Factbook

A Dynamic Compendium of Interesting Japanese Literary and Publishing Facts

If you would like to contribute to this compendium please submit your ideas here.
All will be considered for publication by our expert panel.

Category Index:

Factbook Keyword Search:
Search for:

Japan’s first western-style fashion magazine was launched in 1936 by a controversial female novelist[UPDATED: 2-21-2018]

Chiyo Uno (1897-1996), a novelist whose breakthrough work was Iro-zange, Confessions of Love, launched Japan’s first western-style fashion magazine, Sutairu, Style, in 1936. Uno’s most highly regarded literary work is her novella Ohan (1957) published in English as Ohan in the collection of short-stories: The Old Woman, the Wife, and… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Magazines
- Women Writers
Japan’s first western-style fashion magazine was launched in 1936 by a controversial female novelist Posted January 3rd, 2018 by Richard Nathan
The first Western commercial fiction was translated into Japanese in 1879[UPDATED: 2-19-2018]

It took 32 years, from the first publication of a work of Japanese fiction in a European language until an important Western work of fiction was published in Japanese translation, in 1879. The first “important” title, according to the scholar Donald Keane was the novel Ernest… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Industry
- translation
The first Western commercial fiction was translated into Japanese in 1879 Posted January 3rd, 2018 by Richard Nathan
Japan’s oldest book is a religious text[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

Japan’s oldest surviving book is a religious Buddhist text called the Hokekyo gisho, the authorship of which is generally attributed to Shotoku Taishi (574-622) in 615. It is a commentary, that stresses the importance of faith, on the Lotus sutra from the Asuka Period (538-710), a… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Culture
- History
- Religion
Japan’s oldest book is a religious text Posted March 22nd, 2017 by Richard Nathan
Book prices in Japan are fixed[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

Despite Japan’s 1953 Anti-Monopoly Law, books published in Japan are still sold at fixed prices, as was the case before the Second World War. Japan’s Anti-Monopoly Law has an exception for publications. Under the Resale Price Maintenance System publications, including books, must be sold across… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Industry
- Retail
- Tax
Book prices in Japan are fixed Posted March 22nd, 2017 by Richard Nathan
Japan is not included on the list of key international publishing locations[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

The Tokyo International Book Fair (TIBF) is not included or even mentioned in the IPA Global Book Fair Report 2017, published by the International Publishers Association (IPA). Although, 75 international book fairs are listed in the IPA report whose introduction states that it “provides an… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Book Fairs
- Industry
- IPA
Japan is not included on the list of key international publishing locations Posted August 14th, 2017 by Richard Nathan
Despite large number of crime fiction titles being written Japan has one of the world’s lowest homicide rates[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

Despite a large number of crime fiction titles or Suiri Shosetsu (Japanese detective fiction) being written and published each year, Japan has one of the world’s lowest homicide rates of 0.3 (the number of murders per 100,000 inhabitants), according to the OECD. This compares with… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Crime
- Culture
- OECD
Despite large number of crime fiction titles being written Japan has one of the world’s lowest homicide rates Posted March 23rd, 2017 by Richard Nathan
Japan’s first medical textbook, written in 984, is considered Asia’s first book on medical ethics[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

Japan’s first medical textbook was written in 984 by Yasunori Tamba (912- 995), who is sometimes referred to as the Hypocrates of Japan, during Japan’s Heian Period (794-1185). The book, known as Ishimpo or Ishinpo was written in kanbun, the Chinese writing system used during this… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Educational
- Ethics
- History
- Medicine
- Textbooks
Japan’s first medical textbook, written in 984, is considered Asia’s first book on medical ethics Posted January 3rd, 2018 by Richard Nathan
The first commercial translation of a work of Japanese fiction in any European language was published in Austria in 1847[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

According to Sepp Linhart, Professor of Japanology and Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna, the first commercial translation in any European language of a Japanese work of fiction was published in 1847, in German in Vienna, by its… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- History
- Industry
- translation
The first commercial translation of a work of Japanese fiction in any European language was published in Austria in 1847 Posted January 3rd, 2018 by Richard Nathan

Factbook

Japan’s first western-style fashion magazine was launched in 1936 by a controversial female novelist[UPDATED: 2-21-2018]

The first Western commercial fiction was translated into Japanese in 1879[UPDATED: 2-19-2018]

Japan’s oldest book is a religious text[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

Book prices in Japan are fixed[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

Japan is not included on the list of key international publishing locations[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

Despite large number of crime fiction titles being written Japan has one of the world’s lowest homicide rates[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

Japan’s first medical textbook, written in 984, is considered Asia’s first book on medical ethics[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

The first commercial translation of a work of Japanese fiction in any European language was published in Austria in 1847[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

Newsletters