ARTS / LITERATURE

List: Top 10 Bestselling Books in Japan in 2007

Date: December 2007

Source: Kinokuniya bookstore chain

Base: All book sales during the year within the Kinokuniya chain - sorry, no data on number of sales but the list is in ranked order.

Notes: In first position was an advice book written by Ryuho Okawa, the leader of the 'Institute for Research in Human Happiness', a growing but very new quasi-religious organisation. In third place is a book of tongue-in-cheek advice by novelist and surgeon Junichi Watanabe, whose tales of middle-aged adultery and lust have made him a household name in Asia. A hair and makeup artist called Yukuko Tanaka took fourth position with his book of massage techniques that claim to take years off your face, whilst in 5th there was Micaco, a personal trainer to the stars, who advises you how to tone up your body.