Surrealism, cafes and lots (and lots) of cats: why Japanese fiction is booming

I personally believe the reason for non-western fiction gaining so much mainstream traction is quite simple: it provides a perspective almost entirely seperated from the reality most people face. Even simple scenarios, like running a small store or living life in a rural village, are so different from our usual experiences that it provides a way for our brains to release some of the pressure that comes from our busy day-to-day lives. The "isekai" genre (being transported to a different world, usually after dying an unfortune death) is an extreme take on this, where almost all connection to reality is removed entirely.

Compare those stories to most (not all) modern mainstream western fiction, and you'll find that a lot of it tends to take place within our existing world instead.

I've been on a Japanese literature kick for a while now.

For me the characters are the main difference from American literature. The article mentions this briefly, but I find that in the novels I've read (admittedly translated), Japanese novel characters have much more depth. They're flawed people often with selfish motivations, and it's much more reflective of real life.

Plot structure is very different as well with most of these novels not having a true setting > rising action > climax > falling action style plot like American literature tends to have. The books often just end without much resolution at all.

Probably the biggest reason I've been reading them though is that I'm just tired of "young adult" books that have so much popularity here in America. It's like a tag you can throw on to shield your bad writing. It feels like everything popular here is written with 6th grade grammar. Maybe this phenomenon exists in Japan too, but we have the filter that translation provides. Presumably most translated novels are at least somewhat successful and well written, or else they wouldn't have been translated.

For reference, of the translated fiction I've read, I'd recommend -

Lady Joker by Takamura

Devotion of Suspect X by Higashino

Out by Kirino

Breasts and Eggs, Ms Ice Sandwich, and Heaven by Kawakami

Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings by Murata

The Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and Kafka By The Shore by Murakami

Snow Country by Kawabata

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Kawakami

No Longer Human by Nazai

I am a Cat by Netsuke

The Memory Police by Ogawa

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a startling book with a rather disturbing wartime scene that has haunted me for years.

Currently I'd recommend Yakumo Koizumi and Natsume Soseki for more old school Japanese writings.

Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is another great read, despite the author being an extremely disagreeable person.

When I'm at the used bookshop, I always look for a Murakami book, Haruki or Ryu. I especially recommend Haruki's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World for this crowd, as data encryption plays a role. Ryu is probably best known for his horror novel Audition because it was adapted for film by Miike Takashi. Both would be classified as surreal. Haruki's novels famously always have a cat in them, but not always in a major role.

I think one reason that Japanese fiction is beginning to see pickups in western audiences is because Japanese companies are improving their skills at exporting culture to the west. One aspect of this is translation, where they spent decades building a workforce that is capable of quality translations. Another aspect is that of this is that Western culture is beginning to inspire Japanese creators. This allows Japan to create cultural artifacts that more resonate with Western audiences and inspire them. This is a virtuous cycle, which is good for business, international relations, and human creativity.

> Murakami and Yoshimoto have something else in common: both were criticised in a 1990 essay by Kenzaburō Ōe, the Japanese Nobel prize-winning author. Their works, he said, “convey the experience of a youth politically uninvolved or disaffected, content to exist with an adolescent or post-adolescent subculture”.

I don't know the context of the quote and this wouldn't be the first time the Guardian puts a weird spin on something, but is there a problem with politically uninvolved protagonists?

For some reason, when talking about Japanese authors we (almost) always forget about: Ryunosuke Akutagawa [1], author of short stories like Rashomon or In a grove [2] (this actually the story that inspired Kurasawa's Rashomon)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABnosuke_Akutagawa [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_a_Grove

There is no mention of ranobe or light novels which is where a significantly large portion of the Japanese fiction movement is spawning therefrom.

I highly recommend checking some out if you need to decompress some stress. :)

Reminds me a bit of the latest video of Chris Niebauer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Dq5512MIE where he talks about the mind wandering upgrade through smart phones and social media. with the help if these tools the brain can offload the task of simulating/imagening things into the real world.

Some time ago somebody pointed out to me how the superhero genre really took off after 9/11 and I can't stop thinking about that because I think it says a lot about how people think, what they want and also how consent is manufactured.

9/11 pierced America's sense of safety. Perhaps Pearl Harbor was similar. Historically the Gauls sacking Rome in the 4th Century BCE was probably similar. So people were attracted to media where somebody would save them, protect them.

At a higher level, the superhero genre feeds into pushing an idealism narrative. Idealism here simply means some people are the good guys and other people are the bad guys. Inherently. Compare this to materialism, which is a philosophy that there is a feedback loop between a person and their environment, of each affecting the other. There is no good or evil. People simply respond to their circumstances. A Song of Ice and Fire (the books more than the TV show, particularly the later seasons) is a superb example of materialism in fiction.

So what does the rising popularity of Japanese literature (note: the article is about that and not about anime as I think some who simply read the headline assume) say about society?

I think we have a crisis of despair in society. The cost of living, particularly housing, is out of control. You have a generation who thinks they'll never own a home or ever be able to retire. They don't feel like they have the security to have children. Is it any wonder that escapism thrives when the real world seems so bleak?

I see this as yet another symptom of the crisis in capitalism. Sure there's a fascination with Japanese culture. This isn't new. But why? We're also seeing more Chinese fiction (eg Three Body Problem). It's hard for me not to see this trend as anything other than a failure in our society to provide hope to people whose dreams are very mundane.

"book, japan" (˚0˚)