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171 popular japanese books
Travel the world without leaving your chair. The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world. All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around Asia Challenge" were written by authors from Japan. Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.

61.

Kokoro by Natsume Soseki EN

Rating: 3 (2 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
The great Japanese author’s most famous novel, in its first new English translation in half a century No collection of Japanese literature is complete without Natsume Soseki's Kokoro, his most famous novel and the last he completed before his death. Published here in the first new translation in more than fifty years, Kokoro—meaning "heart"—is the story of a subtle and poignant friendship between two unnamed characters, a young man and an enigmatic elder whom he calls "Sensei." Haunted by tragic secrets that have cast a long shadow over his life, Sensei slowly opens up to his young disciple, c... continue

62.

La casa de las bellas durmientes by Yasunari Kawabata ES

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
El jardín de las bellas durmientes (1961) es una de las novelas erótico-perversas de Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972), con el trasfondo de la vejez y la muerte. Aunque la historia es un poco perturbadora, la maravillosa prosa de Kawabata logra hacer grata su lectura.


64.

Life Ceremony : Stories by Sayaka Murata EN

Rating: 4 (2 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
The long-awaited first short story-collection by the author of the cult sensation Convenience Store Woman, tales of weird love, heartfelt friendships, and the unsettling nature of human existence With Life Ceremony, the incomparable Sayaka Murata is back with her first collection of short stories ever to be translated into English. In Japan, Murata is particularly admired for her short stories, which are sometimes sweet, sometimes shocking, and always imbued with an otherworldly imagination and uncanniness. In these twelve stories, Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror to portra... continue

65.

Lo bello y lo triste by Yasunari Kawabata ES

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
En esta novela Oki Toshio, escritor maduro, quiere encontrar a Otoko, a quien sedujo de adolescente. Los personajes laterales actúan influidos por los protagonistas, aunque sorprenden con autonomía. Como en una obra de teatro, lucen los protagonistas, con los personajes secundarios en las sombras; pero la luz es caprichosa, y el protagonismo cambia entre los actores, mientras bajo las calmas aguas de una acuarela japonesa, se esconde amenazante la tragedia.

66.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
"How can you save your friend's life if she doesn't want to be rescued? In a tranquil neighbourhood of Tokyo, seven teenagers wake to find the mirrors in their bedrooms are shining. At a single touch, they are pulled from their lonely lives into to a wondrous castle filled with winding stairways, watchful portraits and twinkling chandeliers. In this new sanctuary, they are confronted with a set of clues leading to a hidden room where one of them will be granted a wish. But there's a catch -- if they don't leave by five o'clock, they will die. As time passes, a devastating truth emerges -- only... continue

67.

Masks by Fumiko Enchi EN

Rating: 2 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Published for the first time in the UK, one of Japan's greatest modern female writers Ibuki loves widow Yasuko who is young, charming and sparkling with intelligence as well as beauty. His friend, Mikamé, desires her too but that is not the difficulty. What troubles Ibuki is the curious bond that has grown between Yasuko and her mother-in-law, Mieko, a handsome, cultivated yet jealous woman in her fifties, who is manipulating the relationship between Yasuko and the two men who love her.

68.

Men Without Women : Stories by Haruki Murakami EN

Rating: 3 (2 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Including the story "Drive My Car”—now an Academy Award–nominated film—this collection from the internationally acclaimed author "examines what happens to characters without important women in their lives; it'll move you and confuse you and sometimes leave you with more questions than answers" (Barack Obama). Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are lovesick doctors, students, ex-boyfriends, actors, bartenders, and even Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, brought together to ... continue

69.

Mil Grullas by Yasunari Kawabata ES

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
"A Thousand Cranes" is by Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972), who was made the first Japanese Nobel laureate for literature in 1968.

70.

Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
A boy is obsessed with a woman who sells sandwiches. He goes to the supermarket almost every day, just so he can look at her face. She is beautiful to him, and he calls her "Ms Ice Sandwich", and endlessly draws her portrait


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