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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 06/10/2026

N Americans—Bookshop.org is running Anti-Prime FREE SHIPPING today + tomorrow (10/6-7)! Pick up your #bannedbooksweek titles or anything from your TBR. Support your fave indie shop or RJL! Our shop has tons of curated lists, bit here's a list of horror. bookshop.org/lists/japane...

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Japanese Horror Stories
By Read Japanese Literature

Visible covers include My Annihilation by Fuminori Nakamura, Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino, Out by Natsuo Kirino, Body by Asa Nonami, Now You Are One of Us by Asa Nonami...

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 01/10/2026

Everything is beautiful and old-fashioned and pure (read “not queer”) in Japan. How dare you? 🫠

An Apple podcast review of Read Japanese Literature:

The kind of feminist, “queer-friendly,” and worldview-by-headlines political ideology burns the edges of this podcast, making it a kind of awkward relic of modern American privileged, self-abasing, academic supremacy. I’d rather just learn about and be excited to read Japanese literature, but this podcast seems to be 1/3 about the authors own ideological preconceptions.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 29/09/2026

#worldkidlitmonth Takuji Ichikawa (1962- ) has dreamed of being a novelist since he was in grade school. A highly successfully writer in Japan, Ichikawa asked himself what a novel should look like in an age of bleak environmental news, staggering global inequality, and growing authoritarianism.

A color photograph of Takuji Ichikawa, a thin Japanese man with medium-length, curly hair, rectangular glasses, and a salt-and-pepper goatee, posing in front of a background of trees and other plants.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 26/09/2026

#worldkidlitmonth Miyuki Miyabe (1960- ) began her career as a mystery writer; she won the Japan Mystery Writers Association Prize for her debut novel. Most of her work is still in the mystery genre, where she broke new ground for women with the publication of her 1992 novel, All She Was Worth.

A color photograph of Miyuki Miyabe speaking earnestly. She has bobbed hair and is wearing stylish yellow glasses and a striped purple sweater over a collared shirt.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 25/09/2026

Kazumi Yumoto was born in 1959. Her novels often star children and teenagers wrestling with some of life's most painful questions about life and death.

A color photo of a smiling Kazumi Yumoto, posing in a plaid button-down in front of brightly-lit woods.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 23/09/2026

#worldkidlitmonth Sachiko Kashiwaba (1953- ) grew up in the Tohoku Region, Japan's "internal colony" and the region of Japan most affected by the 3/11 Triple Disasters. She trained as a pharmacist and wrote part-time until after her children were born.

A color photograph of Sachiko Kashiwaba cheerfully smiling in front of a neutral background.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 20/09/2026

#worldkidlitmonth Taro Gomi (1945- ) is a prolific author of more than 400 picture books. Many have been translated into English, including My Friends and Santa through the Window. In addition to writing books, he also designs stationary and clothes and produces animated videos for children.

A color photograph of Taro Gomi, wearing a white t-shirt and sporting a salt-and-pepper goatee.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 20/09/2026

#worldkidlitmonth Eiko Kadono (1935- ) began writing in 1970 and has published about 250 books, mostly picture books. She has also translated around 100 titles from other languages.

A color photograph of Eiko Kadono, an older Japanese woman in a pink, floral sweater.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 19/09/2026

#worldkidlitmonth Akiyuki Nosaka (1930-2015) might also be called a writer of stories about children; his "children stories" set on August 15, 1945 and written from his own childhood experiences, are difficult to read, even for adults. Born in Kamakura, Nosaka grew up with a maternal aunt.

A black-and-white photograph of Akiyuki Nosaka looking pretty cool in his sunglasses, smoking a cigarette.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 12/09/2026

#worldkidlitmonth Nobuko Yoshiya (1896-1973) helped pioneer early stories for girls (shojo) about romantic friendships. She defied the gender stereotypes of the day by dressing in a way that wasn’t clearly male or female.

A black-and-white photograph of Nobuko Yoshiya, a youthful-looking Japanese woman in a smart hat.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 01/09/2026

Happy #worldkidlitmonth! Learn about the history of Japanese children's literature with RJL. Special focus on Sachiko Kashiwaba's Temple Alley Summer, translated by the talented @averyudagawa.bsky.social. readjapaneseliterature.com/Podcast/Epis...

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 31/08/2026

Shoen Nakajima (1861-1901) is best remembered for her 1883 speech “Daughters in Boxes”. The speech resulted in her becoming the first Japanese woman arrested for “political speech without a permit” and “insulting a government official”. (She spent 8 days in prison and paid a large fine.) #witmonth

A faded black-and-white photograph of Shorn Nakajima (aka Toshiko Kishida).

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 31/08/2026

Akira Otani (1981- ) is a lesbian who writes characters who defy Japanese gender norms. Her work, mostly untranslated into English, includes a collection of short stories about relationships between women and an essay collection titled Since You're So Curious about My Body. #witmonth

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 29/08/2026

Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman (trans @ginnytkmr.bsky.social) proved how popular Japanese literature in translation could really be. Murata, who shares “anxieties about not being human enough” with her characters, has explained that attitude is "classic human.” #witmonth

A color photograph of Sayaka Murata speaking.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 29/08/2026

Aoko Matsuda (1979- ) is famous for fierce, wry critiques of sexism. Her published work in English includes stories that challenge traditional gender norms. Translator Polly Barton explains Matsuda's feminism is "angry" in comparison to the feminism of Mieko Kawakami or Sayaka Murata. #witmonth

A color photograph of Aoko Matsuda staring disconcertingly into the camera.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 27/08/2026

Saou Ichikawa (1979- ) has congenital myopathy. She uses a wheelchair and has used a respirator to breathe since she was 13 years old. She won the Akutagawa Prize for Hunchback in 2023, becoming the first disabled person ever to win the award. #witmonth

A color photograph of Saou Ichikawa sitting at a table and speaking. A copy of her novel sits on the low table in front of her.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 27/08/2026

While Mieko Kawakami (1976- ) once considered feminists “hysterical old women on TV,” she is now a prominent voice for Japan’s women. (Still, translator Sam Bett has remarked, “I would say that if in 100 years Mieko is remembered only for being a feminist author, she would... be pissed”.) #witmonth

A color photograph of Mieko Kawakami raising her hand a speaking into a microphone while speaking at a panel. She's smartly dressed in a short, black dress with a collar outlined in white.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 26/08/2026

In Japan, genre fiction was once considered the purview of male writers. Authors like Kanae Minato (1973- ) have helped break down those barriers. Minato has been described as "the queen of the iyamisu"—a subgenre of mystery fiction that includes graphic gore and makes readers say, "Eww!" #witmonth

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 25/08/2026

Banana Yoshimoto (1964- ) is famous for incorporating the kawaii aesthetic, strongly associated with young women, into her work. After many decades, critics no longer lightly dismiss her writing, which unabashedly asserts that great literature doesn’t have to have an unhappy ending. #witmonth

A color photograph of Banana Yoshimoto, a sassy-looking young Japanese woman in a lace-up top over a black undershirt with a short, dark bob; large, clear glasses; bright lipstick; and a handbag thrown casually over her left shoulder.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 24/08/2026

Chiya Fujino (1962- ) is the only openly transgender writer to ever win the Akutagawa Prize; she won in 1999 for Summer Promise (untranslated). Fujino's writings reflect how difficult life can be for people who don’t follow the standard conventions of Japanese society. #witmonth

A black-and-white photograph of Chiya Fujino taken while she was speaking.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 22/08/2026

I don't believe there is any fiction by Noe Ito (1885-1923) translated into English, but I wanted to celebrate her legacy during #witmonth anyway. Noe Ito was the second editor of the important women's journal, Bluestocking. 1/3

Ito Noe sits for a formal, black-and-white photograph in a padded kimono.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 21/08/2026

Kaho Nakayama (1960- ) is openly lesbian, but she has said she dislikes being described as a “lesbian writer”. Her most famous work was part of what has been described as Japan's "gay boom" in the late 1980s and 1990s. She has been noted for her nuanced depictions of lesbianism. #witmonth

A color photograph of Kaho Nakayama. She's looking into the camera, face turned slightly to the left. Her hair is cut into a long bob with bangs, and likely lightened to a light, reddish-brown. She's wearing dark, round glasses frames as well as a dark blue top and a checked blue scarf.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 21/08/2026

Rieko Matsuura was one of the most established “out” lesbian writers of the 1980s and 90s, although she rejects the labels “lesbian writer” and “homosexual writer”. She is interested in the symbolism of the penis, which she posits isn’t necessarily the same as a man’s phallus. #witmonth

A color photograph of Reiko Matsuura. She's a serious-looking woman with shoulder-length, lighter-brown hair brushing the shoulders of her cream-colored blazer.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 20/08/2026

Natsuo Kirino (1951- ) began her career as a romance novelist before shifting to stories dissecting (sometimes literally) some of the darkest aspects of human psychology + Japanese society. She refuses the label "feminist writer", but often takes up the marginalized position of women. #witmonth

An artistic, black-and-white photograph of Natsuo Kirino. She's partially shielding her face with the collar of a black turtleneck, pulling it over her left check with her carefully-manicured left hand.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 16/08/2026

Yuko Tsushima (1947-2016) was among the first Japanese women to write about life as a single mother, an experience she knew as both a single mother and daughter of a single mother. Virtually all of her work addresses marginalized people, especially women, who have been somehow abandoned. #witmonth

A black-and-white photograph of Yuko Tsushima. She is smiling into the camera, teeth showing, while standing on a lawn in front of a large tree. She looks genuinely cheerful. She's swearing a sweater embroidered with what look like tiny spaceships, stars, and moons, as well as glasses with invisible frames attached to a chain necklace. She has short, dark hair that, despite her age, has very little gray in it.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 15/08/2026

Mieko Kanai (1947- ) is more of a cult figure in Japan than a mainstay of feminist storytelling. Those who read her prolific body of work have come to expect a surrealist technique that has sometimes baffled critics coupled with subtle social critique. #witmonth

A color photograph of Mieko Kanai. She's centered in the frame and smiling into the camera. She has short, salt-and-pepper hair and matching eyebrows over round metal glasses. She's wearing a black jacket over a black shirt.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 14/08/2026

Yumiko Kurahashi (1935-2005) was an experimental and antirealist writer whose work questioned the social norms of her day—especially about the role of women in society as mothers and sexual partners. While young, she was grouped with Japan's up-and-coming "third wave" of post-war writers. #witmonth

A black-and-white photograph of Yumiko Kurahashi climbing outdoor stairs.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 13/08/2026

Takako Takahashi (1932-2013) studied French literature at university. She spent her marriage supporting her writer/activist husband; she was only able to focus on her career after his death. In 1975, she moved to France to become a Carmelite nun, but left after a year to return to Japan.

A faded color photograph of Takako Takahashi. She's standing in front of shoji. Her short hair is in an unstyled bob. She's wearing a quilted, dark blue jacked over an even darker blue sweater and a white turtleneck. She's wearing glasses and staring straight into the camera with a neutral face.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 12/08/2026

Prepping Japanese Women Writers and truly enjoying this gorgeous cover art for the 1911 first issue of Seito (Bluestocking) magazine by Chieko Naganuma (1886-1938).

A bright yellow cover with an art deco style image of a woman with geometric patterns behind her. The kanji reads "Seito" or "Bluestocking".

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 12/08/2026

The Doctor's Wife is a work of historical fiction based loosely on the real life career of 19th-century physician Seishu Hanaoka. The novel's protagonist must grapple with a difficult relationship with a mother-in-law she once admired as she competes for her husband's affection.

A cover of Sawako Ariyoshi's The Doctor's Wife. It shows a partially blurred woman in a casual kimono, with the title and author's name superimposed in white lettering.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 12/08/2026

Sawako Ariyoshi (1931-1984) was once one of Japan's best known women writers. Several of her novels take up the effects of social and political change, especially on the lives of women, as well as the relationships between mothers an daughters. #witmonth

A color photograph of Sawako Ariyoshi. She sits in front of a crowded bookshelf. She's looking down and to the right of the camera, eyes lowered. Her dark hair is pulled back low, a cowlick in her bangs. She's wearing a red sweater, short, beaded necklace, and bracelet on her left wrist.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 11/08/2026

Minako Oba married an engineer in the winter of 1955—but only if he would promise she could continue to write. In 1968, she won Akutagawa Prize for “Three Crabs”. Her writing reflects her deep concern about the subordinate positions of most married women in Japan. #witmonth

A color photograph of Minako Oba. Oba is older, her short, bobbed hair graying. She's facing the camera and wearing a lacey black sweater and a beaded choker.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 10/08/2026

Taeko Kono (1926-2015) challenged gendered expectations by exploring the symbolic possibilities of pathological behavior, violence, and sadomasochism in her writing. Julia Bullock claims her stories also made vital contributions to the women’s liberation movement in Japan. #witmonth

A black-and-white photograph of Taeko Kono. Kono looks fiercely intelligent. She's looking thoughtfully to the left of the camera, eyebrows slightly raised, and wearing dark-framed glasses. Her dark hair is cut into a sharp bob. She's wearing an aggressively 1970s patterned shirt with a zigzag pattern in multiple colors and a wide collar.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 09/08/2026

More than most other 20th century Japanese writers, Fumiko Enchi's work is steeped in the Japanese classics, especially The Tale of Genji Noh drama. Her novel Masks, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter, is perhaps her best-known novel in English. #witmonth

A black-and-white photograph of Fumiko Enchi. She is wearing a floral kimono and delightful cat's eye glasses. Her hair appears to be permed and put up close to her head. She's looking forward, past the camera, and she's wearing a wry grin.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 09/08/2026

Harumi Setouchi (1922-2021) was a writer and activist. When critics disparaged the sexual content of her work, she responded they all "must be impotent and their wives frigid". In 1973, Setouchi began training as a Buddhist nun and received the name Jakucho—"silent, lonely listening"

A color photograph of a Buddhist nun. Jakucho sits outdoors in front of a Japanese stone lantern. She's elderly and has a shaved head. She's wearing a black kimono with a white underkimono. She's looking to her left and smiling.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 07/08/2026

Ineko Sata (1904-1998) a proletarian and atomic bomb literature writer, as well as a feminist. She began speaking out about the treatment of women in cigarette factories in 1929. She was arrested and imprisoned for political activism on behalf of Japan's working women and men in 1935. #witmonth

A black-and-white photograph of Ineko Sata, possibly taken from a newspaper. Sata wears a thoughtful expression and stares into the camera with her shaped eyebrows raised. She's wearing circular, wire-rimmed glasses and a kimono. She has her dark hair up and away from her face, with a stray wisp falling down over the middle over her forehead.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 06/08/2026

Many scholars of Japanese literature consider Fumiko Hayashi (1903-1951) to be one of Japan’s most influential pre-war feminists. She was born into abject poverty and was the daughter of a broken family. She wrote one of the few well-known I-novels by a woman. #witmonth

A black-and-white photograph of Fumiko Hayashi. She's sitting at a desk, wearing a dark, patterned kimono, with a pen in her right hand over a pile of paper. Behind her, there is an electric lamp and a crowded bookshelf. Her middle-length, dark hair is parted on the right and pulled half-up on the left. She's looking sideways toward the camera without smiling.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 05/08/2026

Yuriko Miyamoto was a writer and social activist associated with both the proletarian fiction and women's liberation movements. (She even spent time in prison before the Pacific War for her political views.) Much of her work is autobiographical and centers war, class, or gender. #witmonth

A black-and-white photo of Yuriko Miyamoto. Miyamoto is a serious-looking, heavy, middle-aged woman in a dark, patterned kimono with a light, floral patterned obituary. She's looking into the distance behind the camera, holding a pen or calligraphy brush, and sitting in front of a bookshelf.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 04/08/2026

Chiyo Uno was a kimono designer as well as an author. In the 1920s, she embodied the free-spirited moga ("modern girl") lifestyle, wearing Western clothes, adopting a bobbed hairstyle, and associating with Japan's writers, poets, and painters. #witmonth

A low-resolution, black-and-white photograph of Chiyo Uno sitting on a tatami mat in front of a dark wall and a spiky house plant. Her long hair is parted in the middle and pulled back. She's wearing a light-colored top with ruffled sleeves, as well as a necklace of large, light-colored beads and a bracelet of dark-colored beads. She's staring into the camera with a neutral, unsmiling face.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 04/08/2026

Another #witmonth -appropriate old podcast episode finally has a transcript! Post-bubble Japan. The history of socially-conscious Japanese literature. Yu Miri and her novel Tokyo Ueno Station (trans Morgan Giles).

A cover image for RJL Episode 16—Writing about Japan's "Have-Nots". It comes from the cover Lauren Peters-Collaer designed for the English-language translation of Tokyo Ueno Station. The clipped portion shows simplified, abstract elements evoking Tokyo's Ueno Park on a purple background—a blue brick wall, two layers high; a red bench; and a yellow, Japanese-stylized chrysanthemum. The words "Ueno Station" from the title appear along the right side.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 03/08/2026

Nobuko Yoshiya wrote stories for girls about romantic friendships. She defied the gender norms of the day by dressing in a way that wasn’t clearly male or female. She also publicly shared a 50-year relationship with Chiyo Monma, a female math teacher from a Tokyo girls’ school. #witmonth

A black-and-white photograph of Nobuko Yoshiya. She's a youthful woman wearing a jaunty hat with a dark ribbon and a collared, patterned top. She's also smiling showing her teeth.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 03/08/2026

Another #witmonth ready transcript release! This episode, we’re talking about why there is such a wealth of contemporary books by Japanese women available in English. Also Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (trans Ginny Tapley Takemori). readjapaneseliterature.com/Podcast/Epis...

The cover image for RJL Episode 15—Translating Japanese Women. The image comes from the Japanese cover of Konbini Ningen (Convenience Store Woman). It depicts a large structure, possibly made of gray stone, with items sticking out. Items include a dripping drainpipe, a cloud of smoke, a doorknob, and a lightbulb.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 02/08/2026

Kanoko Okamoto was one of the first contributors to the influential Japanese women's magazine Bluestocking. An authority on Buddhism, she frequently revisited the effect of a person's familial ancestral karma on their present-day lives.

An overexposed, black-and-white photograph of Kanoko Okamoto. She has very dark, bobbed hair, dark eyebrows, outlined eyes, and dark lipstick.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 01/08/2026

Perfect for #witmonth, I've just finished the transcript for Episode 14—Banana and the Bubble. Runaway consumer spending. Everything kawaii. A Nobel laureate’s contempt. And a young author whose career challenged the publishing powers that be. readjapaneseliterature.com/Podcast/Epis...

A cover for the RJL Episode 14— Banana and the Bubble. It's adapted from Shuzo Ikeda's (1922-2004) print Girl and Grasshopper. The visible portion of the print shows a stylized girl with long brown and yellow hair pulled back with a yellow headband. Her eyes are closed and she's wearing a dreamy expression, her face resting on her right hand. She's wearing a pink shirt, outlined in white, that contrasts with the purple background. The choice of the print is supposed to evoke Banana Yoshimoto's use of girls' culture (shojo) in her writing.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 01/08/2026

Toshiko Tamura was an actress and early feminist novelist. In 1911, her husband successfully pressured her to publish a short story in a competition—she won first prize and gave up her acting career to write. When she died, she left her royalties to establish a prize for women writers. #witmonth

A black-and-white photograph of Toshiko Tamura, a woman in a smart, collared fur coat and a jaunty hat. She's wearing glasses and a titled smile.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 01/08/2026

#womenintranslationmonth begins August 1, and RJL is psyched! Every day in August, we'll be posting a short bio of a Japanese woman writer* who takes up feminist themes in her stories. Stay tuned for an August episode on Japanese Women Writers.* readjapaneseliterature.com/Book+lists/J...

A list title card for "Japanese Feminist Writers". Photos are in columns. Right top to left bottom: Yumiko Kurahashi, Saou Ichikawa, Kaho Nakayama, Taeko Kono, Takako Takahashi, Harumi Setouchi, Nobuko Yoshiya, and Mieko Kawakami.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 26/06/2026

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Celebrate Pride and Anti-Prime Day with this list of Japanese Literature by LGBTQ+ Authors at @bookshop.org. bookshop.org/lists/japane...

The header from Read Japanese Literature's Bookshop.org page for Japanese Literature by LGBTQ+ Authors.

Covers on display include Our Colors by Gengoroh Tagame, Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima, This Monk Wears Heels by Kodo Nishimura, My Brother's Husband by Gengoroh Tagame, By Your Side by Erica Friedman, Twelve Views from a Distance by Mutsuo Takahashi, Our Dining Table by Mita Ari, and Solo Dance by Li Kotomi.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 26/06/2026

RJL Episode 50 is now available! - The history of new religions in Japan, inc Aum Shinrikyo - Haruki Murakami's Underground - 7 stories show Aum's continuing influence Translations by @brianbergstrom.bsky.social + @ginnytkmr.bsky.social readjapaneseliterature.com/Podcast/Epis...

Aum Anxiety in Japanese Literature
RJL Episode 50

This episode's artwork comes from the cover of the 2001 Vintage International printing of Underground. I haven't been able to identify a cover artist. It shows a map of the Tokyo subway superimposed on the musculature of a human torso.

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 24/06/2026

Mutsuo Takahashi is a poet, essayist, and writer. He first wrote about his sexual attraction toward men in a volume of poetry he published in 1959. 1971's Poems of a Penisist, translated by Hiroaki Sato, is considered one of the most important compilations of homoerotic poetry of the 20th century.

A 2009 color photograph of Mutsuo Takahashi taken by translator Jeffrey Angles in Ashiya, Japan (via Wikimedia Commons). Takahashi is an attractive-looking Japanese man in his early seventies with gray hair and a thin, closely-shaved gray goatee. He's wearing a green, collared sweater under a heavy blue winter coat. He is looking into the camera.

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