The Rise of Popular Fiction: Japanese Books in the 1970s and 1980s

A Japanese edition of Nihon chinbotsu (Japan Sinks) by Komatsu Sakyō. (© Kadokawa)

A Japanese edition of Ningen no shōmei by Morimura Seiichi. (© Kadokawa)

A Japanese edition of Keshin by Watanabe Jun’ichi. (© Shūeisha)

A Japanese edition of Saishūbin ni ma ni aeba (The Last Flight Home), a collection including the title story and “All the Way to Kyoto” by Hayashi Mariko. (© Bungeishunjū)

A Japanese edition of Hitsuji o meguru bōken (A Wild Sheep Chase) by Murakami Haruki. (© Kōdansha)