Product details
- ISBN 9780008738556
- Weight: 270g
- Dimensions: 231 x 196mm
- Publication Date: 22 Oct 2026
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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From Samurai sagas to Shibuya stories – discover the blossoming bookshops, bars, and backstreets of Japan’s literary capital.
Tokyo is a city of contrasts – where centuries-old haiku echo in temple gardens, and manga billboards light up Shibuya’s crossing. This book captures that energy in photographs and words, guiding you through the capital’s most inspiring literary landmarks.
Discover the book-lover’s paradise of Jimbocho, with its endless second-hand shops and hidden treasures. Step inside museums dedicated to Japan’s greatest writers, from Matsuo Bashō to Natsume Sōseki.
Wander to cafés and bars where poets once wrote late into the night, and explore today’s independent bookshops and manga cafés that keep Tokyo’s reading culture alive.
Every page combines striking photography with insights into the places where stories were written, read, and imagined. Whether you’re planning a trip or exploring from home, this book is your companion to Tokyo’s literary soul – a city that reads as beautifully as it looks.
Graduating from Melbourne University with majors in Linguistics and English, Matt worked as a copywriter in Australia before moving to Japan in 2002. Building on more than a decade of experience in the translation and localization industry, he founded Kōchikudō G.K., a translation, editing, and writing firm, in 2017. He is also a shihan (master) in the Kinko school of shakuhachi (bamboo flute).
In 2020 he received the 2019–2020 Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize from the Donald Keene Center at Columbia University for his translation of Shimura Fukumi’s The Music of Color (Iro o kanaderu).
