Donald Richie's selections:
RASHOMON AND SEVENTEEN OTHER STORIES by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, translated by Jay Rubin (Penguin Classics)
Finally, the definitive translation of one of Japan's most original modern writers. Heretofore the very popularity of the author seems to have discouraged scholars. Now, however, the translator of Natsume Soseki and Haruki Murakami has given us an Akutagawa who speaks to us in the English equivalent of his own voice. His subtle style becomes visible, and his honest and despairing view of the human predicament becomes persuasive.
TRADITIONAL JAPANESE ARTS AND CULTURE: An Illustrated Sourcebook, by Stephen Addiss, Gerald Groemer and J. Thomas Rimer (University of Hawai'i Press)