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Where to start with Japanese literature

So, you want to get into Japanese literature? Welcome! Here are some great recs (and one terrible rec) to get you started on your journey. I've read a fair number of Japanese books in translation (and even moved over there for a year), so feel like I can offer a fair insight. Let me know if you would like a further breakdown of Japanese lit by era! Could be fun!
Books Featured
The Popular Choice: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
The Subversive Choice: Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino
The Classic Choices: Kokoro by Natsume Soseki, The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata
The Toxic Choice: The Sailor Who Fell With Grace From the Sea by Yukio Mishima
The Quirky Choice: Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Socials:
My Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/eddiecational
My Instagram: / eddiecational_
My Goodreads: / eddie
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
00:40 The Popular Choice
02:32 The Subversive Choice
04:28 The Classic Choice 1
05:37 The Classic Choice 2
07:23 The Toxic Choice
08:53 The Quirky Choice
10:25 Wrap-up & Conclusion
#booktube #eddiecational #japanesebook

Пікірлер: 39

  • @benreadsgood
    @benreadsgood9 ай бұрын

    I’ve only just found your channel. PLEASE COME BACK. This is the sort of excessively-categorised stuff I live for!

  • @odetonavigating
    @odetonavigatingАй бұрын

    what a great and varied selection you offer. i've read some and loved almost all (banana yoshimoto and mieko kawakami are some of my all time favorite authors). i have kirino's books on my tbr for a year now and you just gave me the extra push to finally pick them up! really enjoyed hearing you talk about these titles. wishing you well ~

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    7:01 Yes to the video on Japanese Literature by time periods.

  • @juanis8219
    @juanis8219 Жыл бұрын

    I can’t believe you don’t have more traffic to your channel. I love your content!

  • @Hidinginyourcupboard
    @Hidinginyourcupboard6 ай бұрын

    In fairness Soseki Natsume wrote ‘I am a Cat’, and Junichiro Tanizaki has ‘A Cat, a Man, and Two Women’, so can’t necessarily dismiss Japanese works just because they feature a cat 🐈

  • @user-eu2qo5ms3j
    @user-eu2qo5ms3j Жыл бұрын

    thanks so much for the video! I didn't really like the convenience store woman so it was great to stumble upon a recommendation of japanese lit video that didn't focus on this book too much! found a lot of new names

  • @eddiecational

    @eddiecational

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for watching! Glad that you got some names out of it!!

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    I like the categories that you have with the books. Very interesting categories.

  • @ianp9086
    @ianp90869 ай бұрын

    Glad to hear you mention Kitchen - I read it when it first came out in English and you are right when you said it was ahead of its time - I’d never read anything like it. I was amazed to find a new book by her last week in my local bookshop.

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    I’ve heard great things about ‘Kitchen’. Glad to hear you mention it 👏🏽

  • @eddiecational

    @eddiecational

    Жыл бұрын

    Definitely would reccomend giving it a shot! As I say in the vid, it's pretty short so no time lost if it's not up your street in the end.

  • @patriciaklein9489
    @patriciaklein94897 ай бұрын

    Please do more of these videos and more recommendations! Love it!

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    I held my breath on Murakami but I’m happy you mentioned 1Q84 and how Murakami out-Murakamis themselves.

  • @eddiecational

    @eddiecational

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah, I just couldn't deal with that book at ALL. About five hundred pages too long, which is a literal whole book that could be cut from it!

  • @_maack
    @_maack Жыл бұрын

    I am so happy I found your channel. I am still new to Japanese lit, but I absolutely loved Convenience Store Woman. I've also read Malice by Keigo Higashino, who writes crime fiction. If you like Agatha Christie I'd definitely recommend that.

  • @eddiecational

    @eddiecational

    Жыл бұрын

    I've never read Higashino - I've heard good things about his writing from crime fans, so I'd be keen to check some out

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    My Recommendation: The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa. It’s funny, trippy and adventurous and I like the illustrated version.

  • @thechonkyyuki

    @thechonkyyuki

    Жыл бұрын

    One of my favorite books of all time!

  • @johnniesaxon
    @johnniesaxon Жыл бұрын

    I've now added more to my reading list!!! I found your channel by searching for The Buried Giant reviews. That book really spoke to me and you've just made me realise with this video that maybe I'd be a fan of the Japanese perspective in fiction! thank you!

  • @AbdullahADH
    @AbdullahADH11 ай бұрын

    I'm a hugeee Soseki and Kawabata fan and have read all the former's work (my favorite is probably 'Grass on the Wayside', 'Kokoro', 'Ten Nights of Dreams', or 'And Then') and the majority of the latter's. 'The Old Capital', in my opinion, is way better than 'Snow Country' and I'm so glad you've given it recognition! I've watched some of your videos and they're phenomenal. Keep it up!

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    “Can’t believe I had to talk about bloody Mishima.” - The New York Times.

  • @_maack
    @_maack Жыл бұрын

    I'd love to see more vids on Japanese lit btw :)

  • @TheBonsaiGarden
    @TheBonsaiGardenАй бұрын

    The cat violence put me off Kafka On The Shore.

  • @Krishashri

    @Krishashri

    24 күн бұрын

    I got the book a few months ago without checking the content warnings and now I just don't even want to start it

  • @margute22
    @margute22 Жыл бұрын

    excited to read kitchen by banana yoshimoto!!

  • @patriciaklein9489
    @patriciaklein94897 ай бұрын

    Please talk about Japanese books all day and post videos about them! =D

  • @TK-kf8zc
    @TK-kf8zc4 ай бұрын

    IMHO, the best choice, anything by Sayaka Murata and Yoko Ogawa

  • @witchland
    @witchland Жыл бұрын

    The first Japanese novel I read was Yukio Mishima's "Temple of the Golden Pavilion". It was compelling in it's way, but definitely not a comfortable read. Thanks for the informative post.

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    BooksLikeWhoa (Booktuber) recently had a video on Japanese Mystery Novels.

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    Of course I knew what ‘Kokoro’ meant! There was that Studio Ghibli movie: My Neighbour Kokoro.

  • @thechonkyyuki

    @thechonkyyuki

    Жыл бұрын

    The movie is actually called My Neighbor Totoro. :)

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    It’s so cool that you lived in Japan! Sorry I sound like a wide-eyed tourist.

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    Btw I’m reading ‘Before The Coffee Gets Cold’ now and I gasped when you mentioned it. Are you clairvoyant? 😂

  • @tommarkus7744
    @tommarkus77446 ай бұрын

    Thanks !!!

  • @ciganyweaverandherperiwink6293
    @ciganyweaverandherperiwink6293 Жыл бұрын

    The worst book I've attempted to complete reading in the past 10 years is a Japanese book, much hyped by the youngsters here on KZread, called 'There's No Such Thing as An Easy Job'. I read a great deal of Japanese literature and love the effortless 'quirkiness' that is impossible for writers from any other culture to replicate authentically; it's distinctly, uniquely Japanese. Their classic literature also has a very unique, unmistakably Japanese sensibility. I'm very drawn to Japanese authors and the better translations (no easy task, I acknowledge). TNSTAAEJ is not a charmingly quirky 'slice-of-life' meets magic realism book. It's by far one of the worst novels I've ever attempted to battle my way through. In the end I literally threw it from my sudsy bubble bath last winter all the way into the hallway. Any grown adult who liked this book I narrow my eyes at and am unlikely to take recommendations from (same goes for anybody reading deep in the corrupt, characterless, anodyne land of woke-- you can stick your sensitivity readers). Cheers for this video, I love hearing about cool new things to check out and enthusiasm is by far one of the most attractive qualities a person can demonstrate. Contagious! 😊📚📚🗾

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    Stand outside a thunderstorm > Read one of Osamu Dazai’s works

  • @stewartk7499
    @stewartk7499 Жыл бұрын

    Ooooooooookay

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Жыл бұрын

    “I could talk about Japanese books all day.” needs to be a T-Shirt.

  • @ayoolukoga9829
    @ayoolukoga9829 Жыл бұрын

    Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia. 1 Peter 1:1