Japanese Novels of 2023: My Highlights

In 2023, I started working full time and thus had less time to read compared to 2022. In addition, I also started preparing for the JLPT N1 and tried to read novels in Japanese that would challenge my reading comprehension accordingly as well. In this post, I’ll be sharing my personal highlights of Japanese book I read this year and I’ll also provide links to each book in case you want to check them out for yourself.

Before we dive in, a few notes:

• Some of the books on this list have already been reviewed in more depth on my blog, and I’ll be providing links to those reviews as well in those cases.
• The books on this list were chosen to challenge my own reading comprehension skills and will therefore also be challenging to other intermediate readers. My review for 2022 included books that I believe fit well for an intermediate level, so please check it out as well if that’s more appropriate to your current reading skills.
• All links to Amazon Japan are affiliate links. I will receive a small comission if you purchase one of my recommended books through that link. Thank you for the support!
• Like last year I’ve also excluded all the manga I have read because I find them hard to compare to novels. Manga I’ve read will appear on this blog in the form of book reviews soon.

So, here are my top Japanese novels of 2023:

5. 余命10年 by 小坂 流加

This is the story of Matsuri, who learns she has only 10 years left to live due to an incurable disease. She does not want to confront anyone with this but is in fact surrounded by people who love her and will miss her including her family, old friends from school, new friends from a new hobby and rekindling feelings of a childhood crush.

I started reading this novel in May and finished it in June. It was tragic through and through and I thought there was a lot that could be said about how Matsuri decided to leave her loved ones in the dark and deny herself their care. It was well written and also very frustrating to read simply because of the unfairness of the main character’s situation. I’m not sure if I can recommend it or not but it certaintly moved me. You can check it out on Amazon Japan.

4. カラフル by 森 絵都

A soul enters the afterlife, where it is told that it was responsible for something bad in their previous life and thus won’t be reborn. Fortunately, the soul is given a second chance in which it will need to continue the life of Kobayashi Makoto, who has just died by suicide.

This was my book for March and it was comparatively easier than the other books I read in 2023. With a focus on issues relevant to teenagers between middle school and high school, the novel is written in a way that is accessible to that age group. Check this novel out on Amazon Japan. I’ve also written a book review about it.

3. ちょっと今から仕事やめてくる by 北川 恵海

This was my first Japanese novel of the year, read back in January, and I did not expect to get so emotional. It has a strong message against toxic work culture and I really enjoyed the two main characters interactions and their conversations!

I especially liked how it all started and built up to the mystery of Yamamoto and while I do like how that was resolved, the ending itself felt somewhat different from the first two thirds of the book. The amount of conversations make it comparatively easy to read, but there is challenging vocabulary related to the setting and the main character’s suicidal thoughts. Check it out on Amazon Japan.

2. 少年探偵団 by 江戸川 乱歩

In August, my coworker gave me her copy of Edogawa Ranpo’s “Detective Boys”, and I read through it over August and September. Private detective Akechi Kogoro is teaming up with a gang of curious boys to first solve the mystery of a black demon before going against a phantom thief.

With this being a children’s book from 1937 I’m not sure if it will rank as high on other people’s lists but for me personally it was a lot of fun analyzing how this series definded the “detective vs. phantom thief” trope on the Japanese side. Be advised though that not everything holds up to modern standards and especially the chapters where the main suspects are wizards from India show a lot of xenophobia.

I’ve already written more about this book and my thoughts on it here. The text is completely free due to the expired copy rights, so feel free to have a look!

1. 告白 by 湊 かなえ

It is the last homeroom lesson of the school year and homeroom teacher Moriguchi Yuko still has a few things she wants to tell her students of class B, 1st year of middle school. Firstly, that the death of her 4-year-old daughter was not an accident. Secondly, that i was pupils of this very class that killed her.

This is the start of my favourite book of 2023. I read this revenge thriller crime novel in April and was completely captured by the layers of confessions and how it all escalated further which each. Not every chapter was a hit, but the overall suspense made this the perfect choice as my introduction to the Japanese mystery genre and I hope to read more like it in 2024. You can get it e.g. through Amazon Japan.

To 2024 and further challenges!

I haven’t talked about it online, yet, but in 2023 I failed the N1 by only two points. I was devastated and spent some time thinking about all the what-ifs, but eventually I think I would not have been happy about barely passing either. In 2024 I want to retake the test in July and hopefully pass with flying colors this time 🙂

I’ve also stopped being active on Twitter/X in 2023. I believe I have now found a similar community on Tumblr, and will continue to post more on there this year. Since a lot of what I’m reading comes through recommendations I’m really grateful to have a community again. Thanks for all the great books I was able to read along with you guys! I hope you find this list of my top 2023 Japanese books helpful for expanding your 2024 TBRs. Which of these books have you also read last year, and which ones are you excited to check out next?