Classic Fiction from Showa Japan (1926-1989) 2: Postwar
Explore classic fiction from postwar Showa Japan (1926-1989) with this curated list of timeless books. Discover iconic Japanese literature that shaped the era's cultural and literary landscape.
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The Setting Sun
by 太宰治
Novel of present day Japan. Reaction of an upper-class family to the war and the resultant cultural impact.
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Snow Country
by Yasunari Kawabata
This masterpiece from the Nobel Prize-winning author and acclaimed writer of Thousand Cranes is a powerful tale of wasted love set amid the desolate beauty …
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The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
by Yukio Mishima
Because of the boyhood trauma of seeing his mother make love to another man in the presence of his dying father, Mizoguchi becomes a hopeless …
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Masks
by Fumiko Enchi
A stunning and understated debut novel of seduction and infidelity about a woman who, devastated by the death of her son, takes an increasing interest …
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A View by the Sea
by Shōtarō Yasuoka
The works contained in this volume include Shotao's prize-winning novella and five short stories.
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Toddler-hunting & Other Stories
by Taeko Kōno
Disquieting stories exploring women's freedom & bondage in post-WWII Japan.
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The Woman in the Dunes
by Kobo Abe
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 …
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A Personal Matter
by Kenzaburō Ōe
First pub. 1964. Author's most dramatic work, won him the prestigious Shincho Literary Prize. In the novel the narrator tells how he responds to the …
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The Shooting Gallery & Other Stories
by Yūko Tsushima
Eight stories by one of Japan's most important women authors concern the struggles of women in a repressive society. An unwed mother introduces her children …
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69
by 村上龍
In 1969, they were seventeen. They read Rimbaud, played guitars, smoked pot, fell in love, rebelled against the establishment, protested the war in Vietnam, barricaded …
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Norwegian Wood
by Haruki Murakami
From the bestselling author of Kafka on the Shore: A magnificent coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia, “a masterly novel” (The New York Times Book Review) …
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Kitchen
by Banana Yoshimoto
Two stories, "Kitchen" and "Moonlight Shadow," told through the eyes of a pair of contemporary young japanese women, deal with the themes of mothers, love, …
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The Shōwa Anthology
by Van C. Gessel
Covering 60 years of literature, this anthology presents both establisheduthors as well as numerous writers, almost unknown in English.