The Stone Bridge Podcast

Stephen Mansfield on trends in books about Japan

Episode Summary

Stone Bridge Press publisher talks with author and reviewer Stephen Mansfield about his work and the current state of writing about Japan for an international audience.

Episode Notes

Stone Bridge Press publisher talks with author and reviewer Stephen Mansfield about his work and the current state of writing about Japan for an international audience. Topics covered include:

• Stephen's early work in street photography, war journalism, and travel (beginning in Southeast Asia)
• Trends in writings from and about Japan
• Early works in translation, foreign writers writing on Japan, popular nonfiction categories (books explaining Japan,  memoirs, lifestyle and self-help books), and books that have been adapted to television and film
• How superficial views of Japan are balanced by select writers who are informed and knowledgeable about culture and language
• Stephen's new book on modern Japanese gardens featuring his text and photographs

Stephen Mansfield is a British writer and photojournalist whose work has appeared in over 70 magazines, newspapers and journals worldwide. He is the author of several books, including Japan: Islands of the Floating World, Japan's Master Gardens and Tokyo: A Biography. His latest book, coming out in fall 2025, is The Modern Japanese Garden, with a Foreword by Pico Iyer. (US: Timber Press; UK: Thames and Hudson). He currently resides in Japan

Many books and authors are mentioned in the podcast. These include the following:

• Laos: A Portrait by Stephen Mansfield
• Lao Hill Tribes: Traditions and Patterns of Existence by Stephen Mansfield
• Bradt Guide to the Philippines by Stephen Mansfield
• China: Yunan Province by Stephen Mansfield 
• Japanese Stone Gardens: Origins, Meaning & Form by Stephen Mansfield
• Japan's Master Gardens: Lessons in Space and Environment by Stephen Mansfield
   
• Unbeaten Tracks in Japan: An Account of Travels in the Interior Including Visits to the Aborigines of Yezo and the Shrine of Nikko by Isabella Bird
• A Superficial Journey through Tokyo and Peking by Peter Quennell 
• The Flowery Sword by Ethel Mannin
• Sado: Japan's Island in Exile by Angus Waycott
• Walking the Kiso Road: A Modern-Day Exploration of Old Japan by William Scott Wilson
• Off the Beaten Tracks in Japan: A Journey by Train from Hokkaido to Kyushu by John Dougill 
   
• Jiro Osaragi
• Kobo Abe
• Junichiro Tanizaki
• Shusaku Endo
• Sawako Ariyoshi
• Fumiko Enchi
• Yoko Ogawa
• Yoko Tawada
• Haruki Murakami
• Mieko Kawakami
   
• Donald Richie
• Edward Seidensticker
• Donald Keene
• Suzanne Kamata
• Leza Lowitz
• Lafcadio Hearn
• John Nathan
   
• The Pine Islands by Marion Poschmann, translated by Jen Calleja
• Fracture: A Novel by Andrés Neuman, translated by Lorenza Garcia
   
• The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation by Karel Van Wolferen
• Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival by David Pilling 
• Tokyo Junkie: 60 Years of Bright Lights and Back Alleys . . . and Baseball by Robert Whiting 
• The Call of Japan: A Continuing Story-1950 to the Present Day by Hans Brinckmann 
• At Home in Japan: A Foreign Woman's Journey of Discovery by Rebecca Otowa 
• Water, Wood, and Wild Things: Learning Craft and Cultivation in a Japanese Mountain Town by
• Hannah Kirshner 
• Illusory Dwellings: Aesthetic Meditations in Kyoto by Allen S. Weiss
• The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise by Olivia Laing
• Green Tea Living: A Japan-Inspired Guide to Eco-Friendly Habits, Health, and Happiness by Toshimi A. Kayaki
   
• The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide, translated by Eric Selland 
• The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa, translated by Philip Gabriel 
• The Cat and The City by Nick Bradley
• The Cat with Three Passports by Cj Fentiman 
• Oh, Tama! by Mieko Kanai, translated by Tomoko Aoyama and Paul McCarthy
• A Cat, a Man, and Two Women by Junichiro Tanizaki, translated by Paul McCarthy 
• I Am a Cat by Soseki Natsume, translated by Aiko Ito
• Shogun by James Clavell
• The Earthquake Bird: A Novel by Susanna Jones
• Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein
• Mirei Shigemori: Modernizing the Japanese Garden by Christian Tschumi