LGBTQ+ Stories from Japan, Part 1

This episode is rated mature. Horror and uncanny stories are fundamental elements of Japanese storytelling. We’ll start with a note about genre in general and “horror” in particular. We’ll continue wi...

12 Loka 1h 1min

This episode is rated mature. For decades, writing by women was treated as its own separate genre in Japan, joryu bungaku. In today's episode, we’ll start with an explanation of why joryu bungaku beca...

29 Elo 1h 3min

In this episode, we examine the history of the Aum Affair and its lasting impact on Japanese fiction. We'll start out with the history of new religions in Japan, including Aum Shinrikyo. We'll take a ...

25 Kesä 59min

In this episode, we're taking a look at Yasunari Kawabata's life and work. As we tell his story, we'll ask ourselves two big questions. Is Kawabata really a traditionalist? And what is up with the wa...

11 Touko 57min

In this episode, we look at the writers behind two of Japan's greatest movie monsters—Godzilla and Mothra. We'll start out by looking at Godzilla—its context, author, and story—before we turn to Moth...

10 Helmi 1h 3min

In this episode, we take a look at the Japanese cell phone novel and the classic story of Train Man. We’re going to start today by explaining the Japanese cell phone novel, including some relevant bac...

14 Joulu 202548min

In this episode, we explore the enduring legacy of Greek/English/Irish/American/Japanese author Lafcadio Hearn and the ghost story The Peony Lantern. We'll start out by looking at Hearn's life. We'll ...

29 Loka 202554min

In this episode, we look at bullying in Japanese literature. We'll start out by defining bullying and looking at bullying in Japanese schools as well as the Japanese workplace. We'll see some example...

20 Syys 202557min