Japanese Literature discussion

The Japanese Literature Goodreads group has been around for a while and its book club has a long history. We figured we'd make an index of all past and present book club books, with links to their respective topics.

Please scroll down for an index of authors that have had multiple book club reads over the years.

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2025-09: Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata: topic
2025-09: Strange Houses - Uketsu: topic
2025-08: The Housekeeper and the Professor - Yōko Ogawa: topic
2025-07: Lonely Castle in the Mirror - Mizuki Tsujimura: topic
2025-06: Hunchback - Saou Ichikawa: topic
2025-05: Strange Pictures - Uketsu: topic
2025-04: Under the Eye of the Big Bird - Hiromi Kawakami: topic
2025-03: First Love - Rio Shimamoto: topic
2025-02: Swan Knight - Fumio Takano: topic
2025-01~02: (NF) Confessions of a Yakuza: A Life in Japan's Underworld - Junichi Saga: topic
2025-01: The City and Its Uncertain Walls - Haruki Murakami: topic
2025-01: Tokyo Ueno Station - Yū Miri: topic

2024-12: The Memory Police - Yōko Ogawa: topic
2024-11: Mina's Matchbox - Yōko Ogawa: topic
2024-10: Scattered All Over the Earth - Yōko Tawada: topic
2024-09: The Book of the Dead - Shinobu Orikuchi: topic
2024-08: Real World - Natsuo Kirino: topic
2024-07: Butter - Asako Yuzuki: topic
2024-06: When I Whistle: A Novel - Shūsaku Endō: topic
2024-05: Breasts and Eggs - Mieko Kawakami: topic
2024-04: The Setting Sun - Osamu Dazai: topic
2024-03: The Premonition - Banana Yoshimoto: topic
2024-02: Places - Jakuchō Setouchi: topic
2024-01: Night on the Galactic Railroad and Other Stories from Ihatov - Kenji Miyazawa: topic

2023-12: How Do You Live? - Genzaburo Yoshino: topic
2023-11: What You Are Looking For Is in the Library - Michiko Aoyama: topic
2023-10: Diary of a Void - Emi Yagi: topic
2023-09: Rental Person Who Does Nothing - Shoji Morimoto: topic
2023-08: The Flowers of Buffoonery - Osamu Dazai: topic
2023-07: Sweet Bean Paste - Durian Sukegawa: topic
2023-06: The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories - Jay Rubin: topic
2023-06: The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories - Theodore W. Goossen: topic
2023-05: Death on Gokumon Island - Seishi Yokomizo: topic
2023-04: In The Shade of Spring Leaves: The Life of Higuchi Ichiyo, With Nine of Her Best Stories - Ichiyō Higuchi: topic
2023-03: The Old Capital - Yasunari Kawabata: topic
2023-02: The Lake - Banana Yoshimoto: topic

2022-12: Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window - Tetsuko Kuroyanagi: topic
2022-11: Inheritors - Asako Serizawa: topic
2022-10: Inheritance from Mother - Minae Mizumura: topic
2022-09: In Black and White - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki: topic
2022-08: All the Lovers in the Night - Mieko Kawakami: topic
2022-07: Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories - Ryūnosuke Akutagawa: topic
2022-06: The Forest of Wool and Steel - Natsu Miyashita: topic
2022-05: Spark - Naoki Matayoshi: topic
2022-04: A Man - Keiichirō Hirano: topic
2022-03: Slow Boat - Hideo Furukawa: topic
2022-02: Terminal Boredom: Stories - Izumi Suzuki: topic
2022-01: Spring Snow - Yukio Mishima: topic

2021-12: Things Remembered and Things Forgotten - Kyōko Nakajima: topic
2021-11: Astral Season, Beastly Season - Tahi Saihate: topic
2021-10: Bullet Train - Kōtarō Isaka: topic
2021-09: Flowers of Grass - Takehiko Fukunaga: topic
2021-08: The Box Man - Kōbō Abe: topic
2021-07: Lonely Castle in the Mirror - Mizuki Tsujimura: topic
2021-06: There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job - Kikuko Tsumura: topic
2021-05: Masks - Fumiko Enchi: topic
2021-04: First Snow on Fuji - Yasunari Kawabata: topic
2021-04: The Bear and the Paving Stone - Toshiyuki Horie: topic
2021-03: Life for Sale - Yukio Mishima: topic
2021-02: The Samurai - Shūsaku Endō: topic
2021-01: Where the Wild Ladies Are - Aoko Matsuda: topic

2020-12: Earthlings - Sayaka Murata: topic
2020-11: Thirst for Love - Yukio Mishima: topic
2020-10: Out - Natsuo Kirino: topic
2020-09: Tokyo Ueno Station - Yū Miri: topic
2020-08: Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi: topic
2020-07: Revenge - Yōko Ogawa: topic
2020-07~10: The Tale of Genji - Murasaki Shikibu: topic
2020-06: A Man - Keiichirō Hirano: topic
2020-06: Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata: topic
2020-05: Shipwrecks - Akira Yoshimura: topic
2020-04: The Emissary - Yōko Tawada: topic
2020-03: Everyday Life in Traditional Japan - Charles J. Dunn: topic
2020-03: The Lake - Banana Yoshimoto: topic
2020-02: Go - Kazuki Kaneshiro: topic
2020-01: The Woman in the Dunes - Kōbō Abe: topic

2019-12: The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino - Hiromi Kawakami: topic
2019-11: Villain - Shūichi Yoshida: topic
2019-10: The Memory Police - Yōko Ogawa: topic
2019-09: Life of a Counterfeiter - Yasushi Inoue: topic
2019-08: Murder in the Crooked House - Sōji Shimada: topic
2019-07: Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche - Haruki Murakami: topic
2019-06: Evil and the Mask - Fuminori Nakamura: topic
2019-05: Requiem - Shizuko Gō: topic
2019-04: The Lady Killer - Masako Togawa: topic
2019-03: The Sound of the Mountain - Yasunari Kawabata: topic
2019-02: The Great Passage - Shion Miura: topic
2019-01: The Changeling - Kenzaburō Ōe: topic

2018-12: Newcomer - Keigo Higashino: topic
2018-11: Killing Commendatore - Haruki Murakami: topic
2018-10: All She Was Worth - Miyuki Miyabe: topic
2018-09: The Three-Cornered World - Natsume Sōseki: topic
2018-08: Sweet Bean Paste - Durian Sukegawa: topic
2018-07: A Dark Night's Passing - Naoya Shiga: topic
2018-06: The Decay of the Angel - Yukio Mishima: topic
2018-05: A Pale View of Hills - Kazuo Ishiguro: topic , spoiler topic
2018-04: Naoko - Keigo Higashino: topic
2018-03: The Nakano Thrift Shop - Hiromi Kawakami: topic
2018-02: Light and Darkness - Natsume Sōseki: topic
2018-01: The Doctor's Wife - Sawako Ariyoshi: topic

2017-12: The Sound of Waves - Yukio Mishima: topic
2017-11: The Makioka Sisters - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki: topic
2017-10: The Graveyard Apartment - Mariko Koike: topic
2017-09: Apparitions: Ghosts of Old Edo - Miyuki Miyabe: topic
2017-08: Black Rain - Masuji Ibuse: topic
2017-07: Some Prefer Nettles - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki: topic
2017-06: Moshi Moshi - Banana Yoshimoto: topic
2017-05: The Temple of Dawn - Yukio Mishima: topic
2017-03: Jasmine - Noboru Tsujihara: topic
2017-03: The River Ki - Sawako Ariyoshi: topic
2017-02: I Am a Cat - Natsume Sōseki: topic
2017-01: The Hunting Gun - Yasushi Inoue: topic

2016-12: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami: topic
2016-11: Kokoro - Natsume Sōseki: topic
2016-10: Secret Rendezvous - Kōbō Abe: topic
2016-09: Hell Screen - Ryūnosuke Akutagawa: topic
2016-08: The Book of Tea - Kakuzō Okakura: topic
2016-07: Twinkle Twinkle - Kaori Ekuni: topic
2016-05: Runaway Horses - Yukio Mishima: topic
2016-04-05: A Bride's Story, Vol. 1-2 - Kaoru Mori: topic
2016-04: Buddha, Vol. 1: Kapilavastu - Osamu Tezuka: topic
2016-03: Schoolgirl - Osamu Dazai: topic
2016-01: The Waiting Years - Fumiko Enchi: topic

2015-11: Silence - Shūsaku Endō: topic

2015-09: The Sound of the Mountain - Yasunari Kawabata: topic
2015-08: Spring Snow - Yukio Mishima: part 1 , part 2 , part 3
2015-07: The Woman in the Dunes - Kōbō Abe: ch 1-5 , ch 1-10 , ch 10-20 , ch 10-end

2014-04: The Makioka Sisters - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki: topic
2014-02: Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto: topic
2014-02: Botchan - Natsume Sōseki: topic

2013-04: The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino: topic
2013-04: The Old Capital - Yasunari Kawabata: topic
2013-02-03: Kokoro - Natsume Sōseki: topic

2011-09: Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami: topic
2011-07: Botchan - Natsume Sōseki: topic
2011-06: The Makioka Sisters - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki: topic

2010-01: A Personal Matter - Kenzaburō Ōe: topic

2009-09: Beauty and Sadness - Yasunari Kawabata: topic

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List of authors that have had multiple book club reads:

Kōbō Abe
2021-08: The Box Man: topic
2020-01: The Woman in the Dunes: topic
2016-10: Secret Rendezvous: topic
2015-07: The Woman in the Dunes: ch 1-5 , ch 1-10 , ch 10-20 , ch 10-end

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
2022-07: Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories: topic
2016-09: Hell Screen: topic

Osamu Dazai
2024-04: The Setting Sun: topic
2023-08: The Flowers of Buffoonery: topic
2016-03: Schoolgirl: topic

Fumiko Enchi
2021-05: Masks: topic
2016-01: The Waiting Years: topic

Shūsaku Endō
2024-06: When I Whistle: A Novel: topic
2021-02: The Samurai: topic
2015-11: Silence: topic

Keigo Higashino
2018-12: Newcomer: topic
2018-04: Naoko: topic
2013-04: The Devotion of Suspect X: topic

Yasunari Kawabata
2023-03: The Old Capital: topic
2021-04: First Snow on Fuji: topic
2019-03: The Sound of the Mountain: topic
2015-09: The Sound of the Mountain: topic
2013-04: The Old Capital: topic
2009-09: Beauty and Sadness: topic

Hiromi Kawakami
2025-04: Under the Eye of the Big Bird: topic
2019-12: The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino: topic
2018-03: The Nakano Thrift Shop: topic

Mieko Kawakami
2024-05: Breasts and Eggs: topic
2022-08: All the Lovers in the Night: topic

Natsuo Kirino
2024-08: Real World: topic
2020-10: Out: topic

Yukio Mishima
2022-01: Spring Snow: topic
2021-03: Life for Sale: topic
2020-11: Thirst for Love: topic
2018-06: The Decay of the Angel: topic
2017-12: The Sound of Waves: topic
2017-05: The Temple of Dawn: topic
2016-05: Runaway Horses: topic
2015-08: Spring Snow: part 1 , part 2 , part 3

Haruki Murakami
2025-01: The City and Its Uncertain Walls: topic
2019-07: Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche: topic
2018-11: Killing Commendatore: topic
2016-12: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: topic
2011-09: Norwegian Wood: topic

Sayaka Murata
2025-09: Convenience Store Woman: topic
2020-12: Earthlings: topic
2020-06: Convenience Store Woman: topic

Kenzaburō Ōe
2019-01: The Changeling: topic
2010-01: A Personal Matter: topic

Yōko Ogawa
2025-08: The Housekeeper and the Professor: topic
2024-12: The Memory Police: topic
2024-11: Mina's Matchbox: topic
2020-07: Revenge: topic
2019-10: The Memory Police: topic

Natsume Sōseki
2018-09: The Three-Cornered World: topic
2018-02: Light and Darkness: topic
2017-02: I Am a Cat: topic
2016-11: Kokoro: topic
2014-02: Botchan: topic
2013-02~03: Kokoro: topic
2011-07: Botchan: topic

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
2022-09: In Black and White: topic
2017-11: The Makioka Sisters: topic
2017-07: Some Prefer Nettles: topic
2014-04: The Makioka Sisters: topic
2011-06: The Makioka Sisters: topic

Uketsu
2025-09: Strange Houses: topic
2025-05: Strange Pictures: topic

Banana Yoshimoto
2024-03: The Premonition: topic
2023-02: The Lake: topic
2020-03: The Lake: topic
2017-06: Moshi Moshi: topic
2014-02: Kitchen: topic