David Boyd on the rising popularity of Japanese fiction
David Boyd, associate professor of Translation and Japanese Studies, was interviewed by UK-based Prospect magazine for “Rising sun: why Japanese fiction is booming in the west.”
According to NielsenIQ BookData, more than one-third of the top 40 translated titles in 2025 are by Japanese authors. This list includes Haruki Murakami, one of the most popular contemporary Japanese writers in translation, and Sayaka Murata, author of “Vanishing World,” the highly anticipated translation of “Shōmetsu Sekaiup,” which was published in Japan in 2015 and released in the US and UK in April 2025.
In 2018, Murata garnered significant global recognition after her 10th novel, “Konbini Ningen” was translated into English for the first time by Ginny Tapley Takemori as “Convenience Store Woman.” Sales for the book, which had already won the biannual Akutagawa, Japan’s biggest literary prize, soared. More than two million copies were sold in 40 countries.
Although Murata is not the first female writer from Japan to find success with English audiences, many editors, translators, academics and literary agents cite Murata as the catalyst for the current wave of popularity, including Boyd.
“Yes, ‘Convenience Store Woman’ was that important,” said Boyd. “Publishers almost always stick to what they know. Until ‘Convenience Store Woman’ came out, they wanted the next Murakami. Afterwards, they started asking for the next ‘Convenience Store Woman.’ It took a massive success like that to convince big and small presses to really invest in contemporary Japanese fiction.”
Boyd, alongside Sam Bett, translated Mieko Kawakami’s “Breasts and Eggs” and “Heaven” which were among the top 30 bestselling translated titles in the UK in 2023. “Heaven” was shortlisted for The International Booker Prize 2022. Boyd’s translation of Hiroko Oyemada’s “The Factory” was longlisted for the most recent Warwick Prize for Women in Translation.