In her much-celebrated novel, Breasts and Eggs, the principal character, Natsuko, asks some rudimentary questions. “Does blood coming out of your body make you a woman? A potential mother? What makes that so great anyway?” “What’s the secret to long life?” “What’s it mean to hurt, anyway?” Natsuko is single and in her late 30’s...

If there’s anything I love better than chocolate it’s a deliciously atmospheric crime/mystery novel. So, it is with great anticipation that I began reading The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo. To add to my excitement the locked room mystery came with a heritage. Originally published in 1946, it is the first book in the renowned...

Studio Ghibli’s movie “Grave of the Fireflies” about a brother and sister who try to survive during WWII in Japan is one of my favourite movies. But the fact that it was based on a short story by acclaimed Japanese novelist Akiyuki Nosaka got lost somewhere in the massive shadow of the Ghibli brand. I...