Japanese Literature Summaries
Meet the classics of Japanese literature through their stories, characters and context — the companion site to the Android app.
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- I Am a CatNatsume Sōseki January 1905Meiji society through a cat's eyes
- KokoroNatsume Sōseki April 1914A teacher's loneliness and confession
- The Fiend with Twenty FacesEdogawa Ranpo January 1936The first Boy Detectives Club novel
- No Longer HumanDazai Osamu June 1948Notebooks of a man who played the clown
- The Gold DemonOzaki Kōyō January 1897Betrayed for money on the Atami shore
- BotchanNatsume Sōseki April 1906A hot-headed teacher in the provinces
- Hell ScreenAkutagawa Ryūnosuke May 1918A screen of hell, paid for in blood
- NaomiTanizaki Jun'ichirō March 1924A man's slow surrender to Naomi
- The Crab Cannery ShipKobayashi Takiji May 1929Worked to death, the crew rises
- A Portrait of ShunkinTanizaki Jun'ichirō June 1933A blind master, a devoted disciple
- Night on the Galactic RailroadMiyazawa Kenji 1934A galaxy, and true happiness
- Matasaburō of the WindMiyazawa Kenji 1934A strange new boy who came with the wind
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About this site
All summaries, notes and character descriptions here are written for this site and its app. Quotations from the original works come from Aozora Bunko.