Where Everybody's Crazy

You can tell a lot about a country, particularly a highly literate country like Japan, by the books that people buy. I walked into a book shop today, (I don't do this anything like often enough) and the books on the main display were a complete sociology lesson: books about the hikikomori syndrome (by survivors), books about "how to restart your life", one on "eight great founders of the world" (Socrates, Confucius, Jesus and Moses were in, Mohammed was not), and things on Iran and Israel.

I don't read Japanese books much - I only just managed to stumble through my first book unaided a few months back - and because of this I don't pick up on a lot of the currents going through the society. So I took a look at this week's bestsellers list at Kinokuniya bookshop and here's what I found. I've taken the usual translator's liberties.

1. A type-B's self-explanation - we're talking blood group here, and since blood group (obviously!) determines personality, this is about what a type B person says about themselves. First entry on the personality theme.
2. Washing your face and washing your heart - I can't find much about this but it seems to be a meditation on daily life with washing the face as a metaphor. For what, I don't know. I'm going to put this one under self-improvement.
3. The wish-granting elephant - A novel about an ordinary office worker who wants to change his life, and bumps into the god Ganesha (who speaks in broad West-Japan dialect) and his friend, the Buddha. Hey, I just translate them, I don't make them up. First entry on the religion theme, with shades of self-improvement in there.
4. A type-A's self-explanation - Blood group again. Written by the author of A type-B's self-explanation, which suggests a certain physical impossibility.
5. The brain-building study method - A neurologist's take on studying. First entry on the education theme.
6. The 3% management idea - Subtitles "Have your client treat you to lunch", and "If the ideas change, then the management will change too". First entry on the business theme.
7. Hexagon drill - General knowledge quizzes for junior and middle school children.
8. The emotional economy - A quizbook on economic psychology and psychological economics.
9. The story of the wound - Third part of a ghost-story trilogy.
10. Japanese food - Kinda self-explanatory.
11. The bride's final month - The story of a young bride-to-be's fight with cancer. I'm surprised the health theme takes this long to appear.
12. The provinces strike back - If I'm reading this right, it's sort of "How to get ahead in your life even if you don't live in Tokyo"
13. Put all your information into one notebook - How to organise your time, information, plans and ideas.
14. New human revolution, part 18 - Yet more doctrinal exposition of the Sokka Gakkai religion.
15. I'm fine - Usual self-improvement "seven steps to healthy living" stuff. Including the earth-shattering "Don't hate yourself when you make a mistake".
16. How to read your medical report
17. Reading the Tannisho - An explanation of Shinran Buddhism.
18. The laws of life - New-age-y self-improvement.
19. Golden Slumbers - Novel about (I think) someone getting framed for assassinating the Prime Minister.
20. Puri Puri - Monthly magazine of babycare hints, tips and ideas
21. The bond of the shooting-star - Three siblings take a vow to avenge their murdered parents.
22. The Middle-age Revolution - How to stay well and have lots of sex.
23. My darling's a foreigner - with a baby! - The continuing saga of Tony Laszlo's family. I used to give him Linux advice back in the day.
24. The restaurant snail - Chick lit. Girl opens a restaurant to take her mind off an unrequited love.
25. First year of marriage - So I gotta talk about this one a bit. Henrietta was asked recently if she was doing any "marriage preparation". The contents of this book will tell you what sort of "preparation" people mean: "Money, health and manners", "Fundamentals of cooking", "Fundamentals of cleaning", "Fundamentals of washing", "Fundamentals of tidying".