I lived in Japan from 1997-8 and when I came back to the UK, the book, 'Memoirs of a Geisha' by Arthur Golden hit the high street. I read the book way back when and then lent the book to a friend and never had it back. Another friend bought me a replacement book some years later, and recently, I've rediscovered and re-read the book. It's definitely one of the best books I've ever read and it takes me right back to Japan; the sights, sounds, language and culture.

In my hunt for Japanese based fiction, I found 'The Tale of Murasaki' by Liza Dalby. Liza's website says: "Murasaki Shikibu was an 11th-century Japanese court lady who wrote the long, psychologically astute work of literature called The Tale of Genji. This Japanese classic has been recognized as the world's first novel. Recounted in the voice of Lady Murasaki at the end of her life, Liza Dalby's novel, The Tale of Murasaki, is about this remarkable woman and her life in the Heian era, Japan's golden age of high aesthetics, sexual politics, and literary brilliance". It's an excellent book and definitely a good follow on if Memoirs of a Geisha has got you interested!

I also found 'Samurai William' by Giles Milton in an airport on the way out to Jamaica. I spent the whole holiday pouring over the book while sitting by the pool and only stopping to eat, swim and sleep!! The book chronicles the history of William Adams and his adventures: "In 1611 an astonishing letter arrived at the the East India Trading Company in London after a tortuous seven-year journey. Englishman William Adams was one of only twenty-four survivors of a fleet of ships bound for Asia, and he had washed up in the forbidden land of Japan. The traders were even more amazed to learn that, rather than be horrified by this strange country, Adams had fallen in love with the barbaric splendour of Japan -- and decided to settle. He had forged a close friendship with the ruthless Shogun, taken a Japanese wife and sired a new, mixed-race family. Adams' letter fired up the London merchants to plan a new expedition to the Far East, with designs to trade with the Japanese and use Adams' contacts there to forge new commercial links. Samurai William brilliantly illuminates a world whose horizons were rapidly expanding eastwards." The story is that told in the 1980s in the TV series, 'Shogun'.

I'm always on the hunt for new Japanese stories retold in English. If you come across one, please let me know!!