Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese Tattoo | 1980 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 2 | Behind the Mask / A Japanese Mirror | 1984 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 3 | God’s Dust | 1989 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 4 | The Wages of Guilt | 1994 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 5 | The Missionary And The Libertine | 1996 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 6 | Inventing Japan | 1999 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 7 | Voltaire’s Coconuts / Anglomania In Europe | 1999 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 8 | Bad Elements | 2001 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 9 | Inventing Japan, 1853-1964 | 2003 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 10 | Occidentalism | 2004 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 11 | Conversations with John Schlesinger | 2006 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 12 | Murder in Amsterdam | 2006 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 13 | Taming the Gods | 2010 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 14 | Year Zero | 2013 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 15 | Theater of Cruelty | 2014 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 16 | Their Promised Land | 2016 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 17 | A Tokyo Romance | 2018 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 18 | The Churchill Complex | 2020 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 19 | The Collaborators | 2023 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
| 20 | Spinoza: Freedom’s Messiah | 2024 | Ian Buruma | Buy |
Buruma’s non-fiction ranges from cultural reportage to historical analysis to memoir. His early work focused on Japan, with Japanese Tattoo (1980) and Behind the Mask (1984) exploring aspects of Japanese culture that were unfamiliar to Western readers. Bad Elements (2001) expanded his scope to cover Chinese dissidents around the world.
Later books like Murder in Amsterdam (2006), Year Zero (2013), and The Churchill Complex (2020) turned toward European and transatlantic themes. A Tokyo Romance (2018) returned to Japan in a more personal mode, recounting his years as a young man living in Tokyo during the late 1970s.