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 ... 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
Oct 2022
The Yukio Mishima Story, Part Two: Mishima's End
In his heyday, Japanese author Yukio Mishima was one of the most well-known writers in the world. But where did he come from -- and what on Earth led to his strange demise? In part two of this two-part episode, Ben, Noel and Max welcome research associate Zach Williams in his fir ... Show More
50m 3s