Review: The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories

The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories by Jay Rubin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As with any short story collection, especially by different authors, this is hit or miss, but I would say there are many more hits, and the broad spectrum of authors truly makes it a great compendium of Japanese literature throughout the last century or so.

My brief notes on each story:

Tanizaki Junichiro, The story of Tomoda and Matsunaga
An interesting original story about 2 mysterious people with a link.

Nagai Kafi - Behind the prison
An odd story with a depressing atmosphere

Natsume Sōseki - Sanshirō
"Tokyo is bigger than Kumamoto. And Japan is bigger than Tokyo. And even bigger than Japan... Even bigger than Japan is the inside of your head. Don't ever surrender yourself - not to Japan, not to anything. You may think that what you're doing is for the sake of the nation, but let something take possession of you like that, and all you do is bring it down."

An excellent story. I like Soseki more and more.


Ōgai Mori - The last testament of Okitsu Yagoemon
An interesting short story giving a glimpse into the mentality of a warrior in 17th century Japan. 

Yukio Mishima - Patriotism
This is a somewhat disturbing account of a seppuku rite by a husband and wife. Not only does it go into extreme detail, but it eroticizes the entire process. My impression was that he was trying to show how brainwashed and over the top people could be with regards to honor and sacrifice for their country. However, knowing the author committed seppuku himself, he was probably just fetishizing the entire ordeal. In fact, I wonder if his entire coup was an "excuse" to eventually commit suppuku. Regardless, this was disturbing and very intense. 

Yūko Tsushima - Flames
All the other stories I've read by this author ("Watery Realm" and "Of Dogs and Walls") also deal with a single mother and odd family relationships. Regardless, this seemed to follow that theme, although I found the odd behaviors (with the daughter sucking at her nipple) a tad too weird for my taste. 


Kono Taeko - in the box
This might have had the premise of a good story, but it just didn’t pan out into any story. Was this just an excerpt?

Nakagami Kenji - Remaining Flowers
This story seemed disconnected. I can’t say I got it.

Yoshimoto Banana - Bee Honey 
Not your typical Banana Yoshimoto story. This was more like an excerpt from a Travel diary with some personal reflections on one's life. 


Ohba Minako - The Smile of a Mountain Witch
Odd yet endearing yet odd again.


Enchi Fumiko - A bond for two lifetimes - Gleanings
This was a very interesting story, and it made me curious about Ueda Akinari’s Tales of Moonlight and Rain again, as well as his other works. I’m guessing “A bond for two lifetimes” is the “Fate over two generations” that supposedly was recreated in Murakami’s novel Killing Commendatore, so I need to get my hands on that. (Is this 二世の縁?)

Abe Akira - Peaches
Interesting idea of trying to parse out real memories from false ones. I’m not sure how well it worked for me in the end though.

Okawa Yoko - The take of the house of physics
I’ve read a couple books by this author, but this is the first story I’ve read of hers that I found beautiful



Kunikida Doppo - Unforgettable
I liked this. Simple, yet poignant.

Haruki Murakami - The Girl from Ipanema 1963/1982
A nice short story. Not one of his best, but still very Murakami. I liked it.

Shibata Motoyuki - Cambridge Circus
I’m not sure I got this, but I liked it a lot. I think the ending was (possibly?) great.

Uno koji - Closet LLB
This was ok, but I can’t really say I thought there was much point to it.

Genji Keita - Mr English
` I enjoyed this quite a bit. I see the same author has a short story collection dealing with salarymen. I added it to my wishlist, although it looks like it’s out of print.

Minoru Betsuyaku - Factory town
This would be a great story to have business majors read. Not only because of the unethical aspect, but the fact of creating artificial demand for your supply, which is something that also occurs in real life.

Kawakami Mieko - Dreams of Love, etc.
An odd story. I’m not sure I get the point, but not bad while it lasted.

Hoshi Shinichi - Shoulder-top Secretary
An original idea. Short and to the point, but I liked it.


Sawanishi Yuten - Filling up with sugar
This was disturbing and more than a tad perverse. I think it worked?

Uchida Hyakken - Kudan
I had to look up Kudan, and apparently it is a real thing. A nice short story.

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa - The great earthquake.
This was basically a paragraph. Not sure I get it.

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa - General Kim
I think I see what the author was trying to do. It is a ridiculous story about a national hero in Korea, and after the story he says all nations have stories as ridiculous as this one. He probably would not have been allowed to directly reference the Japanese legends and write a story about them, but the analogy may have been obvious to readers at the time. I’m not sure. As it stands, it just sounds like he is belittling a Korean general in a way.


Ota Yoko - Hiroshima, city of doom
Depressing, but also interesting. It starts with a description of Hiroshima and its surroundings, and you get an idea as to what it may have been known/famous for had the bomb never been dropped on it. The story itself is extremely poignant, told by someone who witnessed it all and wrote her thoughts on it shortly thereafter, when she was afraid she wouldn’t survive.

Seirai Yuichi - Insects
This almost seemed like a sequel to the previous story, although we later learn it is by a survivor of the Nagasaki bomb, and a very Catholic one at that.


Kawabata Yasunari - Silver fifty-sen pieces
A depressing short story by Kawabata Yasunari I had never heard of before. But I can’t say I liked it much. Reminiscence of a care-free childhood in a semi-post-apocalyptic world.


Nosaka Ayiyuki - American Hijiki
A man’s wife and son go to Hawaii on vacation and befriend an American couple, which then decides to come visit Japan. This sparks many reactions, including flashbacks to the man’s years pimping for GIs during the war. There’s more to than this though. A good story.


Hoshino Tomoyuki - Pink
This was just odd. The premise was odd, but interesting. Then it became even more odd, with one final sentence lasting over 2 pages. I liked the middle more than the end.

Murakami Haruki - UFO in Kushiro
I can’t remember where I read this before. It must have been in “After the quake”. Regardless, it’s pure Murakami and, while short, it’s enough to transport you into his world.

Saeki Kazumi - Weather-watching hill
Reads almost like someone’s memoirs of the days following the Fukushima disaster. A good read.

Matsuda Aoko - Planting
I loved "The Girl who is getting married", by this same author. But this story just didn't click for me. Maybe it was a tad too ambiguous.

Sato Yuya - Same as always
Very disturbing short story about infanticide by the mother. I just find this topic somewhat revolting so I can’t say any of it worked for me and I'm somewhat sour that this book ended on this note.


View all my reviews