‘The Luminous Fairies & Mothra’ English Translation Coming this Winter

The legendary novella The Luminous Fairies & Mothra is finally getting an English translation! The novella was originally published in Asahi Weekly in 1961 before the film’s release, but next year marks the first time it releases in the West! Mothra was brought to the US as early as 1962, but its companion story has waited over 60 years to finally be read in English. This has been a long time coming, and will be a wonderful addition to the Mothra mythos. This will be a window into the origins of Mothra as a character and as a franchise. This is all thanks to the 2023 English release of Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again: the Original Novels by the University of Minnesota Press translated by Jeffrey Angles, and luckily they’re back at it again with The Luminous Fairies and Mothra!

Kaiju United was provided the full details on this release, check out the full listing and author information below:

THE LUMINOUS FAIRIES AND MOTHRA

By Shin’ichiro Nakamura, Takehiko Fukunaga and Yoshie Hotta

Translated by Jeffrey Angles

University of Minnesota Press | 128 pages | January 13, 2026

ISBN 978-1-5179-2001-2 | Paperback | $19.95

Finally available in its first official English translation, The Luminous Fairies and Mothra is the original novella that brought the mystical Mothra into existence. When explorers visit a South Pacific island and capture a group of fairies, they incite the fury of the goddess Mothra, who sets out for Japan on a mission of rescue and revenge. Including an extensive afterword about the story’s cultural context and the development of the 1961 film, this book will captivate ardent, longtime fans of the films as well as newcomers.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Shin’ichirō Nakamura (1918–1997) was a critic, scholar, and author of dozens of novels, many of which feature the experience of intellectuals during and after World War II.

Takehiko Fukunaga (1918–1979) was a prolific poet, translator of French fiction, and novelist, known for his sensitive, poetic writing style and interest in existential themes.

Yoshie Hotta (1918–1998) was an essayist and novelist involved in leftist politics and the international nonalignment movement of the 1960s.

Jeffrey Angles is professor of Japanese literature at Western Michigan University. He is author of three books and translator of several works in Japanese, including Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again by Shigeru Kayama, also published by the University of Minnesota Press.