One can never read too much Dazai 
Love that guy so much.
Be careful of Taisho and earlier writers, they might give you a hard time. That being said, if you have patience and a good kanji dictionary/yomichan, you could give them a shot =) For the record, I've read most of these autors in English for various reasons.
Meiji period:
Tayama katai is said to pretty much have invented the modern novel in Japan. 布団 is the most famous one, though I personally liked 少女病 more.
Mori Oga is a classic, but tbh I find him very hard to read and kind of dull. I've read 舞姫, which is the most famous one.
Nakahara Chuuya is my favourite modern poet, and he's really accessible.
Kunikida Doppo is bleak af but so good.
Higuchi ichiyo is basically the first female writer that Japan had seen in a long time. I've read たけくらべ and enjoyed it.
Natsume Soseki has already been mentioned. こころ is the one to read if you ever want to take a japanese culture course. 吾輩は猫である is the one that's actually fun.
Taisho-Early Showa
tanizaki Junichiro is amazing. Unfortunately, aozora doesn't have the stuff I've read by him so I'm not sure what to recommend...
Akutagawa Ryunosuke is a classic. I found 河童 really funny, though 羅生門 is the famous one. くもの糸 is also pretty haunting.
Miyamoto Yuriko said in the 1930s what US feminists started discovering in the 1980. it's not fiction tho
Hayashi Fumiko is pretty good (I liked 下町）
That's all that comes to mind atm, but I'm sure there are more.
Love that guy so much. Be careful of Taisho and earlier writers, they might give you a hard time. That being said, if you have patience and a good kanji dictionary/yomichan, you could give them a shot =) For the record, I've read most of these autors in English for various reasons.
Meiji period:
Tayama katai is said to pretty much have invented the modern novel in Japan. 布団 is the most famous one, though I personally liked 少女病 more.
Mori Oga is a classic, but tbh I find him very hard to read and kind of dull. I've read 舞姫, which is the most famous one.
Nakahara Chuuya is my favourite modern poet, and he's really accessible.
Kunikida Doppo is bleak af but so good.
Higuchi ichiyo is basically the first female writer that Japan had seen in a long time. I've read たけくらべ and enjoyed it.
Natsume Soseki has already been mentioned. こころ is the one to read if you ever want to take a japanese culture course. 吾輩は猫である is the one that's actually fun.
Taisho-Early Showa
tanizaki Junichiro is amazing. Unfortunately, aozora doesn't have the stuff I've read by him so I'm not sure what to recommend...
Akutagawa Ryunosuke is a classic. I found 河童 really funny, though 羅生門 is the famous one. くもの糸 is also pretty haunting.
Miyamoto Yuriko said in the 1930s what US feminists started discovering in the 1980. it's not fiction tho
Hayashi Fumiko is pretty good (I liked 下町）
That's all that comes to mind atm, but I'm sure there are more.
Edited: 2016-04-05, 3:37 am