Bestsellers

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin BooksKikuji has been invited to a tea ceremony by a mistress of his dead father, only to find that the mistress' rival...

A rediscovered classic - a Japanese cosy crime novel in translation set at the foot of Mount Fuji, first published in 1982, and now reissued for a 21st century readership...

Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter No Longer Human is the story of Yozo Oba, who, from early childhood, finds it impossible to form meaningful relationships with family or friends. As a...

A biting psychological thriller from the bestselling author of Tokyo Express, now available in English for the first time Onizuka Kumako is a fierce woman- tall, beautiful, and not afraid to...

Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori  The heartbreaking story of two orphans fighting for survival at the end of World War Two, published in English for the first time. In the...

New to our Vintage Classics Murakami Collector's Library - a newly translated, unabridged edition of Murakami's most mind-bendingly brilliant novel. A narrative particle accelerator that zooms between Wild Turkey Whiskey...

A story of a frustrated, confined woman who becomes lost in a psychological maze of her own creation - a labyrinth of jealousy, loneliness and longing.Etsuko is a trapped woman...

From world renowned photographer Michio Hoshino, and with half a million copies sold in Japan, this enduringly popular collection recounts Hoshino's experiences with the wildlife and offers his reflections of...

Translated by Michael Gallagher In 1950s Japan, Doctor Suguro is carrying on a humdrum practice in a small town still recovering from the war. A quiet, withdrawn individual, he has...

Translated by Alexander Bennett A new and unabridged 3-book translation of Eiji Yoshikawa's bestselling novel about Miyamoto Musashi the most famous swordfighter in Japanese history! This is the first book...

Haruki Murakami's third novel, A Wild Sheep Chase is the mystery hybrid which completes the odyssey begun in Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973.The man was leading an aimless life, time passing, one big...

Records of Ancient Matters The classic story of Japan's origins—now in a fully revised and reader-friendly edition. The Kojiki is Japan's oldest surviving text, chronicling the mythical creation of the...

Translated by Rebecca Copeland A piercingly beautiful and candid novel of love, sex and independence in 1920s Japan by a trailblazing Japanese writer “Remarkable . . . [Chiyo] has a...

Translated by Van C. Gessel A gripping adventure story from “a masterly historical writer” about a Japanese expedition to cross the Pacific Ocean in the 17th century (David Mitchell) "A...

WINNER OF THE JAPANESE DETECTIVE WRITERS CLUB PRIZE This prize-winning railway murder mystery from Japan is a crime classic perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Seichō Matsumoto. Early one...

Classic Japanese Ghost Stories Enter the haunted world of Ancient Japan in this spine-tingling collection of ghostly tales told and retold across the centuries. From Goblin infested caves and haunted...

"A breathtakingly beautiful world…reminding us that we are part of the universe." —Kaori Nagai "A modern classic." —NPR Lonely and awkward, Giovanni struggles with his sick mother, absent father, and...

The first English translations of the original novellas about the iconic kaijū Godzilla Godzilla emerged from the sea to devastate Tokyo in the now-classic 1954 film, produced by Tōhō Studios...

Translated by Van C. Gessel A group of Japanese tourists journey to the sacred River Ganges, each on a secret personal pilgrimage. Widower Isobe mourns for the devoted wife he...

Translated by Stephen Snyder FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE MEMORY POLICE'A conspicuously gifted writer...To read Ogawa is to enter a dreamlike state tinged with a nightmare, and her stories continue to...

Translated by Bryan Karetnyk A classic Japanese mystery —a pair of sleuths investigate a series of bloody murders in 19th century Tokyo Tokyo, 1869. It is the dawn of the...

Translated by Donald Keene This powerful novel of a nation in social and moral crisis was first published by New Directions in 1956. Set in the early postwar years, it...

Translated by Kendall Heitzmann Tense, subtly disturbing literary horror from a prize-winning Japanese writer — part of Pushkin's second Japanese Novella series Under strange circumstances, a young girl loses her...

A new selection and translation of short stories by a hugely prominent classic Japanese writer, filled with eroticism and fantasy The sage Confucius visits a cultured duke, whose pursuit of...

Translated by Umeji Sasaki A modern classic in Japan, Botchan is as widely read today as when it was first published, occupying a place in the canon similar to The...

Translated by Thomas Cleary Including The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War by Yagyu Munenori The Book of Five Rings is one of the most insightful texts on...

Translated by Alexander Bennett The epic story concludes as Musashi prepares to take on his greatest rival with his destiny in the balance! This is the third book of Musashi: The...

Translated by Alexander Bennett Musashi's tale continues as he transforms himself from an inexperienced soldier with no direction into Japan's greatest swordsman!This is the second book of Musashi: The Novel, a...

A new translation of Lady Nijo’s diary—one of classical Japan’s greatest literary works Lady Nijo’s A Tale Unasked (Towazugatari) is the last, and arguably the finest, among classical Japanese literature’s...

Discover Haruki Murakami's first two novels.Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 are Haruki Murakami's two first novels - here they are together in one edition.Now I think it's time to tell my...

The haunting, enigmatic love story that turned Murakami into a literary superstar in Japan, and is his bestselling title throughout the worldAutumn 1969, and soon I would be 20.When he...

Translated by Erik Lofgren 1,000 haiku by Soseki Natsume, collected into one volume for the first time! Sōseki Natsume is Japan's most popular writer, well known in the West for...

Considered one of Mishima's masterpieces, this novel is a fictionalised version of real events - the torching of a Kyoto temple by a disturbed Buddhist acolyte in 1950.Mizoguchi grows up...

The second book in Mishima's Sea of Fertility tetraology - this is a story of political violence, traditional samurai values and nihilism.Isao is a young, engaging patriot, and a fanatical...

The fourth and final book in Mishima's landmark tetralogy, The Sea of FertilityThe dramatic climax of The Sea of Fertility tetraology.It is the 1960s and Honda, now an aged and wealthy man, discovers...

The third novel in Mishima's masterful Sea of Fertility tetralogyMishima's literary powers are on full display in his penultimate novel, a meditation on reincarnation and Buddhist philosophy.Honda, a brilliant lawyer and man...

A new selection of lyrically haunting 1960s short stories from a Japanese literary iconA writer is seized by apocalyptic visions, a trio of beatniks dance to modern jazz in the...

No one really understands how we suffer. One day, when we're adults, we may come to recall this suffering, this misery, as silly and laughable, but how are we to...

A powerful, poignant novel about three half sisters in post-war Japan, from the Nobel Prize-winning author of Snow CountryWith the Second World War only a few years in the past, and...

In the late fifteenth century, a young Dominican friar sets out on a journey from Paris to Florence in search of manuscripts of pre-Christian philosophy. Along the way, he encounters...

Translated by Edwin McClellan “Soseki is the representative modern Japanese novelist, a figure of truly national stature.” — Haruki Murukami One of the best-selling novels of all time in Japan:...

An endlessly ingenious battle across Japan between dogged detective Akechi Kogoro and the many-faced thief Gold MaskA frenzied test of wits between ace detective Akechi Kogoro and the seemingly superhuman...

Translated by William Johnston Launched in 1967 to both controversy and acclaim, Silence has solidified its reputation as Shusaku Endo's defining achievement and one of the genre's most influential classics Father Sebastian...

An extraordinary collection of Japanese ghost stories, many in English for the first time! This spine-chilling anthology of 77 spooky stories from the Japanese collection Tales from Shinshu is compiled...

Winner of the Yomiuri Prize and recipient of the 2022-23 William F. Sibley Memorial Subvention Award for Japanese Translation. Introducing Tatsuhiko Shibusawa—Japan’s Italo Calvino—in this fantastical tale of a Japanese...

“Delicate and powerful... a haunting, sensitive meditation on memory as well as a wonderful introduction to a master sorely underappreciated in the West. . . timeless, elegiac, and masterful” –...

A beautiful hardback edition of a great Japanese classic, beautiful, lyrical and deeply ominous. A band of savage thirteen-year-old boys reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical, and sentimental, and...

Translated by Louise Heal Kawai A beautifully written mystery novel that takes on the taboo of Japanese prostitution catering to GIs during the American post-war occupation. Tokyo 1958, Teiko marries...

A timeless psychological study of a young man's deep alienation from society. Set in the early 20th century, Kokoro opens with a chance encounter on a beach near Tokyo that...

This eloquent work on the Japanese sense of beauty explores the subtle interplay of shade and light in several important aspects of Japanese life — architecture, drama, food, femininity and...