The Best Japanese Work of Fiction Published in Japanese during Japan’s Heisei era

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

The Asahi Shimbun, 30 Books

In 2019, Japan's Heisei era (1989-2019) concluded, giving way to the new Reiwa era. This significant transition prompted the media and literary communities to reflect on the highlights of the past three decades, including the most outstanding works of Japanese fiction.

One of Japan's most prestigious national newspapers, The Asahi Shimbun, conducted a survey involving 120 literary experts and book reviewers who had contributed to the publication. They were asked to select their choice for the best book published during the Heisei period.

* Note, this list might have some translation issues. It obviously is not just fiction

This list was originally published in 2019 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
1723 1Q84 Haruki Murakami 2009 Japanese Japanese
266 Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro 2005 British English
8298 Kokuhaku Kō Machida 2005 Japanese Japanese
8847 Philosophy of the Tourist Hiroki Azuma 2017 Japanese Unknown
2297 Out Natsuo Kirino 1997 Japanese Japanese
5382 All She Was Worth Miyuki Miyabe 1992 Japanese Japanese
1384 Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond 1997 American English
3417 The Housekeeper And The Professor Yōko Ogawa 2003 Japanese Japanese
9990 Minshu To Aikoku Eiji Oguma 2014 Japanese Japanese
473 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami 1994 Japanese Japanese
8375 Jiryoku To Jūryoku No Hakken Yoshitaka Yamamoto 2003 Japanese Unknown
3627 Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata 2016 Japanese Japanese
8331 Shōwa No Geki Kazuo Kasahara 2002 Japanese Unknown
8937 Seibutsu To Museibutsu No Aida Shinichi Fukuoka 2007 Japanese Japanese
8497 Atarashii Chūsei Akihiko Tanaka 2003 Japanese Unknown
8202 Suikoden Series Kenzo Kitakata 2000 Japanese Japanese
8497 Transcritique Kojin Karatani 2003 Japanese Japanese
4896 The Emissary Yoko Tawada 2014 Japanese Japanese
11184 Central Banking Masaaki Shirakawa 2021 Japanese English
7630 Marks No Yama Kaoru Takamura 1993 Japanese Japanese
8918 Manchuria Under Japanese Dominion Shinichi Yamamuro 2006 Japanese Japanese
7710 Mono Kuu Hitobito Yō Henmi 1994 Japanese Unknown
6545 Saigyō Kaden Kunio Tsuji 1982 Japanese Japanese
9335 Sōkyū No Subaru Jirō Asada 2009 Japanese Japanese
9335 Confronting Income Inequality In Japan Toshimasa Tachibanaki 2009 Japanese Japanese
1315 Voices from Chernobyl Svetlana Alexievich 1997 Belarusian Russian
11224 Remnants of Days Past Kyoji Watanabe 2020 Japanese Unknown
9335 Showa 1926-1939 Shigeru Mizuki 2009 Japanese Japanese
9225 Han Hinkon Makoto Yuasa 2008 Japanese Unknown
9896 Tokyo Prison Mari Akasaka 2012 Japanese Japanese