PODCAST

Read Japanese Literature

Alison Fincher

A podcast about Japanese literature and some of its best worksNew episodes more-or-less monthly

fiction books

All Episodes

54:57

The Master of the Japanese Ghost Story

Read Japanese Literature ·

2025/10/29

In this episode, we explore the enduring legacy of Greek/English/Irish/American/Japanese author Lafcadio Hearn and the ghost story The Peony Lantern. We'll start out by looking at Hearn's life. We'll discuss the long history of the story Boton Doro, more commonly known as The Peony Lantern, including its most famous incarnation under Hearn's pen. And then we'll look at two modern adaptations of the story by Aoko Matsuda and Kyoko Nakajima. Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript ava...

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57:06

Bullying in Japanese Literature

Read Japanese Literature ·

2025/09/20

In this episode, we look at bullying in Japanese literature. We'll start out by defining bullying and looking at bullying in Japanese schools as well as the Japanese workplace. We'll see some examples in Japanese novels. And then we'll talk about Mizuki Tsujimura's Lonely Castle in the Mirror, translated into English by Philip Gabriel. This episode is rated mature. CW: bullying and suicide If you're thinking about suicide, please get help. Open Counseling hosts a list of international suicid...

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61:55

Christianity in Japanese Literature

Read Japanese Literature ·

2025/06/05

In this episode, we look into the history of Christianity in Japan—especially the role Christianity has played in Japanese literature. Our focus text is Shusaku Endo's Silence. 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.) Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly. Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com. Support RJL on Patreon.com. Buy your ...

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63:46

Japanese Writers Standing Up to the State

Read Japanese Literature ·

2025/03/18

In this episode, we take a look at the Japanese proletarian writers’ movement of the 1920s and early 1930s. We also take a deep dive into the life of author Genzaburo Yoshino—not a proletarian writer, but a man who spent prison alongside them and for some of the same beliefs—and his novel How Do You Live?. 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.) Please note that text messages are f...

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52:24

Keiichiro Hirano

Read Japanese Literature ·

2025/02/05

For the first time ever, RJL brings you information from an interview with a Japanese author—Akutagawa-winner Keiichiro Hirano. This episode takes up his life and work, the influence of Yukio Mishima on his fiction, and his most-recently-translated novel, Eclipse. CW: attempted suicide in a discussion of Yukio Mishima's The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available. Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you w...

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52:05

Christmas in Japanese Literature

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/12/14

Happy holidays! And, in the interest of today’s episode, merri kurisumasu!Today we’re going to start with the origins of Christmas, especially why Christmas is celebrated in Japan at all. We’ll move on to how Christmas is celebrated in Japan. And we’ll end with some examples of what part Christmas seems to play in Japanese literature—or at least Japanese literature that gets translated.Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us t...

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57:32

LGBTQ+ Stories from Japan, Part 2

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/12/01

RJL is excited to bring you this two-parter about LGBTQ+ stories from Japan. Part two covers Taisho Japan (when women finally enter the stage) through through contemporary LGBTQ+ writing, especially the life and work of Nobuko Yoshiya, Edogawa Ranpo, Yukio Mishima, and Li Kotomi. We also spend a little time on the role of queer manga.Part one covered some of the earliest writing in Japanese through the end of the Meiji Period in 1912.Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcrip...

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54:40

LGBTQ+ Stories from Japan, Part 1

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/10/30

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 pederastyNotes and s...

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53:56

Japanese Crime and Mystery Writing

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/09/13

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...

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59:28

Atomic Bomb Literature

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/08/17

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, illnes...

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55:16

Zainichi Literature—Koreans Writing in Japan

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/06/03

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.Please note that this is the final episode of season 3. RJL will be back in August.Send us a Text Message.Get in touch ...

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56:58

The End of the World! Japanese Apocalypse, Part 3

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/04/29

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50:16

The End of the World! Japanese Apocalypse, Part 2

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/04/15

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40:14

The End of the World! Japanese Apocalypse, Part One

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/04/01

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39:40

Misogyny and Yukio Mishima, Part 2

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/02/23

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46:38

Misogyny and Yukio Mishima, Part 1

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/02/16

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44:44

Kenji Miyazawa

Read Japanese Literature ·

2024/01/17

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48:10

The Stories of Studio Ghibli

Read Japanese Literature ·

2023/11/21

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43:10

Haruki Murakami

Read Japanese Literature ·

2023/10/16

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.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2024 Read Japanese

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45:00

Japanese Children's Literature

Read Japanese Literature ·

2023/09/05

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.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2024 Read Japanese Literature.

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