It’s getting closer and closer to the end now, but there’s still a little while to go. Thanks to my Kindle screen becoming a temperamental little nuisance (by which I mean it only works…
Dec 20, 2020 • Subscribe
More like this
20 Books in 2020 (Part V) Japanese Literature
So, here we are. After spending a whole year attempting the challenge to read 20 books’ worth of Japanese literature in 2020, the deadline is here.


10 Japanese Literature Books To Read This Halloween
In the spirit of spooky season, it’s time to delve into the mysterious, the unsettling and the downright terrifying.


Christmas in Japanese Literature
Christmas originated as a Christian holiday, but it’s still celebrated in Japan—a country where somewhere between one and two percent of the country is Christian. So maybe it…


10 Japanese Literature Books For Your Autumn Reading List
If you're looking to add some spice to your autumn reading and wish you could travel to Japan this fall, let the pages of a book take you…


Japanese Atomic Literature
Kenzaburo Oe edited one of the most important anthologies of atomic bomb literature, The Crazy Iris and Other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath. In his 1985 introduction, Oe…


Episode 18: Cats in Japanese Literature
“Cats of the Tokaido Road” by Utagawa Kuniyoshi Check out Episode 18 of the Read Literature podcast. Today, we’re going to look at cats in Japanese literature. We’ll…


Episode 41: Christmas in Japanese Literature
Listen to Episode 41 of the Read Literature podcast. Transcript available. Happy holidays! And, in the interest of today’s episode, merri kurisumasu!Today we’re going to start with the…


Audiobooks of Japanese Literature in Translation
Kobo Abe The Woman in the DunesTranslated by E. Dale SaundersNarrated by Julian Cihi Hiro Arikawa The Traveling Cat ChroniclesTranslated by Philip GabrielNarrated by George Bladden Osamu Dazai…


Japanese Children’s Literature in English Translation
RJL’s booklists don’t include children’s literature, so here’s a list for your reference. Support RJL by buying through our links. Check out our Bookshop.org page. Middle Gr…


Episode 12: Japanese Literature in WWII
“Flag Merchant” by Sanzo Wada, 1940 (via Ukiyo-e.org) Check out Episode 12 of the Read Literature podcast. Today we’re talking about the 1930s and 40s in Japan—fascism, World…


The Evaporated People in Contemporary Japanese Literature
Each year in Japan, thousands of people disappear. They haven’t been kidnapped. They haven’t been murdered. (Japan has one of the lowest murder rates in the world. An…


2020 Anime Year in Review Part II: #11-20
The second ten is, as is so often the case, a very revealing list. Read more


Japanese “Cat Books”
Anyone who reads Japanese literature has surely noticed the overwhelming number of books about cats. It’s not just a phenomenon of fiction in translation—there are a lot of…
Books: Japanese Drinking
By Shelley Pallis. Masaaki Watanabe’s anime series Bartender is part of a long tradition of TV shows about smart loners who help others in secret. Its leading man…
Books: Japanese Cinema
By Jasper Sharp. There are many paths one might take through the vast and varied terrain of Japanese cinema. Peter Cowie’s addition to the ever-expanding range of publications…


Transcript of Episode 41: Christmas in Japanese Literature
Find out more about Episode 41 of the Read Literature podcast on the episode page. Link to listen Notes and sources Ways to support the podcast This is…


Episode 27: Japanese Children’s Literature
Check out Episode 27 of the Read Literature podcast. Transcript available. In this episode, we’re talking about Japanese children’s literature. The history of children’s literature in g…
Books: Branding Japanese Food
By Jonathan Clements. In 2013, the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe took the remarkable step of appearing on YouTube to talk about Japanese food. He was addressing the…


DanMachi IV – 20 – Her Justice
A week of absolutely sterling anime continues with this, the long-awaited (and feared) definitive depiction of the demise of Astrea Familia and Ryuu’s subsequent fall from grace. Jura…


2021 Reading List (Japanese Literature & More…)
After my challenge to read 20 books of Japanese literature in 2020 – and absolutely smashing it – I took a short break over the winter holidays to…


10 Japanese Books in Translation to Read in 2025
Let’s think about less brain rot and more brain growth! Here are 10 Japanese books in translation for 2025 to add to your reading list.


Transcript of Episode 27: Japanese Children’s Literature
Find out more about Episode 27 of the Read Literature podcast on the episode page. Link to listen Notes and sources Ways to support the podcast This is…
20/20 in 2020: Setting Our Vision on Christ
Happy New Year! We are in 2020—can you believe it? Oh how the years fly by! But we don’t want to let this one go too quickly, at…


Books on Japanese Culture and Society
This past semester I taught a class on Japanese science fiction and fantasy, and I was surprised by how interested my students were in learning more about the…


100+ Japanese Books under 200 Pages
Japanese literature excels at novellas and short fiction. RJL brings you a list of 100 Japanese books in translation under 200 pages, listed in alphabetical order by title.…
In the Beginning Part IV: Classic Animated Characters’ First Appearances
As another New Year kicks off, it’s the perfect time to look back at where some of the most popular characters in cartoons got their start.


TOP 20 J-POP SONGS IN 2020 #MUSIC
2020 is a year that I fall in love with J-POP music the most. Shoutout to theDX3 YT Channel who make J-POP ranking platform so it’s much easier…


2020 in retrospect: top 50 amvs (20 – 11)
20. Tommy-Dawg – Journey to You Anime: A Place Further Than The Universe // K-ON!Song: “Free Spirits” by Khalid I discovered this video on the day that I…
September 2020 Manga / Light Novel / Books Releases
So why not celebrate the coming of Fall with an order manga and light novels? We present to you the list of September 2020 manga, light novel, and…
Books: Speaking in Subtitles
By Jonathan Clements. The sub-versus-dub debate was first truly ignited in August 1960, when Bosley Crowther in the New York Times issued a broadside against having to read…


Why Is CLAMP Like This, Part IV
12 Days of Aniblogging 2021, Day 10 Yet again I am here to review each CLAMP manga in chronological order. We've finally reached the 2010s, and yet again I…


Japanuary 2021 (Part IV) Days 22-31
I made to the end of the challenge! While I didn’t start precisely on day one, one difference between my participation this year and last year is that…
Games I played in 2020 part 2
I played a lot of games in 2020 – way more than I have ever done so in my life before now. So much so that my writing…
Games I played in 2020 – part 1
I played a lot of games in 2020. Way more than I usually do in a year. I grew up with games, but for my teenage and young…
Weekly Round-Up, 20-26 May 2020: In Memoriam
AniFem Round-Up Beyond UNIQLO: Tips for supporting Japan’s indie fashion designers Daz Skubich provides a primer on the world of street fashion and how enthusiasts the world over…


Read Japanese Books with the Listening-Reading Method
Want to read Japanese books and novels? We outline a method to help get you started - and build your Japanese listening skills along the way.
Books: Japanese Film and the Challenge of Video
By Jonathan Clements. Tom Mes’s new book begins in 2022 with Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car winning an Oscar, followed by a flood of gushing articles about how…


Which Japanese Books Get Left Out of Translation?
There are more Japanese books being made available in English every year. Still, only a small portion of them get translated.


Japanese Movie Recommendations 2020
He Won't Kill, She Won't Die Cast: Shotaro Mamiya, Hinako Sakurai It's either a fluffy marshmallow sugar fest movie or a bleak teen angst driven film…


20 Recommended Shows From 2020
Okay, so here’s the thing: this was initially supposed to be a “Top 10 Anime of 2020” post. I had every intention of doing that, but then someone…
Great Pretender, JUJUTSU KAISEN, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle


2021 Anime Year in Review Part II: #11-20
It's a bit of a left-handed compliment, but this was the strongest part of anime 2021. Read more


2023 Anime Year in Review Part II: #11-20
Unmistakably this past year was a very good one in anime (especially romance), with strength both in quantity and quality.


2022 Anime Year in Review Part II: #11-20
I really needed a Top 12 this year. Read more
2019 Anime Year in Review Part II: #11-20
The quality gap between the top and bottom of this list sure feels like more than 10 spots. Read more The post 2019 Anime Year in Review Part…


2024 Anime Year in Review Part II: #11-20
In historical terms this list is probably 2024's strongest group.
Books: One Month in Tohoku
By Jonathan Clements. Caroline Pover did not spend one month in Tohoku. Well, she did, but then she went back again, and again and again. Over the last…


My experiences with Hololive Vtubers in 2020 (Japanese/Indonesian)
Hi. If you haven’t seen me post a blog post before, what I use this for is that, once a year is finished, as I’m a bit of…
Cartoons About Cartoons (Part 20)
A significant leaning toward Looney stories from Warner Brothers today, with only two titles in our discussion coming from the ranks of other studios. We’ll be doing some…


Episode 36: Zainichi Literature—Koreans Writing in Japan
Listen to Episode 36 of the Read Literature podcast. Transcript available. In this episode, we take a look at the history of Koreans writing in Japan. We’ll start…


Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon IV episode 20
Rating: A- The inevitable has arrived: the episode-opening flashbacks on Ryu’s past with Astrea Familia have finally led to the pivotal moment where the rest of her familia…