Read Japanese Literature

In this episode, we’re looking at the Meiji Era of Japanese history and its literature.The shogunate is replaced.Japan looks outward to the West and inward toward itself.And a man named Natsume Sōseki chronicles it all from the perspective of a stray cat.Notes and sources are available on the podcast episode webpage.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature. 

In this episode, we’ll be talking about Ueda Akinari and his Tales of Moonlight and Rain, some of the most influential Japanese ghost stories ever written.- A raging intellectual debate- A supernatural party game- And a friend just dying to keep his promisesFor notes, links to the suggested reading, and an illustration of Okiku, please visit the episode's webpage.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature. 

How does “this fleeting world” transform from a Buddhist precept to a name for the red-light district?What did reading look like in early Modern Japan?And how many dildos does a man need to pack for a trip to the Island of Women?For notes, links to the suggested reading, and an illustration of sailing to the Island of Women, please visit the episode's webpage.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature. 

Enjoy the story of a vengeful would-be lover who turns into a 40-foot snake, a sharp-witted woman with criticisms of her husband’s equipment, and a curmudgeonly Buddhist priest who learns to love poetry. In this episode, we’re talking about setsuwa—medieval Japanese anecdotes. Many of them originate as Buddhist preaching, so we’ll also take a look at “Kamakura Buddhisms”: Pure Land, Zen, and Nichiren. For notes, links to the suggested reading, and a great picture of Kiyohime as a fire-breathing snake, please visit the episode's webpage.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature. 

We're talking about two central genres of Medieval Japanese literature—the warrior ballad and Noh drama. We’ll see two characters from The Tale of the Heike again, including the valiant female warrior Tomoe. This time, she's a mournful ghost.https://readjapaneseliterature.com/2021/12/22/episode-4-yoshitsune-ballads-and-tomoe-drama/Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature. 

The great samurai epic and the rise of the samurai class.Visit this episode's webpage for information on buying the book and resources for further reading.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature. 

The world's oldest novel. A hero who is a paragon of beauty with an extreme Oedipus complex.(CW: sex, rape, incest, pedophilia.)Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature. 

Gods having sex, founding of the imperial dynasty, and some of the origins of WWII. Plus thoughts on the role of women in early Japanese history.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature.