Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
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Going Gaijin is the personal blog of Iris Reinbacher, a writer in Kyoto. The website includes categories such as food, gardens, music, and religious.
Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
1M ago
Death in Midsummer and Other StoriesYukio Mishima Nine stories of various lengths are collected here, plus Dojoji, one of Mishima’s modern Noh plays. The stories that stood out to me are: Yukio Mishima is a fantastic writer, and even in translation, he creates images in the reader’s mind that put him directly next to the ..read more
Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
3M ago
Bullet TrainKotaro Isaka The Hayate Shinkasen leaves Tokyo for Morioka. A number of extraordinary people are on board, they are all dangerous – and on a mission: Nanao must steal a suitcase and get off at the next station, but he isn’t the world’s unluckiest assassin for nothing…Kimura is bent on revenge, but his target ..read more
Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
5M ago
Prefecture DHideo Yokoyama Season of ShadowsOsakabe has been assigned a temporary lead position in administration, but as his term is up, refuses to step down. But why? This is the question Futawatari from Personnel has to answer – and quickly. But Osakabe is avoiding him and keeps his cards close to his chest… Cry of ..read more
Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
5M ago
The GateSoseki Natsume The couple Sosuke and Oyone live at the verge of poverty in the outskirts of Tokyo in the beginning of the 20th century. When Koroku, Sosuke’s much younger brother, is forced to live with them and expects them to pay for his university tuition, the situation in the household goes from bad ..read more
Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
5M ago
Novelist as a VocationHaruki Murakami Haruki Murakami ranks among the best known contemporary Japanese authors. In more than 30 years, he has written 14 novels, a number of nonfiction works and countless short stories and essays, many of which were translated into dozens of languages. Despite his status as an international celebrity, Murakami stays mostly ..read more
Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
5M ago
Tokyo Ueno StationMiri Yu Just outside Ueno Station, where the trains bound for northern Japan leave, lies Ueno Park, one of the largest parks in Tokyo. It attracts lots of homeless people, and Kazu is one of them. He talks about his life in the park, how to build a house from tarps and cardboard ..read more
Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
5M ago
Five Women Who Loved LoveSaikaku Ihara These are five novellas about (forbidden) love from 17th century Japan. Seijuro in Himeji loses his father’s (financial) support and, instead of spending his time in the local pleasure districts, has to find serious work. There, he promptly seduces his master’s daughter Omatsu… The Barrelmaker Brimful of Love tells ..read more
Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
5M ago
The Tokyo Zodiac MurdersSoji Shimada Japan, 1936: The testament of excentric painter Heikichi Umezawa reveals his disturbing fascination with his own daughters. He describes his plan of killing all seven of them and to use the most beautiful body part of each to create Azoth – the perfect woman. Since Heikichi is dead, nobody is ..read more
Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
5M ago
Not long after I came to Japan, somebody gave me a stack of books related to Japan: Japanese history, guidebooks, a few novels. I read them – some several times – and put them away. One of those books was a short historical novel spanning 25 years of the Sengoku and early Edo period at ..read more
Going Gaijin » Japanese Literature
5M ago
The Diving PoolYoko Ogawa This short book is a collection of 3 novellas: The Diving PoolTeenage girl Aya falls in love with Jun, who lives at the Light House, Aya’s parents’ orphanage. Every day after school, she watches him as he trains for a diving competition. Aya dreams of getting closer to Jun, but is ..read more