"There can be no doubt that Akutagawa had more individuality than any other writer of his time and has left in Japanese literature a mass of artistic work, often grotesque and curious, that, while it undoubtedly angers the proletarian experimenters who no
One of Soseki's most beloved works of fiction, the novel depicts the 23-year-old Sanshiro leaving the sleepy countryside for the first time in his life to experience the constantly moving 'real world' of Tokyo, its women and university. In the subtle tens
REVISED AND UPDATED WITH NEW MATERIAL ON 1Q84As a young man, Haruki Murakami played records and mixed drinks at his Tokyo Jazz club, Peter Cat, then wrote at the kitchen table until the sun came up. He loves music of all kinds - jazz, classical, folk, roc
Making Sense of Japanese is the fruit of one foolhardy American's thirty-year struggle to learn and teach the Language of the Infinite. Previously known as Gone Fishin', this book has brought Jay Rubin more feedback than any of his literary translations o
Written in 1908, this absurdist novel about the indeterminate nature of human personality anticipates the work of Joyce and Beckett. Almost devoid of plot and characterization, it unfolds within the mind of the protagonist. His ruminatations constitute th
Arriving in Seattle on the eve of World War II, Japanese-born Mitsuko falls for Tom, a widowed pastor, and becomes surrogate mother to his fair-haired American toddler, Bill. But the bombing of Pearl Harbor strains the newly formed family as U.S. governme
“Super-frog Saves Tokyo” is a short story from the collection “After the Quake.” Its English translation has been published in GQ magazine.If you’re looking for this in Japanese, the Japanese title of the story is 『かえるくん、東京を�
The story “Town of Cats” is excerpted from three-part novel, “1Q84”. In the book, Tengo is one of two main characters who pass between two distinct worlds, one of which has supernatural elements. But this story deals mainly with the real world —
This huge anthology offers a kaleidoscope of brilliant writing from the Magi of the imagination. Alberto Manguel has selected 72 fantastic tales from life on the edge of the twilight zone, with stories from Marguerite Yourcenar, Herman Hesse, Italo Calvin
