Japanese English

Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on the remote Gokumon Island bearing tragic news—the son of one of the island’s most important families has died, on a troop transport ship bringing him back home after the Second World War. But Kindaichi has not come merely as a messenger—with his last words, the dying man warned that his three step-sisters’ lives would now be in danger. The scruffy detective is determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious prophesy, and to protect the three women if he can.

1941. Steven Katz is the son of prosperous landowners in rural California. Although his parents don’t approve, he’s found true friends in Nick, Suki, and Ollie, sons of field workers. The group is inseparable. But Steven is in turmoil. He’s beginning to acknowledge that his feelings for Nick amount to more than friendship. When the bombing of Pearl Harbor draws the US into World War II, Suki and his family are forced to leave their home for the internment camp at Manzanar. Ollie enlists in the army and ships out. And Nick must flee.

Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji - widely considered the world’s first novel - during the early years of the 11th century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation of ethical concerns and aesthetic ideals, Murasaki’s tale came to occupy a central place in Japan’s remarkable history of artistic achievement and is now recognized as a masterpiece of world literature.

The fourth novel in the internationally bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series The regulars at the magical Café Funiculi Funicula are well acquainted with its famous legend and extraordinary time-travel offer. Many patrons have reunited with old flames, made amends with estranged family...

In Murder in Manchuria, Scott D. Seligman explores an unsolved murder set amid the chaos that reigned in China in the run-up to World War II. The story unfolds against the backdrop of a three-country struggle for control of Manchuria—an area some called China's "Wild East"—and an explosive mixture of nationalities, religions, and ideologies. Semyon Kaspe, a young Jewish musician, is kidnapped, tortured, and ultimately murdered by disaffected, antisemitic White Russians, secretly acting on the orders of Japanese military overlords who covet his father's wealth.

Shintoism is a religion unique to Japan and has existed since before Buddhism came to the country.

A gripping true-life thriller about the first US submarine to sink a Japanese aircraft carrier—and the sub’s tragic twist of fate In 1939 off the New England coast, the submarine USS Squalus accidentally sinks to the bottom of the sea during a training exercise, killing half her crew. Coming...

On a cool summer evening in 1977, Mayumi Inaba hears a forlorn cry carried by the breeze of Tokyo’s Tamagawa River. She follows the sound to find a newborn kitten, just the size of her palm, dangling from a fence, abandoned. Overcome by tender affection, she takes the cat back to the small apartment she shares with her husband and christens her Mii, and so begins an ineffable bond.

Enter a land of gods, samurai, and spirits—where ancient stories still echo today. Japanese Legends isn’t just another dry history book—it reveals how sacred myths still shape Japan’s festivals, rituals, and national identity. Whether you're drawn to samurai history, yokai tales, or the traditions of shrines and emperors, this book offers a fresh, accessible way to explore the myths and legends that built Japan.

Drawing on her own experiences as a hostess and adult film actor, Gifted—Suzumi Suzuki's first novel to be translated into English—offers a nuanced, frank, and intimate portrayal of the lives of a mother and daughter getting by (or not) in an industry rarely depicted authentically in literary fiction.

Eighty years after the stunning and decisive battle, a revelatory new history of Midway ​The Battle of Midway was, on paper, an improbable victory for the smaller, less experienced American navy and air force, so much so that it was quickly described as “a miracle.” Yet fortune favored the...

Dionne Brand, author of the Griffin Poetry Prize-winning collection Ossuaries, returns with a startlingly original work about the act of writing itself. On a lonely wharf a clerk in an ink blue coat inspects bales and bales of paper that hold a poet's accumulated left-hand pages—the unwritten...

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR · Marie Claire “A taut and compelling depiction of loneliness and obsession.” --Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train “[It] will keep you firmly in its grip.” --Oyinkan Braithwaite, bestselling author of My Sister...

Each fairy tale starts in Japanese, then slowly "morphs" into Japanese! Learn 20 words in a new language! This audio file contains narration, pronunciations of new words, sound effects, and fully orchestrated original music composed, arranged, and performed by "Slangman" David Burke. By the end of the story, 20+ new words have been learned! Start with Level 1 and continue through Level 3 to gain a strong foothold in a new language. Learning has never been so fun... or so easy!

Each fairy tale starts in English, then slowly "morphs" into Hebrew! Learn 20 words in a new language! This audio file contains narration, pronunciations of new words, sound effects, and fully orchestrated original music composed, arranged, and performed by "Slangman" David Burke. By the end of the story, 20+ new words have been learned! Slangman's method is progressive! Start with Level 1 and continue through Level 3 to gain a strong foothold in a new language.

Yayoi, a nineteen-year-old woman from a seemingly loving middle-class family, has lately been haunted by the feeling that she has forgotten something important from her childhood. Her premonition grows stronger day by day and, as if led by it, she decides to move in with her mysterious aunt, Yukino.

Finalist for the 2011 National Book Award Julie Otsuka’s long awaited follow-up to When the Emperor Was Divine (“To watch Emperor catching on with teachers and students in vast numbers is to grasp what must have happened at the outset for novels like Lord of the Flies and To Kill a...

The magus Agrippina saves the munchkin hero Erich by the skin of his teeth. This favor does not come without a cost—she brings news that little Elisa is actually a changeling! To protect his sister's future, Erich's only choice is to accompany the magus to the imperial capital as a servant, leaving his hometown behind... but not before making an oath to his childhood friend. When fairies suddenly appear on his path to the capital, will he be able to avoid a critical failure?!

Putting the fey tragedy behind him, Erich arrives at the Rhinian capital and begins his term of service under Lady Agrippina at the Imperial College of Magic. There, he draws the attention of a troubling wardrobe connoisseur but has no choice but to press on and earn his sister's tuition. After befriending a student at the College, the two set off on one of Agrippina's simple errands—until the Goddess of Dice turns their quick chore into a full-blown dungeon crawl!

Identical twins Isabella and Hà were born in Vietnam and raised on opposite sides of the world, each knowing little about the other’s existence, until they were reunited as teenagers, against all odds. The twins were born in Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 1998, where their mother struggled to care...