What Japanese Weird do you like?

[Gnosticangel]

This link reviewing "The Road" by Hiroshi Aramata (found thanks to Reddit's Weird Literature sub) reminded me of how much I enjoyed this series and other Japanese weird literature.

The Road by Hiroshi Aramata | Pulp Crazy

I've long been a fan of Kobe Abe's "The Woman in the Dunes," and also the tales of Edogawa Rampo such as "The Human Chair." I've also appreciated expatriate Lafcadio Hearn's Japanese-inspired works and the (non-weird) writing of Yukio Mishima.

I'd love to hear about other Japanese authors that members of this site have enjoyed and recommend.

[luciferfell]

Japanese Gothic Tales by Kyōka Izumi is surreal and creepy. Seven Japanese Tales by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki is bizarre and erotic.

[ToALonelyPeace]

I haven't read any prominent Japanese author other than Mishima and Abe. However, I've enjoyed Goth by Otsuichi

which has been adapted to manga and live action.
I will probably check out The Lake by Yasunari Kawabata, a story about the pleasure of being watched (stalked).

I've recently found these image lists, and I think it's worth a look.

[Gnosticangel]

Great references, many thanks, I will check them out!

This trilogy is also noteworthy:

Tales of Old Edo - Kaiki: Uncanny Tales from Japan, Vol. 1: Robert Weinberg, Masao Higashi: 9784902075083: Amazon.com: Books

 

Tales of Old Edo - Kaiki: Uncanny Tales from Japan, Vol. 1: Robert Weinberg, Masao Higashi: 9784902075083: Amazon.com: Books

Akutagawa is a must, of course.

I purchased Yasutaka Tsutsui's Salmonella Men on Planet Porno a while ago but haven't started it, so I can't vouch for its quality.

[Pharpetron]

The great thing about Japanese culture, at least for an aficionado of all things eldritch, is the very ancient tradition of telling strange and frightening tales of the supernatural, and the often beautiful ways that contemporary Japanese storytellers appropriate and modernize the old stories from their tradition.

The best books to read to become acquainted with the traditional weird tales of old Japan are:

1) Konjaku Monogatari, a massive collection of over a thousand tales dating from the twelfth century, a large number of which are quite famous thanks to the modern adaptations of Akutagawa.

2) Uji shui Monogatari, a collection of tales from the thirteenth century.

3) Ugetsu Monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain), a small collection of stories by the eighteenth-century write Ueda Akinari, is the masterpiece of the classical tradition of supernatural tales.

In addition to these collections, I'd recommend checking out the medieval Noh plays of the repertoire, most of which are filled with monsters, demons, ghosts, and other strange and wondrous beings. Many of the texts are available online, and there are numerous translations of the more famous and more literary of the plays, including a fine one by Royall Tyler in the Penguin Classics series.

Once you've gotten acquainted with the traditional stories, you'll be in a position to better appreciate anime or manga such as Inuyasha or Mushishi, both of which are a modern continuation of the pre-modern Noh style of supernatural tales.

[Gnosticangel]

Pharpetron wrote: "The best books to read to become acquainted with the traditional weird tales of old Japan are:

1) Konjaku Monogatari, a massive collection of over a thousand tales dating from the twelfth century, a large number of which are quite famous thanks to the modern adaptations of Akutagawa.
2) Uji shui Monogatari, a collection of tales from the thirteenth century.
3) Ugetsu Monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain), a small collection of stories by the eighteenth-century write Ueda Akinari, is the masterpiece of the classical tradition of supernatural tales. "

Thanks Pharpetron! Great suggestions!

[Ancient History]

I'm fond of Lafcadio Hearn's translation of Japanese folk tales, in books like Kwaidan.

[Auditor]

The usual suspects that are mentioned here often by the likes of Quentin S. Crisp, Justin Isis, and others are great (Mishima, Tanizaki, Dazai, etc.), but I wouldn't consider them Weird. They are the authors that I am most familiar with though.

I recently bought something called Monkey Brain Sushi, which is a collection of strange tales from the 80's and 90's. It's supposed to be a good example of more contemporary transgressive Japanese authors, but I have only read one story so far and it was awful.

Another recent read that was really ####ed up and pretty good is called Confessions (Kinae Minato), although I thought the film version was even better than the book. The weirdest thing about the book to me is that it almost completely lacks description. I didn't know what a single person or place looked like. It read more like a screenplay, so it makes sense that the film was good.

[Rignolo]

I am reading Edogawa Rampo's Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination for the first time. So far the stories are very absorbing and unsettling. I enjoy the obsessive sometimes almost perverse perspectives of the protagonists such as in "The Caterpillar". "The Human Chair" was also a crazy tale although I was a bit disappointed with the ending pointing out that the whole thing was actually just "pure imagination".