Hector Garcia—The Spirit of Shinto
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Chavez and Hector Garcia discuss his recently released book, The Spirit of Shinto, and how Shint...
Guitarist Marty Friedman and Dreaming Japanese
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Chavez opens the show by asking Friedman to give a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away on ...
Ginny Takemori on Translating Cats
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A few of Takemori's favorite books on Japan are:Hitomachi, a photo book by Araki NoboyoshiWalking Th...
Lina Terrell on Translating Okinawa
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lina Terrell is a translator of Japanese historical texts. Today we are going to talk about her rece...
Igor Prusa "Scandal in Japan"
31 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Igor Prusa, Ph.D. is a Czech scholar in Japanese and media studies, currently affiliated with Ambis ...
Baye McNeil talks about Racism in Japan
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, Amy Chavez talks with Baye McNeil talk about being a b...
Michael Pronko's New Books: Shitamachi Scam and Tokyo Tempos
27 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Podcast host Amy Chavez talks with Michael Pronko, a Tokyo-based writer of murder, memoir, and music...
Paul Martin on Japanese Swords
16 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Martin is a Japanese sword expert who has worked at the British Museum and traveled extensively...
Burritt Sabin on Yokohama and Kamakura
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Burritt Sabin was born in New York City and came to Japan as a naval officer in 1975. His profession...
Lesley Downer and How Empresses shaped Japan
24 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Chavez speaks with Lesley Downer, an expert on Japanese culture and history who writes both fict...
Robert Whiting—Gangsters, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Chavez talks with Robert Whiting about his recently released book Gangsters, Fraudsters, Dreamer...
The Healing Power of Female Poet Otagaki Rengetsu
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, host Amy Chavez talks to author John Stevens about his...
Angus Waycott Walks Sado Island
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Author and travel-writer Angus Waycott talks about his 8-day walk around Sado Island off Niigata P...
The Future of Books and AI
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We talk with publisher Peter Goodman and author/translator Frederik L. Schodt about artificial intel...
Fred Schodt on His Historical Non-Fiction on Japan
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with author and translator Frede...
John Grant Ross on Taiwan & Japan
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the BOA podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with John Ross, a New Zealand writer based...
Japan's 31 Passions, with John Rucynski
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2021 John Rucynski--who has been living in Japan on and off since 1994--self-published A Passion ...
Stephen Mansfield Talks Tokyo
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen Mansfield, author of Tokyo: A Biography (Tuttle, 2017), is a British writer and photo-journ...
Translating Hiromi Ito's "The Thorn Puller" with Jeffrey Angles
23 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, host Amy Chavez sits down with writer, translator, and...
Sarah Coomber and the Female Experience Teaching in Japan
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Coomber is the author of The Same Moon (Camphor Press, 2020), a memoir about what happened whe...
Azby Brown on Sustainability and his Book “Just Enough”
24 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the BOA podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with Azby Brown, a long-time resident of J...
Traveling Japan as a Blind Person, with Maud Rowell
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the BOA podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with Maud Rowell about her new book Blind ...
Moving to Japan's Countryside with Iain Maloney
19 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, podcast host and island-dweller Amy Chavez and Gifu co...
The Spirit of Shizen: The Nature of Japan through 72 Seasons, with Robert Weis
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Podcast host Amy Chavez talks to Robert Weis, curator of the Luxembourg Natural History Museum's upc...
Cody Poulton on Japanese Performing Arts
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Amy asks Poulton to explain the difference between reading Noh plays and seeing a Noh performance. P...
John Stevens, a lifetime of publishing
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week author and translator John Stevens joins us from Hawaii. Stevens has penned many books ove...
Abby Denson talks Japan via Comics
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Abby Denson is the award-winning author of Cool Japan Guide: Fun in the Land of Manga, Lucky Cats an...
Novelist David Joiner talks “Kanazawa"
13 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, podcast host Amy Chav...
Liza Dalby on Geisha, Kimonos, and Translating Setouchi Jakucho's "Places"
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, host Amy Chavez talks...
Kathleen Burkinshaw, second-generation A-bomb victim
13 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, podcast host Amy Chav...
Meredith McKinney on Saigyō and "Gazing at the Moon"
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, we have guest intervi...
Alex Kerr Discusses his Latest Book—Another Bangkok
14 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, Alex Kerr is return...
The Yamamba--Japanese Mountain Witch--with Rebecca Copeland and Linda C. Ehrlich
02 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today on the Books on Asia Podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with the co-editors of Yamamba: In Search ...
Kyoto's Gion Festival: Exploring its Mysteries with Catherine Pawasarat
18 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cathrine Pawasarat, author of Gion Festival: Exploring its Mysteries, is one of the founders of the ...
The Art of the Short Story with Tina deBellegarde
07 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're talking with Tina deBellegarde about short stories, what makes a good short story, and w...
Robert Whiting Talks Baseball and Tokyo Junkie
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, show host Amy Chavez talks with Robert Whiting about h...
Wes Lang, Hiking and Trekking the Japan Alps and Mount Fuji
19 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This episode starts out with Amy asking Wes for some tips on using mountain huts while hiking: What ...
Janine Beichman on translating Japanese Haiku and Tanka
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This episode starts out with Amy and Janine talking about Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) and the poetic r...
Alex Kerr, author of Finding the Heart Sutra
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Partial Transcript“Welcome to the Books on Asia podcast, I’m your host, Amy Chavez, and today we...
Richard Lloyd Parry, author of Ghosts of the Tsunami
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amy talks with author, journalist, and Times correspondent Richard Lloyd Parry about his books Gho...
Lena Baibikov, translator of Haruki Murakami's non-fiction
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Chaez talks with Lena Baibikov who has translated Haruki Murakami’s non-fiction works from Jap...
William Scott Wilson, author of Walking the Kiso Road
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amy talks with William Scott Wilson, author and translator of over a dozen books on Japan and Chin...
Barry Lancet, author of Tokyo Kill
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Barry Lancet chats with podcast host Amy Chavez about Lancet's popular thriller series including Jap...
Juliet Winters Carpenter on translating Japanese Literature
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amy meets up with Juliet Winters Carpenter to talk about her 70 or so translated works of Japanese l...
Judith Pascoe on Wuthering Heights in Japan
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amy talks with Dr. Judith Pascoe in her office on the campus of Florida State University while a Bro...
John Dougill, founder of Writers in Kyoto
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
John Dougill talks about Japan’s indigenous religion of Shinto, its kami (deities) and the designa...