ebook img

The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories PDF

494 Pages·2018·2.37 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories

Contents Editorial Note by Jay Rubin Note on Japanese Name Order and Pronunciation Introduction by Murakami Haruki JAPAN AND THE WEST TANIZAKI JUN’ICHIRŌ The Story of Tomoda and Matsunaga Translated by Paul Warham NAGAI KAFŪ Behind the Prison Translated by Jay Rubin NATSUME SŌSEKI Sanshirō Translated by Jay Rubin LOYAL WARRIORS MORI ŌGAI The Last Testament of Okitsu Yagoemon Translated by Richard Bowring MISHIMA YUKIO Patriotism Translated by Geoffrey W. Sargent MEN AND WOMEN TSUSHIMA YŪKO Flames Translated by Geraldine Harcourt KŌNO TAEKO In the Box Translated by Jay Rubin NAKAGAMI KENJI Remaining Flowers Translated by Eve Zimmerman YOSHIMOTO BANANA Bee Honey Translated by Michael Emmerich OHBA MINAKO The Smile of a Mountain Witch Translated by Noriko Mizuta ENCHI FUMIKO A Bond for Two Lifetimes – Gleanings Translated by Phyllis Birnbaum NATURE AND MEMORY ABE AKIRA Peaches Translated by Jay Rubin OGAWA YŌKO The Tale of the House of Physics Translated by Ted Goossen KUNIKIDA DOPPO Unforgettable People Translated by Jay Rubin MURAKAMI HARUKI The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema Translated by Jay Rubin SHIBATA MOTOYUKI Cambridge Circus Translated by Jay Rubin MODERN LIFE AND OTHER NONSENSE UNO KŌJI Closet LLB Translated by Jay Rubin GENJI KEITA Mr English Translated by Jay Rubin BETSUYAKU MINORU Factory Town Translated by Royall Tyler KAWAKAMI MIEKO Dreams of Love, Etc. Translated by Hitomi Yoshio HOSHI SHIN’ICHI Shoulder-Top Secretary Translated by Jay Rubin DREAD AKUTAGAWA RYŪNOSUKE Hell Screen Translated by Jay Rubin SAWANISHI YŪTEN Filling Up with Sugar Translated by Jay Rubin UCHIDA HYAKKEN Kudan Translated by Rachel DiNitto DISASTERS, NATURAL AND MAN-MADE The Great Kantō Earthquake, 1923 AKUTAGAWA RYŪNOSUKE The Great Earthquake and General Kim Translated by Jay Rubin The Atomic Bombings, 1945 ŌTA YŌKO Hiroshima, City of Doom Translated by Richard H. Minear SEIRAI YŪICHI Insects Translated by Paul Warham Post-War Japan KAWABATA YASUNARI The Silver Fifty-Sen Pieces Translated by Lane Dunlop NOSAKA AKIYUKI American Hijiki Translated by Jay Rubin HOSHINO TOMOYUKI Pink Translated by Brian Bergstrom The Kobe Earthquake, 1995 MURAKAMI HARUKI UFO in Kushiro Translated by Jay Rubin The Tōhoku Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown, 2011 SAEKI KAZUMI Weather-Watching Hill Translated by David Boyd MATSUDA AOKO Planting Translated by Angus Turvill SATŌ YŪYA Same as Always Translated by Rachel DiNitto Notes Further Reading Glossary Acknowledgements Follow Penguin Editorial Note Most nationally defined literary anthologies are arranged chronologically, perhaps on the assumption that they will be read primarily in college courses, where the anthology is meant to comprise a pocket history of the nation’s literature over a predetermined period. This book is designed more for general readers who are looking for a good read when they open the book and don’t much care how Japanese literature may have developed in the period covered, which in this case can be loosely termed the modern period. The arrangement is intended to suggest the general tone or subject matter of the story groups, so that someone hoping to be amused will turn to something under the heading ‘Modern Life and Other Nonsense’ rather than ‘Dread’ or ‘Nature and Memory’ or ‘Disasters, Natural and Man-Made’. The last-named group does have a chronological arrangement, however, illustrating how Japanese writers have reacted to some of the worst disasters in the modern period, but it can be read in any order. I can imagine readers who wish to know more about Japan’s unique experience of nuclear weapons heading straight for the two stories about the atomic bombings, in which I would call attention to the second story, ‘Insects’, set in the culturally distinctive city of Nagasaki, which tends to be overshadowed by Hiroshima’s position as the first victim of such American ingenuity. The following list, based on the original form of each piece, is provided for those wishing to read the stories in chronological order: Kunikida Doppo, ‘Unforgettable People’ (1898) Natsume Sōseki, Sanshirō, Chapter 1 (1908) Nagai Kafū, ‘Behind the Prison’ (1909) Mori Ōgai, ‘The Last Testament of Okitsu Yagoemon’ (1912) Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, ‘Hell Screen’ (1918) Uno Kōji, ‘Closet LLB’ (1918) Uchida Hyakken, ‘Kudan’ (1921) Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, ‘General Kim’ (1924) Tanizaki Jun’ichirō, The Story of Tomoda and Matsunaga (1926) Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, ‘The Great Earthquake’ (1927) Kawabata Yasunari, ‘The Silver Fifty-Sen Pieces’ (1946) Ōta Yōko, ‘Hiroshima, City of Doom’, chapter from City of Corpses (1948) Genji Keita, ‘Mr English’ (1951) Enchi Fumiko, ‘A Bond for Two Lifetimes – Gleanings’ (1957) Hoshi Shin’ichi, ‘Shoulder-Top Secretary’ (1961) Mishima Yukio, ‘Patriotism’ (1961) Nosaka Akiyuki, ‘American Hijiki’ (1967) Abe Akira, ‘Peaches’ (1972) Betsuyaku Minoru, ‘Factory Town’ (1973) Ohba Minako, ‘The Smile of a Mountain Witch’ (1976) Kōno Taeko, ‘In the Box’ (1977) Ohba Minako, ‘The Smile of a Mountain Witch’ (1976) Kōno Taeko, ‘In the Box’ (1977) Tsushima Yūko, ‘Flames’ (1979) Murakami Haruki, ‘The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema’ (1982) Nakagami Kenji, ‘Remaining Flowers’ (1988) Murakami Haruki, ‘UFO in Kushiro’ (1999) Yoshimoto Banana, ‘Bee Honey’ (2000) Seirai Yūichi, ‘Insects’ (2005) Ogawa Yōko, ‘The Tale of the House of Physics’ (2010) Shibata Motoyuki, ‘Cambridge Circus’ (2010) Kawakami Mieko, ‘Dreams of Love, Etc.’ (2011) Matsuda Aoko, ‘Planting’ (2011) Satō Yūya, ‘Same as Always’ (2012) Sawanishi Yūten, ‘Filling Up with Sugar’ (2013) Hoshino Tomoyuki, ‘Pink’ (2014) Saeki Kazumi, ‘Weather-Watching Hill’ (2014) All of the above are independent stories except the excerpts from Sōseki, Ōta and the 1927 Akutagawa. Sōseki wrote many short stories, but none that reflects the scale and intensity of his novels. Chapter 1 of his 1908 novel Sanshirō comes close to being a self-contained story while suggesting the author’s grasp of his time and society. The novel City of Corpses, from which ‘Hiroshima, City of Doom’ is taken, overshadows Ōta’s other work and stands as the foremost literary documentation of the bombing of Hiroshima. One segment from an episodic story of Akutagawa’s is used here as a preface to his bloodthirsty tale ‘General Kim’, inspired by the 1923 earthquake. Tanizaki’s novella of 1926, The Story of Tomoda and Matsunaga, may seem out of place in a book of short stories, but its hyperbolical alternating condemnation and celebration of both Japanese and Western culture demanded inclusion. Having first encountered it during my study of pre-war literary censorship in 1984, I had hoped to introduce it to the English-speaking world in this collection, but now readers have two means of access to this startling work, as noted in Further Reading. One potential drawback to compiling a historical anthology of a nation’s literature is that the editor is likely to feel obligated to include certain works or writers because of their generally recognized ‘importance’ in the developmental scheme of things without regard to his/her own personal response to the work. The reader of this collection can be assured that all the works here have been chosen because the editor has been unable to forget them, in some cases for decades, or has found them forming a knot in the solar plexus or inspiring a laugh or a pang of sorrow each time they have come spontaneously to mind over the years. The poet Alan Shapiro reminds us of Eugenio Montale’s phrase ‘the second life of poetry’ in characterizing the interplay of life and literature.1 Especially when choosing more nearly contemporary works, I have asked colleagues to send me stories they felt compelled to translate because they have found them reverberating in their own lives. Kunikida Doppo may be seen as the father of the modern Japanese short story, but he is included here primarily because I have found his ‘lone figure on the sunlit beach’ to be one of my own ‘Unforgettable People’ since I first encountered it in 1965. I have many people to thank for their help in the long, fulfilling process of compiling this anthology, many of whom doubled as both advisers and actively involved translators: Paul Warham, Richard Bowring, Geraldine Harcourt, Eve Zimmerman, Michael Emmerich, Noriko Mizuta, Phyllis Birnbaum, Ted Goossen, Royall Tyler, Hitomi Yoshio, Rachel DiNitto, Richard Minear, Brian Bergstrom, David Boyd and Angus Turvill. I picked many other brains along the way, most notably those of Motoyuki Shibata, Howard Hibbett, Davinder Bhowmik, Ted Mack and Ted Woolsey. Maeda Shōsaku devoted endless hours to comparing the translations with the originals, as he has done since he first wrote to me in 2007. I literally can’t thank him enough. Simon Winder made working with Penguin a delight again, Maria Bedford kept some indispensable gears spinning, and Kate Parker made the editorial process more epiphanic than I had hoped it would be. In his thorough, informative introduction, Murakami Haruki has gracefully acceded to his role as elder spokesman for modern Japanese literature. My thanks to him. And thanks to my wife, Rakuko, for always being there. No anthology can include everything. The reader is referred to Further Reading for some of the excellent collections that are available. Jay Rubin Note 1. Alan Shapiro, In Praise of the Impure (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1993), p. 13.

Description:
A major new anthology of great Japanese short stories introduced by Haruki MurakamiThis fantastically varied and exciting collection celebrates the great Japanese short story collection, from its origins in the nineteenth century to the remarkable practitioners writing today. Curated by Jay Rubin (w
See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.