Read Japanese Literature

Japanese Women Writers

Aum Anxiety in Japanese Fiction

Yasunari Kawabata

Japanese Monster Stories on the Big Screen—Godzilla and Mothra

The Japanese Cell Phone Novel

Lafcadio Hearn—The Master of the Japanese Ghost Story

Bullying in Japanese Literature—Mizuki Tsujimura and Lonely Castle in the Mirror

Christianity in Japanese Literature

Japanese Writers Standing Up to the State

Keiichiro Hirano

Christmas in Japanese Literature

LGBTQ+ Stories from Japan, Part 2

LGBTQ+ Stories from Japan, Part 1

Japanese Crime and Mystery Writing

Atomic Bomb Literature—Kyoko Hayashi and "Masks of Whatchamacallit"

Zainichi Literature—Koreans Writing in Japan

The End of the World! Japanese Apocalypse, Part 3

The End of the World! Japanese Apocalypse, Part 2

The End of the World! Japanese Apocalypse, Part 1

Misogyny and Yukio Mishima, Part 2

Misogyny and Yukio Mishima, Part 1

Kenji Miyazawa

The Stories of Studio Ghibli

Haruki Murakami

Japanese Children's Literature

Translating Japanese to English, Part 2

Translating Japanese to English, Part 1: Minae Mizumura and Juliet Winters Carpenter

SF! Japanese Science Fiction: Izumi Suzukii

Writing from Okinawa: Shun Medoruma and "Droplets"

Fukushima Fiction: Hiromi Kawakami

Sexlessness in Japanese Fiction: Mieko Kawakami and Breasts and Eggs

The Akutagawa Prize and Kobo Abe: The Woman in the Dunes

Japanese Magical Realism: Tomihiko Morimi and The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl

Cats in Japanese Literature: Sakutaro Hagiwara and "The Town of Cats"

The Smile of the Mountain Witch: Minako Oba

Writing about Japan's "Have-Nots": Yu Miri and Tokyo Ueno Station

Translating Japanese Women: Sakaya Murata and Convenience Store Woman

Banana and the Bubble: Banana Yoshimoto and Kitchen

Literature of Change in the 1960s: Yukio Mishima and Kenzaburo Oe

Japanese Literature in WWII: Akiyuki Nosaka

The I-Novel, Osamu Dazai, and No Longer Human

Taisho Magazines and Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Vision of Hell

The Women Writers of Meiji Japan: Ichiyo Higuchi

Meiji Literature and Japan’s Most Famous Literary Cat: Soseki Natsume and I Am a Cat

Kaidan—Japan’s Ghost Stories: Ueda Akinari

High and Low Literature in Edo Japan: Ihara Saikaku

Setsuwa and Medieval Japanese Buddhism

Yoshitsune Ballads and Tomoe Drama

The Tale of the Heike

The Tale of Genji