New Japanese titles and notes

New book: The Blade of the Courtesans by Keiichiro Ryu. Published by Vertical, which has the first 26 pages online. It's described as historical fiction. The author, according to the publisher, was nominated for a Naoki Award, "The Blade of the Courtesans, late-blooming novelist Keiichiro Ryu (1923-89)’s debut work, instantly made him a doyen of historical fiction. Prior to his debut, he had been first an editor and later an acclaimed screenplay writer. "

Manga publisher Broccoli USA to close its doors, reports giapet.net Also reporting on this is Publishers Weekly  , which says the "shutdown of Broccoli comes in the midst of a U.S. economic downturn that is challenging book retailers of all kinds. But as Jones suggests, manga publishers may be feeling the pinch just a bit more. Manga, particularly shojo manga aimed at teen girls, is dependent on sales through the major bookstore chains—Borders and Barnes & Noble in particular—which are reporting drops in sales as well as drops in consumer traffic linked to the current distress in the broader U.S. economy."

An interview with Genichiro Takahashi, author of Sayonara, Gangsters, in the Vietnam publication, Thanhniem News. Excerpt: “The Vietnam War sparked an antiwar movement in many places in the world, including Japan. Murakami and I both took part in the movement, but we avoid the topic in our writing. Readers may sense its presence, but there is no proof of that... we focused on everyday issues and our feelings instead,” he added.

New book and review: "Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire" by David Mura. Chicago Tribune, which which writes, "set mostly in Chicago, attempts to dramatize the emotional vagaries and neurotic meanderings of a sansei (third generation Japanese American) named Ben Ohara. Ohara is a historian by profession, a man in quest of some definitive news about his father's death and his only brother's disappearance."