“If I had to eat only in one city for the rest of my life, Tokyo would be it.”
For thousands of travellers across the globe, Tokyo remains one of the most fascinating and magical cities in the world. And the best books about Tokyo capture the geography, history and character that makes it such an enticing destination to visit. At the centre of Japanese culture, commerce and history, the country’s capital is home to over thirteen million inhabitants and welcomes a further three million foreign visitors every year. However, as late as the seventeenth century, Tokyo was just a small fishing village. Riding the wave of Japan’s economic miracle after the Second World War, the city has endured both natural and human destruction to emerge with a proud identity built upon business, arts and cuisine. So, from the world’s busiest train station, and festivals such as the Sanja to the biggest tower in the world, check out the best Tokyo books here at What We Reading.
Tokyo Maze – 42 Walks In And Around The Japanese Capital – Axel Schwab
First up on our list of the best Tokyo books is Axel Schwab’s Tokyo Maze, undoubtedly the definitive travel guide tackling the city by foot. Having spent three decades visiting the city and even residing in it for five years, Schwab is the tour guide we all need for skipping the tourist traps and getting to the spots that rarely get the mentions they deserve.
Regularly revised and updated, Tokyo Maze consists of 42 complete walking tours across Japan’s capital city, featuring 400 sights, 48 area maps, 100+ high-quality colour photos and insider tips, and over 450 bookmarks tailored to give your trip some added insight. From parks and gardens, restaurants to coffee shops, streets and malls and temples and shrines, no matter what budget you have or what has lured you to Tokyo, Schwab’s guide is the only thing you need to navigate around the city.
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Out – Natsuo Kirino
Natsuo Kirino’s classic thriller Out takes readers into the underbelly of the Tokyo suburbs and follows the story of a woman named Masako Katori. A young woman who works the night shift making boxed lunches, she brutally strangles her dead-beat husband and requests her co-workers help her get rid of the body and join her in covering up her crime.
Aside from its shockingly gripping premise, what makes Out one of the best books about Tokyo is its convincing portrayal of the grimy world of Japan’s yakuza and the inner workings of violent crime. Through the cat-and-mouse game played between veteran investigators and inexperienced but determined criminals, we get a captivating story about Tokyo’s urban life and the pressures and prejudices that force women to extreme lengths.
Sweet Bean Paste – Durian Sukegawa
Sentaro once dreamed of becoming a successful writer, but now spends his days with a criminal record, drinking too much and working in a small confectionery store in Tokyo selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste. One day, he meets Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past.
Tokue makes the most delicious sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted, and the pair soon begin to strike up a close friendship as she teaches him her craft. However, pressures from society soon lead to Tokue’s dark secrets being revealed, with devastating consequences. One of the most beloved pieces of Japanese literature in recent years, Durian Sukegawa’s Sweet Bean Paste is an ode to the burdens of the past and the power of friendship.
The Bells Of Old Tokyo: Meditations On Time And A City – Anna Sherman
Between 1632 and 1854, the rulers of Japan restricted contact with foreign countries, fostering a distinct and wholly unique culture that remains to this day. And few books about Tokyo capture the beauty and identity better than Anna Sherman’s The Bells of Old Tokyo.
Through her journeys through the city, readers are treated to one of the most immersive reading experiences about the history and legacies of the people living within its boundaries. Along the way, she introduces a wealth of quirky and fascinating characters from across Tokyo. From an old woman who recounts running from American firebombs during the Second World War, a scientist who invents the most accurate clock in the world, to the owner of a small cafe who views coffee more as art than a drink, The Bells of Old Tokyo is just as much a mediation on life and time as it is on Japan’s bustling capital.
Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami
Another one of the all-time classic pieces of Japanese literature and one of the best Tokyo books, Norwegian Wood follows the story of two college students, Toru and Naoko. Toru is quiet, serious and devoted to the beautiful Naoko, with the pair being bonded by the tragic passing of their best friend years before. But, whilst Toru gradually acclimatises to the pressures and loneliness of campus life, Naoko finds the daily grind unbearable.
As she retreats further into herself, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to an independent and liberated young woman. Haruki Murakami’s 1987 book blends the music, mood and ideals of Tokyo in the sixties for a young man’s coming-of-age tale that any reader interested in Japan will find spellbinding.
Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter On The Police Beat In Japan – Jake Adelstein
At the age of nineteen, Jake Adelstein travelled to Japan in search of peace and tranquillity. What followed was twelve years’ worth of eighty-hour workweeks covering the seedy side of Japanese culture at the Yomiuri Shinbun. But, when his final scoop brought him face-to-face with the country’s most infamous yakuza boss and the threat of death to him and his family, he decided to step down.
Tokyo Vice is a memoir from Adelstein on how he grew from an inexperienced cub reporter to an ambitious investigator with a serious price on his head. Humorous, harrowing and enthralling across every page, Tokyo Vice is one of the most illuminating books about Tokyo and Japanese crime and the yakuza that few of us ever get to see.
Tokyo Junkie: 60 Years Of Bright Lights And Back Alleys… And Baseball – Robert Whiting
Robert Whiting’s Tokyo Junkie is another memoir about Tokyo that chronicles the sixty-year span of history that transformed the city from a dark and fetid backwater into one of the most sophisticated, populous and significant urban capitals in the world.
Whiting brings to life the transformative effect the 1964 Olympics had on the city, rubs shoulders with the yakuza, and interviews the elite players in Japanese baseball as he learns how sports and politics can collide. One of the most colourful and entertaining social histories of Japan’s capital city, Tokyo Junkie is the perfect book for anyone looking to learn more about how Tokyo came to be what it is today.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
