Classic Japanese Literature

Japanese culture has fascinated the West ever since the country’s doors opened up in the 1800s. In many ways, Japan has remained elusive, and people have travelled from all around the world to see for themselves how unique this nation remains. Another way of exploring this enigmatic culture is through its literature. The English language succeeds surprisingly well in revealing the Japanese sense of life.

Here are 22 charming Japanese Fairy Tales, translated by Yei Theodora Ozaki, including "My Lord Bag of Rice", "The Tongue-Cut Sparrow", "The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad", "The Farmer and the Badger", "The Shinansha, or the South Pointing Carriage", "The Adventures of Kintaro, the Golden Boy", "The Story of Princess Hase", "The Story of the Man Who Did Not Wish to Die", "The Bamboo-Cutter and the Moonchild", "The Mirror of Matsuyama", and more.

Japanese Folktales is the most complete collection of Japanese stories in English. It introduces listeners to the enchanting world of ghouls, goblins, ogres, sea kings, magical birds, dragons and of course, Momotaro, the lovable Peach Boy.

Brought to you by Penguin. Toru Okada's cat has disappeared and this has unsettled his wife, who is herself growing more distant every day. Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has started receiving. As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada's...

“Soseki is the representative modern Japanese novelist, a figure of truly national stature.”—Haruki Murakami The father of modern Japanese literature's best-loved novel, in its first new English translation in half a century No collection of Japanese literature is complete without Natsume...

The Narrow Road to the Interior and Hojoki are two of the best-loved works of their kind; famous for their beautiful, delicate verse and subtle insight into the human condition. It has been said of The Narrow Road that 'it was as if the very soul of Japan had itself written it'. It takes the form of a travel diary, and traces the poet's journey from Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to the northern interior.

Brought to you by Penguin. While on a business trip to Kobe, Tsuneo Asai receives the news that his wife Eiko has died of a heart attack. Eiko had a heart condition so the news of her death wasn't totally unexpected. But the circumstances of her demise left Tsuneo, a softly spoken government...

読み聞かせでもなく、サウンドドラマでもない。オーディオブックならではの圧倒的な表現力と、必要最小限の演出。誰もが知っている"はず"のシェイクスピア作品をダイジェストにして続々お届けします。 覇権争う二名家が、ところは花のヴェローナにて、積もる恨みもまたも新たに、血で血を洗う内輪もめ。憎む両家の恋人同士、幸も薄くその身を滅ぼす。やがて悲しき恋の果て、その死をもって恨みを葬る。死の影まとう恋の道行き、両家の恨みのつのるさま、子らが果てねば解けはせぬ。今より話が小一時間、みなさま耳をしばし拝借、至らぬところはご容赦あれ。 ※本商品はラム姉弟『シェイクスピア物語』をもとに、シェイクスピアの原典にある詩を加え、再編集しています。 ・Charles and Mary Lamb's TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE: ROMEO AND JULIET

Brought to you by Penguin. With the Second World War only a few years in the past, and Japan still reeling from its effects, two sisters - born to the same father but different mothers - struggle to make sense of the new world in which they are coming of age. Asako, the younger, has become...

Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji - widely considered the world’s first novel - during the early years of the 11th century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation of ethical concerns and aesthetic ideals, Murasaki’s tale came to occupy a central place in Japan’s remarkable history of artistic achievement and is now recognized as a masterpiece of world literature.

A humble clerk and his loving wife scrape out a quiet existence on the margins of Tokyo. Resigned, following years of exile and misfortune, to the bitter consequences of having married without their families' consent, and unable to have children of their own, Sosuke and Oyone find the delicate equilibrium of their household upset by a new obligation to meet the educational expenses of Sosuke's brash younger brother. While an unlikely new friendship appears to offer a way out of this bind, it also soon threatens to dredge up a past that could once again force them to flee the capital.

A stunning new English translation—the first in more than forty years—of a major novel by the father of modern Japanese fiction Natsume Soseki's Kusamakura—meaning “grass pillow”—follows its nameless young artist-narrator on a meandering walking tour of the mountains. At the inn at a...

Ex-archaeology grad student turned international antiquities thief Alix - better known now as Owl - has one rule. No supernatural jobs. Ever. Until she crosses paths with Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns and runs the Japanese Circus Casino in Las Vegas. He insists Owl retrieve an artifact stolen 3,000 years ago and makes her an offer she can't refuse: He'll get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead.

匂宮は宇治へ行き、薫と偽って浮舟と契りを交わす。浮舟は匂宮の情熱に惹かれるが、二人の関係が薫に知られ、入水を決意する。浮舟の愛と性愛、その結末とは…。「浮舟」から「夢浮橋」まで収録の完結巻。

女と男の心模様を描く、平安の珠玉の物語古典文学の主要作品をセレクトし、現代語訳と原文とで構成した「日本の古典をよむ」（全20冊）シリーズの1冊です。現存最古の物語「竹取物語」、在原業平の歌を中心に編纂された歌物語「伊勢物語」、短編物語集「堤中納言物語」を収録。また、文学紀行コラムも収録しています。

栄華を極める光源氏への女三の宮の降嫁から運命が急変する。柏木と女三の宮の密通を知った光源氏は因果応報に慄く。すれ違う男女の思い、苦悩、悲しみ。最高峰「若菜（上・下）」から「鈴虫」までを収録。

宇治の八の宮亡きあと、妹・中の君は匂宮と結ばれるが、姉・大君は薫の求愛を拒み続け亡くなってしまう。薫は大君によく似た異母兄妹の浮舟を知り、惹かれていく。「総角」から「東屋」までを収録。

女と男の心模様を描く、平安の珠玉の物語訳文で楽しむ「現代語訳編」古典文学の主要作品をセレクトし、現代語訳と原文とで構成した「日本の古典をよむ」（全20冊）シリーズの1冊です。現存最古の物語「竹取物語」、在原業平の歌を中心に編纂された歌物語「伊勢物語」、短編物語集「堤中納言物語」を収録した本書から、現代語訳部分を集めたものです。

女と男の心模様を描く、平安の珠玉の物語古文の響きを味わう「原文編」古典文学の主要作品をセレクトし、現代語訳と原文とで構成した「日本の古典をよむ」（全20冊）シリーズの1冊です。現存最古の物語「竹取物語」、在原業平の歌を中心に編纂された歌物語「伊勢物語」、短編物語集「堤中納言物語」を収録した本書から、原文部分を集めたものです。

生きる苦しさと、愛するかなしみ。紫の上の死を迎え、悲しみにくれる光君は出家を決意し、光源氏の物語はしめやかに終焉に向かう。そして新たな物語、薫と匂宮が姫君たちと繰り広げる「宇治十帖」へ！