Japan’s bestselling books often converge around practical life advice: Mental math tricks for kids, tips on how to sound smart and personal finance hacks have all been top sellers in recent years. Wider pop culture trends break through, too: In 2020, Japan’s top five bestselling books were all related to either the gory smash-hit manga “Demon Slayer” or cozy escapist video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
A new mania now has the country’s readers rapt: A set of odd books, somewhere between mystery and horror, between manga and novels, by the even odder writer known as “Uketsu.”
Strange Pictures, by Uketsu. Translated by Jim Rion. 240 pages, HarperVia, Fiction.
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