About Books On Asia Podcast

Books on Asia is your guide to finding quality books on Japan and Asia. By offering thought-provoking content in the form of book excerpts, reviews, literary criticism, author interviews and a podcast, we hope to create an intelligent space for people to explore issues on Asia in-depth. We are a book recommendation site and we may make affiliate referral fees through the following online bookstores: Apple Books, Bookshop (U.S.) and Amazon. We recommend only books of the highest quality. We are a reader-based site, concerned with the wants and needs of those seeking to learn about Asia.

NBN Episodes hosted by Books:

New Book Releases 2026 on Japan, Taiwan

April 17, 2026

New Book Releases 2026 on Japan, Taiwan

This episode of the Books on Asia podcast introduces new fiction and non-fiction on Japan to be published this year, 2026, along with two upcoming boo…

Ted Goossen on translating Hiromi Kawakami’s “Third Love”

April 10, 2026

Ted Goossen on translating Hiromi Kawakami’s “Third Love"

Books on Asia Podcast

Translator Ted Goossen talks about everything from first landing in Japan in 1968 to the differences between translating Haruki Murakami and Hiromi Ka…

Marty Friedman with Jon Wiederhorn, "Dreaming Japanese" (Permuted Press, 2024)

April 3, 2026

Dreaming Japanese

Marty Friedman with Jon Wiederhorn

Marty Friedman is a multi-platinum recording artist and government-appointed Ambassador to Japan Heritage. He has written three books in Japanese and …

Robert Whiting, "Gamblers, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies: The Outsiders who Shaped Modern Japan (Tuttle, 2024)

March 27, 2026

Gamblers, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies

Robert Whiting

Amy Chavez talks with Robert Whiting about his recently released book Gamblers, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies: The Outsiders who Shaped Modern Japan (…

Hiromi Ito, "The Thorn Puller" (Stone Bridge Press, 2022)

March 20, 2026

Hiromi Ito, "The Thorn Puller" (Stone Bridge Press, 2022)

Hiromi Ito, translated by Jeffrey Angles

Hiromi Ito author of The Thorn Puller (originally published in Japanese as Toge-nuki Jizo: Shin Sugamo Jizo engi) came to national attention in Japan…