“Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty.” Introduction Tanizaki begins by reflecting on how Western modernity has altered traditional Japanese aesthetics, particularly in architecture and […]
Japanese literature
The Changeling
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” — Kenzaburō Ōe, The Changeling Part 1: The Mysterious Tape The novel opens with Kogito Choko, a renowned writer […]
Japanese literature
Death by Water
“Water is the origin of all things, and to water all things return.” Chapter 1: The Return Kogito Choko, an aging writer, returns to his childhood village in […]
Japanese literature
Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness
“The madman is not the man who has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason.” Chapter 1: The Day He […]
Japanese literature
Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age!
“To be born into this world is to be wounded. But to live is to heal.” The novel follows K, a writer and father, as he grapples with […]
Japanese literature
A Personal Matter
“I must escape. I must escape from this infantile self of mine.” Chapter 1: The Birth of a Monstrous Child The novel opens with Bird, a young man […]
Japanese literature
The Silent Cry
“We were like two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a sunken ship, each of us silently screaming in the dark.” Chapter 1: Return to the Village The […]
Japanese literature
The House of the Sleeping Beauties
“The old man had heard of a house where one could sleep beside a beautiful, drugged young girl, but he had never been there himself.” Chapter 1: The […]
Japanese literature
The Sound of the Mountain
“Old age was a soundless place. The sound of the mountain was the sound of his own heart.” Chapter 1: The Sound of the Mountain Shingo Ogata, an […]
Japanese literature
The Master of Go
“The game of Go is a contest in which the players attack and defend by turns, and the one who makes the last good move wins.” The Master […]