Top 5 Japanese writers

Top 5 Japanese writers

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Literary enthusiasts continuously search for that piece of literature that elicits human emotion and familiarity.

Japan, home to the world’s first novel and three Literature Nobel Prize Winners, has a lot to offer when it comes to literary gold. From the creators of Manga to classical Edo poets and modern authors, their writer’s depth is astounding.

The early history of Japanese literature shows influences formed due to cultural contact with China and their writing frequently printed in Classical Chinese. Today Japanese literature developed its approach although the impact is still present.

However, Japan reinstated its ports to Western international relations and business in the 19th century. Since then, literature from both the Western world and the East continue to influence each other.

In this article, you will explore the top five Japanese writers, Natsume Soseki, Shusaku Endo, Wahei Tatematsu, Ryunosuke Akutagawa and Yukio Mishima as we take a closer look at what literature they shared with the world and why they are widely respected.

1. Natsume Soseki

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We start with a writer most give the prestigious title, ‘the greatest writer in Japanese history’ and ‘Japan’s first Japanese English literary scholar’, Natsume Soseki.

Literary enthusiasts argue a great writer must have depth — this reigns true for Soseki. Having endured a miserable upbringing, he had a lot to express.

Soseki was a beneficiary of a government scholarship to study in London in 1900. Although Soseki disliked his stay in the European setting, he went on to discover success in his short stories and novels.

To date, we acknowledge Soseki as a significant influence on Japanese literature and famous Japanese novelists like Haruki Murakami.

Soseki’s Novels are quite famous and well-received as best sellers. ‘Kokoro’ by Soseki is his most famous novel. In Kokoro, he uses suspense to build the character’s stories and slowly but intriguingly unveils a hidden past between friends.

With today’s digital progression, you can find his prints like the most recent, ‘The Gate’, online. Brace yourself for a masterpiece with brilliant prose.

2. Shusaku Endo 

Shusaku Endo is one of Japan’s most significant contemporary writers. In his career, he has been a nominee of the Nobel Prize for Literature several times and won many major literary awards.

Graham Greene, one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century, referred to him as, “one of the finest living novelists”.

Peter Owen, a London-based independent publisher, championed Shusaku Endo’s work for decades — publish eight of his significantly celebrated novels.

Endo’s work made it to Hollywood. The film adaptation of his book Silence came out in theatres in 2016. It is an epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese based on the 1966 novel. Set in Nagasaki, Japan, the film, shot in Taiwan, used studios in Taipei and Taichung and locations in Hualien County.

A special hardback edition of the book is out, released to mark the occasion.

3. Wahei Tatematsu 

Wahei Tatematsu was an admired novelist and environmental activist in Japan. If you fancy mountaineering, then you need to look him up or at the least, look up his famous book.

His English-speaking readers, upon translation of his modern Japanese classic, Frozen Dreams, received Waheis’ most famous novel with great anticipation. It is one of the most excellent mountaineering books, critics say.

It’s a novel backed by real events on how six men found themselves victims of a dreadful avalanche. Get your dose of adventure and peril as you delve into the mind of this extraordinary writer. Finish off with a look into a man’s mind and his reflections at the end of his life.

Wahei’s other works include Enrai and Dogen-Zenji — this is a book on a faithful Buddhist who established the Soto Sect of Zen Buddhism in the year 1227.

Wahei Tatematsu was also an environmentalist. He established a not for profit organization called the Ashio Green Growing Association. The organization’s goal was to restore the Japanese environment like the abandoned Ashio Copper Mine and tree planting activities.

4.Ryunosuke Akutagawa

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Ryunosuke Akutagawa was a great talent who wrote over 100 short stories in his short life. One of his known prints includes Rashomon. The hardback was also a motivation to Akira Kurosawa’s archetypal film of the same name. Interestingly, the plot of Kurosawa’s film is a retelling of another Ryunosuke story, In a Grove.

Peter Owen printed Ryunosuke’s 1927 novel titled, Kappa. Kappa is an ironic tale about a scaly, child-sized being from Japanese myths that has a sharp pointed mouth and a tiger-like face. Described as, “a work of fiction of exquisite precision” and “a classic”, his work pokes at 20th century Japanese life in the tradition of Swift and Kafka comically.

Kappa was among Ryunosuke’s final works. Plagued by mental and physical illness in his last years, Ryunosuke tragically committed suicide at 35 years old.

The Akutagawa Prize, Japan’s prestigious literary award, is in memory of him. The Akutagawa Prize is an award by the Japanese presented to the author of great literary stories. The story would be one published in either the newspaper, magazine by an upcoming author. The Akutagawa awards held semi-annually, receive a lot of attention from the press, making it award highly sought after.

5. Yukio Mishima 

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Yukio Mishima is another of Japan’s most accomplished 20th-century writer. In 1960, Peter Owen made in print the somewhat autobiographical novel titled, Confessions of a Mask — widely regarded as Mishima’s most exceptional work.

The book, which follows a Japanese boy grappled with bringing together the world he lives in with his pansy fantasies, and cadaverous fascinations are published four times. Evidence to its lasting significance, demanding exquisiteness and unexpected comedy.

Christopher Isherwood commended Confessions of a Mask, saying, “Mishima is logical amid emotional bewilderment, funny amid desolation.”

Sadly, Mishima is as legendary for the conditions surrounding his death, as he is known for his grand literary work. He took his own life by ritual suicide known to the Japanese as seppuku (meaning disembowelment) after a botched coup in 1970.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Now you know the renowned writers in Japanese literary history.