Japan book series in reading order

by Chris Bradford

by Lian Hearn

by Keigo Higashino

by Junji Ito

Feudal Japan is where Laura Joh Rowland's best known books take place. The Sano Ichiro novels put a samurai investigator to work in Edo during the late seventeenth century, starting with Shinju (1994). Rowland, born in 1953, also wrote a series casting Charlotte Bronte as a detective and another set in Victorian England around the Jack the Ripper killings. Twenty-seven catalogued books reach to River of Fallen Angels (2023), and nothing has followed.

Lian Hearn is the pen name of Gillian Rubinstein, an English-born author who moved to Australia in 1973. The Hearn books are historical fantasies set in Japan: Tales of the Otori opens with Across the Nightingale Floor (2002), then Grass for His Pillow (2003), Brilliance of the Moon (2004) and The Harsh Cry of the Heron (2006), with the Tale of Shikanoko following. Seventeen titles are catalogued to 2020, and revenge, inheritance, succession and honour recur as subjects.

Haruki Murakami

44 books• 2 series

Haruki Murakami writes Japanese literary fiction in novels and short stories, much of it translated into English and much of it psychological with a fantastic edge. The catalogue holds 44 titles, opening with Hear the Wind Sing (1979) and taking in Pinball, 1973 (1980), A Wild Sheep Chase (1982), Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985) and Norwegian Wood (1987). The Rat books and Kishidancho Goroshi are the named sequences, and Super-Frog Saves Tokyo is the most recent entry.

Keigo Higashino writes crime fiction set in Japan. Detective Galileo, Detective Kaga and Detective Godai head the series, and 17 titles are catalogued from Naoko (2004) to Guilt (2026), with The Devotion of Suspect X (2011), Salvation of a Saint (2012) and Malice (2014) among them. Police investigation, murder and family relationships fill the subject tags.

Sujata Massey

23 books• 3 series

Sujata Massey writes mystery and historical fiction. The Salaryman's Wife (1997) opened her Rei Shimura novels, whose Japanese-American antiques dealer works as an amateur sleuth in Tokyo, and the debut took an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. The Flower Master won a Macavity for Best Mystery Novel in 2000. Massey later began the Perveen Mistry series. Her 23 catalogued books reach The Star from Calcutta in 2026.

Jay Kristoff

26 books• 8 series

Jay Kristoff, born 11 November 1973, is an Australian author of fantasy and science fiction for adult and young adult readers who lives in Melbourne. Stormdancer (2012) is the first catalogued book, followed by Kinslayer (2013), Endsinger (2014), Illuminae (2015), Gemina (2016), Nevernight (2016) and Godsgrave (2017); Allwinter (2025) is the newest of 26 books. Series include Lotus War, Illuminae Files, Nevernight Chronicle, Empire of the Vampire, Lifelike and Aurora Cycle. Japan, shoguns, griffins and space flight appear among the subjects.

Eric Van Lustbader, born on 24 December 1946, is an American writer of thrillers and fantasy who has also published as Eric Lustbader and Eric V. Lustbader. Lustbader graduated from Stuyvesant High School and from Columbia College with a sociology degree, holds a second-level Reiki degree, and is married to the author and editor Victoria Lustbader. The catalogue lists 55 books, from The Sunset Warrior (1977) to White Wolf (2025). Series include the Sunset Warrior Cycle, Nicholas Linnear/Ninja Cycle, China Maroc, Pearl Saga, Jack McClure/Alli Carson, Evan Ryder and Bravo Shaw. Subjects include espionage, intelligence officers and Japan.

Junji Ito

32 books• 6 series

Junji Ito writes horror manga. Tomie (1987) is the earliest title in a catalogue of 32 that reaches Moan (2025), with Uzumaki, Gyo, Museum of Terror, Black Paradox and Souichi among the collected works. Japanese horror tales, comics and English translations fill the subject tags. Ito is still publishing.

Pearl S. Buck

99 books• 1 series

China is the subject Pearl S. Buck is catalogued for. East Wind: West Wind (1930) is the earliest of 99 entries, followed by The Good Earth (1931), Sons (1932) and A House Divided (1935); House Of Earth is the one named series. Farm life, marriage, families and social customs fill the subject tags. No newer title is dated, and the listing is marked likely complete.

Seishi Yokomizo

4 books• 1 series

Detective Kosuke Kindaichi is the investigator in Seishi Yokomizo's Japanese mysteries. The Honjin Murders (1946) opens the catalogued run, followed by Death on Gokumon Island (1948), The Village of Eight Graves (1949) and The Inugami Curse (1972); later entries include The Devil's Flute Murders (2023) and Murder at the Black Cat Cafe (2025). Eight titles are listed, the most recent She Walks at Night (2026).

Donald Eugene Pendleton (December 12, 1927 to October 23, 1995) was an American author of fiction and non-fiction who created Mack Bolan, a character with hundreds of millions of copies sold since a 1969 debut. From 1980, other authors wrote the Bolan books under the Pendleton name, at first with Pendleton's editorial guidance. Pendleton also wrote six Joe Copp, Private Eye novels and six Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective novels. Early titles include The Insatiables (1967), War Against the Mafia (1969) and Miami Massacre (1970).

Janwillem van de Wetering

31 books• 2 series

Janwillem van de Wetering (1931-2008) was a Dutch author who wrote in both Dutch and English across three separate lines: detective fiction, children's books and Zen philosophy. The Amsterdam Cops mysteries follow the police officers Henk Grijpstra and Rinus DeGier through the Netherlands, while the Hugh Pine books are children's fiction, with porcupines among the subjects. The Empty Mirror (1973) opens a catalogue of 31 titles that closes with Amsterdam Cops in 1999.