This anthology of translated short stories by Japanese writers captures the city of Tokyo through most of the twentieth century--a period of war, bombing, urbanization, and modernization, in short, constant change that has altered and continues to alter the very geography of the city. The eighteen stories, varying from literary sketches to popular fiction, picture everyday life in different parts of the city--in its nightclubs, department stores, bars, homes, and working-class neighborhoods. For the tourist, armchair traveler, or long-time resident, this book is a literary excursion into Tokyo illuminated by the evocative, and often ironic, words of its writers.
These expertly translated stories range from reflections on deaths in his family by Akutagawa Ryunosuke, the venerated master of the short story, written just before his own suicide; to a story of an all-too-brief affair in the old part of Tokyo by Hayashi Fumiko; to an unsettling tale of high politics and possible blackmail by the ever-popular Mishima Yukio. The volume also introduces the work of Ikeda Michiko and Inaba Mayumi, who have never been translated into English before.
Lawrence Rogers's introduction leads us on an intimate meditative stroll through the city's various districts--from the marble and mahogany of the business district to the skid row of San'ya--describing each in delightful vignettes. As an introduction to Tokyo and to the literary imaginations it has inspired, this engaging book will reveal something new about the nature of Japan's capital to all who wander through its pages.
Tokyo Stories A Literary Stroll
About the Book
Table of Contents
List of Maps
Preface
Introduction
Lawrence Rogers
Central Tokyo
Mire
Kajii Motojiro
Terrifying Tokyo
Yumeno Kyjsaku
The Image
Takeda Rintaro
Fountains in the Rain
Mishima Yukio
Meeting Again
Mukoda Kuniko
Jacob’s Tokyo Ladder
Hino Keizo
Shitamachi
The Death Register
Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Kid Ume, the Silver Cat
Kawabata Yasunari
The First Day of the Fair
Takeda Rintaro
Elegy
Sata Ineko
The Old Part of Town
Hayashi Fumiko
Fireworks
Mishima Yukio
Azuma Bridge
Nagai Kafu
An Unclaimed Body
Ikeda Michiko
West of the Palace
From behind the Study Door
Natsume Soseki
Firefly Tavern
Saegusa Kazuko
Sparrows
Irokawa Takehiro
The South End
Morning Comes Twice a Day
Inaba Mayumi
Glossary
Suggested Reading
Acknowledgments of Permissions
Awards
- Japan - U. S. Friendship Commission Prize, Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture