New Japanese Voices: The Best Contemporary Fiction from Japan (A Morgan Entrekin book) [Paperback]

Helen Mitsios (Editor), Jay McInerney (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: A Morgan Entrekin book | Publication Date: January 13, 1994

A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice

Born after Hiroshima, the writers in this dazzling collection of short stories represent the American debut of the best contemporary Japanese fiction. Inhabiting the exotic interstice between cultural traditionalism and high-tech futurism, the stories in this volume offer a rich portrait of the Japanese sensibility — the zeitgeist that is transforming the way the rest of the world views itself. Sections include “Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto, “A Callow Fellow of Jewish Descent” by Masahiko Shimada, “On Meeting My 100 Percent Woman One Fine April Morning” by Haruki Murakami, “Swallowtails” by Shiina Mkoto, “God Is Nowhere; God Is Now Here” by Itoh Seikoh, “X-Rated Blanket” by Eimi Yamada, “Yu-Hee” by Yang Ji Lee, “On a Moonless Night by Sei Takekawa, “Living in a Maze” by Kyoji Kobayashi, “The Imitation of Leibniz” by Genichiro Takahashi, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” by Tamio Kageyama, and “Wine” by Mariko Hayashi.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Refuting the popular belief that literature in Japan is "dead," novelist McInerney states that current fiction there shows "the hybrid vigor of the traditional and the modern." While certainly vigorous, these 12 stories, all by prizewinning writers, are less "hybrid" than cutting-edge cosmopolitan: although primarily set in Japan, they seem products of a pure universe in which Kafka and the Divine Comedy are common points of reference; in which Helen Keller is so well known that an anecdote describing her progress need identify her only by first name. Mitsios, a professor of English, assembles an impressive range of literary ambassadors, from Sei Takekawa's sophisticated horror tale "On a Moonless Night" to Genichiro Takahashi's baseball story "The Imitation of Leibniz" and Eimi Yamada's erotic "X-Rated Blanket." Among the more poignant entries is Shiina Makoto's "Swallowtails," in which a teacher tells a struggling young couple that a classmate has accused their son of stealing, while perhaps the most comic is "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," by Tamio Kageyama, about an obese student at a scuba-diving school. This anthology should firmly resolve debates about the vitality of Japanese fiction.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Mitsios assembles an impressive range of literary ambassadors. This anthology should firmly resolve debates about the vitality of Japanese fiction.” —Publishers Weekly

“A happy marriage of contemporary Western culture with the traditional Japanese sensibility makes this story collection by young Japanese writers a worthwhile successor to a distinguished literary past.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Ms. Mitsios has assembled an intelligent collection." —Herbert Mitgang, New York Times Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press (January 13, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871135221
• ISBN-13: 978-0871135223
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,134,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not So New Anymore..., May 10, 2002

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Japanese Voices: The Best Contemporary Fiction from Japan (A Morgan Entrekin book) (Paperback)

A decade has passed since this collection was first published, so it's a little difficult to still consider these voices "new", especially when you consider that all twelve writers fall firmly within what is known in American as the "Baby Boomer" generationhaving been born between 1944-64. It's also hard to consider them "new" voices since all had written multiple novels when this book was published. As such, it should come as no surprise that while the stories are almost all set firmly in modern Japan, none of them is particularly surprising or edgy in any way.

Ten years on, most of the writers in the collection remain unknown in the Westwith the notable exceptions of Haruki Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto who both have many novels in translation. Their two piecesMurakami's a quick riff, and Yoshimoto's an excerpt from her novel Kitchenare quite good. Two stories about children, Shiina Makoto's "Swallowtails" and Itoh Seikoh's "God Is Nowhere" are among the more promising ones, and make one wish for more in translation. Mariko Hayashi's story "Wine", about a young women on a vacation who mistakenly purchases an extremely expensive bottle of wine which then becomes a social burden to her, is an interesting piece. Tamio Kageyama's "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" is the only story that can be considered comic, and makes a nice change of pace.

Genichiro Takahashi's "The Imitation of Leibniz" starts promisingly with a star baseball player faced with the conundrum of being in a slump, yet not in a slump, but suffers from an awful translation that interferes with the philosophy that follows. Two stories (Sei Takekawa's "On a Moonless Night" and Kyoji Kobayashi's "Living in a Maze") meander into magical realism of a sort with rather unsatisfactory results. The other three stories are fairly forgettable pieces. All in all, the anthology feels somewhat dated, but is worth skimming for a few pieces here and there.

5.0 out of 5 stars FABULOUS STORIES!, January 4, 2009

By 

helen mitsios (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Japanese Voices: The Best Contemporary Fiction from Japan (A Morgan Entrekin book) (Paperback)

I just came across this book and it's the finest collection of Japanese stories I've ever read. I have only one question. When is the next collection coming out? I can't wait to read it!