Japanese Literature discussion
General
>
Introduce yourself, at your option
Hello all! I'm Harry from Australia ✌️ i've only dipped my toes in the ocean of japanese literature with some works by Murakami, Akutagawa and Sōseki, currently reading the unconsoled by Ishiguro Kazuo and boyyy it is a trip! always keen for new recommendations and discussing books that resonate with me 😊
Lou wrote: "Hi, everyone! My name is Lou from Japan.Nice to meet you.
One of my favorite writers is Atsuko Suga, already passed away in 1998 though, I’m still reading her books."
Lou, do you know of anything in English or Italian translation? I am only vaguely aware of Atsuko Suga and would like to read something to get some direct appreciation.
Thanks
Harry wrote: "Hello all! I'm Harry from Australia ✌️ i've only dipped my toes in the ocean of japanese literature with some works by Murakami, Akutagawa and Sōseki, currently reading the unconsoled by Ishiguro K..."Welcome Harry. There is an ongoing thread discussion on Murakami and several past book discussions. The forum keeps the thread open for both reference and additional comments and thoughts. I think we have Killing Commendatore, Norwegian Wood, After Dark, Hard Boiled Wonderland.
For Akutagawa, I think only Hell Screen. There were a lot of novels by Sōseki like Light & Darkness, I am a Cat, Kokoro, and, this year, Botchan.
For Ishiguro Kazuo, maybe only A Pale View of Hill. Was that his debut book?
Again Welcome and we hope the forum will provide a place for discussion and reference.
Hello, retired English/Classics teacher here who has concentrated on Japanese fiction for the last 2 years or so - long story.I've three boxes of finished books downstairs and am looking to trade some of mine for yours. I'm on Goodreads as JoeG and the read books are listed and critiqued there ~ 130 minus the ones I've given away. I'm in the States. Drop me a note if you are interested.
Joe G
Hi, I am Nana. I started reading Japanese literature in middle school because the book covers looked aesthetic and pretty. I am infatuated by Japanese authors' willingness to explore the absurdities of living through simple words and raw conveyance. Some of my favorites include "Life Ceremony", "If Cats Disappeared from This World", "Killing Commendatore" and "I Want to Eat Your Pancreas".
I am also quite into Showa Japanese Literature, such as Dazai's works and Tanizaki's "Naomi", and definitely want to read more in the future.
To be honest, I’ve been watching films instead of reading lately, but I hope to find time to get back to enjoying literature soon.
hi, i’m thirteen. kafka on the shore is my all-time favorite story, and it made me fall in love with murakami’s writing. i’m planning to read norwegian wood this year. i recently also finished and adored days at the morisaki bookshop by satoshi yagisawa. i’m excited to be here and find new recommendations 💌
Hi everyone, I’m William, and I’m a final year Japanese Studies student from the UK. I studied for a year in Chiba, Japan.Norwegian Wood by Murakami got me into Japanese literature many years ago, and it was a chief influence as to why I picked my degree. While I mainly read books *about* Japan now, history is a big part of my degree, I want to get back into Japanese literature.
Thank you for having me!
hello! im aster and i live in tokyo, and already read tons of japanese literature but looking to find some newer, rarer readsmy fave author is sayaka murata, and my favorite book is convenience store woman. i also love breast and eggs by mieko kawakami. im currently reading life ceremony by murata and fault lines by emily itami
Hi, I'm Munehito. Nice to meet you all. I'm a native Japanese, but I write English-language novels, hoping to make an admixture of styles and views, adding insights that might be unique to ones who grew up in this country.
Tanks for having me. Looking forward to productive discussions!
Hello everyone! My name is Simona and i’m new to this group. I’ve been interested in japanese literature for quite a few years now, and i especially love reading their literature. My favorite japanese author is Osamu Dazai and my favorite book is his No Longer Human. This might be a basic answer but it’s the book that got me into japanese literature and so far i haven’t found anything that surpassed it. I look forward to reading some new books with you!
Welcome Simona!Some j-lit ideas since you really liked No Longer Human.
Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, and perhaps Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
These are serious literature and also explore depths existential nature of the human experience like No longer Human.
any other suggestions from the forum?
Hi, Everyone! I'm Ashlee and I've been interested in Japanese lit for quite a long time. I started out with Murakami, but when I studied abroad in Japan I took a contemporary lit class and remember "Gold Rush" by Yu Miri and "Snakes and Earrings" by Hitomi Kanehara having a huge impact on me.
It's kind of a hobby of mine to discover new works in translation - I love finding new and "obscure" novels that aren't often talked about. Recently, I've really enjoyed "Mysterious Setting" by Kazushige Abe and "Cannibals" by Shinya Tanaka. I joined this group hoping to learn about new authors and stay on top of new releases. Nice meeting everyone! :)
Hello everyone! My name is Leah. I have a M.A. in East Asian Studies and that is where I discovered my love of Japanese lit. Kokoro was the first novel I read in my program and have read numerous Japanese novels since then. I am excited to see the diverse backgrounds of people in this group and look forward to seeing some of the novels you all are reading!
Welcome Ashlee and Leah!We've currently got a topic going to nominate book club reads for April and May: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Please feel free to join, or take your time looking around the group :-)
Hi, I’m Ag, from Poland but I’ve been living in France for almost half of my life. I just enjoy reading, and for a few last years I’m into Japanese, Korean and Chinese novels, for no specific reasons. I’m not tided up professionally to literature, however recently I’ve started dreaming of working in a bookshop 🤭. Happy that I’m here.
Welcome Ag!Glad for you to join us.
Thank you for your comments and interest.
We write in English but we read in whatever language(s) work best for us. We all love books (and bookshops)!
Hi, I'm Philippa and I'm from the UK.I've been a big Japanese anime and manga fan for a while and over the past year or so made more of an effort to read Japanese literature too.
I really love Mieko Kawakami, Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Haruki Murakami and Sayaka Murata.
I can't wait to see everyone's recommendations!!
Hey, I’m from Moldova. I work as an architect, and reading is one of my biggest passions. I joined your group because I’m really interested in Japanese culture and wanted to discover more books related to it. Like many others, I started with Haruki Murakami😄
Welcome Philippa and Olga!Thank you both for your interest and we look forward to you reading along with us and sharing your comments and insights.
Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami is our group read for April 2025. We post to the forum in English but read in any language that works best for us.
The discussion threads usually stay open indefinitely. We also may have a new group read for a book that was previously read since the GR forum has been active for many years.
r/Jack co-moderator
Hello, I'm a Japanese language and literature student from Italy. My favourite novel is 人間失格 by Osamu Dazai. I'm studying early japanese literature at the time of writing this intro (currently trying to get throught the Genji monogatari).よろしくね
Hi. I am a 29 year old dude from Costa Rica.
My favorite novel is Kokoro by Natsume Soseki, this was actually my first book (not counting the ones I read in school obviously) and I only started reading recently. It all started because one day I was going to watch a movie but arrived too early at the mall because I got the hour wrong and to entertain myself I went to a bookstore and found Kokoro and since a character in an anime I was watching was reading it I decided to pick it up and got hooked lmao
Hi everyone,I'm a native Japanese speaker and a big fan of Japanese literature — especially the works of Miyuki Miyabe. I love not only her stories but also the rhythm of her language, especially how she uses onomatopoeia to bring scenes to life.
I joined this group because I’m curious how Japanese literature is received by readers from different cultures.
I’ve also spent some time writing about onomatopoeia, which I find fascinating — especially how these sounds carry emotion and nuance.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Welcome vitobito, we have had several discussions on Dazai novels. The last was 04/2024 on The Setting Sun. The book discussions stay open so see if there are any that you are interested in and add your thoughts if you desire.
Welcome Wesbell, we have had several discussions on Japanese cinema and you may find them interesting. Your comments on Japanese films that you like will be welcome.
Natsume, welcome to the Japanese literature forum. Several members have listed as a favorite book: All She Was Worth (original title: Kasha), trans. Alfred Birnbaum, Kodansha International, 1996.I don’t think we have had a group read on that yet.
We have nominations for group reads so please nominate the novel of your choice then for the group.
Jack wrote: "Natsume, welcome to the Japanese literature forum. Several members have listed as a favorite book: All She Was Worth (original title: Kasha), trans. Alfred Birnbaum, Kodansha International, 1996.I..."
Thanks for the warm welcome, Jack.
All She Was Worth might have been my very first Miyuki Miyabe novel — I read it over 20 years ago!
I’m thinking about rereading it, both in English and Japanese, to prepare for a group discussion.
Welcome, Natume!We read this book as a group a long time ago, though not as long ago as you read it! https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Old group discussions always stay open, and more comments are always welcome. Some people can't find the time to read the book during the month, and some join the group afterwards. Personally, I expect to contribute late to the Hunchback discussion; at the rate I'm moving up the reservation queue, I doubt my local library will let me borrow it until next month.
Natsume wrote: "Jack wrote: "Natsume, welcome to the Japanese literature forum. Several members have listed as a favorite book: All She Was Worth (original title: Kasha), trans. Alfred Birnbaum, Kodansha Internati..."Thank you so much for the warm welcome, Bill.
The discussion you shared was full of comments that offered fresh and interesting perspectives for me. I really enjoyed reading through it.
I’m thinking I might add a comment myself when I reread All She Was Worth, it’s only been seven years since the last post in the thread!
Hi hello I’m Sneha from India and I’m super new to this book community.
I’m currently into Japanese contemporary books which I stumbled upon by coincidence in the Pinterest app.
Current read - Days at the Morisaki bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. I don’t know why I find this book sooooo comforting and heartwarming ❤️
I hope you give me recs and support.
Welcome Sneha. We hope you enjoy the forum and your participation.Thanks for joining the rest of us.
Hello, my name’s Wongwalee, from Thailand! 🇹🇭♡I’m into Japanese culture since I was a kid. First, it started with anime, manga, game, like all kids, but since I can understand English, I began to read more translated books. And that’s how I found my passion for Japanese literature.
My favorite book so far is “The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa.” The next one I’m going to read is “The Professor and I” by the same author.
Any recommendations? Please share, I want to explore more about Japanese authors.
Last but not least, nice to meet everyone!
Welcome Wongwalee,We hope you enjoy the Japanese Literature forum.
Please look at the past reads to see if there is anything you might like there. We keep the comment threads open.
If you liked The Memory Police, you might like Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami.
This was the April 2025 group read. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Reader wrote: "Hi hello I’m Sneha from India and I’m super new to this book community.
I’m currently into Japanese contemporary books which I stumbled upon by coincidence in the Pinterest app.
Current read - Da..."
You may like What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama. - J
Hey everyone! I am Susmita from India✨ My mother tongue is Bengali and English is my second language.I am a student of English literature and I harbour an interest in Japanese literature (in translation).
My interest in Japan started early, first through Totto Chan and the fairy tales books I read in Bengali translation. Then I started watching anime and a new door opened for me.
I have read quite a few books by Haruki Murakami, as I started my journey with him, and 1Q84 is my favourite among them.
One of my favourite books is Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. Apart from these I am planning to start reading Mieko Kawakami and Mishima. I have read some short stories by Akutagawa and would love to get more suggestions. I read manga as well, but I am still a beginner there. Looking forward to read different books with you all.
Hi!I'm originally from Kyoto,Japan,and currently living in Tokyo.I am a System Engineer.I am a bookworm,I've read many Japanese books and Japanese translations of foreign books from childhood up to now.All of the books are wonderful,but some of my especially like "I'm Going Straight Home" by Kikuko Tsumura,"All the Things at Dawn" by Maiko Seo,"Kamikaze Girls (Japanese title is "Shimotsuma Story")","Princess of Scales" by Nobara Takemoto,"A Good Kid's Yawn" by Hayako Takase.Many of these books haven't been translated into Engilsh, but I'd love to introduce some of them because they're truly fascinating.I'm learning English so I can enjoy books that haven't been translated into Japanese. Sorry if my English isn't perfect yet, but I really want to share and enjoy book discussions with everyone!
Nice to meet you!
Hiya, I'm Mathew, American ex-pat living in Osaka. I'm a big reader, but have only recently started to read some of the Japanese classics. I've lived in Japan for close to 20 years at this point and love to talk about and or discuss various points about culture, history or language. I find that I can become supercharged while traversing the liminal spaces in-between translations. I'm always happy to talk, so feel free to drop me a note, or ask me a question. Good to meet ya.
M.
Snow Country is one of my all time favorite novels. Kawabata Sensei really did a great job on that one. There is a street named after him in the town I'm living in which was actually his home town until he was in Junior Highschool (apparently) I'm thrilled that he's still so widely read!
Welcome, Susmita, Page, and Matthew! (I really wish the notifications on GR worked, so I would notice new posts more often!)Kyoto and Osaka... reminds me of the year I spent in Japan 30 years ago. So long ago that they've since torn down the university I was studying at and moved it across town. I had such a good time visiting all the historic sites and museums in the wider Kinki area.
I've been here for ages, but even now, I still find little treasures everywhere I look :)
Mathew, thanks for your “currently reading” update. It is motivating.
HA! Good to know! I've been pretty voracious in my reading the last little bit. It's good to know that it can inspire others!
Hello! My name is Charlotte Bird. I realized I never wrote na introduction. I’ve really enjoyed this group since I joined it earlier this year. I am a music teacher in Arizona. My favorite Japanese author is Natsume Sōseki, and I also have a deep love for the haiku of Bashō and Issa. Beyond that, I read widely across Japanese literature and am still discovering new favorites. I’m drawn to works that capture nature, seasonality, and the nuances of everyday life, and I also write Japanese-form poetry such as haiku and tanka. I look forward to exchanging recommendations and engaging in thoughtful discussions with everyone here.
Hi Charlotte, I'm new too, but have found people here very friendly and welcoming. We might be organizing a group read of Soseki's I am a cat in the next month or two if you'd be interested :)
I also like Haiku, especially Buson.
Since you're a Bird, you might get a kick out of this!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
This author is one of my favorite people from history!
Hello! My name is Uri, nice to meet you. I am passionate about Japanese literature, which I study from Japan, the country where I live. I look forward to having great debates and very interesting readings about Japanese literature and culture.
A pleasure!
Welcome Charlotte and Oriol. Thank you for your interest and introductions. We look forward to your thoughts and comments on the forum. r/Jack
Hello everyone! I'm Jo from Hong Kong. Cantonese is my first language, and English is my second. I studied Japanese years ago but now only remember half of the hiragana &Katakana and some kanji.
Haruki Murakami is my favourite Japanese writer. I like both his latest book "The City and its uncertain walls" and the original story "The end of the world & hard-boiled wonderland".
Looking forward to getting to know more about Japanese lit. through discussions in this group. Cheers!
Jo wrote: "Hello everyone! I'm Jo from Hong Kong. Cantonese is my first language, and English is my second. I studied Japanese years ago but now only remember half of the hiragana &Katakana and some kanji.
H..."
Hi Jo! Welcome we're happy to have you. Which language to you prefer to read in?
Nice to meet you Mathew, both English and Chinese are ok. It depends on which translation i can get hold of. How about you?
Japanese Literature
Books mentioned in this topic
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library (other topics)Under the Eye of the Big Bird (other topics)
The Setting Sun (other topics)
Under the Eye of the Big Bird (other topics)
No Longer Human (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Michiko Aoyama (other topics)Hiromi Kawakami (other topics)
Hiromi Kawakami (other topics)
Natsume Sōseki (other topics)
Haruki Murakami (other topics)
More...
Nice to meet you.
One of my favorite writers is Atsuko Suga, already passed away in 1998 though, I’m still reading her books.