Maybe a weird question for this sub? I just want to have some Japanese literature recommendations—maybe general recs of things to read before I go and things that might be nice/immersive while I’m staying in Tokyo/taking day and multi day trips by train outside of it. I don’t speak any Japanese (yet), so would need to have English translated versions available. I’ve read a good amount of Murakami but not all! I like him a lot but maybe some female authors would be nice. I’m a little tired of his descriptions of child boobs.
I also haven’t planned much of the trip—so if there’s any literature that pairs nicely with a specific place that’s within reasonable reach of Tokyo I’m all ears.
Anyway, if this is the wrong sub just yell at me and kick me out or direct me to the right one. Thank you! I lean fiction/love magical realism but I am open to all genres.
by Separate-Fig-5582
2 Comments
banana yoshimoto is fire for tokyo vibes 🔥 especially kitchen – short and perfect for train reading. also try convenience store woman by sayaka murata, it hits different in actual japan 😂
I’ve only read Wild Sheep Chase (?) by Murakami and like it, have lived and studied in Jp in the 90s though, so my somehow dated recs: Banana Yoshimoto- Kitchen, Natasume Souseki- Kokoro (and Wagahai ha Neko de aru, I Am a Cat, classic author, Kamakura a town near Toyko was also an elegant retreat for some literates in the earlier 20th c bw, is nice for tourists, too), also maybe Amélie Nothomb, My Japanese Lover/Tokyo Fiancée (more positive), and Fear and Trembling (corproate side 80s exp), in general another classic The Pillow Book by Sei Shounagon is at times fun, too, som impressions by a court woman from the year 1000 AD sometimes interesting at times quotidian, banal and chatty.