2021 is set to be a very exciting year for Japanese literature, with a new short story collection from Haruki Murakami and a new novel from Japanese-born British writer Kazuo Ishiguro. The following books represent the very best of what’s coming to English-language readers in 2021, including a new novel from “Breasts and Eggs” author Mieko Kawakami and the English translation debut of legendary speculative fiction author Izumi Suzuki.
Thanks to the talent of some of the best translators in the business, here are five (translated) Japanese novels to read in 2021.
Translated by Lucy North
An unsettling tale of manipulation, invisible people and quiet terror, “The Woman in the Purple Skirt” is a novel unlike anything that’s come before it. Written by prizewinning novelist Natsuko Imamura and translated by Lucy North, “The Woman in the Purple Skirt” tells the story of an unhealthy relationship between two women known only as the titular woman in the purple skirt and the woman in the orange cardigan.