blog

May 12, 20241 min read

“Digital Geishas and Talking Frogs” Edited by Helen Mitsios

The new term of my Japanese literature discussion classes starts from May 19! We’ll be continuing to use the anthology called “Digital...

May 11, 20242 min read

“The Makioka Sisters” by Junichiro Tanizaki

I finally finished reading the masterpiece by Tanizaki. This is literature with a capital ‘L’. I was living in the Kansai region in the...

May 3, 20242 min read

“To Khabarovsk” & “To Zagreb” by Yoko Tawada

These two stories are both in the same collection entitled “Suspect on the Night Train”, which got the Tanizaki Prize. The protagonist...

Apr 14, 20242 min read

“Why I Read” get-together session

We had a fantastic get-together session after the term! The session is called “Why I read”, named after the famous essay by George Orwell...

Apr 12, 20241 min read

“Mr. Goodall’s Gloves” by Yasushi Inoue

This story is partially autobiographical and its central theme is memory. The protagonist goes to a famous restaurant in Nagasaki, where...

Mar 26, 20242 min read

“The Siren’s Lament” by Junichiro Tanizaki

I used 3 stories of Tanizaki for my discussion classes in the Pushkin Press anthology: “The Qilin”; “Killing O-Tsuya”; and “The Siren’s...

Mar 16, 20242 min read

“Baumgartner” by Paul Auster

I’ve read the latest work of Auster. I’ve been an avid reader of his since I was back in university. The musicality of his prose is so...

Mar 15, 20241 min read

“The Hut on the Roof” by Hiromi Kawakami

The protagonist is 42 years old and divorced. She lives near a shopping street (shotengai), where a fishmonger, a greengrocer, a chicken...

Mar 8, 20241 min read

“A House for Two” by Mitsuyo Kakuta

Kakuta was awarded the Naoki Prize in 2005 and many of her works have been adapted into films. Recently, she translated “The Tale of...