Episodios
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RJL is excited to bring you this two-parter about LGBTQ+ stories from Japan. Part one covers some of the earliest writing in Japanese through the end of the Meiji Period in 1912.
Part two (coming soon) covers Taisho Japan (when women finally enter the stage) through some of Japan's contemporary queer writers.This episode is rated mature.
CW: homophobia, brief mentions of suicide (fictional and historical), historical accounts of practices today recognized as pedophilia and pederasty
Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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All content © 2024 Read Japanese Literature. -
Today, we’re talking about crime and mystery novels from Japan. We’ll start with the development of the crime and mystery genre in the English-speaking world. We’ll move on to Japanese crime and mystery writing—how it was inspired by Anglo-American crime and mystery writing and how it evolved in its own way. And we’ll end with the life and work of writer Seishi Yokomizo, especially his novel The Honjin Murders, translated into English by Louise Heal Kawai.
Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.CW: murder (obviously!) and a brief mention of a fictional character’s narcotics addiction
(Apologies for small pronunciation issues of English and French surnames. They’ve been corrected in the transcript.)
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This episode is marked mature.
In this episode, we take a look at Japanese writing about the American bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed as many as 215,000 people in August 1945. We’ll start with the history of the atomic bomb, its use, and its effects on the hibakusha who survived. Then we’ll take a look at atomic bomb literature itself. Our focus text is "Masks of Whatchamacallit" by Kyoko Hayashi (follow the link to read for free), translated by Kyoko Selden.
CW: war, illness (historical and fictional), suicide (historical), forced abortion (fictional), emotional abuse (fictional)
Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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In this episode, we take a look at the history of Koreans writing in Japan. We’ll start with the history of Koreans in Japan, including anti-Korean prejudice before and after WWII. We’ll move on to Zainichi Korean writing. And we’ll finish with a look at Kazuki Kaneshiro’s Go, translated into English by Takami Nieda.
Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.
Correction: This episode claims Yi Kwang-su's book Ai Ka ("Is It Love?") does not appear in English translation. Ai Ka is actually a short story and Janet Poole's translation of "Is This Love?" appears in in Queer Subjects in Modern Japanese Literature: Male Love, Intimacy, and Erotics, 1886-2014, edited by Stephen D. Miller.
Please note that this is the final episode of season 3. RJL will be back in August 2024.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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In part three of this episode, we’ll finish our story of Japanese apocalyptic and dystopian fiction.
First, stories from the mid-90s and 20-aughts. Then, stories from after the March 2011 Triple Disasters.
We’ll end with a look at the life and work of author Yoko Tawada who has written several apocalyptic stories, including one of the most important works of post-3/11 apocalyptic fiction available in English translation—The Emissary, also known at The Last Children of Tokyo.
CW: brief mentions of historical and fictional violence and rape
Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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All content © 2024 Read Japanese Literature. -
In part two of this three part episode, we're looking at the apocalyptic and dystopian fiction of Japan.
We'll begin with the evolution of the idea of "the end of the world" in Japan, especially after Japan started importing American and European science fiction. We'll move on to Japanese apocalyptic stories, especially between 1945 and the 1970s and then during the 1970s and 1980s.
CW: brief mentions of historical and fictional violence and rape
Part two mistakenly implies Jules Verne was an Anglo-American author. As outlined in part one, he was French.
Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.
This episode’s artwork is adapted from a photograph by Du Truong, “The Student of Gunkanjima”. Gunkanjima, also known as Hashima Island, is an abandoned island in Nagasaki Prefecture. Truong’s work is available under a Creative Commons license.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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All content © 2024 Read Japanese Literature. -
In part one of this three part episode, we're looking at apocalyptic and dystopian fiction as genres. Their origins in Western and Central Asia. Their evolution in Western Europe. And a history of English-language apocalyptic and dystopian storytelling that will provide us with context and a basis for comparison when we turn to Japanese stories in part two.
Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.
CW: brief mentions of historical and fictional violence and rape
This episode’s artwork is adapted from a photograph by Du Truong, “The Student of Gunkanjima”. Gunkanjima, also known as Hashima Island, is an abandoned island in Nagasaki Prefecture. Truong’s work is available under a Creative Commons license.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.
Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.
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All content © 2024 Read Japanese Literature. -
In part two of this two-part episode on misogyny in Japanese literature, we're talking about the life and work of Yukio Mishima, especially by way of his I-Novel, Confessions of a Mask.
Check out part one for
400 years of attitudes about women in JapanWoman in modern Japanese literature, especially in the work of some of its most important writersNotes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.
This episode is rated mature.CW: misogyny, fictional rape, internalized homophobia, suicide
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Support Wajima and the urushi industry with the Matsuzawa Urushi Workshop.
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All content © 2024 Read Japanese Literature. -
In part one of this two-part episode, we're talking about misogyny in Japanese literature.
400 years of attitudes about women in JapanWoman in modern Japanese literature, especially in the work of some of its most important writersCheck out part two (coming soon) for the life and work of Yukio Mishima, especially by way of his I-Novel, Confessions of a Mask.Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.
This episode is rated mature.CW: misogyny, fictional rape, internalized homophobia, suicide
Join Patreon to support the podcast and access 10 minutes of bonus content.
Support Wajima and the urushi industry with the Matsuzawa Urushi Workshop.
Support this podcast by buying from Bookshop.org.
Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.
Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.
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All content © 2024 Read Japanese Literature. -
There is no one quite like Kenji Miyazawa. Born into wealth, he longed to be “a real peasant”. One of Japan’s most influential children’s writers, he sold only one story during his lifetime.
Read Japanese Literature takes a look at Miyazawa's colorful biography through three of his beloved stories.
Miyazawa produced the artwork for this episode. It's a painted titled Power Pole in the Moonlight.
Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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To celebrate the overseas release of The Boy and the Heron (aka How Do You Live?) RJL delves into the stories that inspire animator Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, especially
Nausicaä of the Valley of the WindHowl’s Moving CastleMy Neighbor TotoroWe’ll end with a deep dive into Kiki’s Delivery Service—the Ghibli film and the novel by Eiko Kadano (as translated by Emily Balistrieri).
Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.
*25,000 total episode downloads! Thanks for your support!*Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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In this episode, we're talking about one of the most important voices in modern Japanese literature, Haruki Murakami.
His biographyWhy so many people have such strong feelings about his writingAnd his short story "TV People"We'll end with what I like best about this much loved (and much hated) author.
Notes and sources on the episode page.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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In this episode, we're talking about Japanese children's literature.
The history of children’s literature in generalThe history of children’s literature in JapanAnd Sachiko Kashiwaba and Temple Alley Summer—a story that is about Japanese children’s literature (at least a little bit!)Notes and sources on the episode page.
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How does a book make it from the mind of a Japanese author into the hands of an English-language reader?
In part 2 of this 2-part episode, we'll tackle the question, “How do Japanese books get translated into English?" What kinds of choices do translators make when they present a Japanese-language text to English-language readers?
We're still looking at at Minae Mizumura's An I-Novel, translated into English by Juliet Winters Carpenter, and we'll end with some philosophical and ethical questions about translation.
Notes and sources on the episode page.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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How does a book make it from the mind of a Japanese author into the hands of an English-language reader?
In part 1 of this 2-part episode, we'll tackle the question, “Why do some Japanese books get translated into English?" How do publishers decide what gets translated? How do they decide what doesn’t get translated. And we'll take a look at Minae Mizumura's An I-Novel, translated into English by Juliet Winters Carpenter.
Please note two errors in part 1.1. Noriko Mizuta Lippit translated "The Smile of the Mountain Witch", assisted by Mariko Ochi. The translation appears in Yamamba: In Search of the Japanese Mountain Witch, which is edited by Rebecca Copeland and Linda C. Ehrlich.
2. Author Astrid Lindgren and her Pippi Longstocking series are Swedish—not Norwegian.
Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode page.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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In this episode, we’re talking about Japanese science fiction.
The history of the genre. SF in Japan. Breakthrough feminist sci-fi writer Izumi Suzuki.
Plus loads of SF stories, including Suzuki’s “Night Picnic”.
CW: suicide
Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode page.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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This episode is marked mature.
In this episode, we're talking about writing from Okinawa. The history of the Ryukyu Islands, especially the Battle of Okinawa. The evolution of writing from Okinawa. And the life life and work of author and activist Shun Medoruma, especially his Akutagawa-winning story "Droplets".CW: war, forced suicide (historical), violence (historical and fictional), historical rape
Correction: This episode claims Hokkaido is Japan's largest island. I know better and misspoke. My apologies.Honshu is Japan's largest island.
Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode page.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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On March 11, 2011, at 2:46pm, one tectonic plate forced its way on top of another 45 miles (or 72 km) off the Eastern coast of Japan. It caused a 9.0 magnitude megathrust earthquake that lasted about six minutes.
The Great East Japan Earthquake triggered a tsunami—a great wave—that may have reached heights up to 133 feet (more than 40 meters).
The earthquake and tsunami also disabled the reactor cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing several reactors to meltdown.
The government of Tokyo released official death numbers around the tenth anniversary of 3/11 in 2021. It reported 19,759 deaths. 6,242 injuries. And 2,553 missing. Most of the missing are presumed dead.
Hundreds of thousands of people who evacuated the area still haven’t returned home—many never will.
In this episode:
Tohoku and its place in Japan's history and cultureThe response by Japanese writers to the 3/11 disasterHiromi Kawakami's life and work—especially her stories "God Bless You" and "God Bless You, 2011"Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.
Donate to support Tohoku:
Soso Volunteer (Japanese)Support Our Kids (Japanese)The Taylor Anderson Memorial Fund (English)Become an RJL supporter for ten minutes of bonus content.
Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)
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This episode is marked mature.
Protagonists who don’t want to have sexAnd women who want to have babies anyway.
Today we'll explore two trends in contemporary Japanese fiction:To take a closer look at these trends, we’re going to ask a couple of questions about contemporary Japan:
What is “celibacy syndrome”? Does it even exist?What role does motherhood play in a shrinking society?And how do sexlessness and motherhood play out in 21st-century Japanese fiction?We’ll end with a closer look at Mieko Kawakami’s best-selling novel, Breasts and Eggs.
Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.
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The Akutagawa Prize is probably Japan’s most celebrated literary award.
To better understand the Akutagawa Prize and its place in modern Japanese literature, we’ll start with an introduction to the history of “literary” fiction in Japan.
Then we’ll move on to the history of the Akutagawa Prize itself, from its creation in 1935 through its most recent winners.
And then we’ll finish with a look at the life and career of Kobo Abe including his most famous book, The Woman in the Dunes.
(CW: suicide, attempted rape in a novel)
Notes and sources at the podcast episode website.
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