Hi!
I’m looking for Japanese sci-fi showing elements of the Japanese culture, translated into English. As examples:
* Nnedi Okorafor’s *Binti* series, showing elements of the Himba culture and cosmovision
* Wu Ming-Yi’s *The Man with the Compound Eyes*, where Taiwan’s native peoples have an important role in the story (closer to fantasy or magical realism than sci-fi)
* Aliette de Bodard’s *Xuya* series (eg. *The Tea Master and the Detective* short story), set in a pre-Communist Vietnamese setup
I know about *The Stories of Ibis* by Yamamoto Hiroshi, but I haven’t read it yet. And I’ve read everything by Murakami Haruki.
Does anything come to mind? Thank you!
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/185qop3/japanese_scifi_translated_into_english_with/
4 comments
Gene Mapper – Taiyo Fujii
The Memory Police – Yoko Ogawa
Maybe Space Battleship Yamato?
As a Japanese sci-fi enthusiast I have thought a lot about it, but have not come up with a definitive piece.
I am not sure what element of Japanese culture the OP is looking for. The spiritual aspect of Japanese culture?
I think the Ghost in the Shell series is regarded by many as having those elements. The Three-Body Problem also contain such elements, although they are not Japanese productions.
Perhaps not the same Japanese elements that the OP wants to get at, but Steins;Gate is a very well regarded work in Japan. Gene Mapper and Orbital Cloud by Taiyo Fujii are also wonderful science fiction.
Shin sekai yori is a great anime and novel, it might not be sci-fi at first glance but yes it’s sci-fi and yes it’s full of Japanese elements, sadly it’s not officially translated but you can read a “volunteer” translate version online.