Welcome to the Japanese Literature Challenge 16!
During January and February of 2023, we will read Japanese novels, short stories, mysteries, thrillers, or even poetry if you so choose.
Please leave a link to that which you have read by clicking on the Mr. Linky widget below. That way, we can all have a chance to enjoy what you chose.
I so look forward on sharing this virtual trip to Japan with you!

Happy New Year all and happy new challenge. It’s my first time here and also my first time using the Mr. Linky thing so I hope I’ve done it all correctly.
I just wanted to check in to say that my first read is There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura. I’m really enjoying the style so far.
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Nick, I’m so glad you’re here and using the Mr. Linky, and enjoying the book you chose. I have There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job on my list, too. I look forward to discussing it with you! Do you have a blog, by chance? If so, I can come visit you and comment. If not, no worries.
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Thank you! I don’t have a blog. Maybe some point in the future 😀.
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Happy New Year! Looking forward to this a lot!
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I’m so glad you’re joining in!
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Happy New Year, Meredith! I’m so excited to start this challenge!
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I am, too, for the both of us!🤭
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Thanks so much for doing this again. I will soon decide on which book I will read first for this event, which I always look forward to.
TracyK at Bitter Tea and Mystery
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It makes me happy that you, and the others, at looking forward to this event. It will be fun to see what you choose!
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Thanks so much for hosting. I’ll be participating. I will post about it on January 11.
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I’ve started my new short story collection from Banana Yoshimoro & loving it so far. Thanks for hosting once again 🙂
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I like Banana Yoshimoto’s work so much. I’m hoping to get to this one, too!
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[…] (not March this year) is the Japanese Literature challenge, in which I’ll be participating (more about that on January 11). Besides that, I’m not […]
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[…] very excited about this year is the Japanese Literature Challenge, now in it’s 16th year! Dolce Bellezza is once again hosting the challenge which runs through the end of February 2023. I’ve enjoyed […]
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I haven’t blogged in a long time but one thing I was thinking about was January in Japan. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able participate this year. I’ve already started reading. I hope you’re doing well. Happy 2023. May it be a wonderful for you.
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I’m so glad you’re back again, Caroline, and that you’ve decided to join in the Japanese Literature Challenge again!🎉
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Thank you so much, Meredith. My first post should be up this week. 😊
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[…] who enjoys Japanese literature is Meredith of the Dolce Bellezza blog, and her latest event, Japanese Literature Challenge 16, runs from the start of the year until the end of February. I’m sure there’ll be lots […]
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[…] short storyPublished in 1918Not sure yet of the translator58 pagesIt counts for the Japanese Literature Challengeand The Classics […]
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I learned of this from Tony’s Reading List. Coincidentally, I just got back from a trip from Japan, so this reading challenge will keep the adventure going. An item that’s been on my shelf for a while has been The Wisdom of Tea: Life Lessons from the Japanese Tea Ceremony by Noriko Morishita. The film adaptation was one of the in-flight movies, so I am even more interested. I might follow that up with The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi and there reading of some Noh plays.
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Oh, I envy yo just coming back from Japan! I was there in 2018, and I am dying to go back. I remember reading Haruki Murakami’s book, Killing Commandatore, on the flight as it had just been released.
The Wisdom of Tea book you mentioned is new to me, but sounds wonderful, as does The Waiting Years. I am always eager to learn all I can about Japan.
So glad you came here from Tony’s, we have both been enormous fans of Japanese literature for a long time, and welcome!
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[…] 2023 plans post, one event I always try to take part in is the Japanese Literature Challenge run by Dolce Bellezza; and I’ve been planning ahead for this January! I have a number of Japanese classics lurking […]
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I posted my first review. Before Your Memory Fades–book 3 of Before the Coffee Gets Cold
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I can’t make your Mr Linky work it isn’t opening, so here’s the link to the review I just posted. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami.
https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2023/01/10/heaven-mieko-kawakami-2009/
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[…] spent my first read for the Japanese Literature Challenge by exploring some concepts of aesthetics and beauty, I moved into more difficult territory for my […]
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So happy to be able to join in this year even though the first book I read wasn’t wonderful !
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[…] thought I’d start my reading for the 16th Edition of the Japanese Literary Challenge and #JanuaryinJapan with a crime novel set on a train – one of my favourite settings. Or I […]
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[…] Read for Meredith’s Japanese Literature Challenge 16 […]
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I’ve lined up 3 choices to read in this 2 month time period. My post is on my blog at https://finishingtheseries2020.blogspot.com/2023/01/karens-japanese-literature-challenge.html
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I’ve tried and tried to leave a comment on your blog; it will not let me even when I use Chrome. I will try again tomorrow! Still, thank you for posting your books, and what you’ll read for this challenge.🥰
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I don’t know what is wrong with the thing. I’m so sorry you had trouble!
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[…] between 1897-1931Translated by Nancy H. RossPublished in 2020168 pagesIt counts for the Japanese Literature Challengeand The Classics […]
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[…] far for the Japanese Literature Challenge I’ve explored an essay on aesthetics and a powerful memoir of nuclear attack; and I said at […]
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[…] Read for Meredith’s Japanese Literature Challenge 16 […]
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I just finished the excellent novella Child of Fortune by Yuko Tsushima which was such a multi-layered novella, a woman trying to cope raising her daughter alone while being gaslit by her sister and too many readers. A work that penetrates the depths and manifestations of grief, that stands up to an unsympathetic society and demands to exist in an alternative way to conventional ideals.
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[…] between 1897-1931Translated by Nancy H. RossPublished in 2020168 pagesIt counts for the Japanese Literature Challengeand The Classics […]
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[…] of the things I missed the most during my blogging hiatus was Bellezza’s Japanese Literature Challenge. Whenever I participated in the past, I discovered books that made my end of year list. Obviously, […]
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[…] can I have a January in Japan/Japanese Literature Challenge 16 without sneaking in at least one book by my favourite Japanese author Dazai Osamu? I may have […]
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[…] Read for Meredith’s Japanese Literature Challenge 16 […]
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[…] between 1897-1931Translated by Nancy H. RossPublished in 2020168 pagesIt counts for the Japanese Literature Challengeand The Classics […]
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[…] Read for Meredith @DolceBellezza’s Japanese Literature Challenge 16 […]
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[…] Read for Meredith @DolceBellezza’s Japanese Literature Challenge 16 […]
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[…] challenge, hosted by Dolce Bellezza, runs through the end of February, but I really wanted to read my entry by the end of January, and […]
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Thanks for hosting this challenge again! I just entered my reviews but forgot to list the names of the books in the challenge linky. The Cat Who Saved Books and There Is No Such Thing as an Easy Job. Hope you’ll visit.
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[…] between 1897-1931Translated by Nancy H. RossPublished in 2020168 pagesIt counts for the Japanese Literature Challengeand The Classics […]
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[…] This is my participation to Doce Bellezza’s Japanese Literature Challenge. […]
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Looks like you have reached 50 reviews for the challenge 16! Great job, and it was fun participating~
https://bookdilettante.blogspot.com/
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Bellezza, thanks for hosting another JLC. I made it just in time. Before you totally switch your attention to the Int. Booker Prize, check this Keigo Higashino book out (maybe his latest, I can’t be definite). 🙂
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[…] read Breasts and Eggs as part of Meredith’s Japanese Literature Reading Challenge. This was my first experience reading anything written by Mieko Kawakami, and I had no idea what to […]
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