In his posthumous autobiography, Watakushi no eiga jinsei (1984), Yamamoto reflects on his career and legacy: beginning in the prewar days as an assistant director in a well-established film company under the master Naruse Mikio, to his wide-ranging experiences as a filmmaker, including his participation in the tumultuous Toho Labor Upheaval soon after Japan's defeat in World War II and his struggles as an independent filmmaker in the 1950s and 1960s before returning to work within the mainstream industry. In the process, he established himself as one of the most prominent and socially...

The decadent tales in this collection span 45 years in the extraordinary career of Japan's master storyteller, Tanizaki Jun'ichiro (1886-1965), the author of Naomi, A Cat, a Man, and Two Women, and The Makioka Sisters. Made accessible in English by the expertise of translators Anthony H. Chambers and Paul McCarthy, the stories in The Gourmet Club vividly explore an array of human passions. In "The Children," three mischievous friends play sadomasochistic games in a mysterious Western-style mansion. The sybaritic narrator of "The Secret" experiments with cross-dressing as he savors the...

In Childhood Years, originally published serially in a literary magazine between 1955 and 1956, Tanizaki Jun'ichiro (1886-1965) takes a meandering look back on his early life in Tokyo. He reflects on his upbringing, family, and the capital city with a conversational--and not necessarily honest--eye, offering insights into his later life and his writing.

Provides previously unpublished memories, anecdotes, and insights into the lives, opinions, personalities, and writings of the great novelist Tanizaki Jun'ichiro (1886-1965) and his wife Matsuko (1903-1991), gleaned from the diaries of Edward Seidensticker and two decades of Anthony Chambers"s conversations with Mrs. Tanizaki and others who were close to the Tanizaki family.