🏛️ Classic Literature · Japan
Best Classic Literature Books from Japan
Classic literature is the body of work that time has tested and culture has kept. Japan has produced some of the most internationally recognised works in classic literature, with titles that have appeared on major prize lists and critical surveys worldwide. This page ranks the best classic literature from Japan by editorial consensus.
#1
literary-fiction
Snow Country
Yasunari Kawabata· 1968
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score71/100
#2
literary-fiction
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
Yukio Mishima· 1963
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score66/100
#3
literary-fiction
The Makioka Sisters
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki· 1943
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score60/100
#4
literary-fiction
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
Yukio Mishima· 1956
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score48/100
#5
literary-fiction
Moll Flanders
Daniel Defoe· 1722
Library Journal
Editorial Score45/100
#6
literary-fiction
The history of the great plague in London in the year 1665
Daniel Defoe· 1722
Library Journal
Editorial Score40/100
#7
literary-fiction
A Knight of the Nineteenth Century
Edward Payson Roe· 1877
Library Journal
Editorial Score40/100
#8
literary-fiction
Egmont
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe· 1788
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score40/100
#9
classic-literature
The Consolidator
Daniel Defoe· 1705
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score35/100
#10
classic-literature
Nan Sherwood's Winter Holidays
Annie Roe Carr· 1916
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score35/100
#11
classic-literature
From London to Land's End
Daniel Defoe· 1888
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score35/100
#12
classic-literature
Essay Upon Projects
Daniel Defoe· 1702
Library Journal
Editorial Score35/100
#13
classic-literature
Hormiguitita
Aldo Boetto· 2003
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score35/100
#14
classic-literature
A critical concordance to Seneca's Medea
L. Belle Voegelein· 1913
Library Journal
Editorial Score35/100
#15
classic-literature
The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe· 1999
Library Journal
Editorial Score30/100
#16
classic-literature
Tour Through Eastern Counties of England
Daniel Defoe· 2004
Library Journal
Editorial Score30/100
#17
classic-literature
Of Captain Mission
Daniel Defoe· 2003
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score30/100
#18
classic-literature
Howard Pyle's Robin Hood
Joeming W. Dunn· 2007
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score30/100
#19
classic-literature
New Grub Street
Annie Roe Carr· 2003
Library Journal
Editorial Score30/100
#20
classic-literature
Demons
Fyodor Dostoevsky· 2022
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score30/100
