COUNTRY · JAPANBooks set in Japan
35.206, 137.367
62 books · 32 authors · 1021–2025
62 books here
Most-set authors
Yukio Mishima (7) · Haruki Murakami (6) · William Gibson (4) · Sayaka Murata (3) · Ryu Murakami (3) · Keigo Higashino (3)
Genres
literary fiction (25) · mystery & crime (3) · thriller & suspense (3) · romance (2) · historical fiction (2)
Books set here
Set in Japan (51)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Jules Verne
The Housekeeper and the Professor
Yōko Ogawa
Contemporary home setting
The Makioka Sisters
Junichiro Tanizaki
affluent branch-family home
Earthlings
Sayaka Murata
mountain grandparents house, key scenes
Vanishing World
Sayaka Murata
Experiment City / Eden
Neuromancer
William Gibson
opening act setting
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Toshikazu Kawaguchi
time-travel cafe in Tokyo
Almost Transparent Blue
Ryu Murakami
US base town, lost youth
Journey Under the Midnight Sun
Keigo Higashino
Midnight sun setting
Goodbye Tsugumi
Banana Yoshimoto
seaside inn town
The Sound of the Mountain
Yasunari Kawabata
seaside town
Out
Natsuo Kirino
suburban Tokyo factory night shift
Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
geisha district
The Honjin Murders
Seishi Yokomizo
Murder mystery setting
The Tale of Genji
Murasaki Shikibu
Heian court
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
Yukio Mishima
temple city setting
Thousand Cranes
Yasunari Kawabata
tea ceremony setting
Botchan
Natsume Sōseki
provincial town
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
David Mitchell
Dejima trading post
Flashlight
Susan Choi
the beach abduction
The Decay of the Angel
Yukio Mishima
Honda meets Toru at Shimizu harbour
Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami
Kafka's library refuge
All She Was Worth
Miyuki Miyabe
bubble-era Tokyo backdrop
Coin Locker Babies
Ryu Murakami
urban setting
Confessions of a Mask
Yukio Mishima
wartime Tokyo coming-of-age
Convenience Store Woman
Sayaka Murata
convenience store Keiko calls home
Debt of Honor
Tom Clancy
Japanese cabal base of operations
I Am a Cat
Natsume Sōseki
Meiji-era Tokyo neighborhood
Idoru
William Gibson
near-future Tokyo setting
Kitchen
Banana Yoshimoto
urban Tokyo apartment grief
Kokoro
Natsume Sōseki
Meiji Tokyo Sensei student bond
Malice
Keigo Higashino
murder investigation setting
No Longer Human
Osamu Dazai
Yozo's dissolution Tokyo bars
Norwegian Wood
Haruki Murakami
late-1960s student Tokyo
Spring Snow
Yukio Mishima
Taisho-era aristocratic Tokyo
Strange Weather in Tokyo
Hiromi Kawakami
izakaya romance in the city
The Box Man
Kobo Abe
urban wandering setting
The Face of Another
Kobo Abe
scientist crafts mask in Tokyo lab
The Sea of Fertility
Yukio Mishima
Tokyo and Japan
The Tokyo Zodiac Murders
Soji Shimada
central mystery setting
Water Moon
Samantha Sotto Yambao
the hidden pawnshop
The Woman in the Dunes
Kobo Abe
Sand dunes inspiration
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
Yukio Mishima
Port city setting
Snow Country
Yasunari Kawabata
hot spring resort town
The Devotion of Suspect X
Keigo Higashino
primary murder investigation area
In the Miso Soup
Ryu Murakami
red-light district tour guide
1Q84
Haruki Murakami
Portal used by Aomame to descend from the expressway
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Haruki Murakami
Toru Okada's home ward
After Dark
Haruki Murakami
Iconic landmark above which the narrative hovers
Real World
Natsuo Kirino
Tokyo suburban teen milieu
Tokyo Ueno Station
Yu Miri
homeless ghost haunts park
Also featuring Japan (11)
Contact
Carl Sagan
secret third Machine site
Silence
Shūsaku Endō
Christian persecution site
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
Haruki Murakami
hometown and lost friendship
Palaver
Bryan Washington
the mother-son day trip
Runaway Horses
Yukio Mishima
kendo tournament at Omiwa Shrine
Ghostwritten
David Mitchell
cult terrorist chapter
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee
Pachinko business hub
All Tomorrow's Parties
William Gibson
parallel storyline location
Grotesque
Natsuo Kirino
elite girls high school
Pattern Recognition
William Gibson
central Tokyo scenes
The Fallen Man
Tony Hillerman
Japanese antagonist headquarters