The Year of the Ox Reading 2: "Strange but true tales from Japan"

I have a lot of books that I have almost finished. This was one of them. It is a series of short writings about some of the weirdness that is Japan. Take for instance suicide. Why is it such an important part of the society? Also, did Japan have an atomic bomb? Who was Tokyo Rose? Why is Japanese food so different? What would it be like to sit in someone's toilet waiting to stick a sword in their backside? Stuff like that.
I remember buying this book in Thailand about five years ago. I was on my first trip out of Kuwait and was feeling Asia nostalgia pretty bad. Japan is my comfort zone, so I remember buying a lot of books on Japan. I had been thinking of fleeing Kuwait at the time. I ended up staying but still miss East Asia. Good thing I am going back.