Here’s what to expect when you visit a Japanese izakaya for the first time, as well as what food and drinks you’ll find on an izakaya menu. The Japanese izakaya is, to put it simply, Japan’s answer to a British pub. Famed for delicious drinks and jaw-dropping Japanese food, Japanese izakaya are places that buzz …

2020 was a really excellent year for literature in translation, with some stand-out new Korean books that included the spectacular Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo (tr. Jamie Chang). 2021, however, is looking to top last year’s offering of Korean books by offering us a refreshing selection of genre fiction and queer fiction. Until …

Tatsuki Fujimoto has gone from rising star to king of the shonen manga genre in a very short space of time. Like Attack on Titan’s creator Hajime Isayama, Tatsuki Fujimoto’s rise has been like that of a rocket, with all the speed, excitement, and splendour. It began with the Fire Punch manga and was solidified …

In the event of unfortunate and unpredictable tropical weather, here are some amazing things to do in Okinawa, Japan regardless of the state of the weather. Sooner or later, it will rain on your trip to Okinawa. The reason why it often rains on weekends in urban areas is due to the build-up of pollution …

Get to know the best Latvian food, drink, and desserts to try at home or on your future trips to Latvia. Cold countries with tough climates and rugged landscapes have a wonderful habit of developing hearty cuisines made from belly-filling carbohydrates and meats, as well as a love of forest-floor foraging. Latvia is no different. …

Get to know some of Bucharest’s best cafes and restaurants and what Romanian food you should be ordering there with this guide. Traditional Romanian food is a mountain of indulgence and a broad landscape of local delicacies inspired by centuries of history, empire, and immigration. There is so much to love and explore in both …

“The lives of the characters in this story are burning up within their bodies,” Saihate writes in the afterword to Astral Season, Beastly Season. “They certainly cannot expose those lives to others, and no one will understand them fully.” This is the debut novel in English by a celebrated young poet in Japan. It’s a …

Indonesia, Asia’s largest archipelago, is one of the world’s most ethnically, religiously, and culturally diverse countries. It is a place called home by every kind of human being. As soon, Indonesian novels, stories, and poems offer readers that same kind of diversity and excitement. The Indonesian novels, stories, and poems found here do not encompass …

‘Wrapped up in our hectic lives, there’s something soothing about reading a narrative that has nowhere to be.’ Guest Post courtesy of Osusume Books The narratives found in Japanese literature have a unique power to heal the minds of its readers. A tough day of work ends. It’s time to flush the stress out of your …

Of all the most beloved, best-selling manga — the ones with the biggest legacies; the staunchest fanbases; the biggest numbers — most of them are shonen manga. But many of those shonen manga are now finished and aging. Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach. These names are being replaced, but by what? By these fantastic modern shonen …