The UP Asian Center, once again, expands its collection of Japan-related resources, thanks to the READ Japan Project. The center received a generous donation of 95 titles, offering fresh insights into Japan’s history, politics, economy, culture, and international relations.

The READ Japan Project was launched in 2008 by The Nippon Foundation to promote a deeper understanding of Japan through book donations to universities and libraries worldwide. Today, it is administered by the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, with continued financial support from The Nippon Foundation.

With topics ranging from Japan’s modernization and diplomatic strategies to its economic policies and cultural transformations, these new books serve as valuable academic resources for students, researchers, and faculty members alike.

Among the latest additions to the Asian Center Library listed below.

ON JAPANESE POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

•   Katzenstein, Peter J. 2018. Cultural norms and national security: Police and military in postwar Japan. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
•   Midford, Paul, and Wilhelm Vosse, eds. 2020. New Directions in Japan’s Security: Non-US Centric Evolution. London: Routledge.
•   Samuels, Richard J. 2019. Machiavelli's children: leaders and their legacies in Italy and Japan. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.

ON JAPANESE ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

•   Aramaki, Kenji, Kenji Aramaki, and Dreyer. 2018. Japan’s Long Stagnation, Deflation, and Abenomics. Singapore: Springer.
•   Sugihara, Kaoru, ed. 2005. Japan, China, and the Growth of the Asian International Economy, 1850–1949. Vol. 1. Oxford: OUP Oxford.
•   Karan, Pradyumna Prasad. 2005. Japan in the 21st Century: Environment, Economy, and Society. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.

ON JAPANESE SOCIETY AND CULTURE

•   Napier, Susan. 2018. Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art. New Haven, CT, USA: Yale University Press.
•   Buruma, Ian. 2018. A Tokyo romance: a memoir. Penguin.
•   Chiavacci, David, and Carola Hommerich. 2017. Social Inequality in Post-Growth Japan: Transformation during Economic and Demographic Stagnation. London: Routledge.
•   Abe, Marié. 2018. Resonances of Chindon-ya: Sounding Space and Sociality in Contemporary Japan. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.

 ON JAPANESE LITERATURE AND ARTS

•   Hansen, Gitte Marianne, and Michael Tsang, eds. 2022. Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage. London: Routledge.
•   Kimbrough, Keller, and Haruo Shirane, eds. 2018. Monsters, Animals, and Other Worlds: A Collection of Short Medieval Japanese Tales. New York: Columbia University Press.
•   Murakami, Haruki, ed. 2018. The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories. London: Penguin UK.

 ON JAPANESE HISTORY

•   Kapur, Nick. 2018. Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
•   Chatani, Sayaka. 2018. Nation-Empire: Ideology and Rural Youth Mobilization in Japan and Its Colonies. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
•   Myers, Ramon H., and Mark R. Peattie, eds. 2020. The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895–1945. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

PHOTO GALLERY

These books reflect the Asian Center’s commitment to fostering academic exchange and cross-cultural scholarship. We invite everyone to explore these new materials and deepen their engagement with Japan’s rich and evolving narratives.

ABOUT THE READ JAPAN PROJECT

The Read Japan Project was a 2008 initiative of The Nippon Foundation to promote the understanding of Japan through the donation of Japan-related books published in English to universities and libraries around the world. The project is currently administered by the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research with financial support from The Nippon Foundation. For more information, visit their website: https://readjapan.org/

For inquiries, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 891-8500 loc. 3586.

The Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The UP Asian Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. It also offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. For an overview of these graduate programs, click here. As an area studies institution, the Asian Center also publishes Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, the latest issue of which can be downloaded at the journal's website.