Many countries and cultures ascribe special meaning to the end of the year, whether it is for a religious, cultural, or business reasons. As a small, independent publisher, Arigatai Books doesn’t typically do much in terms of season discounts or special promotions, but at the end of the year I like to showcase a few works (some with reduced price) for those looking for some End-of-Year entertainment and appreciation of Japanese culture.
Here are a handful of items from Arigatai Books that you might enjoy:
Masao Yamakawa: a forerunner of modern Japanese literature (2 book series)
This book contains a handful of short stories by Masao Yamakawa, a award-winning writer from the mid 20th century whose works possess a surprising modernity. This collection contains his well-known story “The Summer Procession”, which has been listed in several national Japanese textbooks. The stories are listed in parallel English/Japanese for those learning Japanese.
(This book is part of a two-book series.)
Classic Japanese Fairy Tales (by Ogawa Mimei)
This is a series of 6 books containing various fairy tales by Ogawa Mimei, known as the Hans Christian Andersen of Japan. It contains “The Mermaid and the Red Candles”, one of his most well known stories, and happens to be our best selling set of books. Right now you can get this entire series of ebooks for only $5.94––a huge amount of bilingual Japanese fairy tales for that price. (If you prefer audiobooks, an audiobook exists for the first book in this series.)
Gensen: Selected Stories in Modern Japanese Literature
This 2-book series contains select works from a variety of Japanese authors, listed in bilingual English/Japanese. The genres range from fairy tales to dark, suspenseful works, and mini biographies accompany each story to give a little context.
Yaba-Q: Yabai Quizzes for Japanese Learners
This is the only book I am showcasing this time which is not a work of Japanese literature, but is rather a short book with quizzes about a few basic Japanese particles (“wa”, “ga”, “de”, etc.). After each question is a detailed discussion about the correct answer. While there are many Japanese textbooks out there, I think this is a relatively unique offering in this market and think it’s great for beginning learners or even advanced learners who want to check their knowledge.
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These are only a few of the books Arigatai Books has to offer. Please check here for our entire lineup, including a few paperback books. The majority of our books are available on kindle unlimited as well.