Gold Mask EDOGAWA Rampo translated by William Varteresian Gold Mask is Edogawa Rampo’s sixth novel featuring detective Akechi Kogorō, as he investigates the crime spree of the uncanny costumed “Gold Mask.” Lovers of crime fiction will be delighted to discover that this resourceful thief, confounding Akechi’s every move, is none other than Maurice Leblanc’s famous […]
Somehow, Crystal TANAKA Yasuo translated by Christopher Smith A journey into the carefree, today-centric generation of Japan’s economic boom years, as they enjoy the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Tokyo while exploring new dimensions in Japanese society and self-image. It won the coveted Bungei Prize partly because it was so completely different from the relatively staid, traditional […]
Strokes of Brush and Blade Tales of the Samurai Selected by Edward Lipsett The samurai were more than just warriors, although of course when war came they were ready. For a thousand years they were, in a very real sense, the glue that held Japan together through all the emperors and shoguns who wielded the […]
The Sheltering Rain HANMURA Ryō translated by Jim Hubbert A diverse cross-section of Japan passes through the bar Lui, and the bartender tends to them all, with all their hopes and their fears. Underneath the black suits—whether crumpled or designer—and the cosmetics, they’re all people on the way to somewhere else in Tokyo’s glittering boom […]
Kthulhu Reich ASAMATSU Ken translated by Jim Rion World War II was a world-spanning conflict that engulfed dozens of countries, a maelstrom that dragged nations and religions and millions of people to their deaths. But it was fought with more than merely guns and machines… Even before the War was begun in earnest, Nazi Germany […]
Beneath the Sleepless Tossing of the Planets: Selected Poems ŌOKA Makoto translated by Janine Beichman One of the most important poets of contemporary Japan, Makoto Ōoka’s works continue to resonate powerfully among readers today. He speaks to the spirit, not of Japan and the Japanese, but of humanity, and of the world we are a […]
When I Was a Wolf Outlaw Takes on Fables and Fairy Tales TERAYAMA Shūji translated by Elizabeth L. Armstrong First published in 1982, this delightful collection of essays and rewrites reinterprets, from a nonconformist perspective, such well-known and canonical Western stories as Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Mother Goose stories, and Aesop’s fables. Like Angela Carter’s The […]
Into A Black Sun KAIKO Takeshi translated by Cecilia Segawa Seigle Recognized as the author’s finest work, Into A Black Sun blurs the line between literature and journalism, drawing on his experiences as a war correspondent in Vietnam to present an immersive depiction of the war. This is not a combat novel, but rather an […]
Bullseye! TSUTSUI Yasutaka translated by Andrew Driver A new collection of stories by Tsutsui Yasutaka, famed in Japan and worldwide for his darkly humorous, satirical handling of a vast range of themes central to the human condition. Although often criticized for his treatment of “taboo” subjects such as disabilities, the Emperor, and old age, he […]
Speculative Japan 4: “Pearls for Mia” and Other Tales The fourth book of our well-received Speculative Japan series introduces new talents from Japan, and fresh new stories by some of the outstanding authors we’ve introduced to the English-speaking world already. From deep in the mountains of the Japanese countryside to the plains of frigid Pluto, […]