Stories

• Death in Midsummer. A middle-class family goes on vacation to a beach resort, a decision which leads to the deaths of two children and the aunt who was minding them. Issues of power structures between the parents rise until finally the mother and father return to the beach where their young children had died. Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker.
• Three Million Yen. A young couple roams a department store, bickering about finances and trying to kill time until they meet with an unknown woman. They talk of children and saving enough to begin their adult lives. When the reader finally encounters the unknown woman, it transpires that the couple are being paid to have sex in front of upper-class clientele. The story plays on the contrast between the conservatism of the young couple and the disreputable way in which they make their living. Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker.
• Thermos Flasks. A man passing through San Francisco after a long business trip encounters a former lover, and they spend the night together. On his return to Japan he realises by indirect means that he is not the only one who has been unfaithful. Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker.
• The Priest of Shiga Temple and His Love. This fairy tale, set against the background of Pure Land Buddhism
  Pure Land Buddhism
  Pure Land Buddhism , also referred to as Amidism in English, is a broad branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism and currently one of the most popular traditions of Buddhism in East Asia. Pure Land is a branch of Buddhism focused on Amitābha Buddha...
  
  , concerns a venerable priest who falls in love with the Imperial Concubine after a single glance and loses his grip on Enlightenment. Translated by Ivan Morris
  Ivan Morris
  Ivan Ira Esme Morris was a British author and teacher in the field of Japanese Studies.Ivan Morris was born in London, of mixed American and Swedish parentage, to Ira Victor Morris and Edita Morris. He studied at Gordonstoun, before graduating from Phillips Academy...
  
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• The Seven Bridges. On the night of the September full moon, four geisha
  Geisha
  , Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
  
  , Koyumi, Masako, Kanako and Mina, set out to cross seven bridges without stopping or speaking, in the hope that the Moon will grant their wishes. Translated by Donald Keene
  Donald Keene
  Donald Lawrence Keene is a Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture. Keene was University Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at Columbia University, where he taught for over fifty years...
  
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• Patriotism
  Patriotism (film)
  is a 1966 Japanese short drama film directed by Yukio Mishima and Domoto Masaki. The English-language release was originally entitled The Rite of Love and Death.Mishima wrote Yûkoku four years before his death...
  
  . On 28 February 1936, Lt. Shinji Takeyama and his wife Reiko commit ritual suicide in the wake of the Ni Ni Roku Incident. The story is a detailed and highly idealised description of seppuku
  Seppuku
  is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
  
  . Translated by Geoffrey W. Sargent.
• Dōjōji. A "modern Nō
  NO
  NO, N.O., No, or No. may refer to:* One of a pair of English words, yes and no, which signal confirmation or a negative response respectively.- Geographical locations :* Norway, ISO 3166-1 country code* Lake No, Sudan...
  
   play" based on an old play
  Dōjōji (Noh play)
  ' is a famous Noh play of the fourth category , of unknown authorship. Traditionally it is said to be written by Kan'ami and revised by Zeami, while others assign it to Kanze Nobumitsu; there are many variations in different texts, and a popular adaptation for kabuki theatre...
  
   of the same name. The auction of an immense wardrobe with a bell carved on the front is interrupted by a dancer, Kiyoko, who tells a bizarre tale of its sinister past. Translated by Donald Keene
  Donald Keene
  Donald Lawrence Keene is a Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture. Keene was University Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at Columbia University, where he taught for over fifty years...
  
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• Onnagata. Mangiku, an onnagata (male actor who takes female roles), meekly submits to the instructions of a modernist director. Translated by Donald Keene
  Donald Keene
  Donald Lawrence Keene is a Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture. Keene was University Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at Columbia University, where he taught for over fifty years...
  
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• The Pearl. The loss of one of Mrs Sasaki's pearls during the course of her 43rd birthday party eventually causes two of her friends to fall out and another two to make up. Translated by Geoffrey W. Sargent.
• Swaddling Clothes. A young woman is haunted by the sight of a newborn baby wrapped in newspaper. Translated by Ivan Morris
  Ivan Morris
  Ivan Ira Esme Morris was a British author and teacher in the field of Japanese Studies.Ivan Morris was born in London, of mixed American and Swedish parentage, to Ira Victor Morris and Edita Morris. He studied at Gordonstoun, before graduating from Phillips Academy...
  
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