"I do not know whether I dozed off or passed out, but the next thing I remember is gradually becoming aware of a blunt object striking my body over and over. Just as I realized it was a boot kicking me in the side, I felt my arm being grabbed roughly, and I returned to full consciousness.
"One GI had hold of my right arm, and another had his rifle pointed at me, nearly touching me.
"'Don't move. We're taking you prisoner, ' the one with the rifle said."
On January 25, 1945, Private Ooka Shohei of the Japanese Imperial Army was captured by American forces...
"I do not know whether I dozed off or passed out, but the next thing I remember is gradually becoming aware of a blunt object striking my body over an...
Winner of the Pen Center West Award, this delicate collection of thirteen linked tales reveals the flow of daily life in the modern Japanese family. Junzo Shono's artful layering of commonplace events, images, and conversations has been compared to haiku poetry crossed with an Ozu film. Starred review in Publishers Weekly.
Winner of the Pen Center West Award, this delicate collection of thirteen linked tales reveals the flow of daily life in the modern Japanese family. J...
In the present day, a young married couple, Asafumi and Shizuka are trying to start a new life, having had to move after losing their jobs. Asafumi decides to join the family business of selling medicines, and a notebook that used to belong to his grandfather Rentarō leads him to explore the mysterious Mandala Road in the hopes of finding his grandfather's former customers. Shizuka, meanwhile, struggles to resign herself to her new role as a housewife and wonders if she made the right choice in marrying Asafumi.
Following the end of World War II, Saya, a woman from a Malayan...
In the present day, a young married couple, Asafumi and Shizuka are trying to start a new life, having had to move after losing their jobs. Asafumi...
Glimpsing an elderly man leading his blind daughter on a pilgrimage, Junoshin Kakiri, a 'ronin' or freelance samurai, swiftly kills him with his sword. Asked why he murdered such an innocent, Junoshin shares his concerns about the growing 'Harahuhi Tou' (Belly-shaking Party) cult to which the man was devoted, a fear which rapidly spreads through the Kuroae clan.
Alarmed by the cult, Shuzen Oura, the warlike leader of half this kingdom, soon hires Junoshin to rescue the Kuroae from the Harahuhi Tou but his studious power rival, Tatewaki Naito, cunningly pays the mercenary samurai to...
Glimpsing an elderly man leading his blind daughter on a pilgrimage, Junoshin Kakiri, a 'ronin' or freelance samurai, swiftly kills him with his sw...
