The story takes place in fictitious Tomazawa, a town that once grew to a population of 80,000 in the middle of a flourishing coal-mining district in Hokkaido. Since the advent of cheap oil, the town has ...

Kai Ogata, 14, all but loses his two cousins to vicious bullying: Shota Dobashi, 13, is beaten into a coma, and his sister Suzuna, 12, is raped and left emotionally scarred. Thanks to provisions of the ...

In this collection of five short mysteries, “Nobara no niwa e“ (To the Garden of Wild Roses) takes place at a luxurious villa in the old capital of Kamakura, south of Tokyo. Shihoko ...

A fanciful tale in which a dog rescued by a young nurse working for a terminal-care facility becomes a therapy dog for the patients in an unusual way, and also solves an old murder mystery. The dog, a ...

Hiromi drifts from one motherless home to another, serving as a surrogate mother to children whose single fathers—truck drivers, crewmen on far-roaming fishing boats—are away for extended periods of ...

Three linked stories portray the emotional ups and downs of adolescence. In Yakusoku no basho, yakusoku no jikan (Agreed Time, Agreed Place), 13-year-old Yū Kikuchi arrives as a midyear transfer ...

This million-selling novel follows the lengthy process of compiling a dictionary, bringing a genuine sense of drama to the lives of people who immerse themselves day after day in the constant flux of language. Mitsuo ...

Osamu Tokieda is in his third year at a college on the outskirts of Tokyo. He is revelling in the easy student life, spending time with his girlfriend and earning pocket money at a part-time job, when ...

Jumpei Sakamoto, 21, is a good-natured, bottom-rung foot soldier in a yakuza syndicate that claims the Kabukicho entertainment district near Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station as its territory. He can be quick ...

Natsuko Kotani has a knack for wrapping men around her little finger. She lies to them, she’s mean to them, and while she’s not even especially good looking, somehow they find their spirits ...

Shugo Machida, still a bachelor at 32, works for a food company. Three years ago his 60-year-old mother died of Parkinson’s disease; Shugo’s father—who never imagined that his stouthearted ...

First-person narrator Kengo Katsuki relates his wife Michiru’s story, going back to events in her life before they met. The account begins when Michiru is 23 and working as a bookstore clerk in a ...

After the collapse of modern civilization, most of our future planet’s surface is covered by water. The interactions of the surviving humans with Ichtyonaus and Thérionaus, peculiar creatures that ...

Five former grade-school classmates who are now 40—three men and two women—are at a bar in Sapporo’s Susukino entertainment district following a class reunion. Tamura, a classmate who couldn’t ...

Workaholic Saeki is a 50-year-old marketing rep for an ad agency. He’s just won a lucrative new contract to promote the Internet startup GigaForce, his 24-year-old daughter is about to be married, ...

Known for its abundant resources, the Kingdom of Pars has been subject to numerous attacks by surrounding states, but it has always successfully repelled them. So when the Lusitanian army invades, King ...