English books from Japan
Recommended English books written by authors from Japan (107)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you speak English here are some English books from Japan for the next part of the "Read Around The World Challenge".
91.
The Setting Sun by 太宰治 EN
Description:
Novel of present day Japan. Reaction of an upper-class family to the war and the resultant cultural impact.
92.
The Tale of Genji : (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Murasaki Shikibu EN
Description:
The world’s first novel, in a translation that is “likely to be the definitive edition . . . for many years to come” (The Wall Street Journal) A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, with flaps and deckle-edged paper Written in the eleventh century, this exquisite portrait of courtly life in medieval Japan is widely celebrated as the world’s first novel. Genji, the Shining Prince, is the son of an emperor. He is a passionate character whose tempestuous nature, family circumstances, love affairs, alliances, and shifting political fortunes form the core of this magnificent epic. Royall Tyler’s superi... continue
93.
The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura EN
Description:
The Thief is a seasoned pickpocket. Anonymous in a tailored suit, he weaves through Tokyo crowds smoothly stealing wallets from nameless, faceless strangers. He has no family, friends or connections, but his past catches up with him when his old partner offers him a job he can't refuse. Tie up an old rich man and steal the contents of his safe. Only afterwards does he learn the man was a prominent politician, who was brutally murdered after the robbery. This tangle might be too difficult for even the Thief to escape.
94.
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa EN
Description:
RECOMMENDED BY THOUSANDS OF INTERNATIONAL READERS - the tender feelgood story of a man's journey around Japan with a streetcat. Translated by Philip Gabriel, a translator of Murakami. INCLUDES SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED LINE-DRAWINGS A WATERSONES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR 2017 'Anyone who has ever unashamedly loved an animal will read this book with gratitude, for its understanding of an emotion that ennobles us as human beings, whether we value it or not' LYNNE TRUSS, Guardian 'Bewitching... as self-possessed and comforting as - well, a cat' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'It has the warmth, painterly touch, and t... continue
95.
The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi EN
Description:
Published for the first time in the UK, one of Japan's greatest modern female writers In the late nineteenth century, Tomo, the faithful wife of a government official, is sent to Tokyo, where a heartbreaking task is awaiting her. From among hundreds of geishas and daughters offered up for sale by their families she must select a respectable young girl to become her husband's new lover. Externally calm, but torn apart inside, Tomo dutifully begins the search for an official mistress. The Waiting Years was awarded Japan's most prestigious literary award, the Noma Prize.
96.
The Wild Geese by Ogai Mori EN
Description:
A story of unfulfilled love set against a background of social change.
97.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami EN
Description:
Toru Okada's cat has disappeared. His wife is growing more distant every day. Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has recently been receiving. As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada's vague and blameless life, spent cooking, reading, listening to jazz and opera and drinking beer at the kitchen table, are turned inside out, and he embarks on a bizarre journey, guided (however obscurely) by a succession of characters, each with a tale to tell. *Murakami's new book Novelist as a Vocation is available now* 'Visionary...a bold and generous boo... continue
98.
The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe EN
Description:
The Woman in the Dunes, by celebrated writer and thinker Kobo Abe, combines the essence of myth, suspense and the existential novel. After missing the last bus home following a day trip to the seashore, an amateur entomologist is offered lodging for the night at the bottom of a vast sand pit. But when he attempts to leave the next morning, he quickly discovers that the locals have other plans. Held captive with seemingly no chance of escape, he is tasked with shoveling back the ever-advancing sand dunes that threaten to destroy the village. His only companion is an odd young woman. Together th... continue
99.
The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura EN
Description:
The Woman in the Purple Skirt is being watched. Someone is following her, always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes; what she eats; whom she speaks to. But this invisible observer isn't a stalker - it's much more complicated than that.
100.
There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura EN
Description:
"A young woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that has the following traits: it is close to her home, and it requires no reading, no writing - and ideally, very little thinking. She is sent to a nondescript office building where she is tasked with watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods. But observing someone for hours on end can be so inconvenient and tiresome. How will she stay awake? When can she take delivery of her favourite brand of tea? And, perhaps more importantly - how did she find herself in this situation in the first p... continue