Read Japanese Literature

In this episode, we examine the history of the Aum Affair and its lasting impact on Japanese fiction. We'll start out with the history of new religions in Japan, including Aum Shinrikyo. We'll take a look at Haruki Murakami's non-fiction book, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche . We'll move on to an examination of four novels that respond directly to Aum...

In this episode, we're taking a look at Yasunari Kawabata's life and work. As we tell his story, we'll ask ourselves two big questions.  Is Kawabata really a traditionalist?  And what is up with the way he writes about adolescent girls? cw: author suicide, problematic imagery about adolescent girls Buy The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories (translated by J. Martin Holman) on Boo...

In this episode, we look at the writers behind two of Japan's greatest movie monsters—Godzilla and Mothra. We'll start out by looking at Godzilla —its context, author, and story—before we turn to Mothra . We'll close with a reflection on why the stories behind the movies are important, even for people who have already seen the films. Buy  Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again  by Shiger...

In this episode, we take a look at the Japanese cell phone novel and the classic story of Train Man. We’re going to start today by explaining the Japanese cell phone novel, including some relevant background like the history of serialized publishing in Japan and the rise of Japanese cell phone culture. We’ll spend some time on the early 2000s internet culture, especially on-line message boards. An...

In this episode, we explore the enduring legacy of Greek/English/Irish/American/Japanese author Lafcadio Hearn and the ghost story The Peony Lantern . We'll start out by looking at Hearn's life. We'll discuss the long history of the story Boton Doro , more commonly known as The Peony Lantern , including its most famous incarnation under Hearn's pen. And then we'll look at...

In this episode, we look at bullying in Japanese literature. We'll start out by defining bullying and looking at bullying in Japanese schools as well as the Japanese workplace. We'll see some examples in Japanese novels. And then we'll talk about Mizuki Tsujimura's Lonely Castle in the Mirror , translated into English by Philip Gabriel. This episode is rated mature. CW: bullyin...

In this episode, we look into the history of Christianity in Japan—especially the role Christianity has played in Japanese literature. Our focus text is Shusaku Endo's Silence . Notes and sources on the episode page.  Transcript available . Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.) Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com. Support RJL on Patre...

In this episode, we take a look at the Japanese proletarian writers’ movement of the 1920s and early 1930s. We also take a deep dive into the life of author Genzaburo Yoshino—not a proletarian writer, but a man who spent prison alongside them and for some of the same beliefs—and his novel How Do You Live ? . Notes and sources on the episode page.  Transcript available. Let RJL know what you think!...

For the first time ever, RJL brings you information from an interview with a Japanese author—Akutagawa-winner Keiichiro Hirano . This episode takes up his life and work, the influence of Yukio Mishima on his fiction, and his most-recently-translated novel, Eclipse . CW: attempted suicide in a discussion of Yukio Mishima's  The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Notes and sources on the episode pag...

Happy holidays! And, in the interest of today’s episode, merri kurisumasu ! Today we’re going to start with the origins of Christmas, especially why Christmas is celebrated in Japan at all. We’ll move on to how Christmas is celebrated in Japan. And we’ll end with some examples of what part Christmas seems to play in Japanese literature—or at least Japanese literature that gets translated. Notes an...

RJL is excited to bring you this two-parter about LGBTQ+ stories from Japan. Part two covers Taisho Japan (when women finally enter the stage) through through contemporary LGBTQ+ writing, especially the life and work of Nobuko Yoshiya, Edogawa Ranpo, Yukio Mishima, and Li Kotomi. We also spend a little time on the role of queer manga. Part one covered some of the earliest writing in Japanese throu...

RJL is excited to bring you this two-parter about LGBTQ+ stories from Japan. Part one covers some of the earliest writing in Japanese through the end of the Meiji Period in 1912. Part two (coming soon) covers Taisho Japan (when women finally enter the stage) through some of Japan's contemporary queer writers. This episode is rated mature. CW for the two-part series: historical accounts of pra...

Today, we’re talking about crime and mystery novels from Japan. We’ll start with the development of the crime and mystery genre in the English-speaking world. We’ll move on to Japanese crime and mystery writing—how it was inspired by Anglo-American crime and mystery writing and how it evolved in its own way. And we’ll end with the life and work of writer Seishi Yokomizo, especially his novel The H...

This episode is marked mature. In this episode, we take a look at Japanese writing about the American bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed as many as 215,000 people in August 1945. We’ll start with the history of the atomic bomb, its use, and its effects on the hibakusha who survived. Then we’ll take a look at atomic bomb literature itself. Our focus text is "Masks of Whatchamacalli...

In this episode, we take a look at the history of Koreans writing in Japan. We’ll start with the history of Koreans in Japan, including anti-Korean prejudice before and after WWII. We’ll move on to Zainichi Korean writing. And we’ll finish with a look at Kazuki Kaneshiro’s Go , translated into English by Takami Nieda. Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available . Correction: This e...

In part three of this episode, we’ll finish our story of Japanese apocalyptic and dystopian fiction. First, stories from the mid-90s and 20-aughts. Then, stories from after the March 2011 Triple Disasters. We’ll end with a look at the life and work of author Yoko Tawada who has written several apocalyptic stories, including one of the most important works of post-3/11 apocalyptic fiction available...

In part two of this three part episode, we're looking at the apocalyptic and dystopian fiction of Japan. We'll begin with the evolution of the idea of "the end of the world" in Japan, especially after Japan started importing American and European science fiction. We'll move on to Japanese apocalyptic stories, especially between 1945 and the 1970s and then during the 1970s...

In part one of this three part episode, we're looking at apocalyptic and dystopian fiction as genres. Their origins in Western and Central Asia. Their evolution in Western Europe. And a history of English-language apocalyptic and dystopian storytelling that will provide us with context and a basis for comparison when we turn to Japanese stories in part two. Notes and sources on the episode pa...

In part two of this two-part episode on misogyny in Japanese literature, we're talking about the life and work of Yukio Mishima, especially by way of his I-Novel, Confessions of a Mask . Check out part one for 400 years of attitudes about women in Japan Woman in modern Japanese literature, especially in the work of some of its most important writers Notes and sources on the episode page . Tra...

In part one of this two-part episode, we're talking about misogyny in Japanese literature.  400 years of attitudes about women in Japan Woman in modern Japanese literature, especially in the work of some of its most important writers Check out part two (coming soon) for the life and work of Yukio Mishima, especially by way of his I-Novel, Confessions of a Mask . Notes and sources on the episo...

There is no one quite like Kenji Miyazawa. Born into wealth, he longed to be “a real peasant”. One of Japan’s most influential children’s writers, he sold only one story during his lifetime. Read Japanese Literature takes a look at Miyazawa's colorful biography through three of his beloved stories. Miyazawa produced the artwork for this episode. It's a painted titled Power Pole in the Mo...

To celebrate the overseas release of The Boy and the Heron (aka How Do You Live? ) RJL delves into the stories that inspire animator Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, especially Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Howl’s Moving Castle My Neighbor Totoro We’ll end with a deep dive into Kiki’s Delivery Service —the Ghibli film and the novel by Eiko Kadano (as translated by Emily Balistrieri). Notes a...

In this episode, we're talking about one of the most important voices in modern Japanese literature, Haruki Murakami. His biography Why so many people have such strong feelings about his writing And his short story "TV People" We'll end with what I like best about this much loved (and much hated) author. Notes and sources on the episode page. Let RJL know what you think! (Conta...

In this episode, we're talking about Japanese children's literature. The history of children’s literature in general The history of children’s literature in Japan And Sachiko Kashiwaba and Temple Alley Summer —a story that is about Japanese children’s literature (at least a little bit!) Notes and sources on the episode page. Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if...

How does a book make it from the mind of a Japanese author into the hands of an English-language reader? In part 2 of this 2-part episode, we'll tackle the question, “ How do Japanese books get translated into English?" What kinds of choices do translators make when they present a Japanese-language text to English-language readers? We're still looking at at Minae Mizumura's An...