Kamunagara, Volume 5: Rebirth of the Demonslayer Book

Though I've learned much of the information in this book from other books, it's still a good primer on modern Japanese culture. Or, at least, the last third of it is. The first 2/3rds are supposed to manga. I'm not sure it is manga, because the drawing style and narrative style are more like an American comic strip. The story is about a cartoon mouse who explores Japan with a manga-style girl (drawn by another artist).It's pretty much just a vehicle to set up the endnotes, which are more like brief essays on various topics, that fill the last third. Topics range from samurai and saki to exams and etiquette. I didn't care much for the cartoon part, and it was probably undermined by having to flip to a two page essay every other page. But the essays were well-written, concise and informative.