The Greatest Japanese Family Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 488 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
105 The Tale of Genji Murasaki Shikibu 1001 Japanese Classical japanese
792 Thousand Cranes Yasunari Kawabata 1952 Japanese Japanese
904 Some Prefer Nettles Junichiro Tanizaki 1929 Japanese Japanese
1279 The Makioka Sisters Junichiro Tanizaki 1948 Japanese Japanese
1448 The Sound of the Mountain Yasunari Kawabata 1954 Japanese Japanese
1470 The Twilight Years Sawako Ariyoshi 1972 Japanese Japanese
1511 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter Unknown 900 Japanese Japanese
1629 Kafka On The Shore Haruki Murakami 2002 Japanese Japanese
1686 Out Natsuo Kirino 1997 Japanese Japanese
1693 The Honjin Murders Seishi Yokomizo 1946 Japanese Japanese
2485 1Q84 Haruki Murakami 2009 Japanese Japanese
3113 Kitchen Banana Yoshimoto 1988 Japanese Japanese
3266 Lady Joker Kaoru Takamura 1997 Japanese Japanese
3420 The Waiting Years Fumiko Enchi 1957 Japanese Japanese
3453 Six Four Hideo Yokoyama 2012 Japanese Japanese
3795 A Personal Matter Kenzaburō Ōe 1964 Japanese Japanese
3970 Snakeskin Shamisen Naomi Hirahara 2006 Japanese English
4455 Revenge Yōko Ogawa 1998 Japanese Japanese
4898 Black Rain Masuji Ibuse 1965 Japanese Japanese
5133 The Emissary Yoko Tawada 2014 Japanese Japanese
5327 The Housekeeper And The Professor Yōko Ogawa 2003 Japanese Japanese
5727 Requiem Shizuko Gō 1986 Japanese Japanese
6014 Child Of Fortune Yuko Tsushima 1978 Japanese Japanese
6327 A Dark Night's Passing Naoya Shiga 1937 Japanese Japanese
7177 Shipwrecks Akira Yoshimura 1982 Japanese Japanese
7844 Teach Us To Outgrow Our Madness Kenzaburō Ōe 1969 Japanese Japanese
8968 The Setting Sun Osamu Dazai 1947 Japanese Japanese
10547 A Bride's Story Kaoru Mori 2009 Japanese Japanese
10613 Breasts And Eggs Mieko Kawakami 2008 Japanese Japanese
10990 My Brother's Husband Gengoroh Tagame 2014 Japanese Japanese
11866 Harsh Cry Of The Heron Lian Hearn 2006 Japanese English
12488 The Book Of Form And Emptiness Ruth Ozeki 2021 Japanese English
14120 The Hunting Gun Yasushi Inoue 1949 Japanese Japanese
14371 Demon Slayer Koyoharu Gotouge 2016 Japanese Japanese
14371 One Piece Eiichiro Oda 1997 Japanese Japanese
14371 Evil And The Mask Fuminori Nakamura 2010 Japanese Japanese
14321 The Well Cradle Zeami Motokiyo 1430 Japanese Japanese