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116 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.

1.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami EN

Rating: 4 (6 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
“Murakami is like a magician who explains what he’s doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers . . . But while anyone can tell a story that resembles a dream, it's the rare artist, like this one, who can make us feel that we are dreaming it ourselves.” —The New York Times Book Review The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘quest... continue
Genre

2.

A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe EN

Rating: 2 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
First pub. 1964. Author's most dramatic work, won him the prestigious Shincho Literary Prize. In the novel the narrator tells how he responds to the birth and problems posed by his handicapped child. Recipient of the 1994 Nobel prize.

3.

A River in Darkness : One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa EN

Rating: 5 (3 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Previously published in Japan in 2000. Translated from Japanese by Risa Kobayashi and Martin Brown. First published in English by AmazonCrossing in 2017.

4.

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Haruki Murakami's third novel, A Wild Sheep Chase is the mystery hybrid which completes the odyssey begun in Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973. The man was leading an aimless life, time passing, one big blank. His girlfriend has perfectly formed ears, ears with the power to bewitch, marvels of creation. The man receives a letter from a friend, enclosing a seemingly innocent photograph of sheep, and a request: place the photograph somewhere it will be seen. Then, one September afternoon, the phone rings, and the adventure begins. Welcome to the wild sheep chase. 'Mr. Murakami's style and ima... continue

5.

Amintirea palidă a munţilor by Kazuo Ishiguro RO

Rating: 2 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Romanul "Amintirea palida a muntilor", nominalizat la Booker Prize, a primit The Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, acordat de Royal Society of Literature. "Amintirea palida a muntilor" este povestea melancolica a lui Etsuko, o japoneza care traieste singura in Anglia, straduindu-se sa exorcizeze un trecut bintuit de cosmarul celui de-al Doilea Razboi Mondial si sa se impace cu sinuciderea fiicei sale mai mari, Keiko. Amintirile sale se concentreaza insa asupra unei legaturi de amicitie din tinerete cu o alta tinara, Sachiko, si cu ciudata ei fiica, Mariko. Povestea centrala ... continue

6.

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
A Japanese artist looks back on his life in this celebrated and prize-winning novel.
Genre

7.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi EN

Rating: 4 (57 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
*NOW AN LA TIMES BESTSELLER* *OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD* *AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER* If you could go back in time, who would you want to meet? In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee—the chance to travel back in time. Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn’t so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most important, the trip can last only as long... continue

8.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold : Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Summary: In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time. In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café's time-travelling offer, in order to confront the lover who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has begun to fade, see their sister one last time, and meet the daughter they never got the chance to know. But the journey into the past does ... continue

9.

Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s poignant Before we say goodbye, translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time? The regulars at the magical Cafe Funiculi Funicula are well acquainted with its famous legend and extraordinary, secret menu time travel offering. Many patrons have reunited with old flames, made amends with estranged family, and visited loved ones. But the journey is not without risks and there are rules to follow. Travellers must ... continue

10.

Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
The third novel in the international bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, following four new customers in a cafe where customers can travel back in time.On the hillside of Mount Hakodate in northern Japan, Cafe Donna Donna is fabled for its dazzling views of Hakodate port. But that's not all. Like the charming Tokyo cafe Funiculi Funicula, Cafe Donna Donna offers its customers the extraordinary experience of travelling through time.From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Tales from the Cafe comes another story of four new customers, each of whom is hoping to take advantag... continue


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