In Praise of Shadows and Other Essays

by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Michael P. Cronin (Translator), Bryan Karetnyk (Translator)

This all-new translation of landmark essays by the great Japanese novelist and short-story writer Junichiro Tanizaki brings together his famous meditation on aesthetics and three other fascinating cultural commentaries. Illustrated with atmospheric images by renowned Kyoto photographer John Einarsen, the book will appeal to fans of Japanese literature and anyone with an interest in art and design. The essays in the book include:

• "In Praise of Shadows," an ode to the subtle, refined aesthetic of traditional Japan and the dangers posed to it by modernization
• "At Okamoto," a reflection on Tanizaki's nostalgia for the old Tokyo and his humorously inept attempts at writing poetry
• "Osaka and Osakans as I See Them," an account of Tanizaki's great love for Japan's second city, his adopted home and the setting of his masterpiece, The Makioka Sisters
• And "On the Lavatory," a tongue-in-cheek treatise on the elements of the ideal bathroom

"Osaka and Osakans as I See Them" and "At Okamoto" appear here for the first time in English; "In Praise of Shadows" and "On the Lavatory" are new translations that reveal these classics in fresh ways. Nearly a century after he wrote them, Tanizaki's essays continue to inspire and provoke readers around the world.

192 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication March 3, 2026

About the author

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (谷崎 潤一郎) was a Japanese author, and one of the major writers of modern Japanese literature, perhaps the most popular Japanese novelist after Natsume Sōseki.

Some of his works present a rather shocking world of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions; others, less sensational, subtly portray the dynamics of family life in the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society.

Frequently his stories are narrated in the context of a search for cultural identity in which constructions of "the West" and "Japanese tradition" are juxtaposed. The results are complex, ironic, demure, and provocative.