Fantasy books from Japan
Recommended fantasy books (28)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into fantasy here are some fantasy books from Japan for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
11.
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura EN
Description:
"How can you save your friend's life if she doesn't want to be rescued? In a tranquil neighbourhood of Tokyo, seven teenagers wake to find the mirrors in their bedrooms are shining. At a single touch, they are pulled from their lonely lives into to a wondrous castle filled with winding stairways, watchful portraits and twinkling chandeliers. In this new sanctuary, they are confronted with a set of clues leading to a hidden room where one of them will be granted a wish. But there's a catch -- if they don't leave by five o'clock, they will die. As time passes, a devastating truth emerges -- only... continue
12.
My Neighbor Totoro: The Novel by Tsugiko Kubo EN
Description:
One of Studio Ghibli’s most beloved classics, Totoro celebrates its 25th anniversary! The beloved animation classic by legendary Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki, My Neighbor Totoro, is now a novel. This edition features original illustrations by Miyazaki himself, accompanying a story by veteran children’s author Tsugiko Kubo. Eleven-year-old Satsuki and her sassy little sister Mei have moved to the country to be closer to their ailing mother. Soon, in the woods behind their spooky old house, Satsuki and Mei discover a forest spirit named Totoro. When Mei goes missing, it’s up to Satsuki ... continue
13.
Night on the Galactic Railroad & Other Stories from Ihatov by Kenji Miyazawa EN
Description:
Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) is one of Japan's most beloved writers and poets, known particularly for his sensitive and symbolist children's fiction. This volume collects stories which focus on Miyazawa's love of space and his use of the galaxy as a metaphor for the concepts of purity, self-sacrifice and faith which were near and dear to his heart. "The Nighthawk Star" follows an lowly bird as he struggles to transform himself into something greater, a constellation in the night sky; "Signal & Signal-less" depicts a pair of star-crossed train signals who dream of eloping to the moon; and "Night ... continue
14.
People from My Neighborhood : Stories by Hiromi Kawakami EN
Description:
Nominated for the 2021 Shirley Jackson Award From the author of the internationally bestselling Strange Weather in Tokyo, a collection of interlinking stories that masterfully blend the mundane and the mythical—"fairy tales in the best Brothers Grimm tradition: naïf, magical, and frequently veering into the macabre" (Financial Times). A bossy child who lives under a white cloth near a tree; a schoolgirl who keeps doll's brains in a desk drawer; an old man with two shadows, one docile and one rebellious; a diplomat no one has ever seen who goes fishing at an artificial lake no one has ever hear... continue
15.
Description:
Novelist Hiromi Goto effortlessly blends wry, observational slice-of-life literary fiction with elements of the fantastic in the tender and gripping graphic novel Shadow Life, with haunting art from debut artist Ann Xu. When Kumiko’s well-meaning adult daughters place her in an assisted living home, the seventy-six-year-old widow gives it a try, but it’s not where she wants to be. She goes on the lam and finds a cozy bachelor apartment, keeping the location secret even while communicating online with her eldest daughter. Kumiko revels in the small, daily pleasures: decorating as she pleases, e... continue
16.
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami EN
Description:
A male college student falls in love with a woman who, over the years, guides him in her travels, and then disappears without trace. Assisting in the search, he goes home to Japan, where he finally achieves a true understanding of his beloved.
17.
Spy x Family, Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo EN
Description:
An action-packed comedy about a fake family that includes a spy, an assassin and a telepath! Master spy Twilight is unparalleled when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions for the betterment of the world. But when he receives the ultimate assignment—to get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head! Not one to depend on others, Twilight has his work cut out for him procuring both a wife and a child for his mission to infiltrate an elite private school. What he doesn’t know is that the wife he’s chosen is an assassin and the child he’s adopted is a telepath!... continue
18.
The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi EN
Description:
An enthralling and sophisticated fantasy story from one of Japan's most popular writers of teen fiction, which has been turned into a popular anime series
19.
The Beast Warrior by Nahoko Uehashi EN
Description:
A companion to The Beast Player, this is the conclusion of an epic YA fantasy about a girl with a special power to communicate with magical beasts and the warring kingdom only she can save.Ten years after the fateful clash between two opposing sides of the Divine Kingdom of Lyoza, Elin lives a peaceful life with her family. She tries to stay as far away from her past as possible?the girl who communicated with creatures and befriended a Royal Beast wants no part in the power struggles of humans. But when Elin is called upon to investigate a mysterious illness that's stricken the Toda, she uncov... continue
20.
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro EN
Description:
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day comes a luminous meditation on the act of forgetting and the power of memory. In post-Arthurian Britain, the wars that once raged between the Saxons and the Britons have finally ceased. Axl and Beatrice, an elderly British couple, set off to visit their son, whom they haven't seen in years. And, because a strange mist has caused mass amnesia throughout the land, they can scarcely remember anything about him. As they are joined on their j... continue