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Japan is facing a potential crisis. While the rest of the world has been readying itself for the zombie apocalypse for years now thanks to the likes of author Max Brooks and his The Zombie Survival Guide, the inhabitants of the land of the rising sun have been given precious little to prepare them for life after society has been torn to shreds by the flesh-hungry living dead.

Thankfully, with World War Z–a movie loosely based on Brooks’ 2006 novel of the same name–finally hitting Japanese cinemas on August 10, the powers that be have decided it is time to arm the nation with the knowledge it’ll need to survive. Arriving in bookstores next month, a Japanese language version of The Zombie Survival Guide might just keep the country going until we can start rebuilding society.

Containing an alarming amount of information about the undead, how best to tackle them, and handy tips for life sans creature comforts, the book is written in an entirely deadpan (some might say paranoid, but they won’t be so smug when those strong arms start coming through the living-room windows!) narrative voice, making use of ‘historical’ data and recorded outbreak-related incidents to better equip humankind for the grim future.

Suffice it to say, the book is an absolute blast for any zombie and post-apocalyptic survival fans, and a startling number of the tips that can be found within its pages can actually be adapted to real-life, non-zombie-related survival situations.

Containing all of the original chapters, technical diagrams and instructions, Brooks’ book has been lovingly translated into Japanese and will go on sale from August 8, priced 1,890 yen (US$19). We just hope it’s not too late…

A movie adaptation of the The Zombie Survival Guide is due to arrive sometime in 2014, but in the meantime, here’s another look at this summer’s Brad Pit-runs-around-being-handsome-and-brave zombie flick World War Z.

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to buy some two-by-fours and make some molotovs…

Source: My Game Newsflash (Japanese)
Title image via Amazon JP