Since James Joyce was introduced in Japan, several novels have been written either directly or indirectly under his influence. But in this paper I limit my argument to some phases. First I deal with the early reactions of our writers to A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses and secondly the influence of Finnegans Wake reflected on one of the contemporary Japanese novels and this will be the chief subject of my paper. In regard to the early reaction to A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, I will refer to the literary climate peculiar to Japan of those days when Ich- or I-novels were flourishing. Ulysses, with its stream of consciousness style, gave a strong impression upon our writers. Several novelists immediately responded and attempted the style. But it does not seem to have taken root. Perhaps the too illogical nature did not fit Japanese mentality of the time. In 1991 and `93 the first complete translation of Finnegans Wake by Yanase was published. But most of our novelists as well as readers were bewildered or indifferent to this too difficult a work. In February 2006 a novel titled Afterglow appeared in a literary magazine. The author Nobuo Kojima had never read Finnegans Wake, but there are some affinities with Joyce`s work in this novel. Perhaps Kojima was unknowingly inspired by the literary and philosophical trend of the latter part of the 20th century whose source is Finnegans Wake. I think that Afterglow is a reflection of the effect Finnegans Wake has had on the contemporary literature since it appeared in 1939.