Read Japanese Literature

In this episode, we're taking a look at Yasunari Kawabata's life and work.As we tell his story, we'll ask ourselves two big questions. Is Kawabata really a traditionalist? And what is up with the way he writes about adolescent girls?cw: author suicide, problematic imagery about a ...  Afficher plus

In this episode, we look at the writers behind two of Japan's greatest movie monsters—Godzilla and Mothra.We'll start out by looking at Godzilla—its context, author, and story—before we turn to Mothra. We'll close with a reflection on why the stories behind the movies are importa ...  Afficher plus

In this episode, we take a look at the Japanese cell phone novel and the classic story of Train Man.We’re going to start today by explaining the Japanese cell phone novel, including some relevant background like the history of serialized publishing in Japan and the rise of Japane ...  Afficher plus

In this episode, we explore the enduring legacy of Greek/English/Irish/American/Japanese author Lafcadio Hearn and the ghost story The Peony Lantern.We'll start out by looking at Hearn's life. We'll discuss the long history of the story Boton Doro, more commonly known as The Peon ...  Afficher plus

In this episode, we look at bullying in Japanese literature.We'll start out by defining bullying and looking at bullying in Japanese schools as well as the Japanese workplace. We'll see some examples in Japanese novels. And then we'll talk about Mizuki Tsujimura's Lonely Castle i ...  Afficher plus