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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 2h

I need to rewrite my review before I send it in. I was captured by the tonal difference between the story and the film, but my first attempt to put that into words overstated the case. 😓

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 22h

I did! I decided my review was wrong and now need to re-write it. 😅

But the translation is up on the website!

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 23h

Happy birthday to Akiyuki Nosaka, born October 10, 1930.

Learn more about Nosaka with the RJL podcast.

Episode 12—Japanese Literature in WWII - Read Japanese Literature

The 1930s and 40s in Japan—fascism, World War Two, and the American Occupation. In particular, how did 20 years of censorship shape Japanese literature? We're also taking a look at the life and work …

https://readjapaneseliterature.com/Podcast/Episode+12—Japanese+Literature+in+WWII

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Words Without Borders & WWB Campus @wwborders.bsky.social · 1d

Translator Polly Barton talks with us about HUNCHBACK, longlisted for the 2025 National Book Award for Translated Literature. Read the interview here, as well as all our interviews in this series:

The National Book Award Interviews: Polly Barton - Words Without Borders

Translator Polly Barton talks with us about "Hunchback," longlisted for the 2025 National Book Award for Translated Literature.

wordswithoutborders.org

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Brian Bergstrom @brianbergstrom.bsky.social · 1d

I translate from Japanese to English, and work with authors like Erika Kobayashi, Kōhei Saitō, Tomoyuki Hoshino, & Kōtarō Isaka. Forthcoming are new works by Saitō and the late, great Fumio Yamamoto, and a short piece by Hoshino. I'm going to be in Toronto at the end of the month talking w/Isaka!

Graphic for my upcoming event in Toronto: Crafting Twists and Thrills: A Conversation with Author Isaka Kōtarō (Japan Foundation Toronto)

A picture from a recent event at Argo Bookstore where I'm posing with a table decorated with some books I've translated as a whole or collections containing short pieces I've translated: Slow Down by Kōhei Saitō, Sunrise by Erika Kobayashi, Animals Brag About Their Bottoms by Maki Saitō, Trinity, Trinity, Trinity by Erika Kobayashi, Hotel Lucky Seven by Kōtarō Isaka, The Dilemmas of Working Women by Fumio Yamamoto, Unusual Fragments: Japanese Stories, and The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories

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Brian Bergstrom @brianbergstrom.bsky.social · 1d

This was a cliché of gay-adjacent narratives in the 90s in Japan, and it seemed regressive then!

cover of the english translation of Eguni Kaori's Twinkle, Twinkle, in which a straight woman marries a gay man on purpose

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Uncanny Japan Podcast--Thersa Matsuura👹👋 @uncannyjapan.bsky.social · 2d

For October, I'm doing a couple #ghost #stories for the #Halloween season.

Here is my retelling of the classic (& tragic) tale of Oiwa, Yotsuya Kaidan. (Remember ad free versions go up for $5 tier and above patrons.)

Listen here🎧: tinyurl.com/ytnxzexs

#spectrevisionradio

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 3d

Celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month with RJL.

(Not sure why the title card says file not found. The file is found!)

Episodes 39-40—LGBTQ Stories from Japan - Read Japanese Literature

Not Found File Podcast/Episodes 39-40—LGBTQ Stories from Japan.md does not exist.

https://readjapaneseliterature.com/Podcast/Episodes+39-40—LGBTQ%2B+Stories+from+Japan

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 3d

North American listeners—enjoy 15 more hours of free shipping at Bookshop's anti-Prime sale.

What a great time to catch up on your RJL TBR!

(Every purchase supports after you click this link supports the podcast. Or switch to shop at your favorite indie bookstore.)

Read Japanese Literature Podcast

Read Japanese Literature is a podcast about Japanese literature and some of its best works.  Find out more at ReadJapaneseLiterature.com.

bookshop.org

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 3d

It’s Bookshop.org here. 🫠

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curious ordinary @curiousordinary.bsky.social · 5d

My next #MythologyMonday book recommendation is 'The Book of Japanese Folklore' by Thersa Matsuura (@uncannyjapan.bsky.social). It introduces a collection of yokai with Thersa's wonderful storytelling and gorgeous illustrations by Michelle Wang. She's also got a #yokai oracle deck on the way.

Front cover of 'The Book of Japanese Folklore'

Illustration of a white nine-tailed fix and red torii in a forest.

Illustration of a tengu, winged being with long red nose.

Open page of book with text about bakeneko and nekomata and illustration to match.

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Gabriella Page-Fort @pagefort.bsky.social · 3d

Looking for a novel that feels as good in your hands as it does in your heart? Here's a very special Japanese-paperback-inspired look for this lovely read about a taxi ride to change your life tr @tnieda.bsky.social
#pubnews #worldliterature #booksky #japanesefiction
@harperonebooks.bsky.social

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 3d

"Young man, aren't you aware that your partner was a wicked demon from hell. Her intention was merely absorbing your vital essence. Once your vital essence is exhausted then it should be your doom!"

Read the earliest known version of what's best known as "The Peony Lantern" for free.

Yuan Dynasty Ghost Tale | PDF | Religion & Spirituality | Mystery, Thriller & Crime Fiction

Qiao was a scholar who lived alone after his wife passed away. One night during the Lantern Festival, he saw a beautiful woman named Fu Liqing carrying a peony lantern. They began meeting every night....

www.scribd.com

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Kathryn Hemmann @kathrynthehuman.bsky.social · 8d

Udon: Unknown Dog of Nobody, available as a gorgeous chapbook from @strangerspress.bsky.social, follows three sisters and their adopted dog into adulthood. Haneko Takayama writes speculative ecofiction about animals, and it's fantastic to see her work in translation! japaneselit.net/2025/10/03/u...

Udon: Unknown Dog of Nobody

Haneko Takayama’s short story Udon: Unknown Dog of Nobody, published by Strangers Press as a stand-alone chapbook in their Kanata series, follows three sisters connected by their love for their fam…

japaneselit.net

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 3d

Happy N American release day to Yasushi Kitagawa's The Lucky Ride, trans Takami Nieda.

Shuichi settles into the backseat of a mysterious taxi and embarks on a series of magical rides that will teach him surprising life lessons.

(Buy today or tomorrow for free shipping!)

The Lucky Ride: A Novel Full of Opportunity

A Novel Full of Opportunity

bookshop.org

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 3d

Bookshop.com is running two-days of anti-Prime free shipping. Now is a great time to stock up on your RJL back-list or get ready for RJL next episode, all about Lafcadio Hearn and different versions of the story "The Peony Lantern".

In Ghostly Japan: Japanese Legends of Ghosts, Yokai, Yurei and Other Oddities

Japanese Legends of Ghosts, Yokai, Yurei and Other Oddities

bookshop.org

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 6d

He was from just about everywhere else… but not Australia.

*Not really. But he could have made reasonable claims to Greece, Britain, Ireland, the US, and Japan for various reasons. He also lived for a time in Martinique.

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Kevin O'Shea @madformaple.bsky.social · 10d

The Ghosts of Okunoin Cemetery and Kōyasan ⛩️

NEW EPISODE! - Supernatural Japan 🇯🇵

Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

#Japan #folklore #travel #SpookySeason #haunted #paranormal #Japanese

@pjacksonmusic.bsky.social
@curiousordinary.bsky.social

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Ginny Tapley Takemori @ginnytkmr.bsky.social · 10d

I guess my job is secure for a while, then!

Japanese literature shows why human translation still counts

AI and translation tech lower barriers to global communication, but literary translation requires the ability to convey tone, rhythm and cultural context.

www.weforum.org

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Kevin O'Shea @madformaple.bsky.social · 10d

The Ghosts of Okunoin Cemetery and Kōyasan ⛩️

NEW EPISODE! - Supernatural Japan 🇯🇵

Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

#Japan #folklore #travel #SpookySeason #haunted #paranormal #Japanese

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Phillip Jackson @pjacksonmusic.bsky.social · 10d

Kicking off Ghostly October with 'Screaming Samurai Ghosts & Kazan Tunnel', the tale of Akechi Mitsuhide & more from the pages of PARANORMAL JAPAN.Other spooky content to check out and get spirits roused includes SUPERNATURAL JAPAN PODCAST @madformaple.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Og...

Screaming Samurai Ghosts and the Kazan Tunnel.

YouTube video by PARANORMAL JAPAN

www.youtube.com

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 10d

Lafcadio Hearn, subject of RJL’s next episode, was… cantankerous.

He once quit his writing job by letter: “Please understand that your resentment has for me less than the value of a bottled fart, and your bank-account less consequence than a wooden shithouse stuck by lightning.”

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 10d

Lafcadio Hearn, subject of RJL’s next episode, was… cantankerous.

He once quit his writing job by letter: “Please understand that your resentment has for me less than the value of a bottled fart, and your bank-account less consequence than a wooden shithouse stuck by lightning.”

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Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.com · 10d

Aoko Matsuda!

Tobias Carroll @tobiascarroll.bsky.social · 10d

I have a new rundown of recent books in translation up at @wwborders.bsky.social!

The Watchlist: September 2025 - Words Without Borders

This International Translation Day, Tobias Carroll recommends poetry by Afghan women, fiction from Croatia and Mozambique, and more.

wordswithoutborders.org

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Jen Calleja @jencalleja.bsky.social · 11d

Happy International Translation Day!

Here’s part of my translation manifesto, which can be found in full at the end of Fair: The Life-Art of Translation.

(Written out in replies)

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