• Tsutsui Yasutaka Wrote A Light Novel

    by  • August 21, 2012 • 0 Comments

    Yes, not necessarily newsworthy but…interesting I think all the same: 77-year old veteran sci-fi great Tsutsui Yasutaka, author of Paprika, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Salmonella Men on Planet Porno, etc., has written a light novel entitled ビアンカ・オーバースタディ (“Bianca Overstudy”), Da Vinci reports. It’s a slapstick comedy about a beautiful high school girl...

    Read more →

    Compare Translations of Miyazawa Kenji’s Most Famous Poem

    by  • August 15, 2012 • 0 Comments

    For those of you interested in literary translation: Over at the blog for the YA anthology Tomo: Friendship through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories are two translations of Miyzawa Kenji’s famous poem 雨ニモマケズ, and a Q&A with each translator on the choices they made and the experience of translating the poem itself....

    Read more →

    Six Previously Unpublished Stories by Ogawa Kunio Discovered

    by  • August 7, 2012 • 0 Comments

    Six previously unpublished short stories by the late novelist Ogawa Kunio were discovered in an old cardboard box in his basement, the Asahi reports. The stories were primarily ones written before he became famous as a writer as practice pieces. Though sadly no work of his is available in English, Ogawa was a notable...

    Read more →

    Nonami Asa’s “Body” Also Added to the List

    by  • August 2, 2012 • 1 Comment

    Reading Michael Emmerich’s introduction in this month’s Words Without Borders has brought to my attention ANOTHER book to be added to the list; this time it’s Nonami Asa’s short story collection Body, published by Vertical Inc. Vertical has published Nonami before, and interestingly enough, “each of the five stories in Body gets its title...

    Read more →

    Words Without Borders August Issue Also Devoted to J-Lit

    by  • August 2, 2012 • 0 Comments

    Just another reminder that the August issue of Words Without Borders features New Writing From Japan: Part II. Edited and with an introduction once again by Michael Emmerich, this issue features the ordinary instead of the extraordinary, like Part I in July. It features work by the Akutagawa Award winning authors Kanai Mieko and...

    Read more →

    The List Updated With 6 New Titles

    by  • August 2, 2012 • 0 Comments

    Fellow Japanese literary blogger Nihon Distractions has once again keyed me into many more Japanese literary releases coming out later this year, and the List has been updated accordingly. We have six new titles, including a biography and two books of poetry. Already past is a Komatsu Sakyo Award- winning sci-fi novel by Urahama...

    Read more →

    Chuokoron Offers 100-Yen E-Books

    by  • July 31, 2012 • 0 Comments

    Showing a somewhat progressive attitude to the forthcoming onslaught of e-books, publisher Chuokoron has started offering 100-yen e-books of single, stand-alone short stories by popular authors, the Yomiuri reports.

    Read more →

    E-Books From Amazon Available in September…?

    by  • July 28, 2012 • 0 Comments

    The Asahi reports that the final adjustments are being made in contracts between Amazon Japan and major publishing houses Shinchosha and the Kadokawa group, which reveal an estimated e-book store launch date of late August or early September. Kodansha is also reportedly in their final negotiations. And once e-books are for sale, the the...

    Read more →