#JapaneseLiterature

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Today, I’d like to talk about Convenience Store Woman,
winner of Japan’s prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 2016.

This book gave voice to feelings
I’d long had but never knew how to express —
especially the lifelong question:
“What does it mean to be normal?”

🖊️ Convenience Stores and Japanese Society

If you're curious, feel free to take a peek!
https://introvert-path.com/en/embracing-e/reading-habit/20250906-1/


I loved Edogawa Ranpo's "The Idol" !

That dark and intense story spoken from an wife in despair got me stuck 'till the end.
This is the first time I got his book with just four short tales. I should get more from him !

Look what just arrived: copies of my latest translation!

Feels so good to hold this beautiful slim volume, full of beautiful slim essays. Released in the UK just last week and due for release in the USA this February.

The Traveling Tree by Michio Hoshino, translated by yours truly:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Travelling-Tree-Michio-Hoshino/dp/1856755908

I’m about 1/4 through Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore and so far not very impressed.

He writes very well, but I’m failing to get any attachment to the main plotline, I find the character mostly annoying. There’s a secondary plotline that’s way more interesting and that’s what’s keeping me going.

I have to return this book in 15 days and if I don’t finish it in 15 days I don’t think I’ll borrow it again.

This time, I’d like to introduce two of Japan’s most renowned modern writers,
along with some of their works.

I found it fascinating to look at them side by side,
so I wrote this article to share that perspective.

Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima

If you're curious, feel free to take a peek 😌
https://introvert-path.com/en/embracing-e/reading-habit/20250802-1/


: Joe enjoyed the Japanese bestseller, Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Harada, translated by Philip Gabriel.

Otaha starts working in the library, which archives the literary collection of deceased authors, and where the live-in chef prepares meals based on those in novels.

Ideal for those who enjoyed Before the Coffee Gets Cold, or Days at the Morasaki Bookshop. Out now from Scriber Books

Bookseller Joe holding up a copy of Harada's Dinners in the Night Library, to recommend it in the Edinburgh Bookshop

Famous Introvert in Japan: Kenji Miyazawa.

Seeing him through the lens of introversion gives us a new way to appreciate his character —
I hope something here resonates with you.

If you're curious, feel free to take a peek 😌
https://introvert-path.com/en/understanding-e/great-person-e/20250531-1/

The Village Beyond the Mist: this classic by Sachiko Kashiwaba (trans Avery Fischer Udagawa), illustrated by Miho Stake, is the inspiration behind Ghibli's wonderful Spirited Away film.

Published by Restless Books.

A copy of The Village Beyond the Mist, showing a young girl floating in a forest, held up outside the Edinburgh Bookshop

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: "𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝗕𝗼𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱" 𝗯𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗺𝗶 (𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀. 𝗝𝗮𝘆 𝗥𝘂𝗯𝗶𝗻) -

Rubin's new translation of this classic Murakami re-discovering the story in compelling ways: a must for Murakami fans!

https://youtu.be/oaQeck8IV9A