Japan flag Mystery books from Japan

Recommended mystery books (24)
Travel the world without leaving your chair. If you are into mystery here are some mystery books from Japan for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.

1.

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami EN

Rating: 4 (7 votes)
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

2.

Bakemonogatari, Part 1 by NISIOISIN EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
There’s a girl at their school who is always ill. She routinely arrives late, leaves early, or doesn’t show up at all, and skips gym as a matter of course. She’s pretty, and the boys take to whispering that she’s a cloistered princess. As the self-described worst loser in her class soon finds out, they just don’t know what a monster she is. So begins a tale of mysterious maladies that are supernatural in origin yet deeply revealing of the human psyche, a set of case files as given to unexpected feeling as it is to irreverent humor. So begins the legendary novel that kicked off the MONOGATARI s... continue

3.

Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka EN

Rating: 4 (7 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
A dark, satirical thriller by the bestselling Japanese author, following the perilous train ride of five highly motivated assassins--soon to be a major film from Sony Nanao, nicknamed Lady Bird--the self-proclaimed "unluckiest assassin in the world"--boards a bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka with one simple task: grab a suitcase and get off at the next stop. Unbeknownst to him, the deadly duo Tangerine and Lemon are also after the very same suitcase--and they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard. Satoshi, "the Prince," with the looks of an innocent schoolboy and the mind of a viciou... continue

4.

Devils in Daylight by Junichiro Tanizaki EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
A suspenseful early novella about obsession, voyeurism, and Tokyo's seedy criminal underworld


6.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami EN

Rating: 4 (2 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
A narrative particle accelerator that zooms between Wild Turkey Whiskey and Bob Dylan, unicorn skulls and voracious librarians, John Coltrane and Lord Jim. Science fiction, detective story and post-modern manifesto all rolled into one rip-roaring novel, Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is the tour de force that expanded Haruki Murakami's international following. Tracking one man's descent into the Kafkaesque underworld of contemporary Tokyo, Murakami unites East and West, tragedy and farce, compassion and detachment, slang and philosophy.

7.

Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination by Edogawa Rampo, James B. Harris EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
For contents, see Author Catalog.

8.

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

9.

My Annihilation by Fuminori Nakamura EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
What transforms a person into a killer? Can it be something as small as a suggestion? Turn this page, and you may forfeit your entire life. With My Annihilation, Fuminori Nakamura, master of literary noir, has constructed a puzzle box of a narrative in the form of a confessional diary that implicates its reader in a heinous crime. Delving relentlessly into the darkest corners of human consciousness, My Annihilation interrogates the unspeakable thoughts all humans share that can be monstrous when brought to life, revealing with disturbing honesty the psychological motives of a killer.

10.

Penance by Kanae Minato EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
'Kanae Minato is a brilliant storyteller' Emily St John Mandel, author of Station Eleven When a group of young girls are approached by a stranger, they cannot know that the encounter will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Hours later, Emily is dead. The surviving girls alone can identify the killer. But not one of them remembers his face... Driven mad by grief, the victim's mother demands the girls find the murderer or else atone for their crimes. If they do neither, she will have her revenge. She will make them pay... From the critically acclaimed author of Confessions, Penance is a dar... continue