Bob's Bullets - Book recommendations, top story of 2022, prediction on Ohtani's next team

TOKYO — If you need an idea for a year-end gift then I strongly recommend Gavin Blair’s new book, “An Illustrated Guide To Samurai History And Culture, From the Age of Musashi to Contemporary Pop Culture. It’s a comprehensive history of samurai loaded with full color paintings, drawing and photographs from Japan’s martial past with text by Blair, a renowned Tokyo-based journalist who writes for the Hollywood Reporter and other major publications.

Blair has trained in karate for 35 years and also practices Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.  He also describes in detail the influence of the samurai on modern culture, including martial arts, film, manga, anime and video games. You won’t find a better guide to the subject. It’s quite an education and with great visuals is a perfect coffee table book.

 

---

Another new book worth your time is Prisoners of Conscience, by Lawrence Repeta. It is the riveting account of the criminal prosecution of three peaceful protesters in Japan during the Iraq War, members of “Tachikawa Tent Village” protesting U.S. military forces stationed there in the early postwar era.