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.

The Japanese word for vampire is kyūketsuki, which translates literally to "blood-sucking monster," but the literary tradition is far, far more complex.
The practice of Buddhism permeates Japan, and burials are almost always by cremation... leaving the Count and his relatives with no coffins to sleep in! But there is more than one way to sip a little blood, as these authors reveal. Thanks to Bram Stoker, Christopher Lee, and countless others who have popularized the Western vampire, modern Japanese authors have an extensive range of traditions and tales to weave into their own creations.

Contents:

  • Masaya SHIMOKUSU — "A Cultural Dynasty of Beautiful Vampires: Japan’s Acceptance, Modifications, and Adaptations of Vampires"
    Reprinted from The Universal Vampire (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2013)
  • INOUE Masahiko—"Blue Lady"
    井上 雅彦 「ブルー・レディ」
    translated by Neil WEBB
  • ASUKABE Katsunori — "Kingdom"
    飛鳥部 勝則 「王国」
    translated by Laura Woolley DOMINGUEZ
  • KIKUCHI Hideyuki — "The Stone Castle"
    菊地 秀行 「石の城」
    translated by Jonathan BUNT
  • OKAMOTO Kidō — "The One-Legged Woman"
    岡本 綺堂 「一本足の女」
    translated by Neil WEBB
  • HIKAGE Jōkichi — "Vampire"
    日影 丈吉 「吸血鬼」
    translated by Jo ASH
  • ASAMATSU Ken — "The Crimson Cloak"
    朝松 健 「緋衣」
    translated by Aragorn QUINN
  • SUNAGA Asahiko — "Vow"
    須永 朝彦 「契」
    translated by Irit WEINBERG
  • KAJIO Shinji — "The Husk Heir"
    梶尾 真治 「干し若」
    translated by Ben CAGAN
  • KAMON Nanami — "A Piece of Butterfly's Wing"
    加門 七海 「蝶の断片」
    translated by Angus TURVILL
    This translation won the 2011 Kurodahan Press Translation Prize.
  • OKUDA Tetsuya — "Unnatural"
    奥田 哲也 「非業」
    translated by Hayley SCANLON
  • IINO Fumihiko — "Paradise Missing"
    飯野 文彦 「楽園回帰」
    translated by Lucy GALBRAITH
  • FUKUZAWA Tetsuzō — "Dracula’s House"
    福澤 徹三 「ドラキュラの家」
    translated by Irit WEINBERG
  • KONAKA Chiaki — "Birth of a Vampire"
    小中 千昭 「吸血魔の生誕」
    translated by Lauren BARRETT
  • MIKAWA Yū — "Halvires"
    三川 祐 「混血の夜の子供とその兄弟達」
    translated by Jonathan BUNT
  • INOUE Masahiko — "Parasol"
    井上 雅彦 「パラソル」
    translated by YAN Yijun
    This translation won the 2018 Kurodahan Press Translation Prize.
The majority of the stories in this book were translated through a translation program hosted by the School of Modern Languages at Cardiff University, which culminated in a translation workshop in April 2019. The program is designed to nurture the development of new translators by providing them with hands-on experience in the commercial literary translation process. Translators were paired with mentors experienced in translating fiction for publication and who assisted them in refining their translations.

Additional <information on the translation workshop is available here> as a downloadable PDF. If this all works out, we plan to do more similar workshops in the future.

In addition to the enormous support of Cardiff University for this project, we would also like to thank the following groups for the financial assistance they have provided:

Details
  • Pages: xii +238
  • Trade paperback 5" x 8" (127mm x 203mm)
  • ISBN
    Softcover: 978-4-909473-00-4
    Ebook: 978-4-909473-52-3
  • Cover: Kojima Ayami

Available from