Paul Norbury has been closely associated with Japan and Asian Studies as publisher, editor, and author since the early 1970s, principally through his various imprints: Paul Norbury Publications, Japan Library, Global Oriental, and most recently Renaissance Books. In 2003 he received the Japan Society Award, in 2011 the Order of the Rising Sun (Japanese government), and in 2013 the Order of Civic Virtue (government of the Republic of Sakha, Yakutia, Russian Commonwealth). He is also the author of Culture Smart! Britain.