Factbook

A Dynamic Compendium of Interesting Japanese Literary and Publishing Facts

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Osamu Dazai, the so-called ‘Bad Boy’ of Japanese literature, was brought up in a room full of poetry in an opulent house belonging to a moneylender[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) famous for his novel No Longer Human, Ningen Shikaku, killing himself at the age of 38, womanising, and being expelled from Tokyo Imperial University, has been dubbed The Bad Boy of Japanese literature.Many of Japan’s most interesting creative writers, such as Fuminori… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Fuminori Nakamura
Osamu Dazai, the so-called ‘Bad Boy’ of Japanese literature, was brought up in a room full of poetry in an opulent house belonging to a moneylender Posted March 11th, 2026 by Richard Nathan
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein only became available in Japanese in 1953, 135 years after its publication[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

Mary Shelley (1797-1851) published her novella Frankenstein in 1818 during a period of revolutions – both industrial and political, thanks to the French Revolution (1789-1799) and new sciences such as galvanism. By contrast, Japan at this time was still enjoying a relatively tranquil period, its Edo Period (1603-1868),… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Robots
- Science Fiction
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein only became available in Japanese in 1953, 135 years after its publication Posted March 11th, 2026 by Richard Nathan
Kitazawa Rakuten created Japan’s ‘first serialised comic’ in the 1890s[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

Kitazawa Rakuten (1876-1955) created Japan’s ‘first serialised comic’ in the 1890s for Box of Curios, a paper set up by the Australian political cartoonist and printer Frank Arthur Nankivell (1869-1956).Rakuten joined the Tokyo-based English language publication, Box of Curios, in 1895, and is said to… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- manga
Kitazawa Rakuten created Japan’s ‘first serialised comic’ in the 1890s Posted March 11th, 2026 by Richard Nathan
Sherlock Holmes arrived in the Land of the Rising Sun in 1894 when a Japanese summary translation of ‘The Man with the Twisted Lip’ was published[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

The history of Sherlock Holmes in Japan goes back to 1894, when a Japanese summary translation of The Man with the Twisted Lip by Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was published in the January issue of Nippon-jin. It was originally published in English in… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- translation
Sherlock Holmes arrived in the Land of the Rising Sun in 1894 when a Japanese summary translation of ‘The Man with the Twisted Lip’ was published Posted March 11th, 2026 by Richard Nathan
For a thousand years ‘The Tale of Genji’ was required reading for Japanese aristocratic women[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

The Tale of Genji written by Murasaki Shikibu, in 1010, during Japan’s Heian Period (794-1185) is said to be Japan’s oldest novel and perhaps even the world’s oldest novel, if a novel is defined as narrative prose of significant length.It has been since its very origin a tale… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Mitsuyo Kakuta
- History
- Poetry
For a thousand years ‘The Tale of Genji’ was required reading for Japanese aristocratic women Posted March 11th, 2026 by Richard Nathan
Yukio Mishima considered ‘The Handkerchief’ by Ryunosuke Akutagawa to be the ultimate Japanese short story[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

Japan has an incredible history of short-form fiction that is as rich as it is diverse. There is everything here from verse to the modern short story. Going back to the 10th century, Japanese readers have been captivated by tales of time-travel and shape-shifting and… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Educational
- Short Stories
Yukio Mishima considered ‘The Handkerchief’ by Ryunosuke Akutagawa to be the ultimate Japanese short story Posted March 11th, 2026 by Richard Nathan
The complete works of Shakespeare were published in Japanese translation in 1928 for the first time[UPDATED: 2-18-2026]

In 1928 Shoyo Tsubouchi (1859-1935), a Japanese writer and translator and professor at Waseda University, who is famous for many things including first proposing that the term shosetsu be adopted as the standard Japanese translation for the English word novel, completed the first ever translation of the complete… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- Shakespeare
The complete works of Shakespeare were published in Japanese translation in 1928 for the first time Posted February 18th, 2026 by Richard Nathan
Japan’s first portable ‘Reading Device’ was invented in 747[UPDATED: 2-18-2026]

Legend has it that in the reign of Emperor Tenji (626-672), Japan’s 38th emperor, the discovery of a dead bat with burnt wings inspired a Japanese craftsman to make a prototype that was in fact the world’s first functioning folding fan. Still it is hard to… Read more »
- TOPICS:
- History
Japan’s first portable ‘Reading Device’ was invented in 747 Posted February 18th, 2026 by Richard Nathan

Factbook

Osamu Dazai, the so-called ‘Bad Boy’ of Japanese literature, was brought up in a room full of poetry in an opulent house belonging to a moneylender[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein only became available in Japanese in 1953, 135 years after its publication[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

Kitazawa Rakuten created Japan’s ‘first serialised comic’ in the 1890s[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

Sherlock Holmes arrived in the Land of the Rising Sun in 1894 when a Japanese summary translation of ‘The Man with the Twisted Lip’ was published[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

For a thousand years ‘The Tale of Genji’ was required reading for Japanese aristocratic women[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

Yukio Mishima considered ‘The Handkerchief’ by Ryunosuke Akutagawa to be the ultimate Japanese short story[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

The complete works of Shakespeare were published in Japanese translation in 1928 for the first time[UPDATED: 2-18-2026]

Japan’s first portable ‘Reading Device’ was invented in 747[UPDATED: 2-18-2026]

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