Mr. Turtle KITANO Yusaku translated by Tyran Grillo In a world of humans, what’s a cyborg turtle to do? It’s a fair question in the bizarre, compelling story of Mr. Turtle. Yusaku Kitano’s science fiction masterpiece, originally published under the eponymous title Kame-kun, renews the visionary integrity that won it the Nihon SF Taisho (Japan’s […]

Tokyo Decadence: 15 Stories by Murakami Ryu translated by Ralph McCarthy A cream-of-the-crop selection of Murakami’s brilliance and piercing wit. This collection shows sides of Ryu Murakami that even avid fans may not be expecting. The intriguing, somewhat disturbing stories that Topaz was based on are included here, as are three entertaining and revealing portraits […]

Long Belts and Thin Men: The Postwar Stories of Kojima Nobuo translated by Lawrence Rogers Kojima Nobuo is best-known in English for his outstanding novella, “Amerikan sukuuru” (1954, “The American School”), which earned the Akutagawa Prize that year. Strongly affected by World War II and the postwar era, his style evolved into a powerful, often […]

The Erinys Incident TANI Kōshū translated by Simon Varnam Erinys, tiny moon of Uranus, home to a tinier and almost forgotten colony. Left behind in the debris of the failed Outer Planet Revolt in 2099, Erinys is quietly decaying. For the hunted remnants of the Outer Planet Alliance (OPA), however, it offers a potential hiding […]

Hanatsumi Nikki—The Flowers of Italy ANESAKI Masaharu translated by Susanna Fessler Masaharu Anesaki (1873-1949) was a leading member of Japan’s most interesting generation: the second generation of Meiji scholars, who lived in a highly-educated if not rarefied world that blended Japanese and Western traditions in a way that made them unique in their country’s long […]

Rivers MIYAMOTO Teru translated by Roger K. Thomas and Ralph McCarthy Miyamoto Teru has established a considerable and devoted following in Japan, and is rapidly building a devoted readership in other Asian countries and parts of Europe as his fiction is translated into various languages. With only a few of his works currently available in […]

Edogawa Rampo: The Early Cases of Akechi Kogorō EDOGAWA Rampo translated by William Varteresian Akechi Kogorō, detective extraordinaire. In Japan, this is a name that fires the hearts and imaginations of readers young at heart. Cool and sophisticated, Akechi moves effortlessly through the world of Japan in the golden era between the wars, defeating masterminds […]

Teiunshū: Wandering Clouds ANESAKI Masaharu translated by Susanna Fessler Masaharu Anesaki (1873-1949) was a leading member of Japan’s most interesting generation: the second generation of Meiji scholars, who lived in a highly-educated if not rarefied world that blended Japanese and Western traditions in a way that made them unique in their country’s long history. Following […]

On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi KADOTA Ryūshō translated by Simon Varnam technical supervision by Akira Tokuhiro March 11, 2011. The Tōhoku earthquake struck just before three on a Friday afternoon. Massive earthquake damage was followed by tsunami rising to heights of 40 meters that swept 10km inland, scouring the land of […]

Yamato Andrew Clare Yamato is a tense alternative-history thriller set in 1953 during the American occupation of Japan. Lieutenant Harvey Brice, an army intelligence officer, is found in his apartment with a bullet in his head. But was it suicide or homicide? World-weary CIA agent Ralph Carnaby, together with his Japanese-American sidekick, Dan Morita, are unwittingly […]