Thanks to the work of translators and publishers, Japanese literature is now more accessible than ever to English-speaking readers. If you'd like to learn more about Japanese culture and literature, you cannot go wrong with listening to audiobooks from Japan. We've compiled a list of the most famous Japanese authors who have helped define Japanese literature, and their notable works. In addition, we've highlighted five of the most exciting Japanese authors to emerge over the past decade. Collectively, these Japanese authors have written across genres and time periods to create a diverse, fascinating body of work.
Haruki Murakami
Arguably one of the best known Japanese authors in the world, Haruki Murakami has written more than 20 novels, short story collections, and nonfiction titles. Born in 1949 in Kyoto, Murakami was hit with an epiphany while watching a baseball game at Jingu Stadium: I think I can write a novel. From his publishing debut in 1979, he has gone on to have a dynamic career, winning awards in Japan and internationally, including the Jerusalem Prize. His work has been translated into more than 50 languages. Murakami is a fan of jazz music—he once ran a jazz bar with his wife—and owns more than 10,000 records that he listens to while writing. His most notable works include 1Q84, Killing Commendatore, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore, and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
Natsuo Kirino
Natsuo Kirino is a writer of crime fiction perhaps best known for forcing readers to reconsider women’s capabilities for violence. Born in 1951, she dabbled in many different professions before settling on writing, and it wasn't until the 1990s that she found success. Her most famous novel, Out, was a breakout hit in Japan, winning the Grand Prix for Crime Fiction; its English translation became a finalist for the Edgar Award. Although only a handful of her works have been translated into English, she has written more than 20 novels and short story collections, solidifying her position as one of the most celebrated Japanese writers today. Narrated by the talented Emily Woo Zeller, Out is a favorite of thriller fans.
Kōbō Abe
Kōbō Abe was a Japanese poet, essayist, playwright, and novelist. Born in 1924, he moved frequently between Tokyo and Manchuria in his early years. This rootlessness had a profound effect on Abe and later on his writing. He enrolled in medical school in 1943 and was exempted from fighting in World War II. After graduating, he followed his passion, writing poetry and plays, and married a stage director. He began publishing surrealist novels, many of which were influenced by his time in Manchuria, and became politically active. As a staunch pacifist, Abe was drawn to and joined the Communist Party; when he saw how the Party treated poor workers, he broke with them. His books and plays have been translated into English, including The Ruined Map, Secret Rendezvous, The Box Man, and The Face of Another. But it was The Woman in the Dunes, published in 1962, that proved to be Abe’s international breakout hit. He died in 1993 in Tokyo.
Banana Yoshimoto
Notoriously private, Banana Yoshimoto is a notable writer born in 1964 to a liberal family of artists and writers. She was only 23 when her first novel, Kitchen, was published. It was very well received, winning her the 6th Kaien Newcomers’ Literary Prize and gaining her national and international recognition. She went on to write 12 more novels and essay collections, with many of her works adapted into Japanese TV shows and movies. Yoshimoto’s work often deals with youth, existentialism, and how tragedy can shape our lives. She is also a big fan of food (as her chosen name, Banana, may reflect) and has been praised for writing without pretension. While her characters tend to be young, her writing appeals to all ages. Her notable titles include Kitchen, NP, Asleep, Lizard, and Amrita, most of which are narrated by Emily Woo Zeller.
Yōko Ogawa
Born in 1962, Yōko Ogawa is a prolific, award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction. She has more than 40 books to her credit but, sadly, only a small fraction of her work is available in English. These include her 2003 novel The Professor and the Housekeeper, which was made into a movie called The Professor’s Beloved Equation; Revenge, a collection of unsettling short stories; and The Memory Police, a dystopian thriller following the unraveling of a novelist who lives on an island where an authoritarian government rules and objects keep disappearing. First published in 1994, this science fiction novel became a National Book Award finalist for translated literature a quarter century later, in 2019. Her most recent work to be translated into English is Mina's Matchbox. Released in Japan in 2006, this coming-of-age novel received high acclaimed for its English translation in 2024. Narrator Nanako Mizushima captures the story's quiet charm and poignancy.
Sayaka Murata
Born in 1979, Sayaka Murata was an early, avid reader of science fiction and mysteries. Her mother bought her a word processor at a young age to support her writing. She made her publishing debut in 2003 and immediately began to win awards, including the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the Mishima Yukio Prize, and the Akutagawa Prize. While spanning genres, her books tend to look at society, conformity, and human behavior, based on her on-the-job observations as a part-time convenience store clerk. Murata has written 10 novels that are immensely popular in Japan. Two are available in English, Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings, and both narrated by Nancy Wu. Listeners can also enjoy Murata's Life Ceremony, a collection of short stories about weird love, heartfelt friendships, and the unsettling nature of human existence, performed by Nancy Wu, Emily Woo Zeller, Jeena Yi, Natalie Naudus, Eunice Wong, and Pun Bandhu.
Yukio Mishima
Recognized as one of the most important Japanese writers of the 20th century, Yukio Mishima is also a controversial figure. Born in 1925, he was raised by a father who did not support his writing. Yet, he went on to publish 34 novels, 50 plays, and numerous short stories. He also wrote and directed a handful of films and worked as a model. During World War II, he escaped serving as a soldier, due to illness, but he was far from a pacificist. In 1968, he founded the Tatenokai, a private militia devoted to protecting traditional values. Two years later, he and three fellow members attempted a coup to restore power to the emperor; when it failed, he performed a ritual suicide. During his lifetime, Mishima was widely read and well regarded in the Western world. His most famous books include The Sound of Waves, Spring Snow, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. His work continues to find new audiences—Life for Sale was recently translated into English and is narrated by Kotaro Watanabe.
Ryū Murakami
Born in 1952, Ryū Murakami has had an interesting career beyond his success as an author of more than 30 books. He has hosted a talk show, played in bands, worked as an indie filmmaker, and founded an online magazine, a video streaming service, and an ebook service. While many of his books are widely translated and available in English, he is perhaps best known for Audition. It's the story of a lonely widower who hosts a fake casting call in the hopes of finding his next wife, but when the perfect candidate shows up, she may be hiding dark secrets. This fast-paced thriller was made into an influential Japanese horror film in 1999.
Kanae Minato
Well known in Japan for her mystery and crime novels, Kanae Minato has been crowned the queen of iyamisu novels—a term describing dark mysteries that make you say “Eww!” Born in 1979, Minato came to writing in her 30s, and her debut, Confessions, was a runaway hit. Since then, she’s written 14 novels, although only two are translated in English and available in the US: Confessions and Penance. Confessions was an Alex Award winner and nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award. Penance was made into a Japanese movie.
Keigo Higashino
Keigo Higashino, born in 1958, is one of the most famous mystery writers in all of Asia. He went to school to study electrical engineering but started writing in high school and never stopped. While working as an engineer, he would write after hours and submit his stories to the Edogawa Rampo Prize. After winning the prize in prize in 1984, he gave up engineering to become a full-time writer. Nearly every one of his novels has been adapted for film or television in Japan. His English translations include Salvation of a Saint, Malice, Under the Midnight Sun, Newcomer, Malice, and The Devotion of Suspect X, which was nominated for both the Edgar and Barry awards and inspired a 2017 series available for streaming on platforms including Prime Video. His thriller Naoko was the basis for a 2007 film, The Secret, starring David Duchovny.
Mieko Kawakami
Mieko Kawakami, born in 1976, worked as a hostess and bookstore clerk before embarking on a career as a singer. After releasing three albums, she left music for writing, making her literary debut as a poet in 2006. In 2010, her first full-length novel won the Murasaki Shikibu Prize for Literature; in 2021, it was published in English as Heaven and shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. Her other works available in English include Breasts and Eggs (2020), All the Lovers in the Night (2022), a finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction, and a collection of short stories, Ashes of Spring (2025). Her most recent novel translated into English, Sisters in Yellow will be released in March 2026.
Yukiko Motoya
An award-winning author of absurdist fiction, Yukiko Motoya is also known in Japan for her work as a voice actress, radio host, playwright, and theatre director. Born in 1979, she was a young, avid reader of classic mysteries and horror manga. In 2002, she made her fiction debut with the short story Eriko and Absolutely, which became the title story of her first collection. Her debut novel, Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers!, was published in 2005 and adapted into a 2007 film that premiered at Cannes. In 2018, a collection of her stories was translated into English and published in the United States under the title The Lonesome Bodybuilder. Performed by Natalie Naudus, Brian Nishii, Kate Mulligan, and other narrators, the 11 stories in this anthology are wonderfully surreal.
Hiromi Kawakami
Hiromi Kawakami is an author known for her offbeat fiction about contemporary relationships. Born in Tokyo in 1958, she began her career fresh out of college writing and editing for a Japanese science fiction magazine. She later taught science to high school students. At age 36, she made her literary debut with a collection of short stories. Kawakami has since gone on to publish several volumes of short fiction as well as novels, winning prestigious awards. Often incorporating elements of fantasy and magical realism, her writing has drawn comparisons to Banana Yoshimoto and Lewis Carroll. Many of her works have been translated into English, including The Ten Loves of Nishino, The Nakano Thrift Shop, and Strange Weather in Tokyo, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Man Asian Literary Prize.
Shion Miura
Shion Miura, born in Tokyo in 1976, planned to become an editor. Instead, she was discovered by a literary agent and had her first novel published a year after graduating from Waseda University. Since then, her popularity has steadily grown. Her books have been translated into Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, German, and Italian, as well as English, and adapted for film, television, and both manga and anime series. She has also won critical acclaim and awards including the Naoki Prize and the Japan Booksellers' Award. Brian Nishii narrates two of her best known and loved works, Run with the Wind, about two former elite runners who cross paths, inspire each other, and create a ragtag team to compete in a legendary college marathon relay race, and The Great Passage, tracing a 15-year effort to create a new dictionary and the development of unlikely friendships in the process.
Satoshi Yagisawa
Born in 1977, Satoshi Yagisawa made his literary debut in 2008 with Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, a story of loss, self-discovery, and unexpected connections through a shared love of books. Winning the Chiyoda Literature Prize, the novel became an immediate hit in Japan, selling more than 100,000 copies, and inspiring a film adaptation, a sequel, and translations in 30 countries. He followed its success with another poignant story of the surprising kinship among strangers, Days at the Torunka Cafe. Along with hanging out in bookstores and coffee shops, he enjoys playing guitar and doting on his cats.
