Kris' list is wonderful. I would also secommend 'Silence' and 'The Samurai' by Endo(or Shusaku, if you please) and 'The Silence of The Mountain' by Kawabata.

Basho is great, The Tale of the Genji is vast and epic if you have the time...

Matsuo Basho

I won't argue that Murakami and Yoshimoto are lightweight, but sometimes lightweight is good. I am looking forward to getting into the classics, too. Thank you for the great-looking list of recommendations!

kool

Murakami Haruki and Yoshimoto Banana are nice writers, don't get me wrong, but they're - and I know I'll catch shit for this - quite lightweight. There's really no comparison with the classics. However, compared to what I've heard about more recent Japanese writers - 18 year-olds writing about their piercings and trite little darknesses - Murakami and Yoshimoto are Tolstoy and Chekhov. Luckily, most truly great Japanese novels aren't terribly long - you can get through "Thousand Cranes" on a mild summer afternoon. Here are my recommendations for a start:

"Thousand Cranes" by Kawabata Yasunari
"Palm-of-the-Hand Stories" by Kawabata
"The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea" by Mishima Yukio
"The Sea and Poison" by Endo Shusaku
"Floating Clouds" by Hayashi Fumiko
"Kokoro" by Natsume Soseki
Stories of Akutagawa Ryunosuke
"The Silent Cry" by Oe Kenzaburo
"Woman in the Dunes" by Abe Kobo
"Toddler-Hunting" by Kono Taeko
"The Waiting Years" by Enchi Fumiko

Of course, this is just 20th century stuff. There's a whole world of much older Japanese lit that awaits plundering by the daring. Happy hunting.

fma The Abducted Alchemist 4 sure!!!!!! :)

I liked 'Out', haven't read any of her others yet, but I've heard good things.

I also just recently read 'Strangers' by Taichi Yamada. A very good Japanese ghost story, eerie and subtle.

As I've said elsewhere, Ogawa's "The Diving Pool" is a strange and fantastic ride.

Have you found anything interesting since you posted this back in April, Rich?

Natsuo Kirino's 'Out', and definitely check out "the other Murkami", Ryu - 'Coin locker babies' or 'Piercing' for newer stuff, Y. Mishima or Y. Kawabata for older.

Sorry to recommend 4, but no one else has posted...

Hi All, I'm new to the group (and quite new to the site so I've only had enough time to write two reviews, but feel free to have a look) and, other than Murakami, I'm a bit lost as to where to start with Japanese literature.

So, can each of you recommend two books, preferably by different authors, so I can really get my teeth into the literature that Japan has to offer. I don't really have any set tastes, I'll enjoy anything if it's good enough, so don't hold back on grounds of genre.

Thanks for your help!