Voices of the Fallen Heroes

A captivating selection of short stories in the original Japanese alongside their English translations. This new dual-language edition of ten stories selected from The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories celebrates some of the very best Japanese literature from the past hundred years. Each story appears in the original Japanese alongside an expert English translation, providing unique […]

This is a celebration of the Japanese short story from its modern origins in the nineteenth century to remarkable contemporary works. It includes the most well-known Japanese writers – Akutagawa, Murakami, Mishima, Kawabata – but also many surprising new pieces, from Yuko Tsushima’s ‘Flames’ to Banana Yoshimoto’s ‘Bee Honey’. Ranging over myth, horror, love, nature, […]

The dead wreak revenge on the living, paintings come alive, spectral brides possess mortal men and a priest devours human flesh in these chilling Japanese ghost stories retold by a master of the supernatural. Lafcadio Hearn drew on the phantoms and ghouls of traditional Japanese folklore – including the headless ‘rokuro-kubi’, the monstrous goblins ‘jikininki’ […]

A haunting novella of fame and disillusionment by a Japanese literary icon Written shortly after Yukio Mishima himself had acted in the film Afraid to Die, this novella is a rich and unflinching psychological portrait of a celebrity coming apart at the seams as the absurdity of his existence comes sharply into focus. With exquisite, […]