Japanese masters of the short story, from major names to lesser-known luminaries
Fourteen distinct voices are assembled in this one-of-a-kind anthology tracing a nation's changing social landscapes. Internationally renowned writers like Yasunari Kawabata, Ryunosuke Akutagawa and Junichi Watanabe are joined by three notable women writers whose works have not yet received sufficient attention--Kanoko Okamoto, Fumiko Hayashi and Yumiko Kurahashi.
Highlights of this anthology include:
- Kafu Nagai's bittersweet portrait of a privileged family's expiring existence in "The Fox"
- Ango Sakaguchi's heartening celebration of postwar chaos in "One Woman and the War"
- Fumiko Hayashi's unabashed exploration of female sexuality in "Borneo Diamond"
- Junichi Watanabe's chilling assessment of alienation and social dislocation in "Invitation to Suicide"
- Gishu Nakayama's look at an out-of-place prostitute recovering at a hot-spring resort in "Autumn Wind"
Through brilliant, highly-praised translations by Lane Dunlop, The Best Japanese Short Stories offers fascinating glimpses of a society embracing change while holding tenaciously onto the past. A new foreword by Alan Tansman provides insightful back stories about the authors and the literary backdrop against which they created these great works of modern world literature.
