“Japanese cozy fiction”, does it make sense?
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
- Venue
- Russell Square: College Buildings
- Room
- Khalili Lecture Theatre (KLT)
- Event type
- Lecture & Event highlights
About this event
Japanese feel-good literature has enjoyed considerable success in Europe, particularly in France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. However, expressions such as “healing fiction” (hīringu fikushon) or “comfort fiction” (iyashikei bungaku) are not so frequently used in Japan.
The “Japanese healing fiction” category could thus appear as an artificial creation, fabricated outside Japan. In this presentation, I will question the relevance or irrelevance of this label by investigating and describing the various types of Japanese fiction that are usually classified as “feel-good”, “cozy fiction” or “healing fiction”.
JRC Meiji Jingu Autumn Lecture 2026
The Japan Research Centre Meiji Jingu Autumn Lecture is sponsored through the generosity of the Meiji Jingu-Intercultural Research Institute.
About the speaker
Thomas Garcin is an associate professor in Japanese Studies at Université Paris Cité. He is a specialist of Mishima Yukio, whom he has also translated. He edited Mishima, Écrits sur le théâtre (Akatombo, 2023) and co-edited Mishima revisité (Hermann, 2025). His current research focuses on Japanese healing fiction and its commodification.
