Well, literature… What I really like is being told stories. And that means you can try anything.
Japan: Japan as Seen by 17 Authors. Collective work (2005) There are so many manga translations available in French that it can be hard to know where to start when browsing a bookshop. If you have decided that Dragon Ball and One Piece are not really your cup of tea, I recommend this collection of short comic-book stories.
Half of them are by French writers and illustrators recounting their encounters with Japan. It even includes Joann Sfar! The other half are by Japanese creators. Among them, I particularly love Jiro Taniguchi’s writing and drawing style.
If you enjoy Summer Sky in this collection, try A Distant Neighborhood or The Solitary Gourmet. Or perhaps… Quartier Lointain, ou Le Gourmet Solitaire. Ou encore…
The Elm Tree (Keyaki no Ki, 欅の木). Jiro Taniguchi (1993) This belongs in the graphic novel category, but it is quite serious—almost literary, I would say. The volume is a collaboration with Ryuichiro Utsumi and contains eight stories exploring the passage of time, relationships between generations, and childhood.
The stories are set in a thoroughly modern world, and it is a pleasure to be instantly transported into such a warm and contemporary Japan. The first story caught my attention because its setting—and even its title—directly evoke the work of one of the great masters of twentieth-century Japanese literature…
Japon
Inoue Yasushi
Mr. Ushioda’s Sundays (Keyaki no Ki—yes, 欅の木 again). Yasushi Inoue (1970) 欅の木). Inoue Yasushi (1970). To take one step further into classic literature, I recommend spending a few Sundays with Mr. Ushioda. The story is set a little further back in time, in the Japan of the 1960s. Yet the questions it raises about ecology and what we pass on to our children are still very relevant today, and they are treated with great tenderness.
Mr. Ushioda is a company director nearing the end of his career who, with more time on his hands, becomes an unlikely defender—through the pages of a newspaper—of Japan’s magnificent keyaki trees. Yes, Japan has more than just momiji!
The Black Lizard (Kuro Tokage). Edogawa Ranpo (1934) My final recommendation for today is Japanese crime fiction. I do not know French detective novels very well, but Japan has a significant tradition of mystery writers. They were originally influenced by authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe.
The author of The Black Lizard even chose a pen name that pays tribute to Poe: through Japanese phonetics, Edgar Allan Poe became Edogawa Ranpo 🙂
In 1947, he also founded the Mystery Writers of Japan club, which was renamed the Mystery Writers of Japan association in 1963. Each year, it awards highly coveted literary prizes.
Literature
Well, literature… What I really like is being told stories. And that means you can try anything.
Japan: Japan as Seen by 17 Authors. Collective work (2005)
There are so many manga translations available in French that it can be hard to know where to start when browsing a bookshop. If you have decided that Dragon Ball and One Piece are not really your cup of tea, I recommend this collection of short comic-book stories. Half of them are by French writers and illustrators recounting their encounters with Japan. It even includes Joann Sfar! The other half are by Japanese creators. Among them, I particularly love Jiro Taniguchi’s writing and drawing style. If you enjoy Summer Sky in this collection, try A Distant Neighborhood or The Solitary Gourmet. Or perhaps… Quartier Lointain, ou Le Gourmet Solitaire. Ou encore…
The Elm Tree (Keyaki no Ki, 欅の木). Jiro Taniguchi (1993)
This belongs in the graphic novel category, but it is quite serious—almost literary, I would say. The volume is a collaboration with Ryuichiro Utsumi and contains eight stories exploring the passage of time, relationships between generations, and childhood. The stories are set in a thoroughly modern world, and it is a pleasure to be instantly transported into such a warm and contemporary Japan. The first story caught my attention because its setting—and even its title—directly evoke the work of one of the great masters of twentieth-century Japanese literature…
Mr. Ushioda’s Sundays (Keyaki no Ki—yes, 欅の木 again). Yasushi Inoue (1970) 欅の木). Inoue Yasushi (1970).
To take one step further into classic literature, I recommend spending a few Sundays with Mr. Ushioda. The story is set a little further back in time, in the Japan of the 1960s. Yet the questions it raises about ecology and what we pass on to our children are still very relevant today, and they are treated with great tenderness. Mr. Ushioda is a company director nearing the end of his career who, with more time on his hands, becomes an unlikely defender—through the pages of a newspaper—of Japan’s magnificent keyaki trees. Yes, Japan has more than just momiji!
The Black Lizard (Kuro Tokage). Edogawa Ranpo (1934)
My final recommendation for today is Japanese crime fiction. I do not know French detective novels very well, but Japan has a significant tradition of mystery writers. They were originally influenced by authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. The author of The Black Lizard even chose a pen name that pays tribute to Poe: through Japanese phonetics, Edgar Allan Poe became Edogawa Ranpo 🙂 In 1947, he also founded the Mystery Writers of Japan club, which was renamed the Mystery Writers of Japan association in 1963. Each year, it awards highly coveted literary prizes.
Go on—treat yourself to a Japanese book. 😉