Tag: 夏目 漱石

20 Best Japanese Novels I’ve Read

Below is the list of twenty best Japanese novels I have read so far. At first, I wanted to review either How Can My Manager Be So Stupid? [2019/26] by Hayami Kazumasa or Dinner at the Night Library [2023/25] by Hika Harada, but neither of these books engaged me enough to write a proper review, so, instead, I have decided to look back at the Japanese books I have read, and pick out those that stayed with me for one reason or another, making this list of best Japanese novels (I have reviewed eleven out of the twenty below). I still want to read quite a number of books by Shūsaku Endō and Natsume Sōseki, so this list is not final, but rather a work in-progress. I am excluding manga, short stories and non-fiction. One caveat, though, is that I don’t get along with the hugely popular Haruki Murakami, nor with the fiction of Junichirō Tanizaki, though I love his essay In Praise of Shadows.

Book cover of 'The Tale of Genji' by Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Edward Seidensticker, featuring traditional Japanese artwork with figures and landscapes.
Book cover for 'Silence' by Shūsaku Endō, featuring a stylized illustration of a figure against a large red sun with a blood-like droplet, and text indicating it will be a major motion picture.
Book cover of 'The Waiting Years' by Fumiko Enchi, featuring a young woman in traditional Japanese attire against a monochrome background.
Book cover of 'The Old Capital' by Yasunari Kawabata, featuring a floral design and the text 'Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature'.
Book cover of 'How Do You Live?' by Genzaburo Yoshino, featuring a child sitting on a large, colorful abstract shape against a light background, with the title prominently displayed.

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

Silence by Shūsaku Endō

The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi

The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata

How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino

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Review: Botchan by Natsume Sōseki 

Botchan [1906/2012] – ★★★★

In this novel by Natsume Sōseki, one reckless and boisterous young man from Tokyo somehow manages to finish school and an institute and gets the position of a mathematics teacher in a small town on the island of Shikoku. The fun begins then and there because “Botchan” (this young man’s nickname) never actually stopped being his frivolous and naughty self and now, apparently, has to be a role model for others. Sōseki’s story is humorous and delightful. Through the first-person narrator, who is a cheeky, self-assured young man, we see the contrast between the small town and the city, Japan’s hierarchical structures clashing with attempts at modernisation, and daily formalities going head-to-head with hearts full of fire and childish honesty.

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