Eikyo Matsunaga
Author of “Literature, More Or Less” – Interviewed on 17th October 2026.
Eikyo Matsunaga, a Japanese author, wrote Literature, More Or Less. The book features a collection of wacky stories designed to celebrate the human imagination in a world of AI.
Where in Japan are you from, and what cultural influences have inspired your writing?
I am from Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Osamu Dazai has influenced my writing, particularly 人間失格 (No Longer Human) and 風の便り (Kaze no Tayori).
Japanese wordplay—puns, double meanings, and unexpected interpretations of everyday expressions—strongly influences my fiction. I deliberately explore unusual combinations of words and ideas because I believe they can take a story in directions AI would not ordinarily choose. I enjoy developing seemingly absurd premises with characters who take them completely seriously.
For me, wordplay is not merely a way to make people laugh. It is a way to move beyond predictable patterns and seek a distinctively human literary voice in the age of AI. I aim to keep pushing forward at the cutting edge of world literature.
Would you consider translations into other languages?
The English edition of my short-story collection has been released as Literature, More or Less. It is available on Amazon. The original collection is in Japanese.
Would you like to introduce our readers to some of the stories in the book?
One story imagines a clinic that prescribes rice instead of medication. Another imagines a restaurant where customers prepare their own meals. The characters take these absurd situations seriously.
Could you explain your ambition to work at the cutting edge of literature and maintain a human literary voice in a world of AI?
I strive to create the world’s most avant-garde literature. This is my creative ambition, not a claim of an independent ranking. I have asked AI to write fiction and compared my own writing with its texts, searching for a distinctive human voice and a style I aspire to make irreducibly human. For me, writing as a human being is a form of resistance in the age of AI. This is an artistic position rather than a scientific claim about AI’s capabilities.
Are you working on anything at the moment?
I am currently working on a second short-story collection.
Would you like to share some of your other interests when you are not writing?
Outside writing, I collect antique works of art. I am also interested in educational issues in a world shaped by further advances in AI.
Eikyo Matsunaga（松長英京）