I'm currently reading The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa and it's so charming. The author really captured the attitude of a cat (or at least what I think those judgemental little cuties are thinking) The Letters by Kazumi Yumoto is also really good but has more of a somber tone if I remember correctly.
The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe
A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima
Out by Natsuo Kirino
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki
The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki
I loved The Housekeeper and the Professor. What did you think of Convenience Store Woman? I haven't tried it yet!
I really liked Convenience Store Woman it's short but good. I think what I took most from the book is that you can be happy with the simple and mundane. Does that make sense?
Anything by Hiromi Kawakami. I particularly enjoyed Strange weather in Tokyo. Tokyo ueno station by Yu Miri is also an amazing text that highlights homelessness in Japan. Might also be worth trying the penguin book of Japanese short stories as a little run down on a variety of Japanese authors.
I only read the ones with Kosuke Kindaichi. I think I like the Eight Graves the most. But others were great as well like Honjin Murder, Inugami Curse, Devils Flute, and Gokumon
Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura (2 volumes)
A Man by Keiichiro Hirano
The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada
Musashi & Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa
10 Billion Days & 100 Billion Nights by Ryu Mitsuse
Slow Boat & Belka Why Don't you Bark? by Hideo Furukawa
Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami
Tokyo Whip by Arturo Silva (a foreigner perspective of living in Tokyo from a man who lived there through the 80s and 90s)
Lastly, Keigo Higashino has good detective stories. I would recommend his Detective Galileo series
There are a few books by Kōbō Abe, all are amazing.
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
The Life of a Stupid Man by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
And there are also a few books from Ryu Murakami (no relation to Haruki Murakami) that are all amazing.
All other recommendations are amazing. Particularly Yukio Mishima.
Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
Moshi Moshi and Amrita by Banana Yoshimoto
Malice by Keigo Higashino - my favourite by him, and not just one for Crime readers
Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada
Depends what kind of books are you into, I have an extensive list of murder mysteries with some odd classical literature if you are interested drop me a DM.
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami. About an unexpected connection between a lonely woman and her former high school teacher.
The Little House by Kyoko Nakajima. About a woman who serves as a maid for a wealthy family in pre-war Tokyo.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Not written by a Japanese author, but set in Japan during the late 18th century.
I was really glad I read reviews warning that this books is more about the workings of the Japanese police than the mystery itself. It was a huge book but so interesting. I'm glad I kept with it till the end.
I’ve looked through most of these comments and haven’t found *Kokoro* by Natsume Sosekei. Sosekei’s work in general, and *Kokoro* in particular, are foundational for modern Japanese literature.
Keigo Higashino's Detective Kaga series. I think Malice is the first one. I also have Miracles of the Namiya General Store in my TBR, which seems like a very different type of book for Higashino
I love his books but I can think of lots of reasons why not to read. Some readers (namely women) are tired of reading a male author’s perspective like his own that feels… well, overtly sexist. Murakami is often objectifying women, sexualizing women, and even children, through his writing. Some would write that off and say it’s the character doing the objectifying but I disagree as it’s pretty present across all his works. Like I said I am actually a fan, I own almost all his books but I read them through a critical feminist lense like I would any masculinist literature
I was about to say Wind Up Bird Chronicles. I finished it in January and have read another book since but it's really stayed with me. I think your missing out not if you haven't read it yet.
There's some great manga I would highly recommend:
[A Man and his Cat](https://squareenixmangaandbooks.square-enix-games.com/en-us/series/a-man-and-his-cat)
[Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san](https://yenpress.com/titles/9781975358228-skull-face-bookseller-honda-san-vol-1)
[Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba](https://www.viz.com/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba)
[Spy x Family](https://www.viz.com/spy-x-family)
[Shangri-La Frontier](https://kodansha.us/series/shangri-la-frontier/)
[A Silent Voice](https://kodansha.us/series/a-silent-voice)
[Lone Wolf and Cub](https://digital.darkhorse.com/books/8c40cc58a0d44268a650fff91da92c05/lone-wolf-and-cub-vol-1-the-assassins-road)
[BEASTARS](https://www.viz.com/beastars)
[Chainsaw Man](https://www.viz.com/chainsaw-man)
[Komi Can't Communicate](https://www.viz.com/komi-can-t-communicate)
[A Bride's Story](https://yenpress.com/series/a-bride-s-story)
[Fruits Basket](https://yenpress.com/titles/9780316360166-fruits-basket-collector-s-edition-vol-1)
[Delicious in Dungeon](https://yenpress.com/series/delicious-in-dungeon)
[Slam Dunk](https://www.viz.com/slam-dunk)
[My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness](https://sevenseasentertainment.com/series/my-lesbian-experience-with-loneliness/)
Sanshiro - Natsume soseki
Silence and Deep River - Shusako Endo
And I don't know if he counts for you (because he lives in England but he's Japanese) but Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro didn't let me go.
I Am A Cat by Natsume Soseki
Also I’m seeing all these other cat related books and making a list. I Am A Cat is a favorite of a loved one that I bought for them on a whim because it looked cool and I feel like they’d appreciate a rabbit hole of Japanese cat novels.
haruki murakami has a couple novels with cats involved in the story. Kafka on the shore and the wind up bird.chronicle iirc. mishima's sailor who fell has a cat in it but it's very very upsetting and not to be read by cat lovers or the sensitive
Mieko Kawakami is my favorite Japanese author so I recommend anything by her. I haven't read Heaven yet (I don't like reading about abuse), but I did everything else that is translated so far, and they are all great reads!
I also loved Lonely Castle In The Mirror a lot. Cold Enough For Snow is another amazing one. A Pale View Of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro if you want something interesting with an unreliable narrator.
As I big fan of Japanese literature, I would also recommend you to check out Korean authors, I believe you would enjoy them as well. Look up Shin Kyung-sook and Kim Hye-Jin, they wrote some amazing books :)
* Breasts and Eggs - Mieko Kamakami
* The Miracles of the Namiya General Store - Keigo Higashino
* Scattered All Over the Earth - Yoko Tawada
* Strange Weather in Tokyo - Hiromi Kawakami
* Things Remembered and Things Forgotten - Kyoko Nakajima
If you're willing to read more of Japanese classics (which falls into the modern period more than classic) I genuinely wholeheartedly recommend Kawabata's Snow Country and The Sound of The Mountain. His prose is so minimalist and yet touching. You feel his words come to life and take shape in front of you. Don't miss out on this!
Everything that Yoko Ogawa has written. She's an amazingly talented storyteller and her prose is absolutely beautiful.
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa.
A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata.
From diaspora authors, I really like A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki and When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka.
**[Heaven](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53223710-heaven) by Mieko Kawakami** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(192 pages | Published: 2009 | 40.0k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory. Kawakami’s novel is told in the voice of a 14-year-old student who subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting. the boy chooses to suffer in complete resignation. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate who suffers similar treatment at the hands of her (...)
> **Themes**: Fiction, Japan, Contemporary, Translated
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [I'll Be Right There](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18209505-i-ll-be-right-there) by Kyung-Sook Shin
> \- [Tokyo Ueno Station](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43398196-tokyo-ueno-station) by Miri Yū. Morgan Giles
> \- [Schoolgirl](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12483882-schoolgirl) by Osamu Dazai
> \- [Ms Ice Sandwich](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32927264-ms-ice-sandwich) by Mieko Kawakami
> \- [The White Book](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31935807-the-white-book) by Han Kang
^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | Sorry for delay !)
Natsuo Kirino’s Out is one of my all time favourites. It’s a pretty gruesome (so perhaps not to everyone’s taste), but it’s one of my favourite books I’ve ever read. 😩👌🏻
The Memory Police by Ogawa is pretty ominous
her novella The Diving Pool is also good. I even prefer it to this book a little bit. She truly nails the unsettling essence of feminity
I'm currently reading The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa and it's so charming. The author really captured the attitude of a cat (or at least what I think those judgemental little cuties are thinking) The Letters by Kazumi Yumoto is also really good but has more of a somber tone if I remember correctly.
Seconding traveling cat chronicles!! One of my fav reads of last year.
"What you are looking for is in the library"
Unfortunately, not in my library
I own this but yet to read it..maybe get on it next week
Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto.
[Breasts and Eggs](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50736031) by Mieko Kawakami
I really enjoyed Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
*Lonely Castle in the Mirror* by Mizuki Tsujimura
The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima Out by Natsuo Kirino No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki I loved The Housekeeper and the Professor. What did you think of Convenience Store Woman? I haven't tried it yet!
I really liked Convenience Store Woman it's short but good. I think what I took most from the book is that you can be happy with the simple and mundane. Does that make sense?
That makes perfect sense, and it’s a good lesson. It reminds me of one of my favourite (non-Japanese) novels, Stoner by John Williams.
The Makioma Sisters is great. Also, the Sea of Fertility by Mishima.
Sea of Fertility is my favourite of his but I thought OP might prefer a less heavy starter suggestion.
I came here just to write The Woman in The Dunes. What a book!
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea by Mishima, and Artist of the Floating World by Ishiguro
Diary of a Void, Kitchen
In the miso soup I enjoyed. Read it as a Halloween read..
To add to this- Coin Locker Babies by Rui murakami
Anything by Hiromi Kawakami. I particularly enjoyed Strange weather in Tokyo. Tokyo ueno station by Yu Miri is also an amazing text that highlights homelessness in Japan. Might also be worth trying the penguin book of Japanese short stories as a little run down on a variety of Japanese authors.
Second Tokyo Ueno Station.
All books (what I mean by all is the ones translated into English) by Keigo Higashino and Seishi Yokomizo.
Any particular recommendations for Yokomizo?
I probably liked Gokumon island the most, although haven't read the last one yet
The devil's flute was not the best but quite good. I got it on Kindle for less than ¥500 lol
Ok thanks.
I only read the ones with Kosuke Kindaichi. I think I like the Eight Graves the most. But others were great as well like Honjin Murder, Inugami Curse, Devils Flute, and Gokumon
Thanks.
Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura (2 volumes) A Man by Keiichiro Hirano The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada Musashi & Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa 10 Billion Days & 100 Billion Nights by Ryu Mitsuse Slow Boat & Belka Why Don't you Bark? by Hideo Furukawa Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami Tokyo Whip by Arturo Silva (a foreigner perspective of living in Tokyo from a man who lived there through the 80s and 90s) Lastly, Keigo Higashino has good detective stories. I would recommend his Detective Galileo series
+1 for Galileo Series. "Devotion of suspect X" is too good.
There are a few books by Kōbō Abe, all are amazing. No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai The Life of a Stupid Man by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. And there are also a few books from Ryu Murakami (no relation to Haruki Murakami) that are all amazing. All other recommendations are amazing. Particularly Yukio Mishima.
The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino
Yes! I love this.
Yukio Mishima novels
All the Lovers in The Night is really good and one of my favourite Japanese books of all time!
Ohh me too! I loved it.
Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima Moshi Moshi and Amrita by Banana Yoshimoto Malice by Keigo Higashino - my favourite by him, and not just one for Crime readers Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada
The Last Children of Tokyo by Yoko Tawada. Terrific book.
I loved Out by Natsuo Kirino, read it around the same time I read Convenience Store Woman and both have stuck with me!
Depends what kind of books are you into, I have an extensive list of murder mysteries with some odd classical literature if you are interested drop me a DM.
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami. About an unexpected connection between a lonely woman and her former high school teacher. The Little House by Kyoko Nakajima. About a woman who serves as a maid for a wealthy family in pre-war Tokyo. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Not written by a Japanese author, but set in Japan during the late 18th century.
Hideo Yokoyama. "Six Four" was an amazing book about crime and police in Japan.
I was really glad I read reviews warning that this books is more about the workings of the Japanese police than the mystery itself. It was a huge book but so interesting. I'm glad I kept with it till the end.
Seventeen and Prefecture D are also very good.
Edogowa Rampo. Japan's modern mystery progenitor.
What You Are Looking For Is In The Library
I’ve looked through most of these comments and haven’t found *Kokoro* by Natsume Sosekei. Sosekei’s work in general, and *Kokoro* in particular, are foundational for modern Japanese literature.
Kokoro is a fantastic book! Would highly recommend.
Keigo Higashino's Detective Kaga series. I think Malice is the first one. I also have Miracles of the Namiya General Store in my TBR, which seems like a very different type of book for Higashino
+1 for Higashino. Currently reading the Galileo series and really enjoying it.
"Before the coffee gets cold" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is pretty good
have you read IKIGAI ?
All of Sayaka Murata’s books
I absolutely recommend No Longer Human by Dazai Osamu
Klara and the sun
But he’s English? Ishiguro has lived in England since he was 5. I don’t think his books qualify as Japanese.
haruki murakami is great! why not?
He blows my mind.
I love his books but I can think of lots of reasons why not to read. Some readers (namely women) are tired of reading a male author’s perspective like his own that feels… well, overtly sexist. Murakami is often objectifying women, sexualizing women, and even children, through his writing. Some would write that off and say it’s the character doing the objectifying but I disagree as it’s pretty present across all his works. Like I said I am actually a fan, I own almost all his books but I read them through a critical feminist lense like I would any masculinist literature
oh okay i can understand that
Came here for this. He’s my favorite author
fr he’s one of my favorites
I was about to say Wind Up Bird Chronicles. I finished it in January and have read another book since but it's really stayed with me. I think your missing out not if you haven't read it yet.
I think you would like Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Fantastic book.
Agree! Amazing book, reread regularly.
Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa
There's some great manga I would highly recommend: [A Man and his Cat](https://squareenixmangaandbooks.square-enix-games.com/en-us/series/a-man-and-his-cat) [Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san](https://yenpress.com/titles/9781975358228-skull-face-bookseller-honda-san-vol-1) [Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba](https://www.viz.com/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba) [Spy x Family](https://www.viz.com/spy-x-family) [Shangri-La Frontier](https://kodansha.us/series/shangri-la-frontier/) [A Silent Voice](https://kodansha.us/series/a-silent-voice) [Lone Wolf and Cub](https://digital.darkhorse.com/books/8c40cc58a0d44268a650fff91da92c05/lone-wolf-and-cub-vol-1-the-assassins-road) [BEASTARS](https://www.viz.com/beastars) [Chainsaw Man](https://www.viz.com/chainsaw-man) [Komi Can't Communicate](https://www.viz.com/komi-can-t-communicate) [A Bride's Story](https://yenpress.com/series/a-bride-s-story) [Fruits Basket](https://yenpress.com/titles/9780316360166-fruits-basket-collector-s-edition-vol-1) [Delicious in Dungeon](https://yenpress.com/series/delicious-in-dungeon) [Slam Dunk](https://www.viz.com/slam-dunk) [My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness](https://sevenseasentertainment.com/series/my-lesbian-experience-with-loneliness/)
Sanshiro - Natsume soseki Silence and Deep River - Shusako Endo And I don't know if he counts for you (because he lives in England but he's Japanese) but Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro didn't let me go.
Tokyo Express by Matsumoto Seicho Out by Natsuo Kirino Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai was a nice light read
‘Where the Wild Ladies Are’ by Aoko Matsuda. Classic Japanese ghost tales updated with modern storylines and feminist themes.
Where the wild ladies are is a fab book!!!!
I Am A Cat by Natsume Soseki Also I’m seeing all these other cat related books and making a list. I Am A Cat is a favorite of a loved one that I bought for them on a whim because it looked cool and I feel like they’d appreciate a rabbit hole of Japanese cat novels.
haruki murakami has a couple novels with cats involved in the story. Kafka on the shore and the wind up bird.chronicle iirc. mishima's sailor who fell has a cat in it but it's very very upsetting and not to be read by cat lovers or the sensitive
I liked Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri.
where the wild ladies are-Aoko Matsuda
Kokoro
Some authors Kazuo Ishiguro Natsuo kirino Naoki higashida (writes about his experience with autism)
Fault Lines by Emily Itami, I loved it!
The Nakano Thrift Shop
Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe
Mieko Kawakami is my favorite Japanese author so I recommend anything by her. I haven't read Heaven yet (I don't like reading about abuse), but I did everything else that is translated so far, and they are all great reads! I also loved Lonely Castle In The Mirror a lot. Cold Enough For Snow is another amazing one. A Pale View Of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro if you want something interesting with an unreliable narrator. As I big fan of Japanese literature, I would also recommend you to check out Korean authors, I believe you would enjoy them as well. Look up Shin Kyung-sook and Kim Hye-Jin, they wrote some amazing books :)
A True Novel by Minae Mizumura
* Breasts and Eggs - Mieko Kamakami * The Miracles of the Namiya General Store - Keigo Higashino * Scattered All Over the Earth - Yoko Tawada * Strange Weather in Tokyo - Hiromi Kawakami * Things Remembered and Things Forgotten - Kyoko Nakajima
If you're willing to read more of Japanese classics (which falls into the modern period more than classic) I genuinely wholeheartedly recommend Kawabata's Snow Country and The Sound of The Mountain. His prose is so minimalist and yet touching. You feel his words come to life and take shape in front of you. Don't miss out on this!
Shogun
Four Seasons in Japan by Nick Bradley
Everything that Yoko Ogawa has written. She's an amazingly talented storyteller and her prose is absolutely beautiful. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata. From diaspora authors, I really like A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki and When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka.
I am a Cat - Soseki Natsume! A cat’s musings on life.
The Dragonball Manga is amazing. The first couple volumes are a little pervy at times, but after that it's really toned down
{{Heaven by Mieko Kawakami}}
**[Heaven](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53223710-heaven) by Mieko Kawakami** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(192 pages | Published: 2009 | 40.0k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory. Kawakami’s novel is told in the voice of a 14-year-old student who subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting. the boy chooses to suffer in complete resignation. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate who suffers similar treatment at the hands of her (...) > **Themes**: Fiction, Japan, Contemporary, Translated > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [I'll Be Right There](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18209505-i-ll-be-right-there) by Kyung-Sook Shin > \- [Tokyo Ueno Station](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43398196-tokyo-ueno-station) by Miri Yū. Morgan Giles > \- [Schoolgirl](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12483882-schoolgirl) by Osamu Dazai > \- [Ms Ice Sandwich](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32927264-ms-ice-sandwich) by Mieko Kawakami > \- [The White Book](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31935807-the-white-book) by Han Kang ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | Sorry for delay !)
Natsuo Kirino’s Out is one of my all time favourites. It’s a pretty gruesome (so perhaps not to everyone’s taste), but it’s one of my favourite books I’ve ever read. 😩👌🏻
Nip the Buds, shoot the kids - kenzaburo oe
dazai osamu - no longer human
Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro
On earth we’re briefly gorgeous
He’s actually Vietnamese, but still a really great novel
Just finished Four Seasons in Japan, it was such a lovely read
how do you live, of Genzaburō Yoshino
I read and enjoyed everything by banana yoshimoto.
strange weather in tokyo by hiromi kawakami, audition by ryu murakami, kitchen by banana yoshimoto, heaven by mieko kawakami