J. Thomas Rimer is emeritus professor of Japanese literature, theater, and art at the University of Pittsburgh. He has also taught at Washington University in St. Louis and at the University of Maryland, and he served for several years as head of the Asian Division of the Library of Congress. He is the author, coauthor, editor, and translator of several works, including Traditional Japanese Arts and Culture: An Illustrated Sourcebook and A Reader's Guide to Japanese Literature. Van C. Gessel is professor of Japanese literature at Brigham Young University. He is the author of Three Modern Novelists: Soseki, Tanizaki, Kawabata; coeditor of The Showa Anthology: Modern Japanese Short Stories; and translator of six literary works by the Japanese Catholic novelist Endo Shusaku, including The Samurai and Deep River.

• Preface Introduction 1. First Experiments Fiction Mori Ogai "The Dancing Girl" Poetry Ochiai Naobumi "Song of the Faithful Daughter Shiragiku" Shimazaki Toson "The Fox's Trick" "First Love" Takeshima Hagoromo "The Maiden Called Love" 2. Beginnings Fiction Izumi Kyoka "The Holy Man of Mount Koya" Kunikida Doppo "Meat and Potatoes" Masamune Hakucho "The Clay Doll" Nagai Kafu "The Mediterranean in Twilight" Ozaki Koyo The Gold Demon Poetry in the International Style Kodama Kagai "The Suicide of an Unemployed Person" Ishikawa Takuboku "Better than Crying" "Do Not Get Up" "A Spoonful of Cocoa" "After Endless Discussions" Kitahara Hakushu "Anesthesia of Red Flowers" "Spider Lilies" "Kiss" Takamura Kotaro "Bear Fur" "A Steak Platter" Kinoshita Mokutaro "Nagasaki Style" "Gold Leaf Brandy" Yosano Akiko "Beloved, You Must Not Die" "In the First Person" "A Certain Country" "From Paris on a Postcard" "The Heart of a Thirtyish Woman" Poetry in Traditional Forms Kanshi Tanka and Haiku Ishikawa Takuboku Masaoka Shiki Tanka Haiku Yosano Akiko "The Dancing Girl" "Spring Thaw" Essays Natsume Soseki "The Civilization of Modern- Day Japan" "My Individualism" 3. The Interwar Years Fiction Akutagawa Ryunosuke "The Nose" "The Christ of Nanking" Edogawa Ranpo "The Human Chair" Hori Tatsuo The Wind Has Risen Inagaki Taruho One-Thousand-and-One-Second Stories Kawabata Yasunari "The Dancing Girl of Izu" Page of Madness Kuroshima Denji "A Flock of Circling Crows" Origuchi Shinobu Writings from the Dead Shiga Naoya "The Paper Door" Tanizaki Jun'ichiro "The Two Acolytes" Uchida Hyakken "Realm of the Dead" "Triumphant March into Port Arthur" Poetry in the International Style Takamura Kotaro "Cathedral in the Thrashing Rain" Hagiwara Sakutaro "On a Trip" "Bamboo" "Sickly Face at the Bottom of the Ground" "The One Who's in Love with Love" "The Army" "The Corpse of a Cat" Miyazawa Kenji "Spring & Asura" "November 3rd" Nishiwaki Junzaburo Seven Poems from Ambarvalia No Traveler Returns Kitasono Katsue "Collection of White Poems" "Vin du masque" "Words" Two Poems "Almost Midwinter" Kitasono's First Letter to Ezra Pound Nakano Shigeharu "Imperial Hotel" "Song" "Paul Claudel" "Train" "The Rate of Exchange" Poetry in Traditional Forms Kitahara Hakushu Okamoto Kanoko Saito Mokichi Sugita Hisajo Taneda Santoka Drama Kishida Kunio The Swing Essay Kobayashi Hideo "Literature of the Lost Home" 4. The War Years Fiction Dazai Osamu "December 8th" Ishikawa Tatsuzo Soldiers Alive Ooka Shohei Taken Captive Poetry in the International Style Takamura Kotaro "The Elephant's Piggy Bank" "The Final Battle for the Ryukyu Islands" Kusano Shinpei "Mount Fuji" Oguma Hideo "Long, Long Autumn Nights" Poetry in Traditional Forms Toki Zenmaro "Evidence" Essays Kobayashi Hideo "On Impermanence" Sakaguchi Ango "A Personal View of Japa nese Culture" 5. Early Postwar Literature, 1945 to 1970 Fiction Abe Kobo "The Red Cocoon" Ariyoshi Sawako "The Village of Eguchi" Enchi Fumiko "Skeletons of Men" Endo Shusaku "Mothers" Hayashi Fumiko "Blindfold Phoenix" Hirabayashi Taiko "Demon Goddess" Hotta Yoshie "The Old Man" Ibuse Masuji "Old Ushitora" Inoue Yasushi "The Rhododendrons of Hira" Kanai Mieko "Homecoming" Kojima Nobuo "The Smile" Kono Taeko "Final Moments" Mishima Yukio "Patriotism" Noma Hiroshi "A Red Moon in Her Face" Takeda Taijun "The Misshapen Ones" Yasuoka Shotaro "Prized Possessions" Poetry in the International Style Ayukawa Nobuo "In Saigon" "The End of the Night" "War time Buddy" Ishigaki Rin "Roof" "Shijimi Clams" "Life" Katagiri Yuzuru "Christmas, 1960, Japan" "Why Security Treaty?" "Turn Back the Clock" Shiraishi Kazuko "The Phallus" Takamura Kotaro "End of the War" "My Poetry" Tanikawa Shuntaro "Growth" "Drizzle" Tomioka Taeko "between-" "Still Life" Yoshioka Minoru "Still Life" "The Past" Poetry in Traditional Forms Baba Akiko Kaneko Tota Nakajo Fumiko Drama Betsuyaku Minoru The Little Match Girl Kinoshita Junji Twilight Crane Essay Kawabata Yasunari "Japan, the Beautiful, and Myself" 6. Toward a Contemporary Literature, 1971 to the Present Fiction Furui Yoshikichi "Ravine" Hirano Keiichiro "Clear Water" Hoshi Shin'ichi "He-y, Come on Ou-t!" Kaiko Takeshi "The Crushed Pellet" Murakami Haruki "Firefly" Nakagami Kenji "The Wind and the Light" Ogawa Yoko "The Cafeteria in the Evening and a Pool in the Rain" Shima Tsuyoshi "Bones" Shimizu Yoshinori "Jack and Betty Forever" Takahashi Takako "Invalid" Tawada Yoko "Where Eu rope Begins" Tsushima Yuko "That One Glimmering Point of Light" Yoshimoto Banana "Newlywed" Poetry in the International Style Ito Hiromi "Underground" "Glen Gould Goldberg" "Sexual Life of Savages" Shinkawa Kazue "The Door" "When the water called me..." Poetry in Traditional Forms Tawara Machi Drama Inoue Hisashi Makeup Kara Juro The 24:53 Train Bound for "Tower" Is Waiting in Front of That Doughnut Shop in Takebaya Essay Oe Kenzaburo "Japan, the Ambiguous, and Myself" Bibliography