japanese literature

in english

search japanese books translated into english:

Book Subject Tag: Social life and customs, 1912-1945

  • Schoolgirl

    The novella that first propelled Dazai into the literary elite of post-war Japan. 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 that occupied Dazai’s…

  • Kokoro

    No collection of Japanese literature is complete without Kokoro, the last novel Natsume Soseki complete before his death in 1916. Published here in the first new translation in more than fifty years, Kokoro, meaning “heart,” is the story of a subtle and poignant friendship between two unnamed characters, a young man and an enigmatic elder…