The idea for this collection, each one focusing on a different country, is absolutely brilliant. The choice of Japan seems perfect too, since it's a country many people in the West are intrigued by and know a little about.

Overall, I feel like it was a success, mixing both Japanese and foreign texts. I'd highlight Brian Phillips' "Sea of Crises," one of the most breathtaking pieces of non-fiction I've ever read. It manages to teach us a lot about Japanese society and history, sumo, literature, and simply about the author himself. Phillips' ability to tell a story is unbelievable.

On the other hand, I don't think rape-apologist Ian Buruma added anything to the book. It does make one wonder why they chose trash written by trash for this collection.

I'll be interested to see the next installments.

An unusual collection of stories or observations on life in Japan, be it spirits not passing to the other side or sumo wrestlers and how it all works.

I like learning about other cultures so this was an interesting book.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

A brilliant collection of essays about Japan, presenting the different layers of a fascinating society.
I am always eager to discover more about Japanese culture and this book offered well-researched and multilayered points of view.

I would have loved for this book to be formatted in a different way as I struggled to read it.
Overall, a very enjoyable collection of essays.

First of all, my thanks for an advance copy via NetGalley.

The Passenger series is a collection of pieces (mostly essay/non-fiction) about the country named - in this case Japan. I thought I knew a lot of random things about Japan but I’d barely scratched the surface. Writers, journalists, pieces in translation come together in a brilliant collection shining a spotlight on so many facets of the culture. I can’t wait to read more from the Passenger series! (Can recommend for general interest and observations with a difference..)

trigger warning
<spoiler> suicide, mention of bullying and domestic violence, mention of organised crime violence, grief, mental illness, misogyny </spoiler>

This collection of essays centres around societal issues Japan faces right now. There is one about the ghosts left by the tsunami in 2011, about a cult that infiltrates the politics, about blues music affectionados in Tokyo, about the art of sumo wrestling.

While the first essays are long and take a while to read, towards the end we have some shorter ones. There are photographs and illustrations, there's a section with further reading materials that mentions One Piece for some reason.

I liked this a lot. As a typical middle European person, I am fascinated by Japan, and while I read a lot of manga in my teens, I am always down for learning more about Japan-that-is. While some articles, like the one about sumo wrestling, come from a very positive-enthusiastic side, there is also criticism to be found in these pages. One article is about the evaporated, people who simply leave their old lifes because they made mistakes, and start new somewhere else. Most often, this is down to trusting one will be able to pay back a loan shark, and has to face serious consequences if not. I have toyed with the idea of starting somewhere else anew multiple times, but it was more a what if exploration of a situation, and I came to the conclusion that my problems are illness-related and won't go away by adopting a new name. I never heard about this before, that it's legal in Japan to simply... go. That it's possible to live a new life somwhere else, sometimes just at the other edge of Tokyo, a city so big that you're basically the famous needle in the haystack.

I learned while being entertained which is the best kind of learning.
Recommendations go out to japanophiles and people who like essays or travelling. Essays about travelling. Travelling to write essays.
You get the gist.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I'm a bit obsessed with books about Japan lately, so I was really looking forward to reading this one. I did enjoy it, but I found the formatting really, really frustrating - if I hadn't been enjoying the content so much, I wouldn't have bothered finishing it.

The various essays were all interesting and well written, and the extracts from longer works were well chosen. I was especially fascinated by the essay about the Disappeared. The extract from Ghosts of the Tsunami was just as moving as the first time I read it.

Great starting point for learning more about the culture of Japan.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this.

I was kind of vaguely interested in Japan. I didn't know much about it - just a few buzz words - samurai, sumo, sushi, cherry-blossoms, geishas, tsunami. It was kind of there, picturesque and interesting, but lacking detail. .

This book was fascinating - a series of essays by different writers, some Japanese, some not, looking at different aspects of Japanese culture. I think I could now watch a sumo match with some degree of understanding, and I have a much deeper appreciation of what's happening socially and politically in Japan. Because it's a series of essays there are different styles to enjoy, and quite different viewpoints - from housewifely skills to populist politics, sumo to ghost sightings - there's a lot to read and think about.

Rather than a regular guidebook, the Passenger books give you a view of a place from a cultural perspective. This is a series of essays and articles about various aspects of contemporary Japanese life by all kinds of people, native Japanese people and outsiders. It covers a huge variety of topics from the people who disappear from their lives because of pressing debt to modern day ghosts to the Japanese obsession with blues music. I loved this book and have already bought two books by a couple of the contributors. I loved the idea, the format and the content. I'd happily read more of these about other countries. I'm glad I was offered this one as Japan is a country I have read about extensively and would love to go to one day. The book whetted that appetite more keenly.

Brilliant read love the idea of investigating different countries and sharing essays ,art getting to the real spirit of the people.Japan it’s people culture are shared here through the eyes of people who know it best.From happy to sad times in Japanese culture.Explaining the country the mannerisms of the Japenese Looking forward to next country in the series,Will be recommending.#netgalley#europabooks