Modern Japanese Literature: From 1868 to the Present Day

by Donald Keene

Modern Japanese Literature is Donald Keene’s critically acclaimed companion volume to his landmark Anthology of Japanese Literature. Now considered the standard canon of modern Japanese writing translated into English, Modern Japanese Literature includes concise introductions to the writers, as well as a historical introduction by Professor Keene. Includes: Growing Up by Ichiyo, a lyrical story of pre-adolescence in the 90s; Natsume’s story of Botchan, an illustarred and ineffectual Huck Finn; Nagai’s The Sumida River; Kokomitsu’s Kafkaesque Time; Kawabata’s The Mole; Firefly Hunt; a glimpse into Tanizaki’s masterpiece Thin Snow; and the postwar work of such writers as Dazai and Mishima.

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

448 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1955

About the author

Donald Keene was a renowned American-born Japanese scholar, translator, and historian of Japanese literature. Born in Brooklyn in 1922, he developed a love for foreign cultures early in life. He graduated from Columbia University in 1942 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he studied Japanese at the Navy Language School. After the war, he returned to Columbia for his master’s and later earned a second master’s at Cambridge, followed by a PhD from Columbia in 1949. He studied further at Kyoto University and became a leading authority on Japanese literature.
Keene taught at Columbia University for over fifty years and published extensively in both English and Japanese, introducing countless readers to Japanese classics. His mentors included Ryusaku Tsunoda and Arthur Waley, whose translations deeply influenced him. After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Keene retired from Columbia, moved to Japan, and became a Japanese citizen under the name Kīn Donarudo. He was awarded the Order of Culture in 2008, the first non-Japanese recipient. Keene remained active in literary and cultural life in Japan until his death in 2019 at the age of 96.

Reviews

[Smiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Reading these excerpts is worth spending my time since it's like reading an overview of modern Japanese literature from 1868 onwards by 15+1 translators. Only two are quite familiar to me, that is, Donald Keene and Edward Seidensticker. As for the rest, it is my first time to enjoy reading their fine translations. In the team, there're three Japanese translators as follows: Baroness Shidzue Ishimoto, Yozan T. Iwasaki and Shio Sakanishi. Why +1? Surprisingly, I read "The Cannery Boat" (pp. 333-338) and found its 'TRANSLATED ANONYMOUSLY' notification at the end.

I bought this brownish paperback from a booth selling second-hand ones in a Book Fair in Bangkok in April, 2011. I recall reading only two titles whose authors I've read their other works, namely, "Kesa and Morito" by Akutagawa Ryunosuke and "Omi" by Mishima Yukio. Then I'd kept it somewhere till I finished reading Kawabata's five translated novels and wondered which authors I should find and read their longer novels that are worth spending my time. One of the reasons is that I didn't know which one I should read his/her novels due to innumerable titles by seemingly eminent Japanese authors and it's a waste of time to read them at random.

Therefore, from my reading survey, these are the first three authors I'd read their novels. For each title from this anthology, I'd cite its excerpt and my reasons why I prefer it as brief as I can. Please note, I don't arrange in its normal order but they're presented according to my reading series.

1. "Tokyo" by Hayashi Fumiko.
This female writer has amazed me since she could write so well, sentimental that I could imagine and follow her plot and key characters wistfully.

Excerpt:
Two days later Ryo set out happily with her boy to visit Tsuruishi. When she reached the bomb site, she was surprised not to see him before his cabin, his read kerchief tied about his head. Ryukichi ran ahead to find out if he were home and came back in a moment.
"There are strangers there, Mamma!"
Seized with panic, Ryo hurried over to the cabin and peered in. Two workmen were busy piling up Tsuruishi's effects in a corner.
"What is it, ma'am?" one of them said, turning his head.
"I'm looking for Tsuruishi."
"Oh, don't you know? Tsuruishi died yesterday."
"Died," she said. She wanted to say something more but no words would come.
...
(pp. 424-425)

2. "Botchan" by Natsume Soseki.
This writer with his government scholarship studied in England in 1901-1903 and wrote some short stories based on his experiences there. Eventually, he was Professor of English Literature at Tokyo Imperial University. However, I’m not sure with which longer novels of his I should start. From this novel, I realized he’d like to focus on humanity between the hero and an old female servant.

Excerpt:
On the day of my departure she came in the morning and helped me with things. She put in my canvas bag some toothpaste, a toothbrush, and a towel that she had bought at a shop on the way. I told her that I did not need them, but she was insistent. We rode to the station in rickshaws and went up to the platform. When I had boarded the train she looked intently at my face.
“I may not see you again. Be sure to take good care of yourself,” she said in a small voice. Her eyes were full of tears. I was not crying but I would have been with just a bit more. When the train finally got under way, I thought that everything would be all right now. I put my head out of the window and looked back. She was still standing there. She looked very small. (p. 133)

3. "The Mother of Captain Shigemoto" by Tanizaki Junichiro.
This writer’s name’s strangely presented a dilemma to me, a feeling of either being vague or being familiar since I’ve never read him before. Possibly I came across some of his novels in some Books Kinokuniya in Bangkok. I found his plot and description dazzling and second to none.

Excerpt:
To come back to our story. It is clear from Shigemoto’s diary that his father too was trying to train himself to the sense of foulness, that the enchanting figure of the beauty who had deserted him – the “lost crane” of the Po Chu-i poem, “whose voice has gone silent behind the green clouds, whose shadow is sunk in the brightness of the moon” – was always with him; and that in the excess of his grief he had summoned up his will to beat back the vision. …
“Then you’ve been out before?” Shigemoto asked. His father nodded with the greatest emphasis. For some months now, choosing moonlit nights, he had waited for the house to be quiet and gone out in search of enlightenment, not to one specific place but to any charnel on the edge of the moor, and had stolen back again at dawn.
….
(pp. 394-395)

That’s it for now, I think, in fact, there are still a few I’d like to tell my friends more, for instance, “Growing Up” by Higuchi Ichiyo, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichiy%C...), another lady writer who wrote superbly till, I think, we’d like to return to our childhood via the time machine, if any.

ENDNOTE: We can still find this book available with its newly-designed covers from those good large bookstores in any key cities worldwide.

[RKanimalkingdom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not exactly sure how to give a review for this book. It’s comprised with mostly passages from full-length novels, so I can’t review each story. So I guess I’ll just give my thoughts.

Donald Keene has worked as a translator for many years. This compilation is a kind of intro to Modernist Japanese Literature. Just like how the North America has T.S. Elliot, James Joyce, Virginia Wolf, etc. Japan has its own set of established authors. Keene points out the differences in how the literary/publishing industry works in Japan. There were (at least at the time) different groups that existed (naturalism, aestheticism, etc.) and to make a break into the writing sphere was to work under a mentor of a group you liked and submit stories to a newspaper/journal. It’s a little more complicated than that, but is gives a good divide on the type of story you will be told, based on the author.

Unlike the West, the Modernist era lasted longer in Japan. In my opinion, that’s when Japan was really creating and building itself in regards to its literature. Even though there were literary accomplishments in earlier eras, it was predominantly in the Meji Restoration era where the field of literature was being polished. Since the country itself was undergoing a fast change, it’s inevitable that the literary field would also undergo such a change with the arrival of books from the West. There were more writers, more voices entering the field during a time of rapid development. Keene’s selection of passages, short stories, and poems in this novel highlight important/influential authors who have shaped the field in some way. The book is kind of like a record of the country’s own Künstlerroman, as they try to learn from the literature of the West while incorporating their own and the country’s traditions. A lot of the earlier works are by authors not really known, but Keene points out why he selected them for his novel. While their story may not be fully engaging or story-like, they did something that went against the grain of Japanese society at the time. Something that will always stay with me is that literature is always influenced by politics, and it shows in the writings of these authors, especially those who were not afraid of voicing their thoughts and opinions.

Review Continued Here

[Jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Donald Keene knows everything about Japanese Literature. Ultimately, however, this is more a reference book than an engaging read. Reading a Dazai or a Mishima novel that you want some better context for? It's the place to go - but it's not exactly 'casual' or 'entertaining' reading.

[Michael Bacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthologies are typically a mixed bag. I came to this one expecting nothing more and nothing less, but in this expectation I was mistaken. Modern Japanese Literature is remarkably consistent, and it is pretty much all good, or very good. No wonder it's remained required reading on Japanese Lit courses for half a century.

In this anthology, Donald Keene wisely chooses to stick mostly to prose. I say wisely because the drama in this collection is probably its weakest showing; the scenes we get here have some period charm, but feel fairly didactic. If they're the best that were on offer, I'm glad there isn't more. What poetry is presented here is more engaging; however, though my Japanese isn't really good enough to allow me to enjoy the poems in the original, I have always gotten the feeling that with Japanese poetry you lose a lot in the translation. English and Japanese simply function in drastically different ways, and unlike with European languages there's no shared cultural symbology.

What surprised me with the prose, though, was how much of it I enjoyed. Typically in an anthology of British or American writers I'll be picking out writers I love from those I won't be reading again, but almost all of the stories featured here left me wanting to engage with more of the author's work. In the end I was even impressed by Natsume Soseki and Dazai Osamu, two writers I had quite convinced myself I wouldn't like (quite, and quite arbitrarily, as it turns out).

What's more, Keene has achieved the somewhat incredible feat of making a general catalogue of major writers feel like a unified, even thematic, collection. While it's true some of the writers herein probably influenced one another, the collection is fairly diverse. And yet across the pages and the years we watch scenes play out in an Asakusa and a wider Tokyo that become familiar. When this is coupled with the recurrence of themes of financial and spiritual poverty, and the intimate, almost confessional nature of many of the pieces, the sense of repeatedly coming home makes Modern Japanese Literature feel like an elegant, sprawling saga.

[Richard Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a volume I picked up purely to read Osamu Dazai’s Villon's Wife, having recently read No Longer Human and being in the mood for some fatalistic Japanese tragic-romanticism. Finding a story or writer you like and sampling them might be the best way to approach this text, as Donald Keene’s compilation of stories, plays, poetry, and haiku is equal parts fascinating and frustrating. On one hand, reading this as a single piece will be a disjointed experience, with Keene and his team of translators grab-bagging various Japanese writers and offering only excerpts from larger works in some cases. Yet this needs to be placed in context: when first published in 1958, there weren’t as many English translations of some of these writers available, and this can still serve as an introductory to some amazing voices. Ishikawa Takuboku’s The Romanji Diary spoke most clearly to me, a soul-bearing musing by someone “always being pursued by that ‘something’.” There were so many discoveries for me too: Yosano Akikio’s delicate waka poetry; Nagai Kafu and Hayashi Fumiko’s vivid depictions of Tokyo in different eras, and I’ll definitely be reading the rest of Natsume Soseki’s Botchan. Others, like Akutagawa Ryunosuke, I’d encountered before but Hell Screen remains a chilling early 20th century slice of macabre. There’s well over three dozen pieces here, and while it may not be a perfect collection, it’s kind of what I was looking for.

[Dia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really annoying that the stories chosen here are excerpts from novels. I'd hoped that they would be fully intact, living & breathing short stories, but no...they're excerpts. Chopped-off chunks of larger, unknowable beings. I suppose such an anthology must exist, and that it has its reasons, but how annoying. Anyway, the introduction gives a great little history of modern Japanese literature (from 1868 to Mishima Yukio). Keene is so knowledgeable and a very good writer -- I'm hooked and will keep looking for something more substantial from him. The selections are...excerpts. They might lead to further reading, but only with a grudge. And I'm puzzled and disappointed that he says so little about Kawabata. It seems strangely difficult to find out much of anything about this man. Opium addiction-cover up?? Or what?

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh this was shit. A few excerpts from things worth reading, a few excerpts from shit not worth reading. BUT ALL EXCERPTS. EVEN SHORT STORIES WERE EXCERPTED. FUCK OFF.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of excerpts from major Japanese writers beginning with the Meiji period. I think Keene also edited a companion book of classid Japanese literature as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this brief tour of the Japanese literary landscape, and was introduced to a number of stimulating authors. The introductions to the pieces are often too brief; I would have enjoyed a little more in the way of description and assessment. Most of the pieces here are sections from novels or short stories, along with a couple of essays and poems.

Futabatei's "The Drifting Cloud", influenced by Turgenev, looks like a fascinating novel - the story of a sad sack of a young man who loses his girl to a more socially adept rival. It is a sharp satire of Japanese social conventions. Higuchi was a wonderful writer who died at 24 and left behind a small body of work. I enjoyed her story "Growing Up", an evocative portrayal of teenagers and neighborhood life. Kunida's "Old Gen" is a well-known sad tale in which a lonely middle-aged man unsuccessfully reaches out to a troubled youth. Another work that lovingly evokes the twilight of pre-industrial Japan is Nagai's "The River Sumida", the story of a once-influential family now down on their luck. I found the excerpt of Natsume's novel to be striking in its similarity to the current work of Murakami Haruki; both present a viewpoint of hip nonchalance, a deadpan look at life's absurdities.

Moving further into the conflicts of the 20th century, Tayama's piece is a gripping account of life in the Russo-Japanese war. Ishikawa, one of the many in this collection who did not live a long life, is represented by an excerpt from his "Romaji Diary", a real diary he wrote in Western script to in order to confound prying eyes. He comes across as a cynical, dreamy, depressed young man who understood that his life would not be a long one. Mori's nicely written "The Wild Goose" concerns the romantic misfortunes of a young woman. The portion of Naka's first novel included here gives a charming presentation of a young man's solitary summer in the beautiful countryside. Kikuchi's short play "The Madman on the Roof" is a goofy black comedy with a very different feel from the rest of this book.

The refined, subtle short story of Kawabata's included here encourages me to one day read some more by this Nobel laureate. Tanizaki, the other titan of Japanese mid 20th century writing is also represented here with a couple of nice pieces. His work seems more emotionally charged and philosophical than Kawabata's. The notoriously dissolute Dazai contributes a solid short story concerning a dissolute man and his common law wife. Hayashi Fumiko's work concerns working class Japanese, and her story "Tokyo" is a touching portrayal of a lonely woman's struggle in the post-war ruins. The book closes with an excerpt from Mishima's "Confessions of a Mask."

All in all a nice sampler, like a tray of interesting appetizers which whet the appetite for more - in other words, a successful collection of its kind.

[Tinquerbelle]

1) The Beefeater; Kanagaki, Robun
2) The Western Peep Show; Hattori, Busho
3) The Thieves; Kawatake, Mokuami
4) Modern Poetry in Chinese
5) The Essence of the Novel; Tsubouchi, Shoyo
6) The Drifting Cloud; Futabatei, Shimei
7) Growing Up; Higuchi, Ichiyo
8) Old Gen; Kunikida, Doppo
9) Modern Haiku: I
10) Botchan; Natsume, Soseki
11) The Broken Commandment; Shimazaki, Toson
12) One Soldier; Tayama, Katai
13) The River Sumida; Nagai, Kafu
14) Modern Poetry: I
15) Modern Waka
16) The Romaji Diary; Ishikawa, Takuboku
17) The Wild Goose; Mori, Ogai
18) A Tale of Three Who Were Blind; Izumi, Kyoka
19) Sanctuary; Naka, Kansuke
20) Han's Crime; Shiga, Naoya
21) At Kinosaki; Shiga, Naoya
22) The Madman on the Roof; Kikuchi, Kan
23) The Tiger; Kume, Maso
24) Kesa and Morito; Akutagawa, Ryunosuke
25) Hell Screen; Akutagawa, Ryunosuke
26) The Cannery Boat; Kobayashi, Takiji
27) Time; Yokomitsu, Riichi
28) Earth and Soldiers; Hino, Ashihei
29) The Mole; Kawabata, Yasunari
30) Modern Poetry: II
31) Modern Haiku: II
32) The Firefly Hunt; Tanizaki, Junichiro
33) The Mother of Captain Shigemoto; Tanizaki, Junichiro
34) Villon's Wife; Dazai, Osamu
35) Tokyo; Hayashi, Fumiko
36) Omi; Mishima, Yukio

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keene's anthology is a helpful springboard from which to delve deeper into Japanese literature, being a good introduction to a number of important Japanese writers and genres. With Keene's expert editorial judgement guiding the selections, it also gives well-balanced literary context to those wider readings.

However, the fact that most of these pieces are excerpts means the result isn't a very engaging reading experience. This is the trade-off for the rounded and balanced contents. A collection of shorter pieces - for example the Columbia or Oxford anthologies - whilst being more enjoyable, cannot offer the same level of representation and balance that this collection does.

Possibly for this reason, Keene's pioneering anthology still, apparently, remains a set text on many Japanese literature courses.

[Gertrude & Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Donald Keene does a nice job of bringing together in one work, stories, including many poems, that are representative of modern literature in Japan.

Modern Japanese Literature: From 1868 to the Present Day is an attractive anthology for those interested in Japanese literature beyond the popular and famous works of today's novelists. Some of the stories presented are not easy to come by, and some might even be impossible to obtain. Keene saves us the trouble.

This collection was published in 1956. The book begins with Kanagaki Robun: The Beefeater, and ends with Mishima Yukio: Omi who passed away around forty years ago.

[Carol Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible classic collection of Japanese short stories of the modern era. My favorites were "One Soldier" which reads like a much tougher version of THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE or THE NAKED AND THE DEAD. Also HAN'S CRIME which reads like an Alfred Hitchcock thriller. You don't have to be a lover of Japanese culture and cuisine like I am to read this outstanding collection!

[Frank Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een paar nuttige kennismakingen maar jammer genoeg vooral fragmenten in plaats van volledige verhalen. Als je in de wachtkamer van de tandarts één verhaal zoekt om te lezen zou ik Hell Screen (1918) van Agutagawa aanraden of het fragment uit Earth and Soldiers (1938) van Hino Ashihei.

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donald Keene's great anthology of Japanese tales - and all the suspected stars (the great one's) are here in this package. Mishima, Dazai, Tanizaki, Kawabata, etc. Like the one down below, this is another essential anthology of Japanese writing.

[Rahadyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology I read about 25 years ago, during a time in which I had envisioned someday becoming a professor of Asian languages and literatures. Recommended.

[Vleegoodfellow]

read "The Tiger"

[Mance · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection. Especially noteworthy is the first chapter of Botchan, which is the best English translation I've come across and its a damn shame that translator didn't do the full story.

[catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few of the excerpts I liked, but probably not enough to hunt them down to read in their completeness.
The introduction is interesting though.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only excerpts :(

[Aravena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection caught my eye for its diversity of texts to represent modern Japanese literature, encompassing the period from 1868 to “modern times” (i.e. 1949). While I typically only encountered short stories from this kind of classical anthology, Donald Keene has curated novel excerpts, stage plays, essay, poetry, haiku, and even excerpt from personal journal to represent the breadth of what the Japanese literature world had to offer during this period. Quite delightful!

That said, if you don’t have academic interest in this subject already, it can be hard to get into. The first two writings, Kanagaki Robun’s The Beefeater and Hattori Bunsho’s The Western Peep Show, for instance, require a more analytical approach and understanding of cultural context to be appreciated, instead of being a pleasurable read on their own. Even as it progresses towards more fully-formed narratives with actual plot and characters, those not used to the style of classical Japanese literature might find a lot of of these dull, meandering, and repetitive. I myself, who is a big fan of this style at its best, could only stomach so much of these in one sitting.

To his credit, Keene did consider accessibility and literary merit in compiling the selection, instead of “solely picking them for historical significance”. Provided one is in the proper mindset when digging into this collection, you’re bound to at least find something interesting in each writing. Again, the inclusion of the likes of script and poetry is a boon. While I may not be the greatest appreciator of poetry in particular, and that they may have lost comparatively more in translation, it is still enlightening to see the evolution in form and theme from the ones written in Chinese to waka and haiku.

As far as personal enjoyment goes, there were ups and downs. Stories like Kunikida Doppo’s Old Gen feels excessively bleak, while confessional I-novel narratives like Shiga Naoya’s At Kinosaki sometimes annoy me—for as philosophical and refreshingly honest they are, they can also come off as whiney, navel-gazing, exercise. Likewise, I’m torn on Ishikawa Takuboku’s The Romaji Diary, which is fascinating in its form and background as a real life accounts written in romaji by a talented poet who died very young, but also reads like someone throwing himself a pity party over tiresome masculine frustration. Many of the perspectives here lean overwhelmingly male-centric and even borderline misogynistic, unfortunately; I couldn’t help but laugh at certain passage in Yokomitsu Riichi’s Time, for instance, in which the narrator described the seven male characters’ personality in great detail, while the four female characters were brushed off with half a sentence merely listing their names (though worth noting that it’s otherwise a very solid story of survival and altruism).

On the other hand, some stories stand out more positively for their stylistic flair. These included Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s macabre Hell Screen, a straight up horror story of a disturbed painter; Yasunari Kawabata’s psychologically fascinating Mole, in which a housewife ponders about the huge mole on her shoulder and how it impacts her relationship with her husband; and Izumi Kyoka’s A Tale of Three of Who Were Blind, a confusing yet striking cautionary tale with vivid visual imagery. There is also the excerpt of Futabatei Shimei’s The Drifting Cloud, known for being the first Japanese modern novel, which left me wanting for more due to the richness of characters depicted in such an interesting slice-of-life setting of a transitioning country. Those titles are amongst the most memorable, but ultimately my personal favourites are:

-Higuchi Ichiyo’s Growing Up: a Meiji-era novella depicting the childhood of a girl and a couple of boys in the red-light area, steeped in the bittersweet feeling of growing up that I’m very much a sucker for;

-Natsume Soseki’s Botchan: well, it helped that I already read and liked the novel a lot. Here, the excerpt being selected might be my favourite passage in the novel, focusing on the titular character’s relationship with his elderly caretaker;

-Kikuchi Kan’s The Madman on the Roof: a stage play about a man enlisting a shady priestess’ service to ‘heal’ his eldest son, who inexplicably spends his day perched on the roof. It’s a relatively simple fable/social commentary with a message that I really like, ending on a uniquely heart-warming note that you don’t find too often from this collection.

[M.R. Dowsing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a mostly fascinating collection with excellent translations and an informed and informative introduction... however, it's not clear until you get into it that many of the selections are excerpts from novels rather than complete short stories.

Excluding the poems, very short pieces and extracts from novels and diaries, the more notable contents are:

'Growing Up' ('Takekurabe') by Ichiyo Higuchi (1896) - introduced as being 'virtually complete'

'Old Gen' ('Gen oji') by Doppo Kunikida (1897) - complete story

'One Soldier' ('Ippeisotsu') by Katai Tayama (1908) - complete story

'The River Sumida' ('Sumidagawa') by Kafu Nagai (1909) - complete story, and quite a long one at 40+ pages. It was one of the highlights for me.

'A Tale of Three Who Were Blind' ('Mekura no hanashi') by Kyoka Izumi (1912) - complete story

'Han's Crime' ('Han no Hansai' by Naoya Shiga (1913) - complete story

'At Kinosaki' ('Kinosaki ni te') by Naoya Shiga (1917) - complete story

'The Madman on the Roof' ('Okujo no kyojin') by Kan Kikuchi (1916) - complete but short play

'The Tiger' ('Tora') by Masao Kume (1918) - complete story about a kabuki actor typecast in animal roles

'Kesa and Morito' ('Kesa to Morito') by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1918) - complete story but not one of his best in my opinion

'Hell Screen' ('Jigokuhen') by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1918) - complete story. A masterpiece, but alo available in other collections.

'Time' ('Jikan') by Riichi Yokomitsu (1931) - complete story about a stranded acting troupe. This turns into something quite unexpected and remarkable.

'The Mole' ('Hokuro no tegami') by Yasunari Kawabata (1940) - complete story

'Villon's Wife' ('Villon no tsuma') by Osamu Dazai (1947) - complete story. Written from the point of view of the wife of a thief. Good story.

'Tokyo' ('Shitamachi') by Fumiko Hayashi (1948) - complete story about a woman struggling to get by in post-war Tokyo by selling tea door-to-door. Excellent story, but very sad.

[Munehito Moro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very old book, edited back in the 50s. It must have been revolutionary, though, when access to Japanese literature was so limited.

I cannot but wonder how much impact this book has left in the course of Japan Studies, how much influence it's given to students and general readers who were interested in Japan. The historical significance is palpable, a pure reflection of Keene's singular greatness. Having had Donald Keene as its PR guy was possibly the greatest fortune for the Japanese literature in the 20th century.

Personally this collection is important as it comes with Nagai Kafu's novella, The River Sumida. If you want to experience the transitional time between Edo and modern Meiji, then that's the story to go for.

[Ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly comprehensive collection, and I'm extremely impressed. Keene spent a lot of time working on this, and I can tell that there was heart put in, there's so much care for these stories and a great amount of clarification, gone into helping his audience understand their context. Definitely one that I would recommend if you can get your hands on it.

[Riley Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this! Every selection was beautiful. I liked that it was arranged chronologically. Definitely a great pick if you want to read some authors not generally published in English alongside more commonly read ones.

The modern reader might not find every story moves fast enough for them, but if you like slice of life or introspective works, this will be your cup of tea.

[Edie Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great selections. The book gives you a taste of many writings and inspires you to go out and read them in their entirety. Although it was frustrating when I’d get to a good story and then couldn’t find a fully translated copy elsewhere.

[Wyatt strawbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 for sure, the highlights for me were The Romaji Diary, Sanctuary, Han’s Crime, The Tiger, The Beefeater, Tokyo, and Omi. Kinda slow and poor around the second quarter mark, but good overall. First book of 2025… even though I started it in 2024. Kinda a slog. Idk

[Sonal · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of short fiction that will leave you mesmerised

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was not very interesting. The book was full of excepts of translated novels and short stories and it was extremely hard to keep reading it.

[Peter Van Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of modern Japanese Literature. The edition I read ends with Mishima Yukio, so I guess newer editions would have to include Murakami. Check out Donald Keene's other works on Japanese literature before the modern age.