Travel writing
Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Ferguson — a witty, affectionate account of hitchhiking the length of Japan from south to north, following the cherry blossom. One of the best travel books about Japan.
The Roads to Sata by Alan Booth — a writer walks the entire length of Japan on foot, from Hokkaido to Cape Sata on Kyushu's southern tip. Unhurried, observant, and deeply fond of the country.
Fiction
The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki — four sisters in prewar Osaka, navigating marriage, family, and a changing Japan. Long, but repays the investment.
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami — melancholic coming-of-age story set in Tokyo in the late 1960s. The novel that made Murakami internationally famous.
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata — a short novel about a Tokyo dilettante and a geisha in a remote hot-spring resort. Nobel Prize winner, and one of the most evocative portraits of Japan's traditional world.
Silence by Shusaku Endo — the story of Portuguese Jesuit missionaries in 17th-century Japan during the persecution of Christians. Harrowing and morally serious.
History and culture
Hiroshima by John Hersey — the definitive account of the atomic bombing, told through six survivors. Published in 1946, still essential.
The Chrysanthemum and the Sword by Ruth Benedict — an anthropological study of Japanese culture written during World War II. Some elements are dated, but its insights into honor, obligation, and social form remain illuminating.
Dogs and Demons by Alex Kerr — a critical examination of Japan's postwar development, focusing on construction, bureaucracy, and the destruction of the natural landscape. Not a comfortable read, but an important counterpoint to the usual rosy picture.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden — historical fiction set in the world of Kyoto's geisha. Hugely popular and engaging, though its accuracy has been disputed by actual geisha.
For children
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr — the true story of a young Hiroshima survivor who folded paper cranes in hospital. Quietly devastating.