Japanese, Chinese, Korean & Other Literature Books

Murakami tells the true story behind an act of terrorism that turned an average Monday morning into a national disaster.In spite of the perpetrators' intentions, the Tokyo gas attack left only twelve people dead, but thousands were injured and many...

A New York Times Notable Book 2018'A rebel French writer ... a brilliant storyteller, a master craftsman and one of France's most original writers' --  Independent'The Kites is a novel touched from beginning to end with grace, a great saga about the...

WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE.One of Annie Ernaux's most exciting and idiosyncratic works now in paperback for the first time.In this novel, which takes the form of journal entries made over the course of seven years, Annie Ernaux...

Banana Yoshimoto's novels of young life in Japan have made her an international sensation. Goodbye Tsugumi is an offbeat story of a deep and complicated friendship between two female cousins that ranks among her best work. Maria is the only daughter of...

Winner of the inaugural Novel Prize, an elegant and subtle exploration of the mysteries of our relationships to others. A mother and daughter travel from abroad to meet in Tokyo: they walk along the canals through the autumn evenings, escape the typhoon...

The story of an introverted young man coming of age in the 60's, which should provide plenty of context already. With the help of his first love, he breaks free of his reservedness and finds himself. If you've loved anything by Murakami, know that this...

An unsettling, poignant debut novella about unusual connections fostered by the covid pandemic, perfect for fans of sharp literary fiction that reflects and confronts our world.It’s early 2020, and with the world in chaos as covid spreads, two...

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • A dazzling novel about the saving grace of language and human connection, from the “visionary” (New York Times Book Review) author of the International Booker Prize winner The Vegetarian“Both...

Essentially the start of Dazai's career, Schoolgirl gained notoriety for its ironic and inventive use of language. Now it illuminates the prevalent social structures of a lost time, as well as the struggle of the individual against them–a theme...

A surprising and moving novella about a misunderstood neurodivergent girl from one of Japan's most acclaimed young writers, the author of The Woman in the Purple SkirtA sensitive and tender depiction of belonging and neurodivergence, perfect for...

'One of the few great and perfect works of poetic imagination written during this century' -- Elias Canetti.WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ADAM THIRWELL.One morning, Gregor Samsa wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant insect. His family is...

In this fascinating document, one of Japan's best known-and controversial-writers created what might be termed a new literary form. It is new because it combines elements of many existing types of writing, yet in the end fits into none of them.   At...

Fumio Sasaki is not an enlightened minimalism expert or organizing guru like Marie Kondo--he's just a regular guy who was stressed out and constantly comparing himself to others, until one day he decided to change his life by saying goodbye to everything...

A New York Times Top Ten Book of the Year and National Book Award finalist, Pachinko is an "extraordinary epic" of four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family as they fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan (San...

A hugely enjoyable, page-turning murder mystery with one of the best and most-satisfying conclusions you'll ever read: clever enough that you're unlikely to guess it, but simple enough that you'll kick yourself when it's revealed. That's what has made it...

After botching a suicide attempt, salaryman Hanio Yamada decides to put his life up for sale in the classifieds section of a Tokyo newspaper. Soon interested parties come calling with increasingly bizarre requests and what follows is a madcap comedy of...

(Available after 3-20 days)Morino is the strangest girl in school-how could she not be, given her obsession with brutal murders? And there are plenty of murders to grow obsessed with as the town in which she lives is a magnet for serial killers. She and...

A dizzying short story collection that displays Murakami's genius for uncovering the surreal in the everyday, the extraordinary within the ordinary.*Featuring the story 'Barn Burning', the inspiration behind the Palme d'Or nominated...

Translated by Constance Garnett with an introduction by Anthony Briggs. Dostoevsky's fascination for mental breakdown and violence (20 murders in his four main novels) was based on his own life, and these two unmistakably autobiographical works bear this...

A philosophical novel described by fellow existentialist Sartre as 'perhaps the most beautiful and the least understood' of his novels, Albert Camus' The Fall is translated by Robin Buss in Penguin Modern Classics.Jean-Baptiste Clamence is a soul in...