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• Bullying in Japanese Literature

  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 examples in Japanese novels. And then we'll talk about Mizuki Tsujimura's Lonely Castle in the Mirror, translated into English by Philip Gabriel.This episode is rated mature. CW: bullying and suicideIf you're thinking about suicide, please get help. Open Counseling hosts a list of international suicide hotlines.Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available. Be sure to check out the new and improved RJL website!Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature.

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• Christianity in Japanese Literature

  In this episode, we look into the history of Christianity in Japan—especially the role Christianity has played in Japanese literature. Our focus text is Shusaku Endo's Silence.Notes and sources on the episode page.  Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature.

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• Japanese Writers Standing Up to the State

  In this episode, we take a look at the Japanese proletarian writers’ movement of the 1920s and early 1930s. We also take a deep dive into the life of author Genzaburo Yoshino—not a proletarian writer, but a man who spent prison alongside them and for some of the same beliefs—and his novel How Do You Live?.Notes and sources on the episode page.  Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature.

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• Keiichiro Hirano

  For the first time ever, RJL brings you information from an interview with a Japanese author—Akutagawa-winner Keiichiro Hirano. This episode takes up his life and work, the influence of Yukio Mishima on his fiction, and his most-recently-translated novel, Eclipse.CW: attempted suicide in a discussion of Yukio Mishima's The Temple of the Golden PavilionNotes and sources on the episode page.  Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature.

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• Christmas in Japanese Literature

  Happy holidays! And, in the interest of today’s episode, merri kurisumasu!Today we’re going to start with the origins of Christmas, especially why Christmas is celebrated in Japan at all. We’ll move on to how Christmas is celebrated in Japan. And we’ll end with some examples of what part Christmas seems to play in Japanese literature—or at least Japanese literature that gets translated.Notes and sources on the episode page.  Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com.Support RJL on Patreon.com.Buy your books from Bookshop.org.All content © 2025 Read Japanese Literature.

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