Japanese Contemporary Fiction

In a Tokyo suburb, a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife’s missing cat—and then for his wife as well—in a netherworld beneath the city’s placid surface. As these searches intersect, he encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists. Gripping, prophetic, and suffused with comedy and menace, this is one of Haruki Murakami’s most acclaimed and beloved novels.

Le retour de l'auteur japonais le plus lu en France. Parution le 2 janvier 2025 Evènement!!! Le grand retour du maître Murakami pour un roman éblouissant, dans la lignée de ses grandes œuvres – Kafka sur le rivage ou 1Q84 – et sept ans après son dernier roman – Le Meurtre du commandeur. Tu dis: La Cité est entourée de hauts murs et il est très difficile d'y pénétrer. Mais encore plus difficile d'en sortir. Comment pourrais-je y entrer, alors? Il suffit que tu le désires.

With Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami gives us a novel every bit as ambitious and expansive as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which has been acclaimed both here and around the world for its uncommon ambition and achievement, and whose still-growing popularity suggests that it will be read and admired for decades to come.

In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they'll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and seemingly appears at random to adrift young people at crucial junctions in their lives. It's also run by talking cats.

When a mysterious woman requests a custom katana, Eizo's passion is ignited. There's just one problem—the client is a demon, and her people have had a complicated and historically violent relationship with humans. Since Eizo desires a peaceful life, can his conscience withstand forging a god-tier weapon for humanity's former enemy? Along with a new commission, Forge Eizo also receives a new family member: an adorable drake called Krul! Unfortunately, navigating wingless dragon ownership isn't the only trial ahead.

After a successful rescue mission in the empire, Eizo welcomes Helen to the family. Life at the forge is peaceful once more, though living in the Black Forest comes with its own set of dangers. The family encounters another aggressive bear, and once they dispatch it, they find and adopt an orphaned wolf pup. With yet another mouth to feed, Eizo knows he must continue to test the limits of his cheats. His next challenge? Working with a rare, stubborn metal called appoitakara. Using this metal, Eizo forges Helen a new pair of swords and then decides to design a katana for himself!

人の生きる意味を問う。著者畢生の歴史大作日本革命前夜－時は幕末。北関東の清流、那珂川が流れる黒羽藩で、青年下士・板倉誠之介は育まれた。彼の養父、主水丞は百姓一揆に同調したことで、一家は厳しい生活を余儀なくされているが、誠之介の心には、民を思い、信念をもって立ち向かう侍への憧れが宿っていく。

In the early 1920s, Japanese college professor Masao Takashimaya of Kyoto had a passion for modern ideas that was as strong as his wife's belief in ancient tradition. Twenty years later, his 18-year-old daughter Hiroko, torn between her mother's traditions and her father's wishes, boarded SS Nagoya Maru to come to California for an education, and to make her father proud. It was August 1941.

With the Second World War only a few years in the past, and Japan still reeling from its effects, two sisters—born to the same father but different mothers—struggle to make sense of the new world in which they are coming of age. Asako, the younger, has become obsessed with locating a third sibling, while also experiencing love for the first time. While Momoko, their father’s first child—haunted by the loss of her kamikaze boyfriend and their final, disturbing days together—seeks comfort in a series of unhealthy romances.

チェス盤の下に隠れている彼を、どうか見つけて下さい。伝説のチェスプレーヤー、リトル・アリョーヒンの、ひそやかな奇跡を描き尽した、切なく、愛おしい、宝物のような傑作長篇小説

俺たちは踊れる。だからもっと美しい世界に立たせてくれ！

When the unnamed narrator of Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s stirring second novel returns to Carmel, California, to care for her mother, she finds herself stranded at the outset of the disease. With her husband and children back in Hong Kong, and her Japanese mother steadily declining in a care facility two hours away, she becomes preoccupied with her mother’s garden—convinced it contains a kind of visual puzzle—and the dormant cherry tree within it. She soon starts a torrid affair with an arborist who is equally fascinated by her mother’s garden, and together they embark on reviving it.

EL FENÓMENO COREANO QUE HA DADO LA VUELTA AL MUNDO. Una historia conmovedora sobre los momentos decisivos de la vida y de cómo los libros pueden sanar heridas y cambiar a las personas. En un pequeño callejón de un barrio tranquilo de Seúl se encuentra la librería Hyunam-dong. La dueña, Yeongju, ha pasado su vida haciendo lo que se esperaba de ella (estudiar, casarse y tener una carrera exitosa) hasta que, tras su divorcio y cansada de cumplir con las expectativas de otros, decide dejarlo todo atrás para perseguir su sueño de tener una librería.

鳴りやまぬ拍手と眩しいほどの光、人生の境地がここにある。

Ex-archaeology grad student turned international antiquities thief Alix - better known now as Owl - has one rule. No supernatural jobs. Ever. Until she crosses paths with Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns and runs the Japanese Circus Casino in Las Vegas. He insists Owl retrieve an artifact stolen 3,000 years ago and makes her an offer she can't refuse: He'll get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead.

Sakuta had been ready to give up his life, but nothing could have prepared him to keep living like this. Now he must find a way to carry on even when it feels like tomorrow will never come. And even if it does, why should he care when the love of his life is already gone? Of course, he can always count on Shouko to show him the way forward in his darkest hour, just like she did all those years ago. As he gathers the strength and courage Mai gave him, Sakuta readies himself to do whatever it takes to rewrite the past.

Putting the fey tragedy behind him, Erich arrives at the Rhinian capital and begins his term of service under Lady Agrippina at the Imperial College of Magic. There, he draws the attention of a troubling wardrobe connoisseur but has no choice but to press on and earn his sister's tuition. After befriending a student at the College, the two set off on one of Agrippina's simple errands—until the Goddess of Dice turns their quick chore into a full-blown dungeon crawl!

After a draining December, Sakuta is quickly nearing the end of his second year of high school. Since Mai is a third-year student, they don’t have much time left together before graduation rolls around. Meanwhile, his sister, Kaede, is slowly but steadily venturing outdoors again. Just as she begins to find her footing, she announces her most ambitious goal yet—attending her brother’s high school! Sakuta knows better than anyone how difficult this will be for Kaede, and he’s ready to support her however he can. He’s just not sure if that’s what’s best for her…or what she really wants…

With her vacation over and separated from her father once again, the S-Rank adventurer Angeline is utterly convinced that Belgrieve must be feeling just as lonely as her. In order to make his home feel a little less empty, she resolves to find him a bride! Meanwhile, Belgrieve's hands are full with his own troubles, as his reputation has gained the attention of an adventurer hoping to test his mettle against a living legend, as well as an old elf claiming to be a holy knight.

Nothing wrecks an already bad day faster than almost getting hit by a car. But then he rescued me. My mysterious, sexy savior wore danger as easily as he wore his black-on-black clothes. And still, I wasn't afraid of him. I should've been. Because after one misunderstanding, the man I thought would love me forever showed me just how ruthless and cold he really is. I trusted him with my heart once and it broke me. I can't afford to make that mistake again.