In Matsuda’s collection, familiar ghosts are treated as commonplace: They are neither surprising nor frightening as they comfortably situate themselves in the modern world
Tag: short stories
First Book—The Short Story Collective
A thirteen-part journey through contemporary Japan taking in themes as disparate as mental illness, Buddhism, the human drive for validation, workplace harassment, cults, tourist pollution, and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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A thirteen-part journey through contemporary Japan taking in themes as disparate as mental illness, Buddhism, the human drive for validation, workplace harassment, cults, tourist pollution, and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Review—Things Remembered and Things Forgotten
A delightful book of short stories from Kyoko Nakajima, author of The Little House, and winner of the Naoki Prize
Recollections and our desire to remember things a certain way blur our reality and intrude on our ability to see the present clearly.
What We’re Reading—Things Remembered and Things Forgotten
A delightful book of short stories from Kyoko Nakajima, author of The Little House, and winner of the Naoki Prize
This is a delightful book of short stories from Kyoko Nakajima, author of The Little House, and winner of the Naoki Prize. I’m half-way through Things Remembered and Things Forgotten, (transl. Ginny Tapley Takemori) but my favorite story so far is “The Life Story of a Sewing Machine,” which describes the model number 100-30 machine, More…
Review—First Person Singular, by Haruki Murakami
It is that so-called “insignificant encounter” that Murakami focuses on to develop beautiful short stories.
It is that so-called “insignificant encounter” that Murakami focuses on to develop beautiful short stories.
Excerpt—Tokyo Stranger (from When a Stranger Comes to Town)
Mystery Writers of America’s story collection When a Stranger Comes to Town, edited by Michael Koryta was just released (April 21, 2021)! Thanks to Hanover Square Press and Tina deBellegarde for giving BOA permission to run the following story from the anthology. It’s been said that all great literature boils down to one of two More…
Review—Pearl City: Stories from Japan and Elsewhere
Simon Rowe’s second volume of short-stories on Japan and Asia
Eight short stories from Japan and eight from other countries including Hong Kong, Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, France, Austria, Australia and New Zealand
Three Wishes for a Genie in Japan
By Renae Lucas-Hall “You know what Hana, women are the cause of all the problems in life,” Taiki said to his Siamese kitten. “They fulfill every desire in your heart and soul and then they disappear. My mother left me when I was a teenager, never to be seen again, and my wife died More…
My Cute Kawaii Boutique, by Renae Lucas-Hall
(Feature photo by Joshua Chun on Unsplash) An excerpt from Tokyo Tales: A Collection of Japanese Short Stories By Renae Lucas-Hall ‘I’m twenty-one years old and I’ve been working part-time for a fashion shop in Yokohama for two years but now I’d really like to work for My Cute Kawaii Boutique,’ I told Junko, More…
Revenge: A Village Tale, by Rebecca Otowa
(Illustration by Rebecca Otowa) An excerpt from The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper and other Short Stories from Japan By Rebecca Otowa Tuttle Publishing (March, 2020) I hate my dad. Every day of my life when I was a kid, he used to beat me. Some days it was just a tap across the face More…