Umehara Katsufumi :: The Cthulhu Helix

|

The Cthulhu Helix
by UMEHARA Katsufumi


Translated by Jim Hubbert

“DNA contains two types of base pair sequences. Exons are meaningful templates for making proteins. Introns are meaningless, random sequences. Yet introns account for ninety-five percent of human DNA. Why is such a huge proportion of the genome reserved for useless code?"

What if all that genetic information wasn't really useless? What if it was put there by someone, something, in the impossibly distant past, for a purpose? And what if humanity's interest in understanding and engineering human DNA unlocks something that should have remained hidden?

(more…)

Mukoda Kuniko :: The Woman Next Door

|

The Woman Next Door
by MUKŌDA Kuniko


Translated by A. Reid MONROE-SHERIDAN

Lonely people trapped in webs of their own design, seeking hope, love, forgiveness, validation... Five stories reveal the innermost hopes and fears of ordinary women, and men, facing the demands of others and of themselves in cool marriage and cold betrayal, exploring new avenues through new encounters.

Okamoto Kido — Master of the Uncanny

|

Okamoto Kidō: Master of the Uncanny
by OKAMOTO Kidō


Translated by Nancy H. ROSS

Born just after Japan transitioned from the Shogunate to Meiji, Kidō grew up in a samurai-oriented world being transformed by the West in many ways. As a reporter he covered domestic developments and overseas wars, while also marrying a traditional geisha, eventually becoming a playwright and author. In addition to a number of well-received plays, he also penned more than fifty horror stories over a roughly ten-year period starting in the mid-1920s. Just prior to this period, the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 destroyed almost everything in Tokyo that remained from the Edo era, and Japanese horror itself was transitioning from the traditional uncanny stories to more modern horror structures.

(more…)

Kikuchi Hideyuki :: West of Innsmouth

|

West of Innsmouth:
A Cthulhu Western

by KIKUCHI Hideyuki


Translated by Jim RION

Bounty hunter Shooter searches the badlands of 1880s Kansas for four outlaws—the “Dreams Made Flesh” minions born of the fleeting thoughts of Cthulhu—and manages to shoot one, but the outlaw’s corpse vanishes to leave only mysteries: he shot bullet after bullet, but never reloaded, and his gun was icy cold.

(more…)

Obey Not Know
Essays on Japanese Law and Society

by Colin Jones

Like many things Japanese, the Japanese legal system has its peculiarities... and Professor Jones applies his decades of legal and teaching experience to shed light on its mysteries. As with most legal systems there is method to its madness, and while the reasoning behind it all is a bit different from the approaches of Western nations, it works. Usually.

(more…)

Tanaka Yasuo :: Somehow, Crystal

|

Somehow, Crystal
by TANAKA Yasuo


Translated by Christopher SMITH

A journey into the carefree, today-centric generation of Japan's economic boom years, as they enjoy the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Tokyo while exploring new dimensions in Japanese society and self-image. It won the coveted Bungei Prize partly because it was so completely different from the relatively staid, traditional literature of the time, but also because it served as a guide into the evolving world of a rich, global, commercialized nation and a younger generation who grew up never knowing war.

Winner of the 1980 Bungei Prize
Finalist for the 1981 Akutagawa Prize.

(more…)

Edogawa Rampo: Gold Mask

|

Edogawa Rampo: Gold Mask

EDOGAWA Rampo


Translated by
William VARTERESIAN

Gold Mask is Edogawa Rampo's sixth novel featuring detective Akechi Kogorō, as he investigates the crime spree of the uncanny costumed “Gold Mask.” Lovers of crime fiction will be delighted to discover that this resourceful thief, confounding Akechi’s every move, is none other than Maurice Leblanc's famous "gentleman burglar," Arsene Lupin! Given Lupin's obvious influence on Rampo's own Fiend with Twenty Faces, this work serves as a fascinating precursor to his Boy Detectives series, and marks another major step in the development of Japanese detective fiction in the period between the Wars.

(more…)

Hanmura Ryo :: The Sheltering Rain

|

The Sheltering Rain
by HANMURA Ryō


Translated by Jim Hubbert

A diverse cross-section of Japan passes through the bar Lui, and the bartender tends to them all, with all their hopes and their fears. Underneath the black suits—whether crumpled or designer—and the cosmetics, they're all people on the way to somewhere else in Tokyo's glittering boom era. The bartenders and Mama-sans who keep everything running smoothly rely on their own camaraderie, night after night.
Winner of the 1975 Naoki Prize.

(more…)

Beneath the Sleepless Tossing
of the Planets

Selected Poems of
Makoto ŌOKA

 

Introduction by Shuntarō Tanikawa
Translated by Janine Beichman

One of the most important poets of contemporary Japan, Makoto Ōoka's works continue to resonate powerfully among readers today. He speaks to the spirit, not of Japan and the Japanese, but of humanity, and of the world we are a part of.

Winner of the 2019-2020 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature.
It is an honor and a delight to be able to bring such an important work to the English language, and to re-introduce the genius of the author, Ōoka Makoto, to the community of global literature.

(more…)

Strokes of Brush and Blade

|

Strokes of Brush and Blade
Tales of the Samurai

Selected by Edward Lipsett

The samurai were more than just warriors, although of course when war came they were ready. For a thousand years they were, in a very real sense, the glue that held Japan together through all the emperors and shoguns who wielded the power.

(more…)

Vampiric: Tales of Blood and Roses from Japan

|

Vampiric:

Tales of Blood and Roses from Japan

Japan has always had its own vampire tradition, and has eagerly naturalized Western vampires and vampire literature to produce exotic new hybrids and species of horror, of terror, and of sensual, exquisite beauty. Here are a few of their masterpieces.

(more…)

Asamatsu Ken :: Kthulhu Reich

|

Kthulhu Reich
by ASAMATSU Ken


Translated by Jim Rion

World War II was a world-spanning conflict that engulfed dozens of countries, a maelstrom that dragged nations and religions and millions of people to their deaths.
But it was fought with more than merely guns and machines...

(more…)

Terayama Shuji :: When I Was a Wolf

|

When I Was a Wolf
Outlaw Takes on Fables and Fairy Tales
TERAYAMA Shūji

 

Translated by Elizabeth L. ARMSTRONG

First published in 1982, this delightful collection of essays and rewrites reinterprets, from a nonconformist perspective, such well-known and canonical Western stories as Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Mother Goose stories, and Aesop’s fables.

(more…)

Takeshi Kaiko :: Into A Black Sun

|

Into A Black Sun
by Takeshi KAIKO


Translated by Cecilia Segawa Seigle

Recognized as the author's finest work, Into A Black Sun blurs the line between literature and journalism, drawing on his experiences as a war correspondent in Vietnam to present an immersive depiction of the war. This is not a combat novel, but rather an Asian perspective on one of the wars that shaped modern America.

(more…)

Tani Koshu :: The Erinys Incident

|

The Erinys Incident
by TANI Kōshū


Translated by Simon VARNAM

Erinys, tiny moon of Uranus, home to a tinier and almost forgotten colony. Left behind in the debris of the failed Outer Planet Revolt in 2099, Erinys is quietly decaying. For the hunted remnants of the Outer Planet Alliance (OPA), however, it offers a potential hiding place, and, possibly, a way to independence for the Outer Planets.
With a highly detailed background, realistic technology, and convincing characters, The Erinys Incident is a fascinating journey from deep in the gravity well of the sun, to lonely outposts far beyond the rings of Saturn.

(more…)

Yasutaka Tsutsui :: Bullseye!

|

Bullseye!
by Yasutaka TSUTSUI


Translated by Andrew DRIVER

A new collection of stories by Yasutaka Tsutsui, famed in Japan and worldwide for his darkly humorous, satirical handling of a vast range of themes central to the human condition.
Although often criticized for his treatment of "taboo" subjects such as disabilities, the Emperor, and old age, he is also recognized as one of the founders of post-modern science fiction in Japan.

(more…)

Speculative Japan 4

|

Speculative Japan 4

"Pearls for Mia" and Other Tales

The fourth book of our well-received Speculative Japan series introduces new talents from Japan, and fresh new stories by some of the outstanding authors we've introduced to the English-speaking world already. From deep in the mountains of the Japanese countryside to the plains of frigid Pluto, from a warm South Pacific isle to a freezing mountainside, to Mars or inside a lonely psyche... a positive smorgasbord of speculative enjoyment, in English for the first time!

(more…)

Yusaku Kitano :: Mr. Turtle

|

Mr. Turtle
by Yusaku KITANO


Translated by Tyran GRILLO

In a world of humans, what's a cyborg turtle to do?

It's a fair question in the bizarre, compelling story of Mr. Turtle.
Yusaku Kitano's science fiction masterpiece, originally published under the eponymous title Kame-kun, renews the visionary integrity that won it the Nihon SF Taisho (Japan's equivalent of the Nebula) Award in 2001 as it finds its way into English at last. Kitano's protagonist is a hero in a half shell of an altogether different sort, a killing machine designed for combat who wants only to enjoy the simple pleasures of his daily life—working a blue collar job, going to the library, and typing on his laptop—even as he is haunted by vague memories of a war on Jupiter.

(more…)

Tokyo Decadence: 15 Stories by
Ryu MURAKAMI

 

Translated by Ralph McCARTHY

A cream-of-the-crop selection of Murakami's brilliance and piercing wit.
This collection shows sides of Ryu Murakami that even avid fans may not be expecting.

(more…)

Miyamoto Teru :: Rivers

|

Miyamoto Teru has established a considerable and devoted following in Japan, and is rapidly building a devoted readership in other Asian countries and parts of Europe as his fiction is translated into various languages. With only a few of his works currently available in English, however, Anglophone readers have for the most part been unaware of the "Teru" literary phenomenon. This book brings together his most famous work, the superlative Rivers Sequence: "Muddy River," which was published in 1977 and won the 78th Akutagawa Prize; "River of Fireflies," published the following year and promptly winning the 13th Dazai Osamu Prize; and "River of Lights," also published in 1978 but later extensively rewritten and expanded into a novel. All three works have been released as major films in Japan.

(more…)

Long Belts and Thin Men:

The Postwar Stories of
KOJIMA Nobuo


Introduced and translated by

Lawrence ROGERS

Kojima Nobuo is best-known in English for his outstanding novella, "Amerikan sukuuru" (1954, "The American School"), which earned the Akutagawa Prize that year. Strongly affected by World War II and the postwar era, his style evolved into a powerful, often painfully honest satire depicting the Japanese male as a Milquetoast, under the thumbs of women and society in general. Influenced by Gogol and other giants of Russian literature, Kojima's style and technique immerse the reader in the doubts and dilemmas of his characters to powerful effect.

(more…)

Teiunshū — Wandering Clouds

|

Teiunshū
Wandering Clouds

By Masaharu ANESAKI


Translated with an introduction by
Susanna FESSLER

Masaharu Anesaki (1873-1949) was a leading member of Japan’s most interesting generation: the second generation of Meiji scholars, who lived in a highly-educated if not rarefied world that blended Japanese and Western traditions in a way that made them unique in their country’s long history.

Following our first-English publication of Hanatsumi nikki, his neglected classic of travel writing, philosophy, history, and comparative religion, we are delighted to be able to offer the second volume of his fascinating examination of America, Europe, and India in the very first years of the 20th century. For scholars and general readers both, here is a glimpse into the mind of modern Japan as it stood at the crossroads of modernity, and a look into a very different, and gentler, West viewed through Japanese eyes.

(more…)

On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi

Ryūshō KADOTA


Translated by
Simon VARNAM

with technical supervision by
Akira TOKUHIRO

Professor and Director, Nuclear Engineering, University of Idaho

March 11, 2011.
The Tōhoku earthquake struck just before three on a Friday afternoon. Massive earthquake damage was followed by tsunami rising to heights of 40 meters that swept 10km inland, scouring the land of homes, schools, communities, and people.
The earthquake and tsunami alone were disasters of incredible proportion, resulting in over 15,000 deaths, over 100,000 buildings destroyed, and economic losses estimated as high as $235 billion by the World Bank.

And that was only the natural disaster.

(more…)

Edogawa Rampo: The Early Cases of Akechi Kogorō

EDOGAWA Rampo


Translated by
William VARTERESIAN

Akechi Kogorō, detective extraordinaire.
In Japan, this is a name that fires the hearts and imaginations of readers young at heart. Cool and sophisticated, Akechi moves effortlessly through the world of Japan in the golden era between the wars, defeating masterminds and saving the day. He has been the hero of Japanese children for generations, and starred in a host of movies.

The stories in this volume predate all of that; his secret origin, if you will. Readers familiar with the exploits of the great detective Akechi Kogorō might have some difficulty recognizing the impeccably dressed and universally respected man of action in the amateur detective, an eccentric twenty-something of little means with disheveled hair and a shabby kimono. The Akechi who appears in this volume is a hobbyist in crime whose identity is not yet fixed either in the eyes of the reading public or in the mind of his creator. Supporting characters such as Akechi's wife and his young assistant have not yet been introduced, and the first confrontation between the great detective and the Fiend with Twenty Faces is still a decade away.

(more…)

Ivan Morris :: The Nobility of Failure

|

The Nobility of Failure
Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan


by Ivan MORRIS
Preface by Juliet Winters Carpenter

Alexander, Robin Hood, Wellington, George Washington... The Western literatures are packed with the stories—real and otherwise—of diverse heroes, but most of them share the common element of victory. Many of them died heroically to achieve their goals.
In Japan, however, many of the most revered heroes lost their lives without achieving their goals, and in many cases fought their battles in full realization that they would end in abject defeat and death.
This cultural background remains a bedrock underlying the modern Japanese psyche, and continues to shape the Japanese as individuals and a society even today, unconsciously, in the same way the West is still affected by the myths and legends passed down from Greece and Rome.

(more…)

Agawa Hiroyuki: Citadel in Spring

|

Citadel in Spring
—A Novel of Youth Spent at War—


by AGAWA Hiroyuki
Translated by Lawrence ROGERS

Published in Japanese in 1949, Citadel in Spring is, at its heart, an autobiographical novel of the author's life from university through induction into the Imperial Japan Navy, assignment to intelligence service in China, and Japan's final defeat. In addition to details of actual code-breaking activities, it also paints grimly honest pictures of some of the fiercest naval battles of the war, and the horrors of the Hiroshima atomic bombing. As a witness to World War II and its effects on the people and culture of Japan, this document—although cast as fiction—is a crucial reminder of the real costs of war to a generation who have never experienced it.

(more…)

Blue Bamboo: Tales by Dazai Osamu

|

Blue Bamboo: Tales by Dazai Osamu


by DAZAI Osamu
Translated by Ralph MCCARTHY

Scholars and fans often divide the career of Dazai Osamu (1909–1948) into three periods—early, middle, and late. The early and late periods tend to get all the attention, but in fact Dazai was at his very best in the middle period, which corresponds roughly to the years of the Pacific War. All the stories in this collection, with the exception of the early "Romanesque," were written during that time.

(more…)

The eBook edition of Fujisaki Shingo's near-future science fiction masterpiece, Crystal Silence, is now available! Now you can enjoy his artificial intelligence, cyberspace, Mars colonies and gravity-manipulating aliens on your eBook reader, too!

And for those of you who still haven't discovered the world of Crystal Silence we invite you to sample a side-story, a prequel of sorts, set in the same universe: Left Alone.

Both eBooks are available from major eBook retailers worldwide.
Read more about Crystal Silence and Left Alone here!

Speculative Japan 3

|

Speculative Japan 3

"Silver Bullet" and Other Tales of Japanese Science Fiction and Fantasy
Introduction by Darrell SCHWEITZER

The third book of our well-received Speculative Japan series, this volume brings more outstanding authors from the Japanese archipelago to English, with a selection of never-before published stories covering a broad range of speculative fiction... from gritty SF to dark fiction, enjoy a whole new dimension of the imagination!

Nominated for the 2012 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards!

(more…)

Phantom Lights and Other Stories


by MIYAMOTO Teru
Translated by Roger K. Thomas

Presenting a new collection of stories exploring the perennial themes of Miyamoto Teru's fiction, narrative sketches of the working-class world of the Osaka-Kobe region of his childhood employing memory to reveal a story in layered frames of time with consummate skill. His work examines the mutual proximity—or even the identity—of life and death, often touching on such grim topics with a touch of humor. Stories of personal triumph and hope are often set in situations involving death, illness, or loss, but what might be the stuff of tragedy in the hands of some writers turns into stepping stones for his characters to climb upward and onward.

(more…)

Otogizōshi: The Fairy Tale Book of Dazai Osamu


by DAZAI Osamu
Translated by Ralph MCCARTHY


Introduction by Joel Cohn

Momotarō, Click-Clack Mountain, The Sparrow Who Lost Her Tongue, The Stolen Wen, Urashima-san . . . The father reads these old tales to the children. Though he's shabbily dressed and looks to be a complete fool, this father is a singular man in his own right. He has an unusual knack for making up stories.

Once upon a time, long, long ago . . .

Even as he reads the picture book aloud in a strangely imbecilic voice, another, somewhat more elaborate tale is brewing inside him.

(more…)

Edogawa Rampo: The Fiend with Twenty Faces

|

Edogawa Rampo's The Fiend with Twenty Faces

—A Tale of the Boy Detectives Club

EDOGAWA Rampo


Translated by
Dan LUFFEY

The Fiend with Twenty Faces, the first in the Boy Detectives series by Japan's master of mystery Edogawa Rampo, helped create a new genre in Japan and enthralled thousands of young readers.

(more…)

Ashibe Taku: Murder in the Red Chamber

|

Murder in the Red Chamber


by ASHIBE Taku
Translated by Tyran C. GRILLO

Murder in the Red Chamber, first published in Japanese by Bungei Shunjū as part of its "Mystery Masters" series, is set in the world of the original Dream of the Red Chamber, the masterwork of eighteenth-century Chinese fiction by Cao Xueqin. Building skillfully on that famous background, Ashibe plays out a most formidable murder mystery set in Peking during the late Qing dynasty. The tale opens with the visitation of Jia Yuan-chun, esteemed daughter of the prosperous Jia family and newly instated concubine to the emperor.

(more…)

Speculative Japan 2

|

Speculative Japan 2

"The Man Who Watched the Sea" and Other Tales
Introduction by Darrell SCHWEITZER

The second book of the groundbreaking Speculative Japan series, this volume presents a selection of never-before published translations covering a broad range of speculative fiction... from gritty SF to soft fantasy, it offers glimpses into the diverse and rich imaginations of modern Japanese authors.

(more…)

Yoshiyuki Junnosuke: Fair Dalliance

|

Fair Dalliance: Fifteen Stories by Yoshiyuki Junnosuke

YOSHIYUKI Junnosuke


compiled and edited by
Lawrence ROGERS
preface by Donald RICHIE

This collection has come into being out of the conviction that the short stories of Yoshiyuki Junnosuke, if they were made accessible in English under one cover, would certainly be appreciated and enjoyed abroad as they have been in Japan. The prolific Yoshiyuki Junnosuke has left us a vast body of literature, a feast of short stories, novels, novellas, essays on a wide range of topics, translations from English, and light fiction whose function is simply to entertain. An edition of his complete works published in 1983, eleven years before death stilled his pen, came to 20 volumes.

(more…)

Yoshiyuki Junnosuke: Toward Dusk

|

Toward Dusk and Other Stories

YOSHIYUKI Junnosuke


translated by Andrew CLARE
preface by James DORSEY

Yoshiyuki Junnosuke was a sensual writer, whose style is reminiscent of that of novelists such as Tanizaki Jun'ichirō and Nagai Kafū. His works deal with the possibility of emotional purity in the relationships between men and women. Often, the relationship is examined through the agency of the protagonist's association with prostitutes.

(more…)

Kaiki: Uncanny Tales from Japan

Volume 3 – Tales of the Metropolis 【都会の物語】


Selected and with commentary by
HIGASHI Masao
Preface by Robert WEINBERG


The third and final volume of our Kaiki series returns us to the Capital City: Tokyo. While Japan has modernized, renaming old Edo as new-born Tokyo, strange secrets remain hidden under the chrome and spotlights, unaffected by our beliefs in Science and Technology. Enjoy a new collection of stories introducing the strange denizens and happenings of the shadowy world of Japanese uncanny literature. Selected and with commentary by Higashi Masao, a recognized researcher and author in the field.

Nominated for the 2012 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards!

(more…)

Kaiki: Uncanny Tales from Japan

Volume 2 – Country Delights 【諸国の物語】


Selected and with commentary by
HIGASHI Masao
Preface by Robert WEINBERG


The second volume in our Kaiki series moves from Edo, the center of Japan during the Shogunate, into the country, where old traditions and older fears are preserved. Enjoy a deeper and very different glimpse into the world of Japanese weird and supernatural literature, with superlative works drawn from centuries of literary creation. Includes an in-depth introduction to the genre by recognized authority Higashi Masao.

(more…)

Kaiki: Uncanny Tales from Japan

Volume 1: Tales of Old Edo 【江戸の物語】


Selected and with commentary by
HIGASHI Masao
Preface by Robert WEINBERG


The first volume in our Kaiki series introducing the world of Japanese weird and supernatural literature, Tales of Old Edo presents a selection of outstanding works drawn from centuries of creativity in the field, with an in-depth introduction to the genre by recognized authority Higashi Masao.

(more…)

Crystal Silence

|

Crystal Silence

By FUJISAKI Shingo (藤崎慎吾)


Translated by Kathleen TAJI

It is 2071, and Mars is being slowly terraformed by many nations often cooperating in an uneasy truce that reflects tensions back on Earth. The water of the polar ice cap, the most important resource for all the Mars colonies, is jointly controlled by the US, China, Japan and Russia, and doled out to the second-tier colonizing groups (Europe, Canada, Australia, India) only grudgingly. A military build-up is under way as different groups jockey for control of this all-important resource, and then the bodies of what appear to be intelligent aliens are found under the Martian ice.

Nominated for the 2012 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards!

(more…)

Queen of K’n-Yan

|

Queen of K’n-Yan

By ASAMATSU Ken (朝松 健)


Translated by Kathleen TAJI
Introduction by Darrell SCHWEITZER

“Asamatsu Ken’s Queen of K’n-Yan is a fascinating story, and as Darrell Schweitzer states in his introduction, it is indeed a fine Cthulhu Mythos novel…”
—Brian Lumley

The mummy of a beautiful young girl from Shang Dynasty China is found in an ornate and astonishingly large underground tomb. Preliminary research shows that her cells contain reptilian DNA, and a Japanese research lab is asked to investigate further…

(more…)

Hanatsumi Nikki — The Flowers of Italy

|

Hanatsumi Nikki
The Flowers of Italy

By Masaharu ANESAKI


Translated with an introduction by
Susanna FESSLER

Masaharu Anesaki (1873-1949) was a leading member of Japan’s most interesting generation: the second generation of Meiji scholars, who lived in a highly-educated if not rarefied world that blended Japanese and Western traditions in a way that made them unique in their country’s long history.

This neglected classic of travel writing, philosophy, history, and comparative religion has been out of print in Japan for nearly a century. Its publication in English translation will open a fascinating vista for scholars and general readers, into the mind of modern Japan — as it stood at the crossroads of modernity.

(more…)

Japan in Five Ancient Chinese Chronicles

|

Japan in Five Ancient Chinese Chronicles:

Wo, the Land of Yamatai, and Queen Himiko


by Massimo SOUMARÉ
Translated by Davide MANA
Edited by Anthony J. BRYANT and Mark HALL

For the first time in English, this work presents a comparative study of the content of famous Chinese historical texts that are fundamental in the knowledge of Japan’s ancient history. Soumaré translates documents from the Chronicle of the Wei to the History of the Song, thus providing an unparalleled resource for scholars, students, and general readers with an interest in Japanese history and culture.

Japan in Five Ancient Chinese Chronicles is a stimulating and valuable investigation into the earliest periods of Japanese recorded history. Archaeological finds from Japanese tombs can be better understood by combining Japanese historical resources such as the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki with precise dating of the Chinese dynastic histories. Massimo Soumaré’s original research sheds new light on formerly obscure aspects of intercultural exchange, and contributes to our knowledge of the whole of Eastern Asia.

(more…)

Speculative Japan

|

Speculative Japan

Outstanding Tales of Japanese Science Fiction and Fantasy


Selected and edited by
Gene van Troyer
and Grania Davis

“…the stories you’ll find collected here will broaden your view of what is possible or imaginable, provoking unusual - and sometimes uncomfortable - thoughts. That is as it should be.”
- David BRIN, Preface

The first book in an ongoing series, Speculative Japan presents a selection of outstanding works of Japanese science fiction and fantasy in English translation… and a glimpse into new worlds of the imagination. It was first released at Nippon 2007, the 65th World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, Japan, and then made available worldwide.

(more…)

The Dreaming God

|

Lairs of the Hidden Gods, Volume 4

The Dreaming God


Edited by ASAMATSU Ken
Introduced by Robert M. PRICE

This well-received collection of original stories and articles inspired by the ‘Cthulhu Mythos’ created by H.P. Lovecraft was published in Japan in 2002 as a two-volume set under the name Hishinkai. The list of contributing authors is a who’s-who of Japanese horror fiction, featuring some of the finest writers in Japan today, and reviews demonstrate that the Japanese taste for horror can send shivers up English-speaking spines as well!

In cooperation with Tokyo Sōgensha, the Japanese publishers, and the anthology editor, Mr. ASAMATSU Ken, we are proud to present this fourth and last volume of the series, with a new selection of eerie masterpieces to delight and chill you. Each story is accompanied by a fascinating introduction by Robert M. Price, the recognized master of the Mythos.

The cover is by Yamada Akihiro, who is already winning fans with his “four seasons” approach to the four books in this series. In addition to handling many of the covers for the Japanese-language editions of Lovecraft and other Mythos works, he has built up a loyal following in the States as well for his work.

(more…)

The Red Star of Cadiz

|

The Red Star of Cadiz

By ŌSAKA Gō


Translated by Usha JAYARAMAN

Ōsaka Gō: A Japanese author deeply in love with Spain, guitars and flamenco

Kurodahan Press is proud to present the first English translation of “Red Star of Cadiz,” an international suspense thriller that won author Osaka acclaim as a new master of the genre in Japan. The work has won three prestigious awards: the 96th Naoki Prize, the 40th Mystery Writers of Japan Award, and the 5th Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize. The perfect hard-boiled introduction to Japanese crime and suspense fiction!

(more…)

The Edogawa Rampo Reader

|

The Edogawa Rampo Reader

Stories and essays by EDOGAWA Rampo


Edited and translated by Seth JACOBOWITZ
With an introduction by TATSUMI Takayuki

Edogawa Rampo (pseudonym of Hirai Tarō, 1894-1965) is the acknowledged grand master of Japan's golden age of crime and mystery fiction. He is also a major writer in the tradition of Japanese Modernism, and exerts a massive influence on the popular and literary culture of today's Japan.

The Edogawa Rampo Reader presents a selection of outstanding examples of his short fiction, and a selection of his non-fiction prose. Together, they present a full and accurate picture of Rampo as a major contributor to the Japanese literary scene, helping to clarify his achievements to the English-speaking world.

(more…)

Straight to Darkness

|

Lairs of the Hidden Gods, Volume 3

Straight to Darkness


Edited by ASAMATSU Ken
Introduced by Robert M. PRICE

This well-received collection of original stories and articles inspired by the ‘Cthulhu Mythos’ created by H.P. Lovecraft was published in Japan in 2002 as a two-volume set under the name Hishinkai. The list of contributing authors is a who’s-who of Japanese horror fiction, featuring some of the finest writers in Japan today, and reviews demonstrate that the Japanese taste for horror can send shivers up English-speaking spines as well!

(more…)

The Black Lizard and Beast in the Shadows

|

The Black Lizard and
Beast in the Shadows

by EDOGAWA Rampo


Translated by Ian HUGHES
With an introduction by Mark SCHREIBER

Edogawa Rampo (pseudonym of Hirai Tarō, 1894-1965) is the acknowledged grand master of Japan’s golden age of crime and mystery fiction. Kurodahan Press takes great pleasure in presenting the first English language translations of these two short novels.

(more…)

Inverted Kingdom

|

Lairs of the Hidden Gods, Volume 2

Inverted Kingdom


Edited by ASAMATSU Ken
Introduced by Robert M. PRICE

This massive collection of original stories and articles inspired by the ‘Cthulhu Mythos’ created by H.P. Lovecraft was published in Japan in 2002 as a two-volume set under the name Hishinkai. The list of contributing authors is a who’s-who of Japanese horror fiction, featuring some of the finest writers in Japan today.

(more…)

Night Voices, Night Journeys

|

Lairs of the Hidden Gods, Volume 1

Night Voices, Night Journeys


Edited by ASAMATSU Ken
Introduced by Robert M. PRICE

This massive collection of original stories and articles inspired by the ‘Cthulhu Mythos’ created by H.P. Lovecraft was published in Japan in 2002 as a two-volume set under the name Hishinkai. The list of contributing authors is a who’s-who of Japanese horror fiction, featuring some of the finest writers in Japan today.

(more…)

Herbert A. Giles and China

|

Herbert A. Giles and China:
Two Early Classics of Modern Sinology


by Herbert A. GILES

Modern sinology--the study of things Chinese--may trace its roots back centuries to Marco Polo, Byzantium and even Imperial Rome, but to a great extent it was built on foundations laid and extended by Herbert Giles, a consul for the United Kingdom in China and later a professor at Cambridge University. Even after his 26-year tour in China was completed and he returned to his native England, he continued to author a large number of scholarly works and translations on China and the Chinese.

Two of these, Chinese Sketches (1876) and The Civilization of China (1911), are now available in a single volume, revealing once again his piercing observations and a glimpse of a very different China.

(more…)

Administrator

|

Administrator


by MAYUMURA Taku


translated by Daniel JACKSON

Administrator, or Shiseikan in Japanese, took the Japanese SF community by storm when first published in 1974. Unlike traditional space opera, it pushed technology into the background to present a compelling portrait of colonial governors, the Administrators, trapped between the conflicting demands of Federation government, native inhabitants, and Terran colonists.This collection of four novelettes, the first volume of an extensive series of works set in the same universe, touches on key stages in the development of the Administrator system and the robots designed to support and protect it.

(more…)

Aphrodite

|

Aphrodite


by YAMADA Masaki

translated by Daniel JACKSON

This important work of Japanese science fiction presents the story of Yūichi, a youth who escapes the regimented world of Japanese society for the beauty and freedom of Aphrodite, a floating island city built by the visionary Mr. Caan. Excited by the seemingly limitless potential of Aphrodite and confident of his own future, Yūichi encounters a new world: friendship, responsibility, love, and growing up.

Seen through the pattern of Yūichi’s life, however, is the evolution and development of the true heroine of the work: the island city Aphrodite--ever beautiful, ever filled with the limitless energy of creation. And as the global economy spirals downward, leaving Aphrodite a deserted slum slated for destruction, perhaps Yūichi is the only person who can save her…

Ideal for young adult readers, but with a philosophical depth to make it a thought-provoking and rewarding book for adult readers as well.

(more…)

Kuunmong: The Cloud Dream of the Nine

|

Kuunmong:
The Cloud Dream of the Nine


by KIM Manjung

translated by James S. GALE

Kuunmong - literally “Nine Cloud Dream” or “The Cloud Dream of the Nine” - has been an immensely popular work in Korea for centuries. Originally written in about 1689, it is hailed as one of the earliest works of literary prose fiction to emerge from the Korean cultural background. Although this classic novel remains in print in many editions in Korea, China, and Japan, it has long been out of print in the English language. We are proud to make this monumental work available again.

In addition to the complete text translation by James S. Gale, Susanna Fessler of the State University of New York at Albany provides an introduction to the novel, and Francisca Cho of Georgetown University contributes a detailed literary analysis of the work. We also reproduce the original introduction and notes, and numerous illustrations, from the first English edition of the Gale translation.

(more…)