Best Japanese Short Stories

An anthology of the greatest stories by modern Japanese masters (including previously overlooked women writers)! Fourteen distinct voices are assembled in this one-of-a-kind anthology tracing a nation`s changing social landscapes. Internationally renowned writers like Yasunari Kawabata, Ryunosuke Akutagawa and Junichi Watanabe are joined by three notable women writers whose works have not yet received sufficient attention--Kanoko Okamoto, Fumiko Hayashi and Yumiko Kurahashi. Highlights of this anthology include: Kafu Nagai`s bittersweet portrait of a privileged family`s expiring existence in "The Fox" Ango Sakaguchi`s heartening celebration of postwar chaos in "One Woman and the War" Fumiko Hayashi`s unabashed exploration of female sexuality in "Borneo Diamond" Junichi Watanabe`s chilling assessment of alienation and social dislocation in "Invitation to Suicide" Gishu Nakayama`s look at an out-of-place prostitute recovering at a hot-spring resort in "Autumn Wind" Through brilliant, highly-praised translations by Lane Dunlop, The Best Japanese Short Stories offers fascinating glimpses of a society embracing change while holding tenaciously onto the past. A new foreword by Alan Tansman provides insightful back stories about the authors and the literary backdrop against which they created these great works of modern world literature.