Japanese Comedy

Kenjiro Tanaka did not want to save the world; he just wanted to eradicate pink mold. After thirty-two years of managing his family's traditional Tokyo bathhouse, Kenjiro meets a tragic, undignified end by slipping on a rogue sliver of soap, only to be reincarnated by the Goddess Aqua-Vitae into the fantasy realm of Aethelgard. However, instead of a holy sword or world-shattering magic, Kenjiro is granted the unprecedented Bathhouse Manager class and a unique arsenal of physics-defying custodial skills. Stranded in the monster-infested Dread Thicket, he discovers an SSS-Rank Spirit Spring ...

Brought to you by Penguin. When Englishman Chris Broad landed in a rural village in northern Japan he wondered if he'd made a huge mistake. With no knowledge of the language and zero teaching experience, was he was about to be the most quickly fired English teacher in Japan's history? Abroad in...

Kenjiro Tanaka's SSS-Rank bathhouse is finally open for business, but maintaining a pristine environment in a magical world is an absolute administrative nightmare. When the arrogant High Priestess Seraphina and Chancellor Aelion of the Verdant Court arrive to claim the Spirit Spring for their dying monarch, they expect the manager to bow to their infinite wealth and ancient authority. Instead, they are met with a strict entrance fee, mandatory scrubbing protocols, and the ego-shattering reality of a two-hundred-degree cedar sauna. Kenjiro refuses to sell his establishment, insisting that ...

“A propulsive, madcap story” (The New York Times) about a salaryman who decides to put his life up for sale in the classifieds section of a Tokyo newspaper after a botched suicide attempt. "An outstanding writer not only of Japan, but of the world." —The Atlantic After salaryman Hanio...

Bridget Jones meets James Bond! What happens when you stumble in the arms of a gorgeous man with DANGER! written all over? Especially, when you're stuck in your worst magical eclipse? FREE on Kindle Unlimited! I’m Sophie Rowling. I used to be a world-renowned violinist, until my world was turned upside down. Following a freak accident in Paris, I can’t remember how to play the violin anymore. To make matters worse, I’m supposed to perform for my childhood teacher’s retirement party, which is just weeks away. Usually I would turn to my BFFs, Jackie the ghost and Allegra the violin ...

A witch violinist, Romance bubbling in the cauldron, the return of a ghost and fairy… Throw in an overprotective daddy and freaky mobsters getting in the way. FREE on Kindle Unlimited! I’m Sophie Rowling. Violinist, witch, and wholehearted believer in Magic and Happily Ever After. A terminal case of musician’s block and lost magic used to be my biggest problems. Dante Walker. Tall, cocky, and mysterious Mr. Wrong… who turns out to be the magical cure for my musician’s block. After rescuing me from murderous kidnappers, he ends up spending the night with me, in the same bed, and…...

"Narrator Ali Ahn gives this young adult rom-com fun doses of personality and sass...Ahn's accents and Japanese pronunciations ring true as she clearly differentiates characters of different ages and nationalities." -- AudioFile Magazine A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK!...

Being a general in the Demon Lord's army sounds glamorous in the epic sagas, but the bards never sing about the soul-crushing weight of supply chain management and triplicate requisition forms. Malice, the Succubus General of the Third Legion, is suffering from severe administrative burnout, a catastrophic budget deficit, and agonizing back pain. When her scouts report that a human bathhouse effortlessly power-washed her fifty-thousand-gold-piece Slime Lord into oblivion, Malice doesn't plan an invasion; she plans a desperate, highly classified sabbatical to soak her aching wings. Disguised...

The quirky, charming Japanese sensation with over half a million copies sold worldwide. "An unexpected treasure." —Laurie Gilmore, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe Welcome to Tenderness! A quaint seaside town in Kitakyushu, Mojiko is full of hidden delights. And...

This book is a thoroughly researched primer on the 108 Upanishads, philosophical treatises that form a part of the Vedas, the revered Hindu texts. These Upanishads contain the most crystallized bits of wisdom gleaned from Hinduism. Roshen Dalal explains the concepts at the core of each Upanishad...

Return to Tokyo for a royal wedding in Emiko Jean's Tokyo Dreaming, the sequel to the Reese Witherspoon YA Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Tokyo Ever After. When Japanese-American Izumi Tanaka learned her father was the Crown Prince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now...

The haunting love story that turned Murakami into a literary superstar. When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a...

Brought to you by Penguin. Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy. The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down. As their...

She’s searching for Mr. Perfect. God keeps sending Mr. Unexpected. Lex Sakai is completely unfazed by her family’s dreaded title, Oldest Single Female Cousin. As a competitive volleyball coach and athlete, she has bigger priorities. So when her iron-willed grandmother threatens to cut funding for Lex’s team unless Lex brings a date to her cousin’s wedding, Lex does what any competitor would do—she creates a game plan. Convinced God has the perfect man out there, Lex builds a prayerful, Ephesians-inspired checklist to guide her search. She’s determined to trust God—and her list...

A tale of family, love, nuclear war, and… UFOs; a classic novel from iconic Japanese author Yukio Mishima, available in English for the first time. Like nothing else that Mishima wrote, this atmospheric black comedy tells the story of the Osugi family, who come to the sudden realization that...

Brought to you by Penguin. Toru Okada's cat has disappeared and this has unsettled his wife, who is herself growing more distant every day. Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has started receiving. As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada's...

増強された呪術の力で、次こそは現代人たちを呪い殺す……つもりが、またしても幸せにしてしまう!? 笑いと涙と怒濤の伏線回収に翻弄される、シリーズ第2弾！ お梅、ぱわああっぷ!!!!

Bloomsbury presents In The Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami read by Kenichiro Thomson A rollercoaster ride from the cult master of the psycho-thriller 'A blistering portrait of contemporary Japan, its nihilism and decadence wrapped up within one of the most savage thrillers since The Silence of the...

Bakemono, literally “altered thing,” which translates as “monster.” Monogatari, literally “thing narrated,” which translates as “tale.” Combined into a neologism by he of the reversible nom de plume, they yield BAKEMONOGATARI, the monster tale that kicked off a series whose anime...

A class president among class presidents, a bespectacled model student who soars to the top of honors lists without fail, Tsubasa Hanekawa also happens to be a decent human being. True, she does have a habit of making single-minded assumptions, but they come from a good place and turn out to be...