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March 31, 2025
 

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LITERATURE

Japan’s crime thriller genre owes a lot to Kido Okamoto and Taro Hirai, who is better known by his pen name of Edogawa Ranpo
CULTURE / Books
Oct 22, 2023
Japanese thrillers and crime mysteries to curl up with this fall
As the nights grow colder, pick up a recommended read in crime fiction and dive deep into this unique intersection of art and entertainment.
Writer Jon Fosse poses in Oslo in 2015. Since his debut novel was published in 1983, Fosse has written poems, essays, children’s books, plays and novels.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 5, 2023
Norwegian playwright and author Jon Fosse wins literature Nobel
The Swedish Academy cited Fosse's “innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.”
History recorded the thoughts and actions of rulers and warlords, but what did the average folk think in that time? Were their days filled with angst, passion or poignancy?
JAPAN / History
Sep 17, 2023
Writers find a new muse in the 20th century: the ordinary person
The past at its very best spread its benefits thinly, leaving the masses to make the best of things beyond the reach of civilization’s light.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 2, 2023
Saou Ichikawa’s 'Hunchback': A darkly funny portrait of disability
The winner of the second 2023 Akutagawa Prize is a sardonic commentary on the utility of bodies, both abled and disabled.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 17, 2023
The quotidian madness of Mieko Kanai’s 'Mild Vertigo'
Originally published in 1997, “Mild Vertigo” is just as relevant today in its unpacking of meaning within the ennui of our often stultifying, consumer-driven modern age.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 14, 2023
Cormac McCarthy, novelist of a darker America, is dead at 89
His characters were outsiders, like him. He lived quietly and determinately outside the literary mainstream.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 10, 2023
Ao Omae confronts identities and alienation of modern youth
The author deftly explores the struggles Japan’s young people face today with subtlety and incisive criticism in his English-language debut, “People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals Are Nice.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 28, 2023
The curious case of Fuminori Nakamura's genre misalignment
Little do English-language readers know, the author of 'The Rope Artist' and other critically acclaimed books writes on much more than crime.
Japan Times
CULTURE
May 24, 2023
Haruki Murakami wins top books prize in Spain
The €50,000 ($55,000) award is one of eight prizes for the arts, sport and scientific research handed out yearly by a foundation named for Crown Princess Leonor.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 23, 2023
Hell is a crab cannery ship in industrial Japan. The way out? Russia.
Stories of brutality from the era of industrialization are testament to the sacrifice of former generations, sacrifices that resulted in what we take for granted today.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 5, 2023
Why bilingual literature is needed in a place like Japan
Only when Japan’s great stories are translated into other languages can we get a glimpse into the real lives of people living here.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 13, 2023
Haruki Murakami’s first novel in six years hits shelves in Japan
The bestselling author spent three years working nonstop on his new novel, 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls,' which reworks the story of the same title from 1980.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 19, 2023
'The Flowers of Buffoonery': Osamu Dazai's unexpected portrait of camaraderie
The novel adds new texture to the author's classic 'No Longer Human,' while bringing levity to a somewhat dire thesis: The world is full of inauthenticity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 14, 2023
The guilt of fatherhood helped shape Kenzaburo Oe’s literary vision
The award-winning writer attempted to give his disabled son a voice through fiction.
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2023
Nobel-winning Japanese novelist Kenzaburo Oe dies at 88
Oe was regarded as one of Japan’s leading contemporary novelists and was the second Japanese person to win the literary award.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 8, 2023
‘A Kamigata Anthology’: Everyday enjoyments of everyday people
The collection chronicles the rise of the “commoner arts' through genres like travelogs, poetry and easy-reading books that entertained the masses during the Edo Period (1603-1867).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 5, 2023
'Idol, Burning' spotlights obsession and disillusion in a digital world
Rin Usami's novel about a teenage superfan of a J-pop idol plays with ideas of who we worship, what we find meaningful and what brings us love, connection and purpose.
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination
Zensho Holdings, operator of fast-food chain Sukiya, said it will close all of its stores in Japan, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday and Friday following recent contamination incidents.
School-age suicides in Japan hit all-time high
A volunteer handles an incoming call at the Tokyo Befrienders call center, a suicide hotline center in Japan's capital.
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
In Tokyo, Pentagon chief provides assurances that Japan-U.S. alliance remains robust
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left) and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo ahead of their talks Sunday.
Trump is eroding the dollar’s dominance in world markets
U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions are rekindling long-simmering discussions about whether overseas governments will accelerate efforts to less reliance on the dollar.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.
Hanami season to have record ¥1.39 trillion economic impact on Japan
Cherry blossoms along a road in Tokyo on Tuesday. The 2025 cherry blossom season is expected to have an economic impact of around ¥1.39 trillion on Japan.
Rise and shine with ‘The Wakey Show’
“The Wakey Show” is NHK’s first new daily children’s program in three years, and it carries on the station’s storied past in youth-centric educational entertainment.
Tokyo Series proves to be big business for MLB — and Japanese companies
An advertisement featuring Shohei Ohtani in Tokyo.
New SDF command will be key for contingency planning, Australian commander says
A Maritime Self-Defense Force SH-60K "Super Auk" from JS Shiranui prepares to land on HMAS Brisbane during Exercise Malabar 2023 while off the coast of New South Wales, Australia.

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Longform

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By Anton L. Delgado

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