#japanese books
2022 is set for a special selection of LGBTQIA+ books from Japan. So here is a list I find notable or exciting that are expected to make their English language debut in the coming months. (Of course, release dates/cover art can and do shift.)
MARCH
My Wandering Warrior Existence by Nagata Kabi
Nagata keeps up her autobiographical comics from lesbian loneliness to alcohol dependence and here Seven Seas brings her exploration of longings around love and marriage.
MAY
Our Colors by Tagame Gengoroh
Tagame creates another general audience comic, this time a coming-of-age story of an artistic young gay teenager in omnibus format from Pantheon. (Btw if you care for Tagame’s more adult erotic work, Fantagraphics will be releasing a reprint of The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame and a further second volume.)
Solo Dance by Li Kotomi
The debut fiction novel which garnered bilingual author Li the Gunzō New Writers’ Prize for Excellence, is a painful lesbian coming-of-age story in Taiwan and corporate Japan from World Editions.
JUNE
X-Gender by Miyazaki Asuka
An essay comic by X-gender creator Miyazaki Asuka on their experience finding love with a woman also from Seven Seas.
Until I Meet My Husband by Nanasaki Ryousuke
Readers can choose their preferred format of a remarkable memoir from gay activist Nanasaki Ryousuke in essay novel or comic from Seven Seas.
TBA
They Were 11! by Hagio Moto
A classic sci-fi comic from the 70s with some themes around gender and attraction influenced by the novel The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. I’ve reviewed the previous English edition from back in the 90s. But excitingly, publisher Denpa is bringing a new deluxe edition with the sequel. Look for this possibly in the fourth quarter of the year.
Check out the accompanying YouTube video here for detailed instructions.
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