashō’s journey through the sacred mountains of Dewa Sanzan, as described in his travelougue The Narrow Road to the Deep North. as translated by Yuasa Nobukyuki. We’ll also look to Leslie Downer’s travelogue, On Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North: Journey into a Lost Japan, for another perspective on retracing the poet’s route.  Along the way, Amy recalls stays at the traditional Yamagata ryokan Gotenmori said to be the family villa of one of Japan's most famous samurai Uesugi Kenshin.  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.

  2. Sep 28

    Japan by Charinko: Tom Gibb's 2,500-Km Ride

    Japan by Charinko: Tom Gibb’s 2,500-Kilometer Ride John Ross chats with Tom Gibb about his cycling adventures in Japan, the subject of his newly released Charinko. In the summer of 2005, Tom set off to see Japan properly. His transport was a cheap bike. And his Japanese was just about good enough for the modest challenge he had set himself: have at least one conversation every day. Six weeks and 2,500 kilometers later, Tom had pedalled from Kyushu back home to Ibaraki (still his home today) and discovered that cycling might be the perfect speed for getting to know a country. The ebook is available from the Plum Rain Press website and from Amazon. 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.

  3. Sep 21

    Japanese museums, treasure halls and Nara e-hon

    Amy and John talk about recent travels in Japan including great museums, treasure halls full of ancient art and manuscripts, and travel by ferry vs. shinkansen. (Don't miss the Paseo ferry if you're traveling between Kure, Hiroshima and Matsuyama on Shikoku). John introduces a great outdoor museum in Osaka for architecture lovers, and a naval museum. Amy introduces Nara e-hon—which replaced illustrated emaki scrolls of the Heian and Kamakura periods—that started in the Muromachi period (1336-1573) and remained popular through the Edo period). Published in Kyoto (not Nara) they were one of Japan's first codices to use this particular illustration style.  The co-hosts also talk about what they're reading and Amy introduces a blast from the past for Asian literature: Dawson's Bookstore in Los Angeles, which is still going, but in an alternate form. Join them for their romp around Japan's book history!   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.

  4. Sep 7

    New Lonely Planet Guides on Japan

    Alternative title: Lonely Planet arc—from pre-internet days to Instagram + a new Japanese etiquette tip + a couple more guidebook options Amy opens the show with her recent experience as a tour guide in the Seto Inland Sea islands. She also introduces a new Japanese manners tip, a result of her etiquette skills being put to shame recently when she traveled with Japanese people on a business trip. From there she delves into the new Lonely Planet Guidebooks and gets a little nostalgic about the older pre-internet publications and tells why they were better than the new editions. She then pivots and tells us why the new Lonely Planet destination guidebooks are better than the old. In other words, neither is better nor worse; the changes are more a reflection of the times (good riddance to tiny font sizes!) At the end of the show, for those old-schoolers who prefer the old LP guidebook style, she introduces Cicerone guidebooks to fill the gap: fewer photos, but better maps. Less Instagram; a more hands-on approach. And the quality of writing a rare find in guidebooks. See the Show Notes for links on the Books on Asia site at www.booksonasia.net  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.

  5. Aug 24

    Adachi Masao: Pink Films, Red Politics, with William Andrews

    Adachi Masao (born 1939) has lived one of the most extraordinary lives in Japanese cinema. He has made experimental films, worked with leading figures of the Japanese New Wave, and spent decades in Lebabon alongside the radical left-wing Japanese Red Army. John talks to Tokyo-based researcher, writer and translator William Andrews about Pink Auteur, Red Outlaw, his new biography of this provocative filmmaker and revolutionary. Recording this episode, John and William faced radical conditions themselves – annoying ambulances, copulating cats, and clanking bottle collection, and more cats – but for you, dear listener, all that artistic struggle was left on the cutting-room floor. William Andrews’ two books mentioned were: Pink Auteur, Red Outlaw: Adachi Masao and Japan’s Cinema of Revolution (Awai Books, 2026). It is the first English-language book devoted to Adachi and draws on extensive interviews and years of research. Dissenting Japan: A History of Japanese Radicalism and Counterculture, from 1945 to Fukushima (Hurst, 2016) William’s three Adachi film recommendations are (in the order discussed): Revolution+1 (2022) – Adachi’s film about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assassin. A.K.A. Serial Killer – completed in 1969, first publicly shown in 1975, it follows the landscapes associated with a serial killer and is the key film associated with Adachi’s “landscape theory.” Galaxy (1967) – one of Adachi’s early experimental films.   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.

  6. Aug 17

    The Devil’s Chow: A Chinese Food History–Stephen Jack

    Stephen’s childhood in Bendigo, Australia, gave him early exposure to Chinese culture and food. Nineteenth-century gold rushes brought numerous Cantonese workers to the town, and their cuisine has long since become part of local life. Decades later, Stephen – a longtime Taiwan resident – would pursue his interest in Chinese food by making extensive journeys across China. John and Stephen talk about the rich heritage of Chinese agriculture before eventually getting to some notable dishes, from the famed Peking duck to the infamous wangji dan (fertilized egg). Stephen tells the surprising story of chop suey – long dismissed as an American invention – and describes his joy at tracking down its roots in Guangdong. They finish with a healthy Chinese-style dessert: fruit, in this case the Chinese gooseberry (and its better-known descendant, the kiwifruit). The Devil’s Chow: A Chinese Food History by Stephen Jack (2026, Cold Press Books) is a lively combination of food history and travel writing, tracing the development of Chinese cuisine from the earliest times to the present. To learn more about Stephen and his writing you can visit: Stephen Jack’s website:https://www.eatingchina.com/devils-chow-chinese-food-history.htm Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Chow-Chinese-Food-History/dp/6269969425 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.

  7. Aug 10

    Taiwan 22: Travels in Paradox—Tyrel Cameron Eskelson

    For Tyrel Eskelson, a Canadian academic living in Hokkaido, curiosity about Taiwan-related news stories turned into something of an obsession; there were months of travel, hundreds of conversations, and a book (published by John at Plum Rain Press). In this BOA chat, Tyrel talks about his search to better understand the island nation and its people. Among the topics covered are Taiwan’s Japanese colonial legacy, the 228 Incident of 1947, the Battle of Kinmen, and why the book is called Taiwan 22. Taiwan 22 is available as an ebook on the Plum Rain Press website (but not yet on Amazon).https://www.plumrainpress.com/ Tyrel Cameron Eskelson has a YouTube channel called The Interlocutor Podcast, where he talks with writers, historians, and travelers, with an increasing focus on Taiwan, Japan, and China. He has also begun sharing audio versions of these conversations on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 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.

  8. Aug 3

    What's it like to host a US Military Base? Jon Mitchell on Okinawa

    Today 31 US bases sit on a landmass smaller than Rhode Island, and Okinawans remain Japan's poorest people. Why is this? And what is the US military presence actually doing there? In his new book Why Are We in Okinawa?: A History of Violence (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026), award-winning journalist Jon Mitchell answers these questions and many more, tracing how the islands were annexed by Japan in the 19th century, occupied by the US through WWII, handed back to Japan in 1972, and now menaced by China — with tensions between the military and Okinawan citizens still simmering today. He gives Okinawans a voice, and we should listen. Because you're going to be shocked by some of what you hear on today's podcast episode. Jon Mitchell is a Welsh journalist based in Japan and a special correspondent for the Okinawa Times. He is the recipient of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan's Freedom of the Press Lifetime Achievement Award, and an expert in the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). He's the author of several Japanese-language books about Okinawa, along with two English-language books: Why Are We in Okinawa? (2026) and Poisoning the Pacific: The US Military's Secret Dumping of Plutonium, Chemical Weapons, and Agent Orange (2020), which won a Society of Environmental Journalists' award. In 2023, he received Japan's most prestigious journalism prize, the Ishibashi Tanzan Memorial Journalism Award for public service. Follow him on LinkedIn and visit his website  www.jonmitchellinjapan.com     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.

See All (97)

Ratings & Reviews

4.5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Books on Asia is your guide to finding quality books on Japan and Asia, including travel, literature, current events, and culture. Explore Asia in-depth. Hosted by Amy Chavez.

Information

  • Creator
    Amy Chavez, John Ross
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    97
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2018-2020 Amy Chavez, 2021-2025 Amy Chavez / Stone Bridge Press, 2025 Amy Chavez
  • Show Website
    Books on Asia

You Might Also Like