New Books Network Pedro Thiago Ramos Bassoe, "Supernatural Japan: Izumi Kyoka and the Global Fantastic" (U Michigan Press, 2026)
Mar 18, 2026
Pedro Thiago Ramos Bassoe, Assistant Professor of Japanese at Purdue and author of Supernatural Japan, explores Izumi Kyōka as a founder of modern Japanese fantastic fiction. He traces Kyōka’s mountain settings, premodern illustrated influences, and surprising European sources like Mérimée and Maupassant. Multiple short takes on how Japanese traditions and global texts blend to shape Kyōka’s strange tales.
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Izumi Kyoka As Founder Of Modern Fantastic Literature
- Izumi Kyoka is best understood as the founding figure of modern Japanese fantastic literature, blending adventure, ghosts, and modernist sensibilities.
- Pedro Bassoe discovered Kyoka through The Holy Man of Mount Koya and saw a distinct shift from realist modernists toward a new gensou bungaku tradition.
Real Japanese Landscapes Become Uncanny Settings
- Kyoka's landscapes anchor his fantasy in real modern Japan by reworking identifiable places like Kanazawa and central Honshu into uncanny settings.
- Bassoe highlights mountain atmospheres—snow, rain, Japanese Alps—that make familiar locales feel removed and uncanny in Kyoka's narratives.
Kusazoshi Shaped Kyoka's Pre-Modern Fantastical Roots
- Pre-modern kusazoshi (grass books) strongly inform Kyoka's imaginative palette through illustrated, action-packed tales of magic and heroes.
- Bassoe traces Kyoka's childhood exposure and family collecting of kusazoshi like Shiranui Monogatari that include motifs such as spider-summoning antagonists.
