Japan flag Contemporary fiction books from Japan

Recommended contemporary fiction books (11)
Travel the world without leaving your chair. If you are into contemporary fiction here are some contemporary fiction books from Japan for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.

1.

Backlight by Kanji Hanawa EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
This thought-provoking and intriguing tale, by the Akutagawa Prize-nominated master short story writer Kanji Hanawa, revolves around the extraordinary real story of the seven-year-old boy who went missing in the bear-inhabited forests of northern Japan for six whole days in 2016, after his parents had apparently abandoned him as a punishment. In Backlight, a child is left alone at the side of a road in the mountains of Hokkaido in northern Japan by his parents. When they return moments later, the boy is gone. Ishida, a Professor of Psychology is enlisted as part of the search team. As days pas... continue

2.

Battle Royale by Kōshun Takami EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
This classic yet controversial Japanese novel is available for the first time in English--a high-octane thriller about senseless youth violence that is a potent allegory of what it means to be young and survive in today's dog-eat-dog world.

3.

Birthday Stories by Haruki Murakami EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
In this enviable gathering, Haruki Murakami has chosen for his party some of the very best short story writers of recent years, each with their own birthday experiences, each story a snapshot of life on a single day. Including stories by Russell Banks, Et

4.

Come Rain Or Come Shine by Kazuo Ishiguro EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
In Kazuo Ishiguro's hands, a snapshot of domestic realism becomes a miniature masterpiece of memory and forgetting.

5.

Idol, Burning by Rin Usami EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
"Akari is a high school junior obsessed with "oshi" Masaki Ueno, a member of the popular J-Pop group Maza Maza. She writes a blog devoted to him, and spends hours addictively scrolling for information about him and his life. Desperate to analyze and understand him, Akari hopes to eventually see the world through his eyes. It is a devotion that borders on the religious: Masaki is her savior, her backbone, someone she believes she cannot survive without-even though she's never actually met him. When rumors surface that her idol assaulted a female fan, social media explodes. Akari immediately beg... continue

6.

Inheritance from Mother by Minae Mizumura EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Award-winning novelist Minae Mizumura demystifies the notion of the selfless Japanese mother and the adult daughter honor-bound to care for her. Mitsuki Katsura, a Japanese woman in her mid-fifties, is a French-language instructor at a private university in Tokyo. Her husband, whom she met in Paris, is a professor at another private university. He is having an affair with a much younger woman. In addition to her husband’s infidelity, Mitsuki must deal with her ailing eighty-something mother, a demanding, self-absorbed woman who is far from the image of the patient, self-sacrificing Japanese ma... continue

7.

Kamusari Tales Told at Night by Shion Miura EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
From Shion Miura, award-winning author of The Easy Life in Kamusari, comes a spirit-lifting novel about tradition, first love, and ancient lore in a Japanese mountain village. It's been a year since Yuki Hirano left home--or more precisely, was booted from it--to study forestry in the remote mountain village of Kamusari. Being a woodsman is not the future he imagined, but his name means "courage," and Yuki hopes to live up to it. He's adapting to his job and learning constantly. In between, he records local legends--tales pulsing with life, passion, and wondrous gods. Kamusari has other charms... continue

8.

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