japanese literature in english

All Books

Bullfight


In post-Second World War Japan, Tsugami, the editor-in-chief of a newspaper, sets out to organise a bullfight. The project starts drowning in unforeseen logistical issues, while Tsugami’s relationship with his lover is also going under. Alone and focused, Tsugami persists in his bullfight plans, in a desperate and existential struggle….


Chronicle of my mother


Selections.


The blue wolf : a novel of the life of Chinggis Khan


One of the world’s most ruthless warriors, Chinggis Khan conquered nearly all of Asia in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, transforming the scattered and impoverished Mongols into an exceptionally proud and powerful nation. In this riveting and thoroughly researched portrait, Japan’s celebrated epic novelist drives at the root of the …


The counterfeiter and other stories


These three short stories, The Counterfeiter, Obasute, and The Full Moon, explore the roles of loneliness, compassion, beauty, and forgiveness in day-to-day life in Japan, all within the context of the Buddhist-influenced notion of inescapable predestination.


The samurai banner of Furin kazan


Originally published in Japanese in 1959, this classic novel by Yasushi Inoue takes place during the Japanese Warring Era (1467-1573)-a time when Japan was ruled by three young powerful warlords: Takeda Shingen, Iwagawa Yoshimoto, and Hojo Ujiyasu. The story focuses on Takeda Shingen and his one-eyed, crippled strategist, Yamamoto Kansuke. …


Tun-huang : a novel


More than a thousand years ago, an extraordinary trove of early Buddhist sutras and other scriptures was secreted away in caves near the Silk Road city of Tun-huang. But who hid this magnificent treasure and why? In Tun-huang, the great modern Japanese novelist Yasushi Inoue tells the story of Chao …


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