ONLINE EVENT - The Japan Society Book Club: Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata

Date
Monday 14 September 2026
Time
7.00pm (BST)
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Booking Details
Online meeting on Zoom
Please register for the meeting in advance from the link below. After registering, you will receive a automated confirmation email with meeting access details (please check your spam folder if you don't receive any emails).

Free for members of The Japan Society

Book available from Bookshop.org, Amazon and Waterstones (translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori)
Japanese version available here

Please help us to keep this event free and open to all! The Japan Society is a charity and its activities are made possible thanks to the support of its members. If you are planning to attend this event and are not a member (as an individual or through your employer), please consider becoming a member or making a donation if you can - the recommended donation is £5. Thank you!

Vanishing World imagines a near‑future society in which artificial reproduction replaces sexual relationships, reshaping ideas of love, family, and identity. As social norms shift towards emotional detachment and state‑sanctioned reproduction, the narrative follows characters who both conform to and quietly resist these changes.

Sayaka Murata (1979-) is a Japanese novelist and short‑story writer known for her quietly unsettling explorations of conformity, gender, and social norms in contemporary Japan. Her work often centres on characters who exist uneasily outside accepted ideas of family, work, and normality. She achieved international recognition with Convenience Store Woman, which won the Akutagawa Prize, and has since published widely acclaimed works including Earthlings and Life Ceremony. Her writing is marked by a cool, precise style and sharp social insight.

If you have any questions, please call The Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk.