My favourite method of learning something new is passively, in the background to a story. I don't want to read a book on Japanese history, I want to read a page turner set in the post-WW2 period of Japan. A recent favourite has been Damascus Station by David McCloskey – a drama filled with action and romance, set in contemporary Syria, which gave me an impression of the security situation in Syria in addition to his tradecraft. I've also enjoyed books by journalists, that are more like documentaries, but told through their interviews and meets. If I was in a rush to learn about a subject I would read a historic documentary/biography, but I'm not in a rush, I want to learn slowly. Any recommendations?
Some topics I'm interested in are politics, conflicts/war, diplomacy, East Asia (particularly Japan and China), history, espionage
by Murky-Mechanic-4564
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A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini give a good passive account/feel of the war ridden nature of Afghanistan from the early 1960s-early 2000s.
Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, but Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi gives a really intense look at slave trade, slavery, and they residual fallout from it all the way through contemporary times.