Ebook: Modern Japanese Stories

This is one of the first if not THE first anthology of modern Japanese literature published in English, back in 1962. Don't let this fact make you think this fine book is outdated, though; these are top-notch translations, accurate and literary in quality, of short stories by some of the most important 20th-century Japanese authors. While I like the vintage feel of the original hardcover edition, I am very glad to see that Tuttle has reprinted this excellent anthology in paperback recently.

One thing especially good about this work as an anthology is the wide variety of writers included; Romanticists, Naturalists, Modernists, Marxists, Decadents, Nihilists, Conservatives, and Category-defying Misfits all find a place in this collection, giving the reader a vivid sense of modern Japanese literature's great variety and multivocality. Some of the featured authors are perennial favorites of English translation like Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, while some are important but under-represented in translation like Kikuchi Kan. All have some great stories to tell.

The stories include "Under Reconstruction" by Mori Ogai, "Order of the White Paulownia" by Tokuda Shusei, "Hydrangea" by Nagai Kafu, "Seibei's Gourds" by Shiga Naoya, "Tattoo" by Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, "On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao" by Kikuchi Kan, "The Camellia" by Satomi Ton, "Brother and Sister" by Muro Saisei, "The House of a Spanish Dog" by Sato Haruo, "Autumn Mountain" by Akutagawa Ryunosuke, "The Handstand" by Ogawa Mimei, "Letter Found in a Cement-Barrel" by Hayama Yoshiki, "The Charcoal Bus" by Ibuse Masuji, "Machine" by Yokomitsu Riichi, "The Moon on The Water" by Kawabata Yasunari, "Nightingale" by Ito Einosuke, "Morning Mist" by Nagai Tatsuo, "The Hateful Age" by Niwa Fumio, "Downtown" by Hayashi Fumiko, "A Man's Life" by Hirabayashi Taiko, "The Idiot" by Sakaguchi Ango, "Shotgun" by Inoue Yasushi, "Tiger-Poet" by Nakajima Ton, "The Courtesy Call" by Dazai Osamu, "The Priest and His Love" by Mishima Yukio.