Yeah, Japan's Minorities is very enlightening and a surprisingly smooth read for a social science book. It was written in 1997, though, so at times I find some of the language a little dated. It's a good starter for the essay I'm to write because it's just enough out of date that there are plenty of things I already want to follow up on to find out what's happened in the last ten years.
I've got Stairway To Heaven on my bookshelf, I just couldn't pull myself away from the keyboard to check the credits, thanks for reminding me. John Paul Jones, is apparently not a fan of that book at all. The MOJO interview quotes him as saying he hasn't spoken to Cole since the book was published.... probably no reason to anyway, nor much chance, since last I heard Cole was in SoCal.