Most Famous Japanese Writers

Japan has produced 108 notable writers throughout history, led by Haruki Murakami. Rankings are drawn from a cross-verified academic dataset of 152,953 people.

Top Ranked

  1. Haruki Murakami — Japanese Writer (Born 1949) , ranked #569
  2. Yasunari Kawabata — Japanese Writer (1899–1972) , ranked #1569
  3. Kenzaburō Ōe — Japanese Writer (Born 1935) , ranked #2303
  4. Miyamoto Musashi — Japanese Writer (1584–1645) , ranked #3092
  5. Natsume Sōseki — Japanese Writer (1867–1916) , ranked #3332
  6. Osamu Dazai — Japanese Writer (1909–1948) , ranked #3617
  7. Shintaro Ishihara — Japanese Author (Born 1932) , ranked #4525
  8. Edogawa Ranpo — Japanese Writer (1894–1965) , ranked #6315
  9. Ryū Murakami — Japanese Writer (Born 1952) , ranked #9690
  10. Banana Yoshimoto — Japanese Writer (Born 1964) , ranked #10230
  11. Chikamatsu Monzaemon — Japanese Writer (1653–1725) , ranked #16356
  12. Naoya Shiga — Japanese Writer (1883–1971) , ranked #18811
  13. Natsuo Kirino — Japanese Novelist (Born 1951) , ranked #20632
  14. Junji Ito — Japanese Writer (Born 1963) , ranked #21767
  15. Futabatei Shimei — Japanese Writer (1864–1909) , ranked #22121
  16. Akiyuki Nosaka — Japanese Novelist (1930–2015) , ranked #22124
  17. Takiji Kobayashi — Japanese Writer (1903–1933) , ranked #24323
  18. Takeo Arishima — Japanese Writer (1878–1923) , ranked #26136
  19. Kan Kikuchi — Japanese Writer (1888–1948) , ranked #26667
  20. Keigo Higashino — Japanese Novelist (Born 1958) , ranked #27218