The Shōwa Anthology: Modern Japanese Short Stories

by Van C. Gessel

English (translation)
Original Japanese

Genres: Japan, Short Stories, Anthologies, Japanese Literature, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Classics

442 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Van C. Gessel was born in Compton, California, and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there in October 1968. He served as a missionary to Japan from 1970-71. He received a Ph.D. in Japanese literature from Columbia University in 1979, and he has taught as a faculty member at Columbia, Notre Dame, UC Berkeley, and Brigham Young University. He was chair of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at BYU and dean of the College of Humanities.

Dr. Gessel has published six translations of literary works by the Japanese Christian novelist Endō Shūsaku, including The Samurai and Deep River. Another Endō novel, The Life of Kiku, will appear soon in his translation. He co-edited, with Reid Neilson, a volume of essays titled Taking the Gospel to the Japanese: 1901 to 2001, which received the Geraldine McBride Woodward Award from the Mormon History Association for the best international Mormon history publication. He co-edited The Shōwa Anthology and served as co-editor, with J. Thomas Rimer, of The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature (Volume 1 published in 2005, Volume 2 in 2007).

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he has served as bishop and a stake president at BYU. From 2005-2008, he presided over the Oregon Portland Mission of the Church.

He and his wife, Elizabeth Darley Gessel, are the parents of three children, and they have five grandchildren.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kuchisuke's valley by Masuji Ibuse
Old man's village is being flooded by the new dam.

"Kuchisuke spoke. 'Just how cruel can this lake be.'"

Mating by Kajii Motojirō
Poet looks at nature.

Les joues en feu by Hori Tatsuo
It's where Vita Sexualis meets Confessions of a Mask! How's this for an Omi?:
"Uozomi was on the discuss-throwing team and seemed twice my size. When he was on the field, he bore a slight resemblance to The Discuss Thrower, one of the Greek statues on the German picture postcards that we circulated among ourselves. Consequenlty, the lowerclassmen idolized him in spite of his perpetual look of disdain for everyone."

Magic lantern by Osamu Dazai
Second reading of this one. Still love Osamu Dazai.

Moon gems by Jun Ishikawa
He's trying to learn how to ride a bike in bombed Tokyo and Kafū Nagai can be glimpsed in the background. Then there's another bombing, and he's not so sure that he wants to bother with the bike anymore. Fin. Very J.

The magic chalk by Abe Kōbō
It's very Abe Kobo. Does this guy ever surprise?

Bad company by Yasuoka Shotaro
I love Yasuoka! He was from Kochi, you know. Second time with this story, featuring the strange relationships of unhappy young men.

Eggs by Yukio Mishima
Rowdy young macho types eat a lot of eggs. Eggs then have their revenge. Rowdy young macho types win through and make lots of omelettes. Mental. Unenjoyable.

Stars by Nobuo Kojima
Sobbing for the first part of this. Privates in the army occupying Manchuria, and our narrator hates and bullies his only friend:
"'Joji! Please stop - I'll do whatever you want! I'll do your laundry - anything!'
'You think I could stand being fawned on by someone like you?'
I must have said something like that. I was caught in the fury of my mood. Hikida turned his flat, tearstained, frantic face out away from the city, wailed bitterly, and then tried to scale the parapet and leap off the thirty-foot-high wall."

Liked this bit, obvs:
"Captain Inoma seemed to have worked himself into a rage. He stripped me naked, then energetically tore off his own jacket. he made me sit facing the east, pulled out his sword and wrapped the blade with my shirt, then stepped up to me.
'Are you ready? Don't be a coward. Cut your belly open now, and I'll chop your head off for you. Don't worry about a thing.'
I didn't have the impression that he was joking. But this was all too sudden to be really happening. I didn't even have time to feel sad. I gazed down at my stomach. My belly button seemed so forlorn, so alone. As I studied my navel, I blurted out:
'Look - a star!'"

Are the trees green? by Junnosuke Yoshiyuki
Is a young man to inherit his father's womanising ways?

Still life by Junzo Shono
Junzo's OK, but he's not going to change the shape of the universe.

With Maya by Shimao Toshio
If Kenzaburō Ōe didn't have his eldest son, we'd all be reading about Shimao and his daughter.

The monastery by Yumiko Kurahashi
She's from Kochi! Great story: too many roosters in the hen house, and someone's going to have to cut their stomach open....

Under the shadow of Mount Bandai by Yasushi Inoue
My favourite Inoue story.

"What remains indelibly burned upon my memory and ringing in my ears is the defiant challenge - 'Blow, mountain, blow! Give it all you've got!' - uttered by those brave children, who could do nothing else in the face of the mountain's awesome power."

Mulberry child by Tsutomu Minakami
"'Do you know the story of the mulberry child, the child born out of a mulberry patch? It's probably nothing new to a writer like you. In the poor villages of the north country, only so much land is available for fields and paddies, and when there get to be too many children, well, all the people can do is abandon them, starting with the third or fourth boy. 'Thinning,' it's called, and it was tolerated until about 1900. Mothers would come right down to the police station and report, 'It was a boy, so I wet a towel and covered his mouth, and killed him. Please don't be too hard on me.' Well, the officer would pretend he didn't know anything, and arrange it so the higher-ups never found out. In the village where I was born, too, a lot of thinning went on."

One arm by Yasunari Kawabata
Second reading of this one.

The day before by Shūsaku Endō
Early Japanese Christians vs. a chap in a modern hospital.

Friends by Abe Akira
Working for the TV studio, unhappy colleagues kill themselves or have nervous breakdowns.

"It seems to me that when people choose to die so hastily, they make fools of those who are left behind."

Is this Mishima's 'Kyoko's House'?:
"A few miscellaneous books lay beside his bed. One of them was a lengthy novel by a postwar writer, a controversial figure when we were in college."

Ripples by Yoshiko Shibaki
Family comes into some money. Family behaves badly and ruins it.

The pale fox by Minako Oba
Strange little story about the three unreliable men in a young woman's life.

Iron fish by Taeko Kōno
Fabulous! Fabulous! Woman, whose first husband killed himself driving a torpedo into an enemy warship, locks herself into the museum at the Yasukuni shrine so that she can climb inside the "iron fish", mourn and remember.

"She wanted to experience her husband's death all by herself, to feel the loss personally."

Platonic love by Mieko Kanai
Very po mo. Someone's writing a short story called 'Platonic love'.

The crushed pellet by Takeshi Kaikō
Second reading of this.

The clever rain tree by Kenzaburō Ōe is in this! He and the lunatics are taking over the asylum.

The silent traders by Yūko Tsushima
Second reading of this. Cute. Men are such bastards.

The immortal by Kenji Nakagami
Po mo yawn.

[Eadweard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5


Favorites:

Ibuse Masuji - Kuchisuke's Valley
Kajii Motojiro - Mating
Abe Kobo - The Magic Chalk
Mishima Yukio - Eggs
Kojima Nobuo - Stars
Kurahashi Yumiko - The Monastery
Nakagami Kenji - The Immortal

[Anthony H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite among the several anthologies of modern Japanese short stories. The selection of authors and works is excellent (though the editors deliberately omitted several important Showa [1926-1989] writers because they had already been widely translated into English), the translation expert, and the editing superb. I haven't found a single typo or lapse in style. A few of the stories dragged. "Modern Japanese fiction . . . is filled with descriptions of small incidents of everyday life, the accumulation of which forms our reality" (p. 348). In the hands of the best writers, the result can be riveting, as with Shōno Junzō's "Still Life," but this approach is sometimes less successful with other writers. My favorite stories include "Kuchisuke's Valley" (Ibuse Masuji), "Les Joues en Feu" (Hori Tatsuo), "The Magic Chalk" (Abe Kōbō), "Under the Shadow of Mt. Bandai" (Inoue Yasushi), "Mulberry Child" (Minakami Tsutomu), "Iron Fish" (Kōno Taeko), "The Crushed Pellet" (Kaikō Takeshi), "The Clever Rain Tree" (Nobel laureate Ōe Kenzaburō), and "The Immortal" (Nakagami Kenji). [Disclaimer: I contributed one of the translations.]

[Ankush Samant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I firmly believe that Japanese are master storytellers. This belief of mine gets further entrenched after reading more and more Japanese authors. This anthology of short stories is by Japanese authors, who grew up during the turbulent World War period. These authors were attempted to be tamed by Western philosophies - primarily the American ones, they were molded by the hardships of the circumstances - poverty, tyranny of the ruler.., and they were influenced by master storytellers from their past. What resulted was a unique blend of Japanese literature that is unparalleled across the world.

If you like short stories, you can't and shouldn't give this a miss!

[Steven Capatosto · Rating 4 out of 5]

bedside required reading for the AM hours only.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 3 out of 5]

The notable stories, some of which I have read before, in chronological order: "Les Joues en Feu" by Tatsuo Hori; "Magic Lantern" by Osamu Dazai; "Still Life" by Junzo Shono; "With Maya" by Toshio Shimao; "Mulberry Child" by Tsutomu Minakami; "One Arm" by Yasunari Kawabata; "Friends" by Akira Abe; "The Crushed Pellet" by Takeshi Kaikō.

The greatest story here that was new to me is Akira Abe's "Friends," though the greatest story overall would have to be Junzo Shono's "Still Life," which is featured in his own collection of the same name (which, in turn, is absolutely essential).

Nearly all of the stories written after 1970 are lousy.

[Gianmassimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

* First nice story met in the anthology: "Bad companies" by Shotaro Yasuoka. The self bad education of three teenager male friends during the anxious period when Japan is entering the 2nd WW. The story is told by one of them. Their relationships and personalities develop in a confuse way, and reflects well the rapid social decay of that time.

* I met other two interesting short stories: `Are the trees green' by Junnosuke Yoshiyuki and `With Maya' by Toshio Shimao. In the first I liked the narration of how the main character remembers, and connects past (even not his own) with present events. In the second the exploration of the self-interrogative and problematic way
the character deals with mental problems in a dear person. In general, these japanese stories are very interiorized (they called this style "I-novel") and emphasize small details.
Individuals have unresolved personalities: the narration seems a way to manifest their anxieties..

* After finishing the book: my favourite story has been `One arm' by Yasunari Kawabata. Unexpectedly delicate use of surrealism to tell about a relationship between a woman and a man.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a trudge of a read to get through. Some of the stories were amazing like Kobo Abe's, Jun Ishikawa's, and Osamu Dazai's. This anthology came out in the 70's, so the translation seems awkward at times. This book has college text written all over it but very few would read the whole thing.

[Alejandro Teruel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A curious but rather unsatisfactory compilation of 26 modern Japanese short stories published between 1929 and 1984, with one story per author. This is not, in my opinion, a good introduction for readers new to Japanese literature, but may be more interesting to those who have come across and enjoyed works by twentieth-century authors such as Tanizaki, Mishima, Kawabata, or Abe and are willing to explore other authors. The editors claim that they intended:

...bringing together stories by the finest authors who have produced short fiction during this period, primarily those who have not been adequately represented in English translation.

This means for example that the editors do not include any Tanizaki -however they include not very inspired stories by Abe Kōbō (The Magic Chalk, Yukio Mishima (Eggs), Yasunari Kawabata (One Arm), and Kenzaburo Oe (The Clever Rain Tree).

I found the short two or three paragraph introductions to the 26 writers to be, in the main, fascinating, sparking interest in reading their work, frequently despite the story included in the anthology. In my opinion, most of the stories deserved one or two stars, with a scattering of three star exemplars such as:

- Kuchosoke’s Valley (1929) by Masuji Ibuse which memorably describes the damming of a beautiful woody valley;

- Still Life (1960) by Junzo Shono, a vignette about life in a middle-class Japanese nuclear family;

- With Maya (1961) by Toshio Shimao a poignant, carefully written story about a father who comes into town for medical examinations for himself and his possibly autistic daughter;

- Under the Shadow of Mt. Bandai (1961) by Yasuchi Inoue, a very well crafted and researched historical story about the massive 1888 eruption of a very active and famous volcano in Japan.

- Mulberry Child (1963) by Tsutomu Minakami in which the narrator remembers how he finally understood the poverty-sticken harshness of rural Japan well into the twentieth century. The end twist is superb and makes it perhaps the most memorable of the stories in the collection, together with Under the Shadow of Mt. Bandai.

- The Day Before (1963) by Shusaku Endo about the psychology of renouncing Catholic faith under torture in historical Japan -not surprisingly Endo has been favorably compared with the best of Graham Greene.

- Friends (1970) by Akira Abe covers the awkward reactions of several journalists to a slow break-down and eventual suicide of a colleague.

- Ripples (1970) by Yoshiko Shibaki analyzes a dysfunctional family’s very realistic reaction to a sudden windfall in the form of a plot of land belonging to a father who passed away years ago, as seen through the eyes of the daughter who cares for her widowed mother. It certainly woke up my interest in reading more of her work.

- Iron Fish (1976) by Taeko Kono, another woman writer, analyzes how the woman protagonist finally comes to terms with her first husband’s death in the Second World War while piloting a manned torpedo. What is extraordinary about many of the best stories that are included is how the authors frame the main story from a distance in time that allows them to tell the story more effectively as you realize the emotional impact underlying an apparenly clinical detachment.

- Platonic Love (1979) by Mieko Kanai, a clever postmodern take on the (ir)reality of authorship.

Apart from irony, there is very little humor in this anthology -practically the only exception is Mishima’s decidedly sophomoric Eggs, which, as the editors point out, is written in a style decidedly unfamiliar to readers who have dipped into his novels.

Finally, I must admit that I found the anthology a hard slog, and was tempted to give up on it several times; however, if you persevere, you will find some compelling psychological insights and ironies quietly but effectively exploring human nature under stress both in everyday life and in extraordinary times and conditions.

[Kevin Dufresne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi,

I hope all is progressing well.

The Showa Anthology: Modern Japanese Short Stories is a collection of stories by varying authors concerning developments of Japan's land, social, and ideological scapes in the twentieth century. I think the stories work well together offering geographical, social, and ideological perspectives concerning Japan and individuals of Japanese descent-- Japanese culture. I like the anthology overall, and I think all the stories in the anthology are worth reading. Here are a few specific stories from the anthology I recommend: "Mating" by Kajii Motojirō, "Les Joues en Feu" by Hori Tatsuo, "Magic Lantern" by Dazai Osamu, "Moon Gems" by Ishikawa Jun, "Bad Company" by Yasuoka Shōtarō, "Stars" by Kojima Nobuo, "Still Life" by Shōno Junzō, "With Maya" by Shimao Toshio, "Under the Shadow of Mt. Bandai" by Inoue Yasushi, "Mulberry Child" by Minakami Tsutomu, "One Arm" by Kawabata Yasunari, "The Day Before" by Endō Shūsaku, "Friends" by Abe Akira, "Platonic Love" by Kanai Mieko, "The Clever Rain Tree" by Ōe Kenzaburō, and "The Immortal" by Nakagami Kenji.

Onward and Upward,
Kevin Dufresne
www.Piatures.com
IG: @Dufreshest

[José Luis Valenciano · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Showa Antology", first published in 1985, is a wonderful collection of short stories by some of the most representative writers of that era. While many are already well-kown in West, just like Tanizaki, Oe, Abe, Dazai or Kawabata some names are still quite unknown.
The stories chosen cover a wide range of subjects, techniques and styles. The traditional I-novel is well represented, as well as writers who try to experiment and cut themselves from the Japanese tradition, but most succeed to mix both.
WWII is indeed a subject touched from different angles; an experience impossible to avoid by these writers, who experienced it as young adults or children. Broken men and women are shown in their naked nature.
Humour is present too, and one of my favourite stories is "Tamago" (Egg), a story by Yukio Mishima based on traditional yokai stories which will make us reconsider how we treat eggs.
I got a second hand paperback from 1992, so these "Modern Japanese short stories" might not be so modern anymore, but they are as wirth reading as they were more than 30 years ago.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

25 stories from the Showa Era (1926-1989):

Kuchisuke's Valley (1929) • Ibuse Masuji
Mating (1931) • Kajii Motojiro
Les Joues en Feu (1932) • Hori Tatsuo
Magic Lantern (1937) • Dazai Osamu
Moon Gems (1946) • Ishikawa Jun
The Magic Chalk (1950) • Abe Kobo
Bad Company (1953) • Yasuoka Shotaro
Stars (1954) • Kojima Nobuo
Are the Trees Green? (1958) • Yoshiyuki Junnosuke
Still Life (1960) • Shono Junzo
With Maya (1961) • Shimao Toshio
The Monastery (1961) • Kurahashi Yumiko
Under the Shadow of Mt. Bandai (1961) • Inoue Yasushi
Mulberry Child (1963) • Minakami Tsutomu
One Arm (1963) • Kawabata Yasunari
The Day Before (1963) • Endo Shusaku
Friends (1970) • Abe Akita
Ripples (1970) • Shibaki Yoshiko
The Pale Fox (1973) • Oba Minako
Iron Fish (1976) • Kono Taeko
Platonic Love (1979) • Kanai Mieko
The Crushed Pellet (1978) • Kaiko Takeshi
The Clever Rain Tree (1980) • Oe Kenzaburo
The Silent Traders (1982) • Tsushima Yuko
The Immortal (1984) • Nakagami Kenji

[Jeff Diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book mostly because it was an easy book to pick up and read for a little bit at a time, because it is a collection of short stories.

While the stories for each author are not necessarily representative of that author, you get a pretty good idea about the style of each one, and that can give you a good idea of whether or not you want to read one of their books. It really is a good anthology for the fact that it collects all of the very best authors in Japan from the Showa period, and you can see the variety of viewpoints and styles. The 20th century was dynamic in the west, and you can certainly tell that it was in Japan as well because of the dynamism of these authors.

[Zoe Aleshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most diverse collection of short shories...and the best I have ever read. The translation does not feel awkward or overly americanised and the sheer number of recommendations for great literature this book made was incredible - the stories are, on the whole, well chosen to be representative of the authors.

Very peaceful, deep writing that is rarely boring and funny more often than one would expect.

This is not "traditional" writing, but the modern age of japan.

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a great short story called "The Eggs" in this book, I mean they are all prettty fucking awesome, but that one and "The Magic Chalk" are the best stories, translated.

Translation. Applesauce.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars due to translation quality in some areas. it's a bit dated. but that's ok..this is a great starting point for those interested in Shōwa period short stories.

[Alexander Páez · Rating 2 out of 5]

La edición es una porquería y la traducción chirría muchas veces, pero vale la pena para conocer ciertos autores. De todas formas, no la recomiendo.