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I think in the new system we'll be able to rank books in the EYB Library by popularity, and hopefully by rankings as well as by number of bookshelves. This will be a help when trying to decide which books to buy. However this is also the ideal forum to ask for recommendations from cookery book lovers, and some of you were a real help last time I asked.

This time I'm interested in Japanese cuisine. What are your favourite books and/or authors and why? 

My suggestion would be The Japanese Kitchen by Kimiko Barber.

Japanese ingredients, themselves, can cause a lot of confusion and this book is great since it explains every ingredient. Each page is dedicated to something new, with 1-3 recipes. Ie. sake, sesame, salmon, etc.

I like most of Kimiko Barber's books, actually.

I also like Washoku by Andoh. Her tastes are more subtle but the dishes are gorgeous.

I borrowed books by Harumi Kurihara from the library but was not tempted enough to buy them myself.

I also have Japanese Cooking by Tsuji but the lack of photos don't have me gravitating to it as much.

The Japanese Kitchen by Simbo is also another popular cookbook. Akin to Tsuji, there a complete lack of photography.

Hope this helps!

I asked this same question about 6 months ago as I had found that most Japanese cookbooks I came across were either too simple, too Westernised or covered the same old recipes (yakitori, tempura, sushi etc).

But I found in my research that "Japanese Cooking - A simple art" by Shizuo Tsuji was highly recommended by many - and turns out to be just the thing: not overly simplistic and covers a wide range of techniques and recipes. I'm not turned off by the lack of photos - there often seems to be too great a reliance on photos these days without the quality recipes attached. In place of glossy photos, this book has clear descriptions and simple diagrams on techniques which are more helpful than a photo of a final product.

It also provides valuable information on the culture of food in Japan, and recipe names in kanji/kana. 

Given the number of excellent cookbooks on each of the other great cuisines of the world, I was surprised by the lack of books in English on the very varied and subtle Japanese cuisinie. In spite of this, I think "Japanese Cooking" covers the terraine superbly. 

I've had that book, Japanese Cooking by Tsuji, for over 30 years, longer than I have known my wife. I personally haven't cooked from it in years, but it does get used. My last experiments in Japanese were several different rolls