VOL.81/2025.04

Cultural Empathy Blossoms in Japan: Korean Literature

Shueisha’s story of the popularity and publication of Korean literature

2025.04.07

Shueisha (集英社) is a general publishing company founded in 1926. It has a wide range of publishing titles and businesses. It is particularly well known for teen and young adult comics, girls’ comics, and fashion magazines, including the Weekly Shōnen Jump. In addition, it is active in publishing literary journals and novels. In the field of overseas literature, the company publishes books from various countries based on the belief that “We want to introduce good books from all over the world to our readers.” Among them, Korean literature has been gaining more and more attention in recent years. Starting with Park Min-Gyu’s Castella (Munhakdongne Publishing) and Pingpong (Changbi Publishers), works with outstanding literary qualities by authors such as Han Kang and Hwang Jung-Eun have been steadily published by many publishing company in Japan. Moreover, works by young and popular authors such as Chung Se-Rang are also gaining ground in Japanese bookstores, especially among young female readers.
The average readership of foreign literature in Japan has traditionally been relatively older, and one of the challenges was how to appeal to younger Japanese readers, who tend to be more introverted. Western literature was often difficult to read due to differences in grammar and sentence order, not to mention differences in culture, customs, and mindset. Korean literature, however, easily overcame these barriers. Of course, there are still differences in customs between Japan and Korea, but there are many commonalities in terms of social issues. Plus, the growing popularity of K-POP, dramas, movies, and more has increased interest in Korean culture as a whole. In this context, we had the chance to publish Jeong So-Yeon’s SF short story collection, My Neighbor Younghee (Changbi Publishers). It was exactly what we were looking for: a story that takes a sympathetic eye toward the weaker members of modern society with a touch of SF. Many Japanese readers responded that it “touched their hearts,” and we knew we wanted to introduce more books like it.

One of the works we discovered along the way was Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop (Clay House). Set in a small bookstore, it’s a heartwarming story that follows a woman in her 30s. While the story talks about social issues that Korea and Japan have in common, such as overwork and non-regular workers, various real-life books appear in the story. Although we don’t usually publish healing novels, the idea of a “book about books” has a strong appeal to Japanese readers; the protagonist’s age, gender, and environment fit well with the main audience as well. Most of all, I myself wanted to believe in the power of books and bookstores. The competition with other publishers was fierce, but Shueisha was fortunate enough to take on the publication.

As it is a “book about bookstores,” our bookstore sales and PR teams were especially attentive. They distributed proof copies to bookstores in advance, created promotional flyers and bookmarks, and opened a website.
We also invited author Hwang Bo-Reum to Japan for a talk event and interview at the K-BOOK Festival, a Korean literary event held in Japan in the fall. We felt a little guilty about making her so busy, since the book is all about “let’s not work too hard.” However, author Hwang was very charming, and the Japanese readers who attended the event immediately fell in love with her. Also, the fact that we used artist Banzisu’s tender illustrations from the original book seems to have had a positive impact on readers. This led to the book winning first place in the Japan Booksellers’ Award for Translated Fiction. We were so surprised when we heard the news that we “thought our stomachs were going to jump out.”

I think the appeal of Korean literature to Japanese readers lies first and foremost in its “cultural similarities” and “ease of reading.” In addition, the poetic sentences and strong messages about historical and social issues are compelling. I believe this is due to Korea’s long “cultural background of valuing poetry” and its diverse historical experiences. In recent years, Korean literature has spread mainly among female readers in Japan, but with Han Kang’s winning of the Nobel Prize in Literature, male readers are becoming increasingly interested as well. We would like to continue publishing works that will resonate with a wider range of readers, especially younger readers.

Written by Kaori Sato (Shueisha Inc.)