Factbook

A Dynamic Compendium of Interesting Japanese Literary and Publishing Facts

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Only one author, Yoriko Shono, has won Japan’s Triple Crown of literary prizes to date[UPDATED: 4-17-2019]

The so-called Triple Crown of Japanese literary prizes for new authors consists of the Akutagawa Prize, the Yukio Mishima Prize and the Noma Prize. Yoriko Shono, author of Time Slip Kombinat, who describes her style of writing as ‘avant-pop’, is the only author to-date to… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Industry
- Prizes
- Women Writers
Only one author, Yoriko Shono, has won Japan’s Triple Crown of literary prizes to date Posted March 23rd, 2017 by Richard Nathan
50 years before the first Michelin Guide, Tokyo already had a popular guidebook for its foodies[UPDATED: 4-14-2019]

It has been widely reported that for more than a decade Tokyo has had more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city in the world. But what isn’t generally known is that Tokyo, or Edo as it was previously called, had its own guidebooks for Japanese… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Food
- Guidebooks
- Tourism
- Travel
- UNESCO
50 years before the first Michelin Guide, Tokyo already had a popular guidebook for its foodies Posted April 11th, 2019 by Richard Nathan
The Japanese word for novel entered the Japanese language in 1754 via China[UPDATED: 4-14-2019]

The Japanese word shosetsu written using two letters or characters meaning ‘small’ and ‘talk ’ first came into use as a Japanese term for fiction in 1754; following the successful translation and adaptation of Chinese books such as Sui-Hu Chuan (The Water Margin), pronounced Suikoden… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Book production
- China
- Culture
- History
The Japanese word for novel entered the Japanese language in 1754 via China Posted January 3rd, 2018 by Richard Nathan
Japan’s oldest poetry anthology is over a thousand years old[UPDATED: 4-14-2019]

The Manyoshu, Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves is Japan’s oldest surviving book of poetry. It was compiled during Japan’s Nara Period (710-794) when Japan’s capital was located in Nara. The Japanese capital subsequently shifted to Kyoto at the start of the Heian Period (794-1185), a… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Culture
- History
- Poetry
Japan’s oldest poetry anthology is over a thousand years old Posted January 1st, 2018 by Richard Nathan
Japan’s first commercial publishing emerged in Kyoto in the early 17th century[UPDATED: 4-14-2019]

Following the arrival from Korea of movable type technology and the printing of the first book using the technology in 1593, after Japan’s invasion of Korea, a new industry emerged in Japan – commercial publishing. According to academics, such as Donald Keene, professor of Japanese at… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Book production
- Industry
Japan’s first commercial publishing emerged in Kyoto in the early 17th century Posted January 3rd, 2018 by Richard Nathan
In the 1960s a member of the Japanese Imperial Family started moonlighting as a science fiction author[UPDATED: 3-4-2019]

Princess Fukuko Asaka (1941-2009) started publishing science fiction and fantasy stories in Japanese magazines in the late 1950s under the pen name Bien Fu, and had stories regularly published throughout the 1960s. One of the Princess’s stories was published in the first issue of Uchujin (1957-2009),… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- History
- Science Fiction
- Women Writers
In the 1960s a member of the Japanese Imperial Family started moonlighting as a science fiction author Posted February 13th, 2019 by Richard Nathan
Japan’s oldest surviving cookbook was published in 1643[UPDATED: 2-4-2019]

According to historians, Japan’s first modern cookbook Ryori Monogatari, Accounts of Cooking, was published just as the first Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543-1616), came to power in 1603, and Japan’s Edo Period began (1603-1863). Tokugawa was a supporter of publishing and in particular books that provided… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Cookbooks
- Food
Japan’s oldest surviving cookbook was published in 1643 Posted February 4th, 2019 by Richard Nathan
Japan’s most expensive book was published in 1984 with a retail price of US$17,000[UPDATED: 1-5-2019]

Japan’s most expensive book, an edited collection of manuscripts by Claudius Ptolemaeus (100-168), was published in two-volumes by the Japanese publisher Iwanami Shoten in 1984, just before Japan’s infamous economic bubble (1986-1991), with a retail price of 1,930,000 yen. Ptolemaeus’ astronomical treatise, an astronomy textbook… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Industry
- Retail
- Science
Japan’s most expensive book was published in 1984 with a retail price of US$17,000 Posted July 20th, 2017 by Richard Nathan

Factbook

Only one author, Yoriko Shono, has won Japan’s Triple Crown of literary prizes to date[UPDATED: 4-17-2019]

50 years before the first Michelin Guide, Tokyo already had a popular guidebook for its foodies[UPDATED: 4-14-2019]

The Japanese word for novel entered the Japanese language in 1754 via China[UPDATED: 4-14-2019]

Japan’s oldest poetry anthology is over a thousand years old[UPDATED: 4-14-2019]

Japan’s first commercial publishing emerged in Kyoto in the early 17th century[UPDATED: 4-14-2019]

In the 1960s a member of the Japanese Imperial Family started moonlighting as a science fiction author[UPDATED: 3-4-2019]

Japan’s oldest surviving cookbook was published in 1643[UPDATED: 2-4-2019]

Japan’s most expensive book was published in 1984 with a retail price of US$17,000[UPDATED: 1-5-2019]

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