In this episode, we’re looking at the Meiji Era of Japanese history and its literature. The shogunate is replaced.Japan looks outward to the West and inward toward itself.And a man named Natsume Soseki chronicles it all from the perspective of a stray cat.Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website. Buy on I Am a Cat on Bookshop to support R ... Show More
Jun 25
Aum Anxiety in Japanese Fiction
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 ... Show More
59m 51s
Feb 2026
Japanese Monster Stories on the Big Screen
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 importa ... Show More
1h 3m
Mar 2022
262-Japanese Folklore: Fatal Attraction
Three stories from Japan about love gone wrong. On the first, the fairest youth in all the land is set to marry the daughter of a rich noble. The problem? His father kind of oversold his looks... On the second, we'll see why moths and other nighttime bugs go toward the light, and ... Show More
41m 9s
Feb 2021
214-Japanese Folklore: Take Your Lumps
<p>Two short stories from Japan. On the first, an old man is in a tree surrounded by demons and faced with a desperate choice. On the second, a man has a pet that his wife is not thrilled about, so she makes that known. With scissors.</p>
<p>The creature is a sad cow! Or a vamp ... Show More
32m 58s
Jun 2025
410: Japanese folklore: Provincial
⛩️Stories from the Japanese countryside⛩️Five interconnected stories of purpose, meaning, justice, talking animals, the boss falling off a cliff, mushrooms, and travel hampers.😈 **The Creature: The Dinny MaraThe Dinny Mara is a friendly merman who wants to rehabilitate the reput ... Show More
59m 21s
Jul 2016
Ep. 4 | Motherhood, Mythology, and Marjane
This week, the Reading discuss Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward and Persepolis by Majane Satrapi.
Books Mentioned in this Podcast
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn WardPersepolis by Marjane SatropiSex Object by Jessica ValentiSex and Girls by Peggy OrgensteinAll the Single Ladies by ... Show More
39m 14s
Jan 2022
378 Liu Xinwu and the "Scar Literature" of China (with Jeremy Tiang) | Bharati Sneak Preview (with Mira Sundara Rajan)
In this episode, Jacke talks to Jeremy Tiang about his new translation of The Wedding Party, a Chinese classic contemporary novel written in the early 1980s by Liu Xinwu, one of the originators of what has been termed "scar literature." PLUS we feature a sneak preview of our conv ... Show More
49m 26s
Oct 2024
391: Japanese Horror: Handsome Bad Man
👹If you can't be with the one you love...👹Love the one you're with? What? No. Kill everyone in your way until you get what you want. This week: a ghost story from Japan about what happens when a ronin, a masterless samurai, has nothing to lose in a quest to regain what he lost, ... Show More
1h 10m
<p>Elizabeth recaps the ending of our last Japanese Fairy Tale, "Momotaro, or the Story of the Son of a Peach" by Yei Theodora Ozaki.</p>
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<p>Try The Sleepy Bookshelf Premium free for 7 days: <a href="https://sleepybookshelf.supercast.com/" target="_blank">https://sl ... Show More
