Ogawa, The Diving Pool (1990; 2008, 2025)

Yōko Ogawa.
The Diving Pool.
Translated by Stephen Snyder.
New York: Picador (Macmillan), 2008, 2025.

Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; Wikipedia; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.

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Author Information : Yōko Ogawa

• Yōko Ogawa (b. 1962), Wikipedia English.
• 小川洋子 (1962 –), Wikipedia Japan.
• Yōko Ogawa, GoodReads.com.
• Yoko Ogawa, Macmillan Publishers.

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Translator Information : Stephen Snyder

• Stephen Snyder, Middlebury Language Schools, Middlebury College.

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Wikipedia Articles :

• The book The Diving Pool contains three short stories / novellas :
  • The Diving Pool (1990)
  • Pregnancy Diary (1990)
    妊娠カレンダー [Pregnancy calendar]
  • Dormitory (1991)
• The Diving Pool (novella) was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize for the second half of 1989.
• Pregnancy Diary was awarded the Akutagawa Prize for the second half of 1990.
• The Diving Pool (2008 English translation book) was awarded the Shirley Jackson Award in the Category Best Single-Author Collection for 2008.
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards), Wikipedia English.
• 昭和時代末期の文学 [History of modern Japanese literature: Literature from the end of the Showa period], Wikipedia Japan.

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Internet Discussions of Yōko Ogawa and The Diving Pool :

• Stephen Snyder and Allison Markin Powell, "Yoko Ogawa Discussion", at Idlewild Books in New York City, WordsWithoutBorders channel, YouTube, 09 January 2009.
  (The translator Stephen Snyder discusses the stories in The Diving Pool and reads from The Housekeeper and the Professor.)
  1. Yoko Ogawa Discussion Part 1.
  2. Yoko Ogawa Discussion Part 2.
  3. Yoko Ogawa Discussion Part 3.
  4. Yoko Ogawa Discussion Part 4.

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Yoshimoto, Kitchen (1988; 1993)

Banana Yoshimoto.
Kitchen.
Translated by Megan Backus.
New York: Grove Press (Grove Atlantic), 1993.
Originally published as: キッチン ['Kitchen'], Fukutake Shoten Co., 1988.

Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; Wikipedia; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.

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Author Information : Banana Yoshimoto

• Banana Yoshimoto (b. 1964), Wikipedia English.
• 吉本ばなな (1964 –), Wikipedia Japan.
• Banana Yoshimoto, GoodReads.com.
• Banana Yoshimoto, Official Siite, yoshimotobanana.com/.
• 吉本ばなな, @y_banana, Twitter / X.
• Yoshimoto Banana , @bananayoshimoto2017, Instagram.
• Banana Yoshimoto, Grove Atlantic (publishing company).

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Wikipedia Articles :

• The book Kitchen contains two novellas:
  • Kitchen (novel) (1988)
    キッチン (小説)
  • Moonlight Shadow (novella) (1986)
    ムーンライト・シャドウ (吉本ばなな)
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards), Wikipedia English.
• 昭和時代末期の文学 [History of modern Japanese literature: Literature from the end of the Showa period], Wikipedia Japan.

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Murakami, End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland (1985; 2024)

Haruki Murakami.
End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland.
Translated by Jay Rubin.
Book Series: Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series, Number 420.
New York: Everyman's Library / Alfred A. Knopf / Penguin Random House, 2024.
Originally published as: 世界の終わりとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド, Sekai no owari to Hādoboirudo Wandārando, Tokyo: Shinchosha, 1985, 1991.

Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; Wikipedia English; Wikipedia Japan; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.

Note : The 2024 English translation by Jay Rubin is a new and complete translation of the novel. When the book was first translated into English in 1991 the publisher thought that the then-new (in English) author Murakami would be more accessible to readers if this work were heavily edited. Now that Murakami is well established and highly regarded it is thought that readers will have the patience to read a translation more representative of the original work. Nevertheless, the 1991 translation remains in-print (and may be preferred by some readers). Note also that the 1991 translation title had the two parts reversed and the 2024 translation restores the original title order. (All of this is explained in the "Translator's Afterward" to the 2024 edition.)

• Haruki Murakami. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Translated by Alfred Birnbaum. Kodansha International, 1991. New York: Vintage Books (Penguin Random House), 1993.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]

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Author Information :

• Haruki Murakami (b. 1949), Wikipedia English.
• 村上 春樹 (1949 –), Wikipedia Japan.
• Haruki Murakami, GoodReads.com.
• Haruki Murakami, Penguin Random House.
• Haruki Murakami, harukimurakami.com, Penguin Random House.
  This website has links to music playlists and reading group guides to accompany several of his works, and merch (t-shirts).

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Translator Information :

• Jay Rubin (b. 1941), Wikipedia.
• Jay Rubin, "The Other World of Murakami Haruki," Japan Quarterly, volume 39, number 4, 1991.
• Jay Rubin. Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words. London: Random House UK, 2002; Vintage UK, 2005.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Wikipedia; Amazon.com.]

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Wikipedia Articles :

• Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985), Wikipedia English.
• 世界の終りとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド [The End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland] (1985), Wikipedia Japan.
• End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland was awarded the Tanizaki Prize in 1985.
• 街と、その不確かな壁 [The city and its uncertain walls], a 1980 novella that provided the basis for the "End of the World" component of the 1985 novel End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland. Although printed in a literary magazine in 1980 it has not been reprinted in any short story collection or collected works editions.
  That short story was also Murakami's starting point for his most recently published novel, 街とその不確かな壁 (2023), English translation The City and Its Uncertain Walls (2024).
  • Haruki Murakami. The City and Its Uncertain Walls. Translated by Philip Gabriel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf (Penguin Random House), 2024.
    [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards), Wikipedia English.
• 日本の近現代文学史 [History of modern Japanese literature], Wikipedia Japan.

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Comments :

• Many of the websites I linked to above refer to the earlier 1991 translation by Alfred Birnbaum, especially noticeable in GoodReads.com and English Wikipedia. There are many differences in details between that older translation and the newer 2024 Jay Rubin translation that are especially noticeable in translation terminology changes. For example: (1) the name of the INKlings (1991) becomes Murks (2024); (2) the Professor/Old Scientist (1991) becomes the Doctor (2024); (3) the speaking style of the Doctor (2024) is more straightforward while in the older version he is represented as using archaic phrasing and expressions (this may have been the style in the original Japanese version of the novel but the 1991 attempt to provide a corresponding English language version was considered awkward and unsuccessful so Jay Rubin dropped that for the 2024 translation).
• To be honest, my opinions about this book lean more towards the views represented in the One Star reviews on GoodReads.com (ignoring the accusations of sexism and misogyny) while I think the Four and Five Star reviewers sound like Murakami cultists who can see no wrong in his work; the Four and Five Star reviews do a good job explaining the work but I'm dubious about its profundity and quality as a work of art. I enjoyed the two short story collections by Murakami that I have read so far (The Elephant Vanishes and after the quake). Elsewhere I have noticed that commentators on Murakami tend to say that certain of his novels are better starting points for initial encounters with Murakami and other novels are worse; perhaps End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland is not a good starting point for long-form Murakami fiction.

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Cats in Japanese Art: Picture Books by Bouquillard and Kusch

Joycelyn Bouquillard.
Cats of Japan: Woodblock Prints by Hokusai, Hiroshige and Other Artists, Second Edition.
Munich, London, New York: Prestel Verlag, 2024.
[Publisher; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]


Aya Kusch.
Cats in Spring Rain: A Celebration of Feline Charm in Japanese Art and Haiku.
San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2022.
[Publisher; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]


These two are mainly picture books. The text is very limited; Bouquillard and Kusch have relatively short introductions: 13 pages and 2 pages, respectively; otherwise the text merely identifies the artists and their works. However, notably, Aya Kusch translated the haiku in her book.


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In contrast to the books by Bouquillard and Kusch, the book by Rhiannon Paget that I read previously is a far more thorough consideration of Japanese art and the appearance of cats in a broad range of art forms over the full course of Japan's more than 2,000 years of history.

Rhiannon Paget.
Divine Felines: The Cat in Japanese Art.
Tokyo; Vermont; Singapore: Tuttle Publishing, 2023.
[Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
My post for Paget's book is here.


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Wikipedia Articles :

• Japanese art.
• Woodblock printing in Japan.
• Ukiyo-e.
• Cultural depictions of cats.

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Paget, Divine Felines: The Cat in Japanese Art (2023)

Rhiannon Paget.
Divine Felines: The Cat in Japanese Art.
Tokyo; Vermont; Singapore: Tuttle Publishing, 2023.

Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.

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Author Information :

• Rhiannon Paget, Curator of Asian Art, John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Florida State University, Sarasota, Florida.
• Rhiannon Paget, LinkedIn.
• torakichi_the_first, Rhiannon Paget, Instagram.
• Rhiannon Paget, GoodReads.
  (A list of her books.)
• Rhiannon Paget, The Japan Times.
  (Her articles published in The Japan Times.)
• Niki Kottmann, "Rhiannon Paget talks marine biology and Asian art", [Sarasota] Observer, 05 January 2018.
• "Divine Felines: The Cat in Japanese Art with Rhiannon Paget (10.26.2023)", Bookstore1Sarasota, YouTube, 30 October 2023.
  (An interview and audience Q&A, 37 minutes.)
• "Saitō Kiyoshi: Graphic Awakening (Lecture by Dr. Rhiannon Paget)", JASA: Japanese Art Society of America, YouTube, 13 July 2021.
  (Divine Felines includes some works by Saitō Kiyoshi; in this talk his cat prints are discussed beginning at 28:48.)
• "Purrfection in Print: Saitō Kiyoshi’s Feline Designs", Chester Beatty [Museum, Dublin, Ireland], YouTube, 25 February 2022.
  (Includes a brief discussion of other artists' works that also appear in Divine Felines.)

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Wikipedia Articles :

• Japanese art.
• Japanese aesthetics.
• Kaibyō "(怪猫, 'strange cat') are supernatural cats in Japanese folklore."
• Bakeneko "(化け猫, 'changed cat') is a type of Japanese yōkai, or supernatural entity; more specifically, it is a kaibyō, or supernatural cat."
• Nekomata "(original form: 猫また, later forms: 猫又, 猫股, 猫胯) are a kind of cat yōkai described in Japanese folklore, classical kaidan, essays, etc."
• Maneki-neko "(招き猫, lit. 'beckoning cat') is a common Japanese figurine which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner."
• Cultural depictions of cats.

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Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy :

• Graham Parkes and Adam Loughnane, Japanese Aesthetics.

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Nathan, Japan Unbound (2004)

John Nathan.
Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004.

Book Information : Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.

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Author Information :

• John Nathan (b. 1940), Wikipedia.
• John Nathan, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, University of California Santa Barbara.
• John Nathan, GoodReads.com.
• Nathan translated into English literary works by :
  • Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916)
  • Kōbō Abe (1924–1993)
  • Yukio Mishima (1925–1970)
  • Kenzaburō Ōe (1935–2023)
  • Notably, Nathan was personally acquainted with Abe, Mishima, and Ōe.
• John Nathan. Mishima: A Biography. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974; New York: Hachette Book Group, 2000.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan. Sony: The Private Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999; New York: Mariner Books / HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan. Living Carelessly in Tokyo and Elsewhere: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan. Sōseki: Modern Japan's Greatest Novelist. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• Full Moon Lunch, 1973, Produced and Directed by John Nathan, YouTube.

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Wikipedia Articles :

• Postwar Japan.
• 連合国軍占領期後の日本 [Japan after the Allied Occupation], Wikipedia Japan.
• History of Japan: Heisei period (1989–2019).
• Heisei era.
• 平成 [Heisei], Wikipedia Japan.
~~~~~~~~~~
• Economic history of Japan: Post-World War II.
• Japanese economic miracle, 1950s-1970s.
• Plaza Accord, 1985.
• Japanese asset price bubble, 1986-1991.
• バブル崩壊 [The bubble burst], (article on the "Lost Decades"), Wikipedia Japan.
• 就職氷河期 [Employment Ice Age], following the bubble collapse in 1991, Wikipedia Japan.
• Lost Decades, 1990s-2010s, an extended period of low economic growth (below 2% per year) after the much higher growth rates during the 1950s-1980s period.
• 1997 Asian financial crisis, directly involved Japan's East and SouthEast Asian trading partners, and thus indirectly affected Japan and caused a significant decline in Japan's GDP growth rate in 1997 and 1998.
• William Tsutsui, Japan's Economic Bubble and the Lost Decade, The University of Chicago, 24 June 2009, YouTube.
  (This 1.5 hour talk is a very good survey of Japan's macroeconomic problems.)
  Some other helpful videos:
  • How America Crushed Japan’s Economic Rise
  • The Economy of Japan: How a Superpower Fell from Grace in Four Decades
~~~~~~~~~~
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards).
• 日本の近現代文学史 [History of modern Japanese literature], Wikipedia Japan.

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Comments :

Japan Unbound is a collection of essays on various public, social, and cultural issues prominent in Japan during the early 2000s; the manuscript was completed in 2003. It is based on interviews the author conducted from May 2001 through December 2002 (not to mention the author's experience with Japan beginning in the autumn of 1961).

At the conclusion of the book Nathan describes his experience of encountering Kenzaburō Ōe and Shintaro Ishihara separately within a couple hours on the same evening : "I felt that I had traveled between the poles of the ambivalence that continues to be a troubling condition of contemporary Japanese life" (page 253). This is the general theme of the book: various manifestations of a people in transition from the past to the future (like everybody else in every other society, but this seems heightened in Japan with its distinctive and ancient cultural traditions, its vigorous but then traumatic modernization, followed by its spectacular post-war economic recovery and prosperity). A little more vaguely, Nathan ponders the Japanese cultural identity (however that may be defined) and how that cultural identity informs and vitalizes the Japanese people as individuals and more broadly socially.

Contents of Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose :

1. "Monsters in the House: Japan's Bewildered Children"
   • A deliberate policy during the 1990s of reducing discipline in schools was followed by an explosion of disruptive behavior by students, especially at the lower secondary level. Various seemingly new forms of abnormal behavior in adolescents are also discussed.
   • Education in Japan.
   • Secondary education in Japan.
2. "The Family Crisis"
   • Japanese family.
   • Family policy in Japan.
   • Aging of Japan.
   • Demographics of Japan.
3. "The Culture of Arithmetic"
   • In the wake of low economic growth after the collapse of the 1980s bubble economy, large corporations struggle with maintaining profitability and their other social imperatives (the stability promoted by lifetime employment and the seniority system).
   • Carlos Ghosn (b. 1954).
   • Nissan: Alliance with Renault.
   • William Tsutsui, Japan's Economic Bubble and the Lost Decade, The University of Chicago, 24 June 2009, YouTube.
     (This 1.5 hour talk is a very good survey of Japan's macroeconomic problems.)
     Some other helpful videos:
     • How America Crushed Japan’s Economic Rise
     • The Economy of Japan: How a Superpower Fell from Grace in Four Decades
4. "The Entrepreneurs"
   • 板倉雄一郎, Yuichiro Itakura (b. 1963), wrote books about an entrepreneur's experience with bankruptcy.
   • Masayoshi Son (b. 1958), Softbank Group.
   • 南場智子, Tomoko Namba (b. 1962), founder of the Internet-related company DeNA, ディー・エヌ・エー [DeNA Co.,Ltd.].
   • Oki Matsumoto, 松本大 (実業家) (b. 1963), founder of the online securities brokerage company Monex.
5. "In Search of a Phantom"
   • Japanese nationalism.
   • Yoshinori Kobayashi (b. 1953).
   • 小林よしのり (1953–), Wikipedia Japan.
   • Yoshinori Kobayashi, Neo Gōmanism Manifesto Special – On War, 1995–2003.
   • Yoshinori Kobayashi, 新・ゴーマニズム宣言SPECIAL_戦争論 [New Gomanism Declaration SPECIAL War Theory], Wikipedia Japan.
6. "The New Nationalism II: Institutionalizing Trandition"
   • Japanese history textbook controversies.
   • 歴史教科書問題 [History textbook issue], Wikipedia Japan.
7. "Shintaro Ishihara: The Sun King"
   • Shintaro Ishihara (1932–2022); novelist; politician; Governor of Tokyo 1999-2012.
   • 石原慎太郎 (1932–2022), Wikipedia Japan.
   • Shintaro Ishihara, Season of the Sun, 1955, Akutagawa Prize 1956.
   • Shintaro Ishihara and Akio Morita, The Japan That Can Say No, 1989.
8. "Yasuo Tanaka: The Trickster"
   • Yasuo Tanaka (b. 1956); novelist; politician; Governor of Nagano Prefecture 2000-2006; member of the National Diet 2007-2012.
   • 田中康夫 (1956-), Wikipedia Japan.
   • Yasuo Tanaka, Nantonaku, Kurisutaru, 1981 [English translation published as Somehow, Crystal in 2019].
   • Yasuo Tanaka, Pero-Guri Diaries, 1993-.
   • Environmental issues in Japan.
   • Corruption in Japan.
   • Kisha club (記者クラブ, kisha kurabu, "reporters' club").
9. "Epilogue: Outgrowing Adolescence"
   • Japan emerging from its post-war domination by the United States.
   • Japan–United States relations: Post-World War II period.
   • Japan–United States relations: 21st century.

RT, "What's missing?," 9 August 2004 : an interesting review of the book on Amazon.com.

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Murakami, after the quake: stories (2002)

Haruki Murakami.
after the quake: stories.
Translated by Jay Rubin.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.
New York: Vintage International, 2003.
Originally published: 神の子どもたちはみな踊る, Kami no Kodomo-tachi wa Mina Odoru [literal translation: "All God's Children Dance"], Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2000.

Book Information : Publisher USA; Publisher UK; Wikipedia; Google Books; Amazon.com; GoodReads.com.

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Author Information :

• Haruki Murakami, harukimurakami.com, Penguin Random House.
  (This website has a little more than one usually finds in an author webpage maintained by a publisher.)
• Haruki Murakami, Penguin Books Ltd. (UK), A Penguin Random House Company.
• Haruki Murakami (b. 1949), Wikipedia English.
• 村上春樹 (1949–), Wikipedia Japan.
• murakami.club.
• Search for works created by Haruki Murakami, Internet Archive.
• Haruki Murakami, GoodReads.com.
~~~~~~~~~~
• 村上春樹, 神の子どもたちはみな踊る ["All of God's Children Dance"], 2000, Wikipedia Japan.
  (See this article for links to separate articles about each story in the collection.)
• Haruki Murakami, After the Quake, Wikipedia English.
  (This article has a synopsis of each story in the collection.)
• Great Hanshin earthquake (aka Kobe earthquake), 17 January 1995, Wikipedia English.
• 阪神・淡路大震災 [The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake], 17 January 1995, Wikipedia Japan.
  (Article includes a discussion of the various names given to the event, and this, the official government bestowed name.)
~~~~~~~~~~
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards), Wikipedia English.
• 日本の近現代文学史 [History of modern Japanese literature], Wikipedia Japan.

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Translator Information :

• Jay Rubin (b. 1941), Wikipedia.
• Jay Rubin, "The Other World of Murakami Haruki," Japan Quarterly, volume 39, number 4, 1991.
• Jay Rubin. Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words. London: Random House UK, 2002; Vintage UK, 2005.
  [Publisher; Wikipedia; Google Books; Amazon.com.]

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Ōe, Teach us to Outgrow Our Madness (1977)

Kenzaburō Ōe.
Teach us to Outgrow Our Madness: Four Short Novels.
Translated by John Nathan.
New York: Grove Press, 1977, 1994.

Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; GoodReads.com.

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Author Information :

• Kenzaburō Ōe (1935–2023), Wikipedia English.
• 大江 健三郎 (1935–2023), Wikipedia Japan.
• 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature, Wikipedia English.
• Kenzaburō Ōe, "Japan, The Ambiguous, and Myself," Nobel Lecture, 07 December 1994.
• Kenzaburo Oe, Grove Atlantic (publishes many English translations of Oe's works in the USA).
• Search for works by Kenzaburō Ōe, Internet Archive.
• Kenzaburō Ōe, GoodReads.com.
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards), Wikipedia English.
• 日本の近現代文学史 [History of modern Japanese literature], Wikipedia Japan.
• Postwar Japan, Wikipedia English.
• 連合国軍占領期後の日本 [Japan after the Allied Occupation], Wikipedia Japan.

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Translator Information :

• John Nathan (b. 1940), Wikipedia.
• John Nathan, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, University of California Santa Barbara.
• John Nathan, GoodReads.com.
• John Nathan. Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004.
  [Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan. Living Carelessly in Tokyo and Elsewhere: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan, "Kenzaburo Oe: Mapping the Land of Dreams," Japan Quarterly, vol. 42, num. 1, January-March 1995.
• Preston L. Houser, "Awakening the Goddess Within: An Interview with Mayumi Oda [conducted Summer 1999]," Kyoto Journal, 02 October 2011.
  (Mayumi Oda was the first wife of John Nathan.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contents of Teach us to Outgrow Our Madness: Four Short Novels :

1. "The Day He Himself Shall Wipe My Tears Away," 1974.
2. "Prize Stock," 1958.
   • 飼育 (小説), "Shiiku" (Breeding / Cultivation / Care), English translation title "Prize Stock," 1958.
     (The 1957 date given by English Wikipedia differs from Wikipedia Japan's 1958 which I consider more authoritative on the topic of Japanese authors.)
   • Won the Akutagawa Prize [芥川龍之介賞] for the first half of 1958.
   • The translation of "Prize Stock" by John Nathan was reprinted in :
     The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories, Edited by Theodore W. Goossen, Oxford University Press, 1997, 2010.
     [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com, 1997; Amazon.com, 2010.]
     My post for the Oxford anthology is here.
3. "Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness," 1969.
4. "Aghwee the Sky Monster," 1964.

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Murakami, The Elephant Vanishes: Stories (1994)

Haruki Murakami.
The Elephant Vanishes: Stories.
Translated by Alfred Birnbaum and Jay Rubin.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993; New York: Vintage International, 1994.

Book Information : Publisher; Wikipedia; Google Books; Amazon.com; GoodReads.com.

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Author Information :

• Haruki Murakami, Penguin Random House
  (website has a little more than one usually finds in a author webpage maintained by a publisher).
• Haruki Murakami (b. 1949), Wikipedia English.
• 村上春樹 (1949–), Wikipedia Japan.
• Search for works created by Haruki Murakami, Internet Archive.
• Haruki Murakami, GoodReads.com.
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards), Wikipedia English.
• 日本の近現代文学史 [History of modern Japanese literature], Wikipedia Japan.
• The Elephant Vanishes, a collection of stories originally written 1980-1991, Wikipedia.
• About Noboru Watanabe:
  • MK, "Haruki Murakami’s Best Friend" [Mizumaru Anzai (1942-2014)], murakami.club, 10 September 2021.
• murakami.club.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Translator Information :

• Alfred Birnbaum (b. 1955), Wikipedia.
• Jay Rubin (b. 1941), Wikipedia.

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Sansom, Japan: A Short Cultural History (1978)

G. B. Sansom.
Japan: A Short Cultural History.
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1978.

(Publication history: First edition 1931; Second edition 1943; Second edition revised 1952.
The 1978 Stanford reprint is of the 1952 revised second edition.)

Book Information : Publisher; Amazon.com; Archive.org.

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Author Information :

• George Sansom (1883 – 1965), Wikipedia.
• Marius B. Jansen, Donald Keene and Arthur F. Wright, "Sir George Sansom — An Appreciation," The Journal of Asian Studies, Volume 24, Issue 4, August 1965, pages 561-562.
  (Alternate copy at Cambridge University Press.)
• Katharine Sansom. Sir George Sansom and Japan: A Memoir. Tallahassee, Florida: The Diplomatic Press, 1972.
  [Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Search for George Sansom at Archive.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wikipedia Articles :

• History of Japan.
• Shogun, "the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868".
• Culture of Japan.
• Religion in Japan.
• Shinto.
• Buddhism in Japan.
• Edo neo-Confucianism.
• Japanese art.
• Japanese aesthetics.
• Japanese people.
• Genetic and anthropometric studies on Japanese people.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy :

• Graham Parkes and Adam Loughnane, Japanese Aesthetics.
• Japanese Philosophy.
• Japanese Confucian Philosophy.
• Huayan Buddhism (Kegon in Japan).
• Tiantai Buddhism (Tendai in Japan).
• Japanese Pure Land Philosophy.
• Daoism.
• Japanese Zen Buddhist Philosophy.
• The Kokugaku (Native Japan Studies) School.
• Kūkai (774–835).
Other articles that seem relevant to Japan or refer to a period not covered by Sansom's book:
• Chinese Ethics.
• Communitarianism.
• Religious Diversity (Pluralism).
• The Kyoto School of philisophy, 20th Century.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More Recently Published Books :

Some recently published books that cover the same topics as Sansom's Japan: A Short Cultural History.
• Mikiso Hane and Louis G. Perez. Premodern Japan: A Historical Survey, second edition. Westview Press, 2015; New York: Routledge, 2018.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Nancy K. Stalker. Japan: History and Culture from Classical to Cool. Oakland: University of California Press, 2018.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]

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Kaga, Marshland (2024)

Otohiko Kaga.
Marshland.
Translated by Albert Novick.
Dallas, Texas: Dalkey Archive Press / Deep Vellum Publishing, 2024.
Originally published: 湿原, Shitsugen, Asahi Shimbun, 1985.

Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; GoodReads.com.

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Author Information :

• Otohiko Kaga (1929–2023), Wikipedia English.
• 加賀乙彦 (1929–2023), Wikipedia Japan.
• Search for works by Otohiko Kaga, Internet Archive.
• Otohiko Kaga, GoodReads.com.
• Otohiko Kaga. Riding the East Wind [錨のない船, Ikari no nai fune, 1982]. Translated by Ian Hideo Levy. Tokyo and New York: Kodansha International, 1999.
  [Internet Archive; Amazon.com; GoodReads.com.]
  (This abridged translation of the original is the only other work by Kaga that has been translated into English so far.)
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards), Wikipedia English.
• 日本の近現代文学史 [History of modern Japanese literature], Wikipedia Japan.

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Translator Information :

• Albert Novick, LinkedIn.

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Wikipedia Articles :

• Postwar Japan.
• 連合国軍占領期後の日本 [Japan after the Allied Occupation].

Places and Events referred to in Marshland :

• Nemuro, Hokkaido [根室市].
  (Hometown of the character Atsuo Yukimori in Marshland.)
• Kotohira Shrine, 金刀比羅神社, Nemuro.
  Google Maps coordinates. Clicking on the map link for Kotohira Shrine will open a panel on your screen from which you can see photos of the shrine and the area of Nemuro around the shrine.
• 北海道空襲 [Hokkaido air raids], 14-15 July 1945.
• 風蓮湖 [Lake Furen], surrounded by the wetlands referred to in Marshland.
• 羅臼町 [Rausu Town, Hokkaido].
• 流氷なび [Drift Ice Navigation], @ryuhyonavi, X (Twitter).
  (Drift Ice at Rausa was featured in a scene in Marshland. This X account has many photos of the scenery around Rausa.)
• 世界自然遺産のまち『知床羅臼町』 [World Natural Heritage Town "Shiretoko Rausu Town"], @rausutown, X (Twitter).
• 北方地域 [Northern Territories], islands north east of Hokkaido claimed by Japan.
• 北方領土問題 [Northern Territories Issue], a territorial dispute between Japan and the Russian Federation .
~~~~~~~~~~~
• 1968–1969 Japanese university protests.
• 1968 in Japan: October 21: New Left [日本の新左翼] forces occupy Shinjuku Station for 国際反戦デー [International Anti-War Day].
• 1968年の日本 [Japan in 1968].
• Shinjuku riot [新宿騒乱], 21 October 1968.
• 1969 in Japan [1969年の日本].
• 東大安田講堂事件 [University of Tokyo Yasuda Auditorium Incident], 18-19 January 1969.
• National Foundation Day (Japan), 11 February.

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Inoue, The Counterfeiter and Other Stories (2000)

Yasushi Inoue.
The Counterfeiter and Other Stories.
Translated by Leon Picon.
Boston, Rutland Vermont, Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing (Periplus Editions), 1965, 2000.

Book Information : Google Books; Amazon.com; Internet Archive.

Note: "The Counterfeiter" was recently published in a new English translation:

• Yasushi Inoue. Life of a Counterfeiter. Translated by Michael Emmerich. London: Pushkin Press, 2014.
  (Also includes two other stories: "Reeds" and "Mr. Goodall's Gloves.")
  [Publisher; Google Books; Internet Archive; Amazon.com; GoodReads.com.]

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Author Information :

• Yasushi Inoue (1907–1991), Wikipedia English.
• 井上靖 (1907–1991), Wikipedia Japan.
  (Japanese Wikipedia pages for Japanese authors are far more detailed than the corresponding English Wikipedia one.)
• 井上靖記念館, Yasushi Inoue Memorial Museum, Asahikawa City, Hokkaido.
• Yasushi Inoue Books in English, Internet Archive.
• Yasushi Inoue, GoodReads.com.
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards), Wikipedia English.
• 日本文学 [Japanese Literature], Wikipedia Japan.
• 日本の近現代文学史 [History of modern Japanese literature], Wikipedia Japan.

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Translator Information :

• Leon Picon Obituary (1917-1994), The Washington Post, 23 August 1994.
• Lew Schmidt, "Interview with Leon Picon" (transcript), The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training: Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, Information Series; Library of Congress, 30 October 1989.
  Another, better formatted, version of the transcript, The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.
  • Unfortunately, Picon did not discuss his Japanese literary translation work in this interview; the interviewer mainly asked about his work as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer. It's not only about the details of State Department bureaucracy: the interview contains interesting biographical information about Picon, amusing anecdotes about William Faulkner's visit to Japan, and a few, too few, other accounts about his time in Japan. Picon was in Japan from 1955 to 1965.
  • United States Information Agency (USIA), Wikipedia.
  • "Impressions of Japan," U.S.I.S., 1955.
    (A film about William Faulkner's visit to Japan, discussed on pages 16-24 of the LoC interview transcript, pages 12-18 in the ADST version.)
  • Charles Frankel. The Neglected Aspect of Foreign Affairs: American Educational and Cultural Policy Abroad. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1966.
    [Google Books; Amazon.com.]
  • Charles Frankel. High on Foggy Bottom: An Outsider's Inside View of the Government. New York: Harper & Row, 1969.
    [Google Books; Amazon.com.]
  • Charles Frankel. "paper title unknown." In: Prologue to the Future: the United States and Japan in the Post-industrial Age. Edited by James William Morley. Published for The Japan Society by Lexington Books, 1974.
    [Google Books; Amazon.com.]

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Contents of The Counterfeiter and Other Stories :

1. "The Counterfeiter" [1951].
   • Life of a Counterfeiter, Wikipedia English.
   • "The Counterfeiter" was recently published in a new English translation:
     Yasushi Inoue. Life of a Counterfeiter. Translated by Michael Emmerich. London: Pushkin Press, 2014.
     (Also includes two other stories: "Reeds" and "Mr. Goodall's Gloves.")
     [Publisher; Google Books; Internet Archive; Amazon.com; GoodReads.com.]
2. "Obasute" [1956].
   • Ubasute, Wikipedia English.
     This article has an image of the ukiyo-e woodblock print "Ubasute no tsuki" (The Moon of Ubasute) from the series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (number 97), 1885-1892, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.
     Seeing this image after reading the story, I wonder if it was one of Inoue's inspirations for his story (or perhaps an inspiration for the cover art on the book of stories mentioned by the narrator in the story).
   • うばすてやま [Ubasuteyama], Wikipedia Japan.
3. "The Full Moon" [1958].
   • The president of a corporation initiates a series of annual company retreats scheduled to coincide with the harvest moon.

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