Novels

Japan has produced many exemplary novels, despite the fact that most of its literature has not been translated into English. The history of Japanese novels and novelists is as long as any other nation in the world.  In fact, Japan is often credited with producing the first novel in history, the Tale of Genji.  There are several contemporary Japanese novelists popular internationally, Haruki Murakami notable among them.

General Information:

• A History of Japanese Literature
• Origins of Modern Japanese Literature

Lists and Examples:

• An Anthology of Japanese Literature
• Japanese Children Books
• Top Ten Japan All Time Best SF Novels
• 20 Essential Works of Japanese Literature
• Japan in Historical Fiction in English
• Account of my Hut (Kamo no Chomei)
• Saikaku
• Essays in Idleness (Yoshida Kenko)

The Tale of Genji:

• Japanese Aesthetics and the Tale of Genji
• The Tale of Genji

Lesson Plans:

• Literary Con/Texts
• Social Science Meets Literature: Using Sawako Ariyoshi’s the Twilight Years in Sociology and Psychology
• The Samurai in Postwar Japan: Yukio Mushima’s “Patriotism”
• Traditional Japanese Literature

Government-Run Online Library:

• Japan Library