Understanding Japanese culture has fascinated the Western world ever since the country’s trading doors opened up in the 1800s. Eating raw fish was an idea once met with a certain grimace, yet sushi is now enjoyed globally. Once again there are kimono-clad maidens riding rickshaws in the streets of Kyoto, only now it is part of a tourist attraction. There is no denying that Japan has remained elusive, and people have travelled from all corners of the world to see for themselves just how unique this island remains. Another way of looking inside this enigmatic culture, from the everyday to the sensationalised, is through its literature.



Broadly speaking, Japanese authors tend to write of their underlying acceptance of life. It is a stark contrast to the Western culture’s emphasis on ‘hope’ or expectations for a better future. Instead, the Japanese emphasis is on the present. At first glance, Japanese literature can seem grim or passively nihilistic. But looking deeper we see the beauty of a fleeting moment. This simple zen-like logic on the transient nature of all things permeates all generations and facets of Japanese culture.



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Although Japanese culture can be conceptualised as refined minimalism, the language, on the other hand, is complexity itself. Written Japanese has not one but three sets of characters. Kanji, derived from Chinese, and what are known as the Japanese alphabets - hiragana and katakana.



Added to that, formal versus informal tones of the language make the narrative voice either too austere or too casual. Translating texts from Japanese to English surprisingly does away with all such difficulties. And while the essence of novels in Japanese can be quite hard to grasp sometimes, English fills the gaps that were lost in cultural subtlety (and let’s face it, kanji). Even in translation there is a flow of words that is unique to the Japanese writer. It seems strange that English would unlock the mystery of the Japanese sentiment, yet this enigma is precisely so Japanese. The recommended books are all available in English – many translated by Japan enthusiasts, guiding our understanding with added definitions and helpful footnotes.