Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of east asian short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

390+ East Asian Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Discover the best new stories by East Asian authors.

🏆 Winning stories

⭐️ Recommended stories

Introducing Prompted, a new magazine written by you!

🏆 Featuring 12 prize-winning stories from our community. Download it now for FREE.

✍️ All stories

The Best East Asian Short Stories

East Asia: even the thought of the territory that spans from Japan to the vast expanse of China summons impressions of immense wisdom, devastating beauty, and great power. With more than 3,000 years of civilization behind it, East Asia is responsible for producing some of the most genius writers in the past, from Li Bai to Murasaki Shikibu. They challenged worldviews, founded entire philosophies, and created elegant works of art that still dazzle generations around the world centuries after their conception. 

But who says that the past is all there is to this thoughtful genre? Today’s crop of East Asian authors are some of the most exciting ones around, upping the game with fiery energy to another level altogether. We’re also way beyond the days when the only accessible East Asian story in the bookstore was Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club. Min Jin Lee, Haruki Murakami, R.F. Kuang: all of these brilliant authors, and many more, are pushing the envelope and re-inventing the canon before our very eyes. 

Looking for some of the best East Asian stories?

Look no further: you’ll find a collection of great East Asian stories written by up-and-coming authors on this directory, which gathers all of the stories that were submitted to our weekly short story competition for you to peruse. Check out the top of the page for the stories that were shortlisted by our panel of judges, representing the best of the best. You can also now find the cream of the crop compiled in our very own literary magazine, Prompted — it's available to download for free.

Don’t forget to ‘Like’ or comment on a story if you enjoyed it! And if you find a new favorite East Asian author through this directory? All you need to do is click ‘follow’ to receive instant notifications when they’ve got new stories waiting for you to read.

RBE | Illustration — We made a writing app for you | 2024-02

We made a writing app for you

Yes, you! Write. Format. Export for ebook and print. 100% free, always.