japanese literature in english

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1Q84


An ode to George Orwell’s “1984” told in alternating male and female voices relates the stories of Aomame, an assassin for a secret organization who discovers that she has been transported to an alternate reality, and Tengo, a mathematics lecturer and novice writer.


3 strange tales



69 : sixty-nine


A year in the life of a high school student in 1960s Japan.


A burden of flowers


From the acclaimed author of “Still Lives,” this novel charts the bitter struggle for justice against the might of the pan-Asian drugs cartels and a nation’s cancerous political corruption.


A caring man


With no leads in stopping the “Final Event,” a massacre of epic proportions promised by a terrorist group’s leader, the Tokyo police are forced to contemplate the possibility of international terrorists targeting Japan.


A guru is born


Having lost his job and his girlfriend, Kazuo becomes a member of a religious sect, after seeing the Guru heal an old woman in a wheelchair. He soon discovers the secrets of success in the sect are much the same as the business world, the power of suggestion playing a …


A quiet life


A Japanese novelist and his wife move to America, leaving the children behind. It befalls to the eldest daughter to look after a younger sister and a handicapped brother. The novel is a memoir of her experience.


A rainbow in the desert : an anthology of early twentieth century Japanese children’s literature

A collection of Japanese children’s literature in translation spans three decades with contributions by major authors as well as familiar lullabies.


A room where


Set against the political and social upheavals of the 1960s, A Room Where the Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard tells the story of Ben Isaac, a blond-haired, blue-eyed American youth living with his father at the American consulate in Yokohama. Chafing against his father’s strict authority and the trappings of …


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