Introduce yourself, at your option

[Ian]

His estate is surely protective of his image. You can’t find the Mishima movie in Japan, and I think even the Japanese wiki pages tend to avoid words like “homosexual”.

[Misao]

皆さん、はじめまして。　Hi, I just joined this group. I am Japanese and I like reading books in Japanese and English.
I like Japanese literature that often explaining peoples feelings different way to English. Often English translation doesn’t fit the way author is trying to say…

My favourite books (so far):
Classic Japanese literature: 雪国:snow country by 川端康成 (Yasunari Kawabata)
Modern Japanese literature: 博士の愛した数式　The housekeeper and the professor by 小川洋子(Yoko Ogawa)

[Sonam Dechen]

Hello everyone, I am Sonam and I've been reading Japanese literature (mostly 20th century writers) in earnest for a little more than a year now.

I was wondering if anyone could direct me to more English translations of Abe Akira? I've only read Peaches that is on Jay Rubin's anthology of Japanese short stories. Would really appreciate any help!

Have a nice day!

[Edie]

I’ve been here for about a month, but never introduced myself. My name is Edie. I’ve study art and costume and have been studying that of Japan for a long time.
At first I read all the Murakami I could get my hands on and then a lot of Kawabata. A couple of years ago, after discovering Tanizaki, I had a huge spurt reading all the contemporary literature in translation I could find.
I still like the older authors and am fond of Japanese and Zen poetry

[Laurens]

Hi everyone, my name's Laurens. I'm from the Netherlands and having been into Japanese literature (and culture) for quite a while now. It started out with cartoons (anime) and manga, and now I mainly focus on J-Lit. So much so, I've recently started a podcast called 'Aap Noot Mishima' (a wordplay on an old Dutch saying and a reference to – who else? – Yukio Mishima). Unfortunately it's a Dutch podcast, but feel free to share your thoughts here or on our Instagram-page (@aapnootmishima), we reply in English too. The first episode is on Yukio Mishima's The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, the second one is on Kenzaburō Ōe's A Personal Matter, and our third episode will revolve around Mieko Kawakami's Breasts and Eggs, in which we are joined by the Dutch translator of the book Maarten Liebregts.

Either way, very nice to meet you all!

[Henk]

Nice to see you here Laurens, greetings and welcome from The Netherlands!

[Jessica]

Hi! I'm Jessica and live near Seattle, WA in the United States.

A favorite recent read was "Before the Coffee Gets Cold (#1)" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

I'm generally most intersted in poetry, literature & mysteries. I read and write a lot of haiku poetry. A Japanese mystery writer I want to explore is Yukito Ayatsuj and a I also want to start working through Jiro Asada's literary titles.

I just ordered "The Old Capital" and placed a library hold for "In the Shade of the Spring Leaves". I look forward to your monthly Group Reads.

Thanks for having me!

[Loretta]

EmAr wrote: "Hello, I've been interested in Japanese Literature since college. My favorite book is Fires in the Plain by Ôoka Shôhei.

I just finished reading Silence by Endô Shūsaku. Has anyone read it? I sti..."

I read the book and saw the movie EmAr. I thoroughly enjoyed both.

[Jack]

My name is Jack and I am a retired technical librarian living in the rural northeast of America. My favorite author is Miyazawa Kenji. I am fond of both his poetry and stories. Of the stories, my lasting favorite is Night of the Milky Way Railroad (alternate English: Night on the Galactic Railroad).
I have been interested primarily in Japanese literature up to the Muromachi period, although I have read some in that era also. Some modern era poets and authors I am currently exploring: Higuchi Ichiyo, Hagiwara Sakutaro, and Makato Ooda. I feel like a life-long student and am humbled by the depth of the poetry and writing. I also read a lot of manga and light novels to down select some for the local library collection.
I was lucky to work periodically around the Atsugi area over a few years and greatly value the time I had in Japan. I hope to travel one more time and go to Hanamaki, Iwate for a visit to the Kenji Museum.
-
If I'd known
it was old age calling,
I'd have locked the door,
said, "No one home!"
and refused to see him.

-Anonymous tanka from the Kokinshu

[Loretta]

Jack wrote: "My name is Jack and I am a retired technical librarian living in the rural northeast of America. My favorite author is Miyazawa Kenji. I am fond of both his poetry and stories. Of the stories, my l..."

Hi Jack! Pleasure to meet you!

Thanks for insight into your favorite authors of poetry and your favorite authors in general. I’m always on the lookout for anything new when it relates to Japanese authors. 😊

[HelloB]

Hello! I am Beatrice from Germany :) I really like reading japanese literature although I know only few authors. I hope to discover new authors through this group ^_^
I like reading books by Banana Yoshimoto and Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I've also tried a couple of Haruki Murakamis but they were not my cup of tea.

see you! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

[Loretta]

HelloB wrote: "Hello! I am Beatrice from Germany :) I really like reading japanese literature although I know only few authors. I hope to discover new authors through this group ^_^
I like reading books by Banan..."

Hi and welcome HelloB!

I joined this group for the same reason. To find Japanese literature.

Hope you enjoy! 😊

[Jessica]

I'm Jess, living in the USA. I studied literature & journalism in college. As an avid reader, I've always been curiours about works in translations & Japenese translations are my favorite. I plan to travel there soon so appreciate learning more here!

[Jessica]

Arancha wrote: "I’m Arancha, I’m from Madrid, Spain. I currently work as an architect and I am coursing a MA in Arts and cultural management. Since 2 years I am quite interested into Japanese stuff, especially ani..."

I'm *SO* glad you're here! I can't pretend to be an expert but if you want to trade reading recommendations, happy to share mine!

[Loretta]

Jessica wrote: "I'm Jess, living in the USA. I studied literature & journalism in college. As an avid reader, I've always been curiours about works in translations & Japenese translations are my favorite. I plan t..."

Hi Jessica! Welcome! 😊

[Jessica]

My name is Jessica. I am marrying into a Japanese family and will likely spend at least half my life living there. The wedding will also be there. Because of this I have taken an interest in learning more deeply about the language and the culture. Reading has been a life long hobby and joy. When I was a child books were the only thing that I cared about, often walking around the house and reading. I have been enjoying the author Hiromi Kawakami for a lot of more modern books but the Seishi Yokomizo mystery/murder series of novels have been my favorite. I lean toward crime mystery (e.g. Agatha Cristie) when I read so I feel that and I love historical fiction (I love to travel and books are a wonderful way to travel places and time periods). I feel Seishi Yokomizo is hitting both of those joys for me at once.

[Loretta]

Jessica wrote: "My name is Jessica. I am marrying into a Japanese family and will likely spend at least half my life living there. The wedding will also be there. Because of this I have taken an interest in learni..."

Welcome Jessica!

Congrats on your upcoming nuptials!

Thanks for listing some of your favorite Japanese books and authors.

Happy reading! 😊

[mnm]

Hi everyone! I'm Madhumita and live in Mumbai, India. I started reading Japanese literature recently and have read Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'm currently reading Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura and I look forward to reading and discussing a lot more Japanese literature with you all.

[Bill]

Welcome Madhumita!

We've got two group reads going on month, both anthologies. Maybe they can help you find your next favorite author.

[Loretta]

mnm wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Madhumita and live in Mumbai, India. I started reading Japanese literature recently and have read Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Is..."

Hi and welcome Madhumita! I’m pretty new to Japanese literature so I’m thrilled to be part of this group!

I look forward to your thoughts on what we read.

Till then, happy reading! 😊

[HelloB]

Hello and welcome Madhumita! I absolutely love the Coffee books by Kawaguchi <3 so heartwarming!

[Shweta]

Hey people, hope you all are doing good!
In the last few years I have read a couple of mangas following which I started reading books by Japanese authors. It all started with Murakami's books at first and later without even realising I found myself getting completely immersed into Japanese literature. My favorite Murakami's book is "Sputnik Sweetheart". I also love "No Longer Human" by Osamu Dazai and "Newcomer" by Keigo Higashino. My interest in Japanese literature lies specifically in post war writings, the classics and works of contemporary writers. Not to mention Murakami's writings helped me realise my interest towards surrealist literature.
I m soon going to be graduated and wish to study further.
Thank You.

[Loretta]

Shweta wrote: "Hey people, hope you all are doing good!
In the last few years I have read a couple of mangas following which I started reading books by Japanese authors. It all started with Murakami's books at fi..."

Hi Shweta! Welcome! Happy reading!

[mnm]

Bill wrote: "Welcome Madhumita!

We've got two group reads going on month, both anthologies. Maybe they can help you find your next favorite author."

Thanks Bill, I've never read an anthology before so im excited to join the group read!

[mnm]

Loretta wrote: "mnm wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Madhumita and live in Mumbai, India. I started reading Japanese literature recently and have read Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and Never Let Me Go..."

Hi Loretta, thankyou for the warm welcome. I too am very curious to read your views on the various books we read!

[mnm]

HelloB wrote: "Hello and welcome Madhumita! I absolutely love the Coffee books by Kawaguchi <3 so heartwarming!"

Me too! Theyre such a comfort read. Im excited for the 4th book thats coming out soon <3

[aoi]

Hey, I'm new to Goodreads. The basis of my interest in Japanese literature started with stumbling across light novels in the manga section of my local bookstore. My favourite book is "There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job" by Kikuko Tsumura.

[Loretta]

aoippai wrote: "Hey, I'm new to Goodreads. The basis of my interest in Japanese literature started with stumbling across light novels in the manga section of my local bookstore. My favourite book is "There's No Su..."

Hi and welcome aoippai! Happy reading! 😊

[e ❀]

Hello! My name is Ellie.
I learnt Japanese all thanks to Mr. Dazai Osamu.

I'm moving to Japan in a month and my goal is to take advantage of the libraries there and start reading more and more novels in both Japanese and English.
I hope one day I can translate a novel myself!

It's nice to meet you all.

[Loretta]

e ❀ wrote: "Hello! My name is Ellie.
I learnt Japanese all thanks to Mr. Dazai Osamu.

I'm moving to Japan in a month and my goal is to take advantage of the libraries there and start reading more and more n..."

Hi Ellie! So happy you’ve joined! Happy reading! 😊

[Monica]

e ❀ wrote: "Hello! My name is Ellie.
I learnt Japanese all thanks to Mr. Dazai Osamu.

I'm moving to Japan in a month and my goal is to take advantage of the libraries there and start reading more and more n..."
e ❀ wrote: "Hello! My name is Ellie.
I learnt Japanese all thanks to Mr. Dazai Osamu.

I'm moving to Japan in a month and my goal is to take advantage of the libraries there and start reading more and more n..."

こんにちは Ellieさん、初めまして。私は日本語を学んでいます。よろしくお願いします。

Hello Ellie, nice to meet you. I'm also learning Japanese. It's nice to meet someone in the group who is interested in reading and translating in the language too. It's really neat that you're moving to Japan. Happy reading :)

[Strawbella]

Hi! I joined this group to take part in the monthly bookclub. My favourite Japanese authors are Dazai Osamu and Akutagawa Ryuunosuke. I read a lot of Murakami books a million years ago but only recently have delved into finding other Japanese authors (after falling into the world of anime/manga during pandemic times)! I recently read 'Lonely Castle in the Mirror' by Tsujimura Mizuki and I am really hoping more of her works get translated into English!
Anyways, hi hello I will probably try to take part in the August bookclub read but to be honest I'm not very good at analysis! But I am looking forward to reading what everyone else has to say :)

[Loretta]

Strawbella wrote: "Hi! I joined this group to take part in the monthly bookclub. My favourite Japanese authors are Dazai Osamu and Akutagawa Ryuunosuke. I read a lot of Murakami books a million years ago but only rec..."

Hi and welcome Strawbella! Enjoy and happy reading! 😊

[richa ⋆.˚★]

Hi, I had joined this group a while back! I'm Richa, I have a lot of admiration towards japanese literature. My favourite series has to be Natsuhiko Kyougoku's Summer of Ubume. I love horror and unsettling mysteries. I hope to explore more authors <3

[Loretta]

r wrote: "Hi, I had joined this group a while back! I'm Richa, I have a lot of admiration towards japanese literature. My favourite series has to be Natsuhiko Kyougoku's Summer of Ubume. I love horror and un..."

Better late than never r! Welcome! 😊

[GONZA]

Hallo, I am Cristina an Italian living in Berlin. I like reading Japanese literature and I came direct from Alison's podcast.

[Loretta]

GONZA wrote: "Hallo, I am Cristina an Italian living in Berlin. I like reading Japanese literature and I came direct from Alison's podcast."

Hello and welcome GONZA! Happy reading! 😊

[Alison]

GONZA wrote: "Hallo, I am Cristina an Italian living in Berlin. I like reading Japanese literature and I came direct from Alison's podcast."

That is incredibly encouraging. Thanks for sharing it.

[chatte]

Hi! I just forgot to introduce myself, I’m joined two or three days ago, I am Nasya an Indonesian living in Surabaya. I like reading japanese book, I want to know more Japanese literature. The basis of my interest in Japanese literature started with reading Haruki Murakami and Mieko Kawakami book.

It’s nice to meet you all! Happy reading!^^

[HelloB]

GONZA wrote: "Hallo, I am Cristina an Italian living in Berlin. I like reading Japanese literature and I came direct from Alison's podcast."

Hi Cristina! i am also italian and live in Germany (NRW) :D Welcome!

[GONZA]

Thanks everyone and grazie per il benvenuto HelloB :)

[Ral]

Hello! I realized I hadn't introduced myself yet - I'm Reneta but you can call me Reni. I'm Bulgarian and I've been studying Japanese in school for 4 years now. The main reason I got into Japanese literature is because of learning Japanese and being surrounded by the culture at school - I even organized the Japanese literature room for our Bunkasai (cultural festival) with my friend! I'm not sure about favourite books, I tend to prefer poetry. I especially like Nakahara Chuuya's poetry. I also really like Miyazawa Kenji, he's interesting as an author, poet, and as a person! I joined the group because I wanted to read more Japanese literature and also talk to people about it so feel free to add me!

[[deleted user]]

Hi, everyone! I've been posting a lot in the upcoming releases threads, so I figured I should probably introduce myself as well! 😊 My name is Vicky and I'm from Romania. I became obsessed with all things Japan when I started watching puroresu/Japanese wrestling in 2017, but it wasn't until 2020-2021 when I started becoming addicted to the Japanese literature and nowadays it's the only thing I read. Classics authors were all I knew until I came in contact with Japanese literature, and it went downhill from there, but in a good way. 😄 My reading is all over the place, so my favorite authors include Mishima Yukio, Dazai Osamu and Yokomizo Seishi, and my favorite books include 'Battle Royale', 'Kusamakura', 'Out', and several translations in Romanian that aren't available in English (authors Ogawa Yoko, and Yamamoto Kenichi). But these are just a few off of the top of my head. I tend to read ANYTHING Japanese I can get my hands on, and enjoy.
P.S.: Ironically enough, my first introduction to J-lit wasn't Murakami, but Inoue Yasushi instead.
P.S. 2: Just in case, I don't track my readings on Goodreads, but on Storygraph instead (somewhat).

[Rurin]

Hi all!

I joined this group to participate in book club and group reads.
Rurin, Ruri, Rin all work to address me by.
My pronouns are She/Her.
My most recent reads are The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, and The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase.

I’m bad at the Goodreads rating system because my rating for novels tends to change over time… It’s something I need to work on!

Nice to meet you!

[Loretta]

Hello all new members, Mangotoro, HelloB, Reneta, Vicky and Rubin! Enjoy and continued happy reading! 😊

[Colin]

Hello all!

My name is Colin, I am from Canada, and I am interested in Japanese literature, as well as Japanese history. I just joined the group today, so thank you for organizing this space!

Like a previous commenter, I came here from Alison's podcast which has been a wonderful resource. I look forward to continuing my journey into Japanese language, literature, history, and culture here with you all!

Recent reads include:
> There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job, by Kikuko Tsumura (trans. Polly Barton)
> Strange Weather in Tokyo, by Hiromi Kawakami (trans. Allison Markin Powell)
> Where the Wild Ladies Are, by Aoko Matsuda (trans. Polly Barton)

Currently reading:
> Diary of a Void, by Emi Yagi (trans. David Boyd, Lucy North)
> Runaway Horses, by Yukio Mishima (trans. Michael Gallagher)
> The Nakano Thrift Shop, by Hiromi Kawakami (trans. Allison Markin Powell)

Thank you again for sharing this space! Happy reading, all!

[Bill]

Welcome, Colin!

It'd be nice if we could get our history/culture readings going again. But we never seem to want to read the same books.

[Jack]

Bill, I would be interested in history/culture readings.
Jack

[Loretta]

Colin wrote: "Hello all!

My name is Colin, I am from Canada, and I am interested in Japanese literature, as well as Japanese history. I just joined the group today, so thank you for organizing this space!

Lik..."

Welcome Colin! 😊

[Colin]

Thank you, Loretta!

Bill wrote: "Welcome, Colin!

It'd be nice if we could get our history/culture readings going again. But we never seem to want to read the same books."

Thank you, Bill! What sort of books are you considering for culture/history readings?