There are still remnants of this going today on Bookstagram - #JanuaryInJapan and #KoreanMarch are two themed months I look forward to every year. It's just a shame this kind of approach is so antithetical to the day-to-day reality of running a games site in the year 2026!

January 2026 Wrap-Up – January in Japan January is always a busy month, but after wrapping up 2025 with the annual awards ceremony, a look at some stats and a reflection on the year that was, it was on with the show – and what a sh…

My January wrap-up post has all the links and info from #JanuaryInJapan - click on the link for more info :)
tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/02/01/j...

Whelp #JanuaryinJapan is officially over!

I read 10 books and 7 manga. The thread breakdown is below.

The top 2 books I read were The Tale of the Heike and The Tales of Ise

The top 2 manga were Dear Brother by Riyoko Ikeda and Vaelber Saga by Nobuteru Yuuki

#booksky 💙📚

📚💙 More for #JanuaryInJapan, mostly short books. I finally read a Yoshimoto Banana book!

📚💙 Started the year by buddy-reading In His Chart (Kamisama no Karute) series in Indonesian for #JanuaryInJapan.

IHC is a medical drama about an idealist doctor whose world view was shaken by people around him. The balance between comedy and grim reality made the characters shine.

Final day of #januaryinjapan! (aka #japanuary?)

Haneko Takayama is the most recent Akutagawa winner with free work available. She won in 2020 for "A Horse from Shuri", about a museum archivist in Okinawa. Her SF story, Udon—Unknown Dog of Nobody has also been translated into English by LK Nithya.

#JanuaryinJapan: At the Edge of the Wood Ono Masatsugu: At the Edge of the Wood, transl. Juliet Winters Carpenter, Strangers Press, 2017 In my Keshiki-New Voices from Japan collection from Strangers Press, a lovely selection of chapbooks …

New on my blog today: #JanuaryinJapan: At the Edge of the Wood findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/j...

#JanuaryinJapan: At the Edge of the Wood Ono Masatsugu: At the Edge of the Wood, transl. Juliet Winters Carpenter, Strangers Press, 2017 In my Keshiki-New Voices from Japan collection from Strangers Press, a lovely selection of chapbooks …

#JanuaryinJapan: At the Edge of the Wood findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/j... > via @marinasofia.bsky.social

My latest #JanuaryInJapan reread is of Kuniko Mukōda’s 'The Woman Next Door' (translated by A. Reid Monroe-Sheridan: Kurodahan Press), an engaging set of five stories featuring ordinary people in slightly depressing lives...
tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2021/06/07/t...

‘The Textual Townsman’ by Thomas Gaubatz (Review) After the last couple of #JanuaryInJapan posts saw us spending time in the Heian Era, we’re skipping forward a good few centuries today for the final review post of the month, with our focus …

My final post for #JanuaryInJapan looks at Thomas Gaubatz's 'The Textual Townsman' (courtesy of Columbia University Press), a book that takes us back to the Tokugawa period and examines it through the eyes of two writers:
tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/29/t...

‘Landmarks of World Literature: Murasaki Shikibu – The Tale of Genji’ by Richard Bowring (Review) The Tale of Genji is rarely far from my thoughts, so as you can imagine, I was never likely to ignore it during January in Japan.  I’ve already contributed another couple of posts to my chapt…

Another book about 'The Tale of Genji'?! My latest #JanuaryInjapan review looks at Richard Bowring's 'Landmarks of World Literature: Murasaki Shikibu – The Tale of Genji' :)
tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/l...

“By morning, half the fireflies had died…” #japaneseliteraturechallenge Whenever I take part in reading events and challenges, I normally try to pick books which I already have in the stacks; goodness knows the TBR is already gigantic enough without adding to it! Howev…

On the Ramblings today, for the #japaneseliteraturechallenge and #januaryinjapan I explore a heartbreaking short work, Grave of the Fireflies. More here: kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/b...

Still #reading #JanuaryinJapan with @readjapaneseliterature.com The Wild Goose by Ogai Mori from the charming Olea in Jounieh, #Lebanon #photography #iPhone #urban

The Tale of Genji: 20 – Asagao If you recall, when we left Genji at the end of our last chapter-by-chapter journey through the Tale, the Shining One was admonishing himself for flirting with a young woman he’s supposed to …

We're back with Genji for my latest #JanuaryInJapan post, and in Chapter 20, 'Asagao', he's once again making eyes at a woman who's trying to say no - while poor Murasaki's heart breaks back at home...
tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/23/t...

🫶 I haven't really read #JanuaryinJapan this year, but that doesn't mean that I don't love Japanese literature.

There are some classic crimes here, some contemporary fiction, as well as murder mysteries. Of all the translated fiction that I read, Japanese fiction is perhaps my favourite.

#JanuaryinJapan: Underdogs and Warlords Joining both Tony in his January in Japan venture and Meredith in her Japanese Literature Challenge, because it’s always about Japan with me (and Romania and Germany and Austria and France an…

#JanuaryinJapan: Shanghai in the 1920s and Underdogs and Warlords findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/j...

#JanuaryinJapan: Underdogs and Warlords Joining both Tony in his January in Japan venture and Meredith in her Japanese Literature Challenge, because it’s always about Japan with me (and Romania and Germany and Austria and France an…

#JanuaryinJapan: Underdogs and Warlords findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/j... > via @marinasofia.bsky.social

My latest #JanuaryInJapan review takes us far into the future with Hiromi Kawakami's 'Under the Eye of the Big Bird' (translated by Asa Yoneda, published by Granta Books), a novel telling us all about the human race, and how it ends... tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/u...

#JanuaryinJapan: Underdogs and Warlords Joining both Tony in his January in Japan venture and Meredith in her Japanese Literature Challenge, because it’s always about Japan with me (and Romania and Germany and Austria and France an…

#JanuaryinJapan: Underdogs and Warlords findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/j...

#JanuaryinJapan: Underdogs and Warlords Joining both Tony in his January in Japan venture and Meredith in her Japanese Literature Challenge, because it’s always about Japan with me (and Romania and Germany and Austria and France an…

#JanuaryinJapan: Underdogs and Warlords
findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/j...

Read as part of @readjapaneseliterature.com's #JanuaryinJapan season: I enjoyed the creepy open-endedness of 'The Farside' by Hideo Furukawa & translated by @ginnytkmr.bsky.social.

Reflection of a camera flash misfiring. The background is the coastal town of Jounieh, Lebanon at sunset, in the background of an urban scene. The view is taken from a cafe overlooking the bay of Jounieh

The view from a #coffee shop. The flash popped up by mistake and I liked the reflection. #Reading Shoen Nakajima’s “ A Famous Flower in Mountain Seclusion “ with @readjapaneseliterature.com during #JanuaryInJapan. #Photography #Urban #VSCO

Another #JanuaryInJapan reread (see the comments for a link to my 2010 review) is of Yukio Mishima's sublime 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion' (translated by Ivan Morris).

Calling Haruki Murakami fans! My recent #JanuaryInJapan reread was carried out to enable a post comparing the book and film versions of 'after the quake' (translated by Jay Rubin: directed by Tsuyoshi Inoue).

Piercing Ryu Murakimi’s Piercing was originally published in 1994 and became the second of his novels to be translated into English (by Ralph McCarthy) in 2007. A dark thriller of dysfunctional love and dam…

For #JanuaryinJapan my first experience of the 'other' Murakami, Ryu (translated by Ralph McCarthy), Piercing:
1streading.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/p...

My most recent #JanuaryInJapan reread was of Shion Miura's 'The Great Passage' (translated by Juliet Carpenter), which - as is hopefully obvious from the photo - has to do with creating a dictionary.

Another week has passed, and we still don’t have any cats here. In the meantime, check out “I Am a Cat” by Soseki Natsume. Translated from Japanese, this classic follows an unwanted kitten observing the trials of human society. #januaryinjapan #inkdrinkers #booksbooksbooks

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami Translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd As Tony, the host of ‘January in Japan’ says in his review of this superb novella, ‘despite its title, this is a book where the main characte…

It's #JanuaryinJapan and here's my first Japanese read of the year - Heaven by Meiko Kawakami - superb. annabookbel.net/heaven-by-mi...

If you were missing some sword-fighting for #JanuaryInJapan, today's post has got you covered as we head back to the 14th/17th century with 'Chūshingura' (translated by Donald Keene), the story of revenge being best serve cold and violently ;)
tonysreadinglist.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/c...

Kokoro (1914), by Natsume Soseki, translated by Edwin McClellan I’m the first to admit that it takes a certain amount of chutzpah to share my thoughts about Kokoro because I haven’t read much J-Lit, and — with the exception of Death by Water (2009) …

#JanuaryInJapan: Was Sensei, like Oblomov, a 'superfluous man'? anzlitlovers.com/2026/01/12/k...