Timeline of modern Japanese literature

The following table includes the major works of modern Japanese literature mentioned in study aids for Japanese high school students, with the addition of several others of interest to the Western reader. The transliteration of the Japanese title is given first, followed by an English translation and the name of the author, editor, or compiler. The English translations are fairly literal -- in many cases based on the versions in Donald Keene's Dawn to the West -- although conventional or published titles have sometimes been used instead.

 

Date Japanese title English title Author/ed.
1871-72 Aguranabe Sitting Around the Stewpan Kanagaki Robun
1872 Gakumon no susume The Encouragement of Learning Fukuzawa Yukichi
1882 Shintaishishō Collection of Poems in the New Style Toyama Masakazu et al.
1883-84 Keikoku bidan Inspiring Instances of Statesmanship Yano Ryūkei
1885-97 Kajin no kigū Chance Meetings with Beautiful Women Tōkai Sanshi
1885 Shōsetsu shinzui The Essence of the Novel Tsubouchi Shōyō
1887-89 Ukigumo The Drifting Cloud Futabatei Shimei
1889 Nininbikuni irozange Two Nuns' Confessions of Love Ozaki Kōyō
1890 Maihime The Dancer Mori Ōgai
1891 Gojū no tō The Five-Storied Pagoda Kōda Rohan
1892 Sokkyō shijin Improvisatoren Mori Ōgai
1895 Takekurabe Growing Up Higuchi Ichiyō
1895 Nigorie Troubled Waters Higuchi Ichiyō
1896 Tajō takon Much Passion, Much Grief Ozaki Kōyō
1897 Wakanashū Seedlings Shimazaki Tōson
1897-1902 Konjiki yasha The Demon Gold Ozaki Kōyō
1898 Utayomi ni atauru sho Letters to the Tanka Poets Masaoka Shiki
1900 Kōya hijiri The Holy Man of Mount Kōya Izumi Kyōka
1901 Midaregami Tangled Hair Yosano Akiko
1905 Wagahai wa neko de aru I Am a Cat Natsume Sōseki
1906 Hakai The Broken Commandment Shimazaki Tōson
1906 Botchan Little Master Natsume Sōseki
1907 Futon The Quilt Tayama Katai
1908 Amerika monogatari Tales of America Nagai Kafū
1909 Inaka kyōshi A Country Teacher Tayama Katai
1909 Jashūmon The Heretics Kitahara Hakushū
1910 Ichiaku no suna A Handful of Sand Ishikawa Takuboku
1910 Shisei The Tattoo Tanizaki Jun'ichirō
1910 Abashiri made All the Way to Abashiri Shiga Naoya
1910 Tsuchi The Soil Nagatsuka Takashi
1911 Gan The Wild Goose Mori Ōgai
1912 Kanashiki gangu Sad Toys Ishikawa Takuboku
1913 Shakkō Red Light Saitō Mokichi
1914 Dōtei The Road Ahead Takamura Kōtarō
1914 Kokoro The Heart Natsume Sōseki
1915 Sanshōdayū Sanshō the Bailiff Mori Ōgai
1915 Rashōmon Rashōmon Akutagawa Ryūnosuke
1916 Hana The Nose Akutagawa Ryūnosuke
1916 Meian Light and Darkness Natsume Sōseki
1917 Tsuki ni hoeru Howling at the Moon Hagiwara Sakutarō
1917 Kinosaki nite At Kinosaki Shiga Naoya
1917 Wakai Reconciliation Shiga Naoya
1918 Jojōshōkyokushū Short Lyrics Murō Saisei
1919 Yūjō Friendship Mushanokōji Saneatsu
1919 Aru onna A Certain Woman Arishima Takeo
1919 Shokugo no uta After-Dinner Songs Kinoshita Mokutarō
1921 An'ya kōro A Dark Night's Passing Shiga Naoya
1923 Sanshōuo The Salamander Ibuse Masuji
1923 Aoneko The Blue Cat Hagiwara Sakutarō
1924 Hara to shura Spring and the Demon Miyazawa Kenji
1924 Chijin no ai A Fool's Love Tanizaki Jun'ichirō
1925 Aki no hitomi Autumn Eyes Yagi Jūkichi
1925 Remon Lemon Kajii Motojirō
1926 Izu no odoriko The Izu Dancer Kawabata Yasunari
1929 Yoakemae Before the Dawn Shimazaki Tōson
1930 Sokuryōsen The Survey Boat Miyoshi Tatsuji
1930 Katsushika Katsushika Mizuhara Shūōshi
1934 Ani imōto Brother and Sister Murō Saisei
1934 Yagi no uta Goat Songs Nakahara Chūya
1935 Yukiguni (first version) Snow Country Kawabata Yasunari
1935 Nakano Shigehara shishū Collected Poems of Nakano Shigehara Nakano Shigehara
1937 Bokutō kidan A Strange Tale from East of the River Nagai Kafū
1938 Arishi hi no uta Songs of Bygone Days Nakahara Chūya
1938 Mugi to heitai Wheat and Soldiers Hino Ashihei
1939 Fugaku hyakkei The Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji Dazai Osamu
1940 Hashire Merosu Run, Melos! Dazai Osamu
1941 Chieko-shō Chieko: Vignettes Takamura Kōtarō
1943 Sasameyuki The Makioka Sisters (lit. A Thin Blanket of Snow ) Tanizaki Jun'ichirō
1946 Shirei Spirits of the Dead Haniya Yutaka
1947 Shayō The Setting Sun Dazai Osamu
1948 Ningen shikkaku No Longer Human Dazai Osamu
1948 Nobi Fires on the Plain Ōoka Shōhei
1948 Yukiguni (final version) Snow Country Kawabata Yasunari
1950-57 Shin Heike monogatari The New Tales of the Heike Yoshikawa Eiji
1952-68 Tetsuwan Atomu Astro Boy Tezuka Osamu
1953 Rokujūni no sonetto Sixty-two Sonnets Tanikawa Shuntarō
1955 Taiyō no kisetsu Season of the Sun Ishihara Shintarō
1956 Kinkakuji The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Mishima Yukio
1957 Shisha no ogori Lavish Are the Dead Ōe Kenzaburō
1957-58 Ten to sen Points and Lines Matsumoto Seichō
1962 Suna no onna The Woman in the Dunes Abe Kōbō
1966 Chinmoku Silence Endō Shūsaku
1978 Yūgure made Until Dark Yoshiyuki Junnosuke
1979 Dōjidai geemu A Contemporary Game Ōe Kenzaburō
1980 Koinu rokkā beibiizu Coin-Locker Babies Murakami Ryū
1985 Sekai no owari to hādoboirudo wandārando Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World Murakami Haruki
1987 Kōshi Confucius Inoue Yasushi
1987 Sarada kinenbi Salad Anniversary Tawara Machi
1987 Noruei no mori Norwegian Wood Murakami Haruki
1988 Kitchin Kitchen Yoshimoto Banana
1989 Yumetsukai Dream Messenger Shimada Masahiko
1990 Bungakubu Tadano-kyōju Professor Tadano of the Literature Department Tsutsui Yasutaka
1990 Reberu 7 Level 7 Miyabe Miyuki
1992 Animaru rojikku Animal Logic Yamada Eimi
1994-95 Nejimakidori kuronikaru The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Murakami Haruki
1998 Hi no yama Mountain of Fire Tsushima Yūko
2001 Mohōhan Copycat Killer Miyabe Miyuki
2003 Yōgisha no yakōressha Suspect on the Night Train Tawada Yōko
2006 Mīna no māchi Mina's March Ogawa Yōko
2009 Hebun Heaven Kawakami Mieko
2009-10 1Q84 1Q84 Murakami Haruki
2011 Yuki no renshūsei Memoirs of a Polar Bear Tawada Yōko
2016 Suisei The Voice of the Water Kawakami Hiromi
2020 Nihon mōmi zenshi Japanese Ignorance: A Prehistory Isozaki Ken'ichirō