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

From tales of alienation to comforting novels set in bookshops, Japanese authors have written nearly half of this year’s bestselling translated novels in the UK. What’s their secret?• Read an an exclusive Q&A with Haruki MurakamiAnyone who has been in a bookshop in the last few years will have noticed that Japanese fiction is experiencing an extraordinary boom. In 2022, figures from Nielsen BookScan showed that Japanese fiction represented 25% of all translated fiction sales in the UK. The dominance is even more striking this year: figures obtained by the Guardian show that, of the top 40 translated fiction titles for 2024 so far, 43% are Japanese, with Asako Yuzuki’s satirical, socially conscious crime novel Butter topping the list. Butter also won the breakthrough author award at this year’s Books Are My Bag readers awards, which are curated by booksellers and voted for by the public.The popularity of modern Japanese fiction is not a new phenomenon in the UK, of course. In the 1990s, two writers broke through and became cult hits in this country. Haruki Murakami, a worldwide literary phenomenon, took off in Britain when Harvill Press published The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle in 1998. Scott Pack, who ran Waterstones’ buying team in the early 2000s, is a big Murakami fan and remembers giving him “lots of attention. Whatever books of his came out, we got massively behind.” This week, Murakami publishes his 15th novel The City and Its Uncertain Walls, about a man who travels... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-11-23 09:00:37 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Surrealism, cafes and lots (and lots) of cats: why Japanese fiction is booming"


Covid-19 forces widespread bookshop closures as major publishers go remote

The impact of the coronavirus has seen the Booksellers Association issue a rallying cry to the trade, as many publishers enforce home working to safeguard staff. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-19 23:39:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bookshop.org to share 30 percent of each purchase with bookstores impacted by coronavirus shutdowns.

Bookshop.org, an alternative to Amazon that shares proceeds from book sales with independent bookstores, will give more money to those stores in response to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on small businesses. Bookshop announced today that it would increase bookstore partners’ affiliate... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-18 15:09:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this


In ‘Short Life in a Strange World,’ paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder help an author make sense of his existence

Toby Ferris traveled across Europe to see all of the Dutch Renaissance painter’s surviving work. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-11 18:07:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Amazon Charts: Mantel maintains Most-Sold number one

Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light (Fourth Estate) has held the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Fiction top spot for a second week, the same week the eagerly awaited title sold 95,141 copies across all print editions through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-10 16:43:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


HarperCollins Children's Books takes two more from Gregory

HarperCollins Children’s Books has landed two young fiction titles from Philippa Gregory, build on the fairytale world of The Princess Rules. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 09:19:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Indie bookshop pre-orders boom as Mantel publication nears

Indie bookshops are cashing in on a pre-order boom for Hilary Mantel’s new book and are hosting everything from midnight openings to silent discos this week. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-01 15:13:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Ruth Jones to embark on UK book tour this May with Fane

Ruth Jones will be embarking on a UK tour to celebrate the publication of her new novel Us Three in a collaboration between Fane and Transworld. The tour, combining a Fane-produced theatre tour with bookshop events organised by Transworld, will comprise seven dates across the UK. It begins at... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-28 11:07:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Flooding forces Shrewsbury children’s bookshop to close

Button & Bear children’s bookshop in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, has been forced to close today (Wednesday 25th February) owing to rising floodwaters. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-25 14:31:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bookstores Team Up to Turn Arizona Blue

Bookshop Santa Cruz in California and Changing Hands Bookstore in Arizona, have partnered in a drive to register Arizona voters and persuade them to vote Democrat in this year's presidential election. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Meet the booksellers who are fighting back against the algorithm

Could a bespoke book subscription service break you out of your reading rut or encourage you to explore new genres?Heywood Hill bookshop has stood on the same spot since 1936. It inhabits a Georgian townhouse at 10 Curzon Street in Mayfair, London, a blue plaque outside commemorating its most... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-02-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Prosecco-swilling Gay's the Word bookshop burglars caught red-handed by police

A pair of Prosecco-drinking burglars have been sentenced after police caught the two men knocking back alcohol during a break-in at Gay's the Word bookshop.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-13 04:34:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this


On My Dark Vanessa and the Way Stories of Trauma Get Told

Just a month into 2020 and my wishlist is already straining under the weight of all the new titles I’m looking forward to being published. Maybe it’s working in a bookshop or the concentrated effort I’ve been making to retreat into a fantasy-bubble when I’m at home, but I’ve found myself excited... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-03 09:50:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Patrick Modiano on the Bookshop Owner Who Escaped the Nazis

The copy of Françoise Frenkel’s No Place to Lay One’s Head that was recently found, I’m told, in Nice, in an Emmaus Companions charity jumble sale, had a curious effect on me. Perhaps because it had been printed in Switzerland in September 1945 for Geneva-based publishers Jeheber. That... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-27 09:49:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A round of ap-paws for this bookstore, where you can also adopt a cat!

Sometimes you just have to read between the lines—the felines, that is! There’s something about books and cats that just go together. You’ve probably met your fair share of bookshop cats, but have you ever stumbled into a store looking for A Tale of Two Cities and left with two kitties? Otis and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-16 18:38:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Row as Barnes Children's Literature Festival chooses Waterstones as official bookseller

An indie bookshop which was the official bookseller of the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival has been replaced by organisers in favour of Waterstones. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-14 03:02:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pinch of Nom: Everyday Light bags fourth number one

Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson’s Pinch of Nom: Everyday Light (Bluebird) reigned over the UK Official Top 50 for a fourth week in total, with 51,842 copies sold through Nielsen BookScan’s TCM.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-14 01:31:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this


WI15: Bookshop Hopes to Change Bookish E-commerce

The new online bookstore intended to benefit indies is nearly ready to go, and will launch January 28. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


English language bookshop Coven reaches crowdfunder goal

Coven, an English language bookshop and café in Paris, has fulfilled its crowdfunding goal of around £21,000 to open a store dedicated to "intersectional feminism, engaged literature and ethical hospitality". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-08 16:28:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pinch of Nom: Everyday Light switched on for a third week in the top spot

Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson’s Pinch of Nom: Everyday Light (Bluebird) has maintained its UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a second week running and a third week in total, selling 58,614 copies through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-07 12:47:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Wakefield indie to shut bricks and mortar bookshop and move focus online

Wakefield indie Rickaro Books will close its bricks and mortar bookshop in March and move its focus to its website selling rare and antique books.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-07 01:28:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this