Factbook

A Dynamic Compendium of Interesting Japanese Literary and Publishing Facts

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Japan’s so-called guru of metafiction, Yasutaka Tsutsui, was influenced early on in his career by Ernest Hemingway[UPDATED: 9-3-2026]

Yasutaka Tsutsui, the multi award-winning Japanese science fiction author born in Osaka in the 1930s, who is often cited as one of the post-modern pioneers of Japan’s idiosyncratic and highly creative science fiction, and so-called metafiction, was actually influenced by two American writers when he… Read more »
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Japan’s so-called guru of metafiction, Yasutaka Tsutsui, was influenced early on in his career by Ernest Hemingway Posted September 3rd, 2026 by Richard Nathan
Futabatei Shimei, a Russian speaker who actually wanted to be a diplomat not a writer, left a major literary legacy in Japan[UPDATED: 9-3-2026]

Futabatei Shimei (1864-1909) learnt Russian with the aim of becoming a diplomat or international businessman, but a lack of employment options forced him to turn to writing and translation instead.He was the first Japanese writer to use colloquial language in his writing, avoiding established writing styles,… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- translation
Futabatei Shimei, a Russian speaker who actually wanted to be a diplomat not a writer, left a major literary legacy in Japan Posted September 3rd, 2026 by Richard Nathan
Japan’s most notorious author Yukio Mishima translated and adapted children’s books including children’s editions of Shakespeare[UPDATED: 9-3-2026]

Yukio Mishima (1925-1970), one of Japan’s most famous authors and probably the nation’s most notorious, wrote 40 novels, 18 plays, 20 books of short stories, books of essays, hundreds of poems, as well as plays and film scripts before he died at the age of… Read more »
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- Children's
- Mishima
- translation
Japan’s most notorious author Yukio Mishima translated and adapted children’s books including children’s editions of Shakespeare Posted September 3rd, 2026 by Richard Nathan
A book about an aquatic man by Kobo Abe written at the height of the Cold War is considered by some as one of the best works of science fiction written by a Japanese author[UPDATED: 3-31-2026]

Kobo Abe (1924-1993) dubbed ‘The Kafka of Japan’ wrote about many things including for instance robots and the robotic existence of modern life in Japan, but his book Inter Ice Age 4, published at the height of the Cold War in 1959, is arguably one… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Science Fiction
A book about an aquatic man by Kobo Abe written at the height of the Cold War is considered by some as one of the best works of science fiction written by a Japanese author Posted March 31st, 2026 by Richard Nathan
Japan’s most famous poet is a 17th century Zen Buddhist named Basho[UPDATED: 3-31-2026]

Matsuo Kinsaku, the 17th-century Japanese haiku master, more commonly known as Basho, the son of a minor samurai born near Kyoto in 1644, is said to be Japan’s most famous poet, as well as one of the world’s most influential. He is the undisputed master of… Read more »
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- Poetry
Japan’s most famous poet is a 17th century Zen Buddhist named Basho Posted March 31st, 2026 by Richard Nathan
The arrival of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Japan in 1895 spawned thousands of translations and adaptions – with more Japanese translations than any other language[UPDATED: 3-31-2026]

According to some academics the first Japanese translations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) appeared in two Japanese magazines in serial form in 1895 and 1899, Shonen Sekai (A Boy’s World) and Shojo Sekai (Girl’s World).These translations, however, have little resemblance to… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- translation
The arrival of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Japan in 1895 spawned thousands of translations and adaptions – with more Japanese translations than any other language Posted March 31st, 2026 by Richard Nathan
Japan’s two oldest history books were translated into English for the first time by two British Japanologists in 1882 and 1896[UPDATED: 3-31-2026]

The best sources for myths about the foundation of the Land of the Rising Sun are two early chronicles, the Kojiki, the Record of Ancient Things, and the Nihongi, the Japanese Chronicles.The Koji was complied in 712 and is the oldest extant Japanese book, while… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- History
- translation
Japan’s two oldest history books were translated into English for the first time by two British Japanologists in 1882 and 1896 Posted March 31st, 2026 by Richard Nathan
William Shakespeare and the first Tokugawa Shogun are linked by one very important fact[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543-1616), who founded a military state and a dynasty of shoguns that lasted 265 years, would not look out of place in one of Shakespeare’s Machiavellian plays. Most of Shakespeare’s works were produced between 1589-1613 when Tokugawa was busy building alliances and fighting historically… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- History
- Shakespeare
- Shogun
William Shakespeare and the first Tokugawa Shogun are linked by one very important fact Posted March 11th, 2026 by Richard Nathan

Factbook

Japan’s so-called guru of metafiction, Yasutaka Tsutsui, was influenced early on in his career by Ernest Hemingway[UPDATED: 9-3-2026]

Futabatei Shimei, a Russian speaker who actually wanted to be a diplomat not a writer, left a major literary legacy in Japan[UPDATED: 9-3-2026]

Japan’s most notorious author Yukio Mishima translated and adapted children’s books including children’s editions of Shakespeare[UPDATED: 9-3-2026]

A book about an aquatic man by Kobo Abe written at the height of the Cold War is considered by some as one of the best works of science fiction written by a Japanese author[UPDATED: 3-31-2026]

Japan’s most famous poet is a 17th century Zen Buddhist named Basho[UPDATED: 3-31-2026]

The arrival of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Japan in 1895 spawned thousands of translations and adaptions – with more Japanese translations than any other language[UPDATED: 3-31-2026]

Japan’s two oldest history books were translated into English for the first time by two British Japanologists in 1882 and 1896[UPDATED: 3-31-2026]

William Shakespeare and the first Tokugawa Shogun are linked by one very important fact[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

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