Category: Issue 3

Introduction

Issue 3: Japanese Literature in Translation

In Issue 3 of Books on Asia, we introduce three prominent women translators of Japanese literature: Juliet Winters Carpenter, Ginny Tapley Takemori and Cathy Hirano. All three have translated prize-winning literature from best-selling Japanese authors such as Marie Kondo, Abe Kobo, and Ryu Murakami. These women have been instrumental in bringing Japanese literature to English More…

Podcast

BOA Podcast 3: Juliet Winters Carpenter talks about translating Japanese Literature

In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, Amy meets up with Juliet Winters Carpenter to talk about her 70 or so translated works of Japanese literature including Shion Miura’s The Great Passage, Minae Mizumura’s A True Novel, Shiba Ryōtaro’s Clouds Above the Hill, Jun’ichiro Saga’s Memories of Wind and Waves, and Abe Kōbō’s Secret Rendezvous. (more…)

A True Novel

Winner of Japan’s prestigious Yomiuri Literature Prize, Minae Mizumura examines Japan’s westernization and the emergence of a middle class.

Convenience Store Woman

NEW RELEASE! The Akutagawa Prize-winning novel from Sayaka Murata, Vogue Japan’s 2016 Woman of the Year.

Masks

“A subtle examination of universal female behavior.” —People

Memories of Wind and Waves

A vanishing way of life in a small lakeside town in Japan is recorded in richly detailed oral stories from people who spent their lives working on or around Lake Kasumigaura.

Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness

The second book in the Moribito Series Balsa returns to her native Kanbal to clear the name of Jiguro, her mentor, who saved her life when she was six years old.

Puppet Master

A translation of Mohohan, Miyuki Miyabe’s absolute masterpiece.

Ryouma! The Life of Sakamoto Ryōma

NEW RELEASE! The life story of Sakamoto Ryōma, a samurai and one of the great figures in Japanese history, has sold more than 24 million copies in Japan since its original publication in 1966

Spark Joy

Tidying is the act of confronting yourself; cleaning is the act of confronting nature…

The Beast Player

NEW RELEASE! An enthralling fantasy story from one of Japan’s most popular writers of teen fiction, and which has been turned into a popular anime series

The Cake Tree in the Ruins

NEW RELEASE! Moving stories that tell of the absurd violence of war, and tenderly depict the animals and children caught in its vortex.

The Great Passage

Naoki Prize-winner Shion Miura’s Great Passage received the Booksellers Award in Japan in 2012 and was developed into a major motion picture.