Literature
Book Review: Strange Pictures by Uketsu
a clever and unsettling puzzle disguised as a novel
Book Review: Tokyo These Days by Taiyo Matsumoto
a quiet meditation on creativity, relevance and persistence
What’s Up With Bad Sex in Murakami?
Pleasure and prose in 'Killing Commendatore' and other novels
Book Review: Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa
a sharp and uncompromising voice in modern Japanese fiction
Book Review: The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
A quiet return to memory, longing and surreal boundaries
Inside the 2026 Akutagawa & Naoki Prizes
The Most Prestigious Prizes in Japanese Literature
Your Japanese Summer Reading List 2026
Our best new recommendations from Tokyo’s literary scene
Why Are There So Many Cats in Japanese Fiction?
Literary symbol or cultural cliche?
How the English Language Failed Banana Yoshimoto
Looking back at the Japanese literary icon 30 years after the translation of her debut novel ‘Kitchen’
Why Do So Many Japanese Love Stories End in Double Suicide?
How a trope lasted from its birth in theatre to its role in anime
Shuna’s Journey: Miyazaki’s Forgotten Masterwork
The 1983 illustrated story that helped shape Miyazaki’s later films
Book Review: The Memory Police By Yoko Ogawa
Which do you trust: your memory or the crowd?
Book Review: “An I-Novel” by Minae Mizumura (Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter)
A bilingual meditation on navigating belonging in isolation
The Best Japanese Mystery Novels to Read
Honkaku, thrillers and crime sagas — Japan’s got it all
10 Must-Read Japanese Novels Set for Release in 2026
Read ahead of the flow by picking up these translated masterpieces as they hit global bookstore shelves
How to Lose Weight the Japanese Way
Wa – the art of balance by Kaki Okamura
Lafcadio Hearn (Yakumo Koizumi) and His Many Lives
The Irish-Greek wanderer who became Japan’s foremost folklore chronicler
Romantic Horror in Japanese Folklore and Literature
Japanese stories of love and ghosts that offer something both delicate and terrifying
Japanese Onomatopoeia
Everyday sounds and oddly specific quirky expressions
Why Was Tokyo Dubbed “Venice of the East”?
The forgotten city of water
Japanese Creation Myths Born from Water
Japan’s oldest stories are told in water
Water Spirits in Japanese Folklore
From the cheeky to the horrific