Introduction
Issue 3: Japanese Literature in Translation
In Issue 3 of Books on Asia, we introduce three prominent women translators of Japanese literature: Juliet Winters Carpenter, Ginny Tapley Takemori and Cathy Hirano. All three have translated prize-winning literature from best-selling Japanese authors such as Marie Kondo, Abe Kobo, and Ryu Murakami. These women have been instrumental in bringing Japanese literature to English More…
Podcast
BOA Podcast 3: Juliet Winters Carpenter talks about translating Japanese Literature
In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, Amy meets up with Juliet Winters Carpenter to talk about her 70 or so translated works of Japanese literature including Shion Miura’s The Great Passage, Minae Mizumura’s A True Novel, Shiba Ryōtaro’s Clouds Above the Hill, Jun’ichiro Saga’s Memories of Wind and Waves, and Abe Kōbō’s Secret Rendezvous. (more…)
The Great Passage
Naoki Prize-winner Shion Miura’s Great Passage received the Booksellers Award in Japan in 2012 and was developed into a major motion picture.
Convenience Store Woman
NEW RELEASE! The Akutagawa Prize-winning novel from Sayaka Murata, Vogue Japan’s 2016 Woman of the Year.
The Beast Player
NEW RELEASE! An enthralling fantasy story from one of Japan’s most popular writers of teen fiction, and which has been turned into a popular anime series
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
With over 13,000 reviews on Amazon, Marie Kondo, with the help of Cathy Hirano, can truly say she has changed the world!
Spark Joy
Tidying is the act of confronting yourself; cleaning is the act of confronting nature…
A True Novel
Winner of Japan’s prestigious Yomiuri Literature Prize, Minae Mizumura examines Japan’s westernization and the emergence of a middle class.
Ryouma! The Life of Sakamoto Ryōma
NEW RELEASE! The life story of Sakamoto Ryōma, a samurai and one of the great figures in Japanese history, has sold more than 24 million copies in Japan since its original publication in 1966
The Secret of the Blue Glass
The Secret of the Blue Glass by Tomiko Inui was shortlisted for the Marsh Award.
The Cake Tree in the Ruins
NEW RELEASE! Moving stories that tell of the absurd violence of war, and tenderly depict the animals and children caught in its vortex.
Masks
“A subtle examination of universal female behavior.” —People
Memories of Wind and Waves
A vanishing way of life in a small lakeside town in Japan is recorded in richly detailed oral stories from people who spent their lives working on or around Lake Kasumigaura.
Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness
The second book in the Moribito Series Balsa returns to her native Kanbal to clear the name of Jiguro, her mentor, who saved her life when she was six years old.
Moribito—Guardian of the Spirit
Balsa was a wanderer and warrior for hire…
The Isle of South Kamui and Other Stories
A collection of short stories that are fascinating psychological explorations of the criminal mind and what drives people to crime.
Puppet Master
A translation of Mohohan, Miyuki Miyabe’s absolute masterpiece.
Articles, Issue 3, Issues
Cathy Hirano on Fantasy in Japanese Literature
By Cathy Hirano Nahoko Uehashi is a prolific and well-loved Japanese author of fantasy as well as non-fiction. The list of awards she has won is impressive and includes the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award, considered the Nobel Prize of children’s literature. During her writing career, which extends over three decades, she produced the More…
Articles, Issue 3, Issues
Ginny Tapley Takemori on translating Convenience Store Woman
Convenience Store Woman was originally published as Conbini ningen (Bungeishunju Ltd., Tokyo, 2016) Ginny Tapley Takemori talks with Books on Asia about translating “Convenience Store Woman,” for the English audience Books on Asia: Convenience Store Woman challenges us to reconsider how we should define a “normal person” in modern society and prods us to accept More…