Japan Reads

New Release Poppy

Poppy

Six young people and their parents grapple with traditional and modern Japan in this melodrama of love and loss by Natsume Sōseki.

Preview

Pandora's Box

A twenty-year-old youth spends time in a quirky sanatorium in post-war Japan.

Preview

The New Chushingura: The Forty-Seven Ronin

Eiji Yoshikawa uses facts and fibs in his retelling of this true story that begins with the bloody attack on Lord Kira by Lord Asano in the shogun's castle.

Preview

Sabu

Eiji is an apprentice scroll mounter at a prestigious shop. Sabu is his best friend. A false accusation turns Eiji’s life upside-down and tests his friendship with Sabu.

Preview

Red Beard's Clinic

An arrogant medical intern begins his career at a charity clinic.

Preview

Night on the Milky Way Railroad

This children's classic in Japan tells of a boy, Giovanni, with few school friends, a sick mother, and a father working far from home. One festival night, he is swept onto a train traveling the Milky Way and into a fantastic world.

Preview

Uesugi Kenshin

Uesugi Kenshin, the Dragon of Echigo, fought five battles at Kawanakajima against his rival Takeda Shingen, the Tiger of Kai. This fourth battle, which took place in the 16th century during the Warring States era, is captured by the great historical novelist, Eiji Yoshikawa.

Preview

Kuroda Josui

Kuroda Josui, known throughout the novel as Kuroda Kanbei, was a chief strategist and trusted adviser to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the second major unifier of the Japan of the Warring States (Sengoku) period. This novel imagines seven critical years in the first half of his life before he converted to Christianity (for a short time) and changed his name to Josui, and before Japan found peace.

Preview

The Undersea Warship: A Fantastic Tale of Island Adventure

Oshikawa Shunro is credited as one of the fathers of science fiction in Japan. The Undersea Warship series was his popular series of six adventure novels. This novel, written while he was a student, was the first in that series.

Preview

The Nonserial Murders

In post-war Japan, a circle of literary and artistic men and women gathers in the mountain villa of Utagawa Kazuma to spend the summer. Before they've unpacked their trunks, the killing begins.

Preview

Gold & Silver

Mysterious short stories and novellas from the early writings of Jun'ichiro Tanizaki.

Preview

Taira no Masakado

Taira no Masakado was an ill-fated, reluctant warrior and a bit too naive.

Preview

Home to Tsugaru

In 1944, Osamu Dazai returned to Tsugaru where he was born and raised to see the people and places that made him and to find the Tsugaru native to model his life on.

Preview

Ango's Detective Casebook No. 1

Meiji Era, Japan -- Toranosuke, the owner of a dojo for swordfighting, is also an amateur detective. He brings murder cases too baffling for the police to The Great Detective, Yuki Shinjuro, a handsome and brilliant man who has traveled to the West. Tora recruits the genius Katsu Kaishu to unravel the mystery in his attempt to outwit Shinjuro. After his investigation, Shinjuro unveils the murderer at the scene of the crime. In the final scene, Kaishu consoles himself for being wrong as usual, and Tora never loses faith in him.

Preview

Ango's Detective Casebook No. 2

This casebook completes the classic murder mysteries solved by the Gentleman Detective, Yuki Shinjuro, with a bit of assistance from Toranosuke, Hananoya, and Officer Furuta.

Preview

Goodbye

The war is over and a magazine editor must break up with his wartime lovers.

Preview

Terror

What are the odds? The train isn't going to crash. I'm not going to die. An imagined terror is often far worse than reality. In this story, a man must face his terror of a simple train ride.

Preview

The Beautiful Dog

A pet dog once had a wonderful home on the scenic Lake Nojiri in Japan. His best friend and master left one day, but his unconditional love for his master never died.