Japanese folktales have had an enormous impact on the history of fiction and storytelling, not only in their native Japan, but across the world. Now, in collaboration with Short Shorts Film Festival and Japan Cultural Expo, three young contemporary Japanese writers from Okinawa, Hiroshima, and Kumamoto have each written a short story inspired by traditional …
Year after year, we are treated to more incredible Japanese books in translation. After the fantastic turn-out of Japanese books in 2021 — especially Kyoko Nakajima’s Things Remembered and Things Forgotten and Mieko Kawakami’s Heaven — 2022 has a lot to live up to. Luckily, all signs point to 2022 being an even better year …
When I first read and reviewed Banana Yoshimoto’s seminal work, Kitchen, I mentioned how it tackled ‘the brevity of life, and the dangerous potential of love and happiness to be painfully fleeting’. This theme is not only true for Kitchen but for all of Yoshimoto’s writing. It is, in a nutshell, what makes her tick …
So, you want to learn more about the history, politics, and culture of China and you’re looking to read some books about China in order to do that. Do you pick up a novel by a Chinese author or search for a Chinese memoir? I suspect most English-language readers would go for fiction. It’s so …
When the Dorohedoro anime hit Netflix, it turned a lot of heads. But for fans of the anime and newcomers alike, Q Hayashida’s Dorohedoro manga, which has been going since 2002, is an absolute must-read. In her Dorohedoro manga, Q Hayashida has created a gnarly, nasty, raw, and radical piece of fiction. Dorohedoro is bloody, …
Now is a great time to dig into some spooky reads, from classic horror novels to modern thrillers, paranormal stories to twisted murder mysteries. These novels from Canada, Korea, UK, Japan, Argentina, and more present narratives that are unnerving, unsettling, and weird, bordering on outright horrifying. The Most Unsettling Books from Around the World From …
Slice of life manga come in many shapes and sizes. Some focus on romance, others comedy. Some take simple situations and twist them into bizarre shapes. Others are queer coming-of-age stories. Essential Slice of Life Manga Whatever your personal flavour when it comes to slice of life manga, you’ll find something to sink your teeth …
Books about witches take many different forms. Some are horror novels; others are historical accounts. Some are charming children’s stories; others are strange and disturbing mysteries. Setting witches at the heart of a novel, a comic book, or a nonfiction book can mean many different things and can cover many different genres, settings, and styles. …
The To Your Eternity manga is translated from the Japanese by Steven LeCroy Yoshitoki Oima is a modern legend of the manga world; a young female mangaka who has shaken the manga and anime scene with two incredible series’: A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi) and To Your Eternity (Fumetsu no Anata e). A Silent …
So much of our experience with a novel relies on its narrator and its protagonist. When we read, we both apply our understanding of the world to the novel, and seek to put that aside to look through the narrator’s eyes. Most protagonists and narrators feel trustworthy, pleasant, and kind; even if that protagonist has …