Bullfight

'Perfection is the only word to describe this subtle tale' Irish Times

Winner of the Akutagawa Prize

Tsugami, the editor-in-chief of a newspaper in war-scarred Osaka, agrees to sponsor a bullfight. For months this great gamble consumes him, makes him as wary and combative as if he was in a ring himself. And, as he becomes ever more distant, his lover Sakiko is unsure if she would like to see him succeed or be destroyed.

As much a story of post-war Japan as it is about the country's special brand of bullfighting, this novella is a masterly exploration of hope, ambition and despair. Yasushi Inoue's novella won him the prestigious Akutagawa Prize and established him as one of Japan's most acclaimed authors. From the planning of a bullfight, through Tsugami's struggle, his focus and his solitude - he crafts something intensely memorable, a profound and compelling existential tale.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.

Translated by Michael Emmerich.

Born in 1907, Yasushi Inoue worked as a journalist and literary editor for many years, only beginning his prolific career as an author in 1949 with Bullfight. He went on to publish 50 novels and 150 short stories, both historical and contemporary, his work making him one of Japan's major literary figures. In 1976 Inoue was presented with the Order of Culture, the highest honour granted for artistic merit in Japan. He died in 1991. Pushkin Press also publishes Inoue's novella The Hunting Gun, and a collection of short stories titled Life of a Counterfeiter.

Michael Emmerich is a translator, editor and an professor in the department of Asian Languages and Cultures at UCLA. His many translations include work by Yasunari Kawabata, Genichiro Takahashi and Banana Yoshimoto.