I (along with some others here) highly recommend Yasunari Kawabata. In a way, he reminds me of Hemingway because he writes sparsely and with a deep sense of mel

I (along with some others here) highly recommend Yasunari Kawabata. In a way, he reminds me of Hemingway because he writes sparsely and with a deep sense of melancholy. He also was focused on preserving the "Japanese character" at a time when there was a lot of pressure to Westernize, so in a way he writing encapsulates a Japanese perspective of what makes Japan unique and interesting. He is also just an amazing writer (he won the Nobel). Some interesting works by him: Master of Go, the novelization of a Go match between two masters (I barely understand how to play Go and still found it interesting) and Thousand Cranes, which centers around the tea ceremony. That story is interesting because a few old tea bowls are treated almost like characters that exert influence over some of the other characters whose lives are kind of intertwined almost like a Shakespearean drama. Anyway, a very interesting and unique author. I also recommend Musashi from Eiji Yoshikawa. He writes big historical fiction novels that read like fantasy page-turners. Taiko is his lesser known novel in translation, but it is a really awesome overview of the Japanese feudal period and a fun read as well.