• 太宰治 Dazai Osamu Recommended works:『人間失格』No Longer Human (1948)
• 大江健三郎 Ōe Kenzaburō: Winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature Recommended works:『個人的な体験』A Personal Matter (1968)
• 谷崎潤一郎 Tanizaki Jun’ichirō Recommended works:『細雪』The Makioka Sisters (1944-1948)
• 川端康成 Kawabata Yasunari: Winner of the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature Recommended works:『雪国』Snow Country (1935-1948);『古都』The Old Capital (1962);『伊豆の踊子』The Dancing Girl of Izu (1926)
• 夏目漱石 Natsume Sōseki Recommended works:『吾輩は猫である』 I Am a Cat (1905);『坊っちゃん』Botchan (1906);『三四郎』Sanshiro (1908);『こゝろ』Kokoro (1914)
• 三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio Recommended works:『仮面の告白』Confessions of a Mask (1949);『金閣寺』The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (1956);『午後の曳航』The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1963);『豊饒の海』The Sea of Fertility (1965-1971)
• 村上春樹 Murakami Haruki Recommended works:『ノルウェイの森』Norwegian Wood (1987);『ねじまき鳥クロニクル』The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994/1995);『海辺のカフカ』Kafka on the Shore (2002);『1Q84』1Q84 (2009/2010)
• 夢野久作 Yumeno Kyūsaku Recommended works:『ドグラ・マグラ』Dogra Magra (1935) - Considered one of Japan’s three great novels of the bizarre
• 吉本ばなな Banana Yoshimoto Recommended works:『キッチン』Kitchen (1987)
• 宮部みゆき Miyabe Miyuki
• 津島佑子 Tsushima Yūko
• 村上龍 Murakami Ryū
• 高橋和巳 Takahashi Kazumi Recommended works:『悲の器』Vessel of Sorrow (1962)
• 有島武郎 Arishima Takeo
• 吉川英治 Yoshikawa Eiji Recommended works:『三国志』(1946)
• 芥川龍之介 Akutagawa Ryūnosuke Recommended works:『羅生門』Rashomon (1915)
• 村田沙耶香 Murata Sayaka Recommended works:『コンビニ人間』Convenience Store Woman (2016)
• 東野圭吾 Keigo Higashino
• 小栗虫太郎 Oguri Mushitarō Recommended works: 『黒死館殺人事件』Black Death Hall Murders - Considered one of Japan’s three great novels of the bizarre
• 貴志祐介 Kishi Yūsuke