Read Japanese Literature

This episode is rated mature.

Horror and uncanny stories are fundamental elements of Japanese storytelling.

We’ll start with a note about genre in general and “horror” in particular.

We’ll continue with a discussion of horror in traditional Japanese storytelling, especially the kaidan popular in Edo Japan.

We’ll move on to the decline and rebirth of kaidan and uncanny fiction between the Meiji Restoration and the Pacific War before we discuss Japanese horror fiction of the last 70 years.

Then we’ll wrap up our conversation today with Ryu Murakami, especially his novel In the Miso Soup.

cw: fictional violence, fictional sexual assault

Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.

Buy your copy of In the Miso Soup on Bookshop to support the podcast.

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All content © 2026 Read Japanese Literature. 

This episode is rated mature.

For decades, writing by women was treated as its own separate genre in Japan, joryu bungaku. In today's episode, we’ll start with an explanation of why joryu bungaku became its own separate genre. 

We’ll move on to the story of women’s writing between the Meiji Era and the Pacific War and then immediately after the Pacific War.

We’ll zoom in on three writers who really changed the narrative for women’s writing in Japan—Taeko Kono, Takako Takahashi, and Yumiko Kurahashi—and then talk very briefly about how women’s writing has changed since these women debuted in the 1960s. 

And we’ll wrap up with a discussion of Taeko Kono’s story “Toddler Hunting”, translated by Lucy North.

cw: sadism/masochism, violence against women and children, rape as motifs and in fiction

Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.

Buy your copy of Toddler-Hunting and Other Stories on Bookshop to support the podcast.

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All content © 2026 Read Japanese Literature. 

In this episode, we examine the history of the Aum Affair and its lasting impact on Japanese fiction.

We'll start out with the history of new religions in Japan, including Aum Shinrikyo. We'll take a look at Haruki Murakami's non-fiction book, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche.

We'll move on to an examination of four novels that respond directly to Aum or the Aum attacks—Keiichiro Hirano's Eclipse, Kenzaburo Oe's Somersault, Banana Yoshimoto's The Lake, and Haruki Murakami's 1Q84. 

And we'll end with a discussion of three novels that I'll argue show the new religion's continuing influence—Kikuo Tsumura's There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job, Sayaka Murata's Earthlings, and Erika Kobayashi's Trinity, Trinity, Trinity.

cw: terrorist attack resulting in injury and death, religions some people think of as cults, fictional cannibalism

Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.

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All content © 2026 Read Japanese Literature. 

In this episode, we're taking a look at Yasunari Kawabata's life and work.

As we tell his story, we'll ask ourselves two big questions. 

• Is Kawabata really a traditionalist? 
• And what is up with the way he writes about adolescent girls?

cw: author suicide, problematic imagery about adolescent girls

Buy The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories (translated by J. Martin Holman) on Bookshop to support RJL. 

Join the RJL Patreon to support RJL and for nine minutes of bonus content— including comparisons between Noh plays and Kawabata's writing, thoughts about queer readings of two Kawabata stories, and skepticism about Donald Keene's description of Keene as "a master of feminine psychology".

Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.

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All content © 2026 Read Japanese Literature. 

In this episode, we look at the writers behind two of Japan's greatest movie monsters—Godzilla and Mothra.

We'll start out by looking at Godzilla—its context, author, and story—before we turn to Mothra. We'll close with a reflection on why the stories behind the movies are important, even for people who have already seen the films.

• Buy Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again by Shigeru Kayama on Bookshop to support RJL. 
• Buy The Luminous Fairies and Mothra by Shinichiro Nakamura, Takehiko Fukunaga, and Yoshie Hotta on Bookshop to support RJL.
• Join the RJL Patreon to support RJL and for six minutes of Godzilla bonus content—more information about its context, author, and American adaptation.

Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.

*correction: Please note that this episode incorrectly states the only other translated fiction by an author mentioned in this episode is Takehiko Fukunaga's Flowers of Grass. There is also translated fiction available by Yoshie Hotta.

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All content © 2026 Read Japanese Literature. 

In this episode, we take a look at the Japanese cell phone novel and the classic story of Train Man.

We’re going to start today by explaining the Japanese cell phone novel, including some relevant background like the history of serialized publishing in Japan and the rise of Japanese cell phone culture.

We’ll spend some time on the early 2000s internet culture, especially on-line message boards.

And today’s focus text is Train Man, attributed to Hitori Nakano and translated into English by Bonnie Elliott.

content warnings: rape as a trope in romance novels, online misogyny

Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.

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Correction: Please note that this episode incorrectly calls the 2channel thread in which Train Man originally appeared Doko Otoko. The thread was actually called Doku Otoko. Doku is a play on words, meaning both "single" (独) and "poison" (毒).

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All content © 2026 Read Japanese Literature. 

In this episode, we explore the enduring legacy of Greek/English/Irish/American/Japanese author Lafcadio Hearn and the ghost story The Peony Lantern.

We'll start out by looking at Hearn's life. We'll discuss the long history of the story Boton Doro, more commonly known as The Peony Lantern, including its most famous incarnation under Hearn's pen. And then we'll look at two modern adaptations of the story by Aoko Matsuda and Kyoko Nakajima.

Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.

Buy on In Ghostly Japan on Bookshop to support RJL.

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All content © 2026 Read Japanese Literature. 

In this episode, we look at bullying in Japanese literature.

We'll start out by defining bullying and looking at bullying in Japanese schools as well as the Japanese workplace. We'll see some examples in Japanese novels. And then we'll talk about Mizuki Tsujimura's Lonely Castle in the Mirror, translated into English by Philip Gabriel.

This episode is rated mature. CW: bullying and suicide

If you're thinking about suicide, please get help. Open Counseling hosts a list of international suicide hotlines.

Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available. Be sure to check out the new and improved RJL website!

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All content © 2026 Read Japanese Literature. 

In this episode, we look into the history of Christianity in Japan—especially the role Christianity has played in Japanese literature. Our focus text is Shusaku Endo's Silence.

Notes and sources on the episode page.  Transcript available.

Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)

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All content © 2026 Read Japanese Literature. 

In this episode, we take a look at the Japanese proletarian writers’ movement of the 1920s and early 1930s. We also take a deep dive into the life of author Genzaburo Yoshino—not a proletarian writer, but a man who spent prison alongside them and for some of the same beliefs—and his novel How Do You Live?.

Notes and sources on the episode page.  Transcript available.

Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)

Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.
Support RJL on Patreon.com.
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All content © 2026 Read Japanese Literature.