Yobanashi translates to ‘night tales’; the stories we tell each other in the dark. The Café is only open at night. If you find your way there, you can meet and chat with writers long-gone from this world, over a cup of something warm.
Yobanashi Café creates open access English translations of public domain Japanese classics, particularly those without an existing English translation. Our translations will always be free, forever, under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons licence. Our focus is on early twentieth century modernism, buraiha (‘scoundrel school’), and genre fiction including horror (eg, ero guro nansensu), detective novels and science fiction.
Because it needs to be said in our current digital climate; we will not be using AI now or in the foreseeable future to create translations or any other material.
The original Japanese text is linked or cited in each article, and the vast majority are available online via the fantastic Aozora Bunko, a digital repository of public domain Japanese language works. The biographies are quick reference guides for the names that appear in the texts, and focus on relevant contextual information for the reader rather than aiming to be a comprehensive profile.
Yobanashi Café is run by A. L. Raye, who updates the website with new material whenever they can find the time. They are a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and Editor of the literary magazine Gwyllion. They have previously taught History and Religious Studies at Cardiff University.
If you need different rights to the material than what is covered by CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 please get in touch.
Yobanashi Café 