'Cozy fiction' fires British appetite for Japanese novels in translation

Toshikazu Kawaguchi's 'Before the Coffee Gets Cold' tops best-seller chart

"Before We Forget Kindness" is the fifth book in a series written by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, pictured here at Topping & Co. Booksellers of Bath, a city in southwest England, in October. (Courtesy of Pan Mcmillan)

ZOE FRECHIN-POLLARD, Nikkei staff writer

June 21, 2024 11:57 JST

LONDON -- British readers have traditionally been less enamored with translated literature than Europeans, but a solid fan base has built up for Japanese fiction over the last few years.

U.K. sales of translated Japanese print fiction, excluding manga, grew 40% to around 7 million pounds ($8.9 million) in 2023 from the year before. This made Japanese the most popular original language among translated works, according to Nielsen BookData.