What Korean books on the humanities do Korean and Japanese intellectuals recommend?

The answer can be found at the Tokyo International Book Fair 2015, which will be held from July 1 to July 4 at the Tokyo Big Sight, an international exposition venue.

For this year’s event, the Korea booth will host various programs, such as a promotional event for the new “Read the Knowledge(知) of Korea.” It will also introduce about 300 books to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of Seoul-Tokyo diplomatic relations.

“Read the Knowledge of Korea” is a book on the humanities written by Japanese linguist Noma Hideki. He asked the question, “What is the knowledge (知) of Korea?” to 140 intellectuals from both Korea and Japan and collected their book recommendations as a representative answer to the question.

The exhibition has a total of 60 books out of the recommended 256. They include 35 books on literature, history, society and the liberal arts, and 25 Korean books translated into Japanese. Some of the books on display are "The Land" by Park Kyungni, "The Guest" and "The Old Garden" by Hwang Sok-yong and “The Compact Culture: The Japanese Tradition of ‘Small Is Better’” by Lee O-young who formerly served as minister of culture.

A special lecture will be held at the Korea booth where Noma Hideki will explain the background behind “Read the Knowledge of Korea,” the meaning of characters and the language and meaning imbedded in Korea's Hangeul alphabet. He will introduce stories about knowledge from both Korea and Japan.

Visitors to the Korea booth can also appreciate a special exhibit of picture books, “Korean Highlights in Bologna.” About 60 kinds of books by 40 Korean writers who were awarded the Bologna Ragazzi Award will be on display. This exhibition received a favorable response at this year’s Bologna Ragazzi Awards in March, a book fair centered on children's literature.

The booth will have books from 15 Korean publishers, including the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, Darakwon, Happy House and others. Other events at the Korea booth include a meeting with Korean and Japanese writers, a meeting between writers and translators and a lecture on Korean literature.

The Tokyo International Book Fair is marking its 22nd anniversary this year. It is the largest book event in Japan. A total of 1,530 firms from 25 countries participated in last year’s event, which attracted 62,855 visitors.




By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photo: Korean Publishers Association, Literature Translation Institute of Korea
arete@korea.kr