The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories is a 2018 English language anthology of Japanese literature edited by American translator Jay Rubin and published by Penguin Classics. With 34 stories, the collection spans centuries of short stories from Japan ranging from the early-twentieth-century works of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Jun'ichirō Tanizaki up to more modern works by Mieko Kawakami and Kazumi Saeki. The book features an introduction by Japanese writer and longtime Rubin collaborator Haruki Murakami.
Critical reception GQ placed the book on their 17 Best Books of 2018 list, lauding Rubin's choice to arrange short stories by theme rather than chronological time. In 2024, The Atlantic featured it in an article recommending short story collections. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie included it in her profile in The New York Times.
The Japan Times called the book's structure "a recipe for success" with categories that "best showcase ... unique tastes." The Japan Society observed Rubin's "necessarily selective" and thematically organized collection, writing that "A reader prepared for the new and unexpected will not be disappointed." The Asian Review of Books wrote that "the collection has a unique, often edgy, surprising quality" due to its thematic organization, as well as its inclusion of stories from lesser-known and typically underrepresented writers.
Stories The book's short stories are organized by theme. +Japan and the WestTitleAuthorTranslator"The Story of Tomoda and Matsunaga"Jun'ichirō TanizakiPaul Warham"Behind the Prison"Kafū NagaiJay RubinSanshirō (excerpt)Natsume SōsekiJay Rubin +Loyal WarriorsTitleAuthorTranslator"The Last Testament of Okitsu Yagoemon"Mori ŌgaiRichard Bowring"Patriotism"Yukio MishimaGeoffrey W. Sargent +Men and WomenTitleAuthorTranslator"Flames"Yūko TsushimaGeraldine Harcourt"In the Box"Kōno TaekoJay Rubin"Remaining Flowers"Kenji NakagamiEve Zimmerman"Bee Honey"Banana YoshimotoMichael Emmerich"The Smile of a Mountain Witch"Minako ObaNoriko Mizuta"A Bond for Two Lifetimes–Gleanings"Fumiko EnchiPhyllis Birnbaum
+Nature and MemoryTitleAuthorTranslator"Peaches"Akira AbeJay Rubin"The Tale of the House of Physics"Yōko OgawaTed Goossen"Unforgettable People"Doppo KunikidaJay Rubin"The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema"Haruki Murakami"Cambridge Circus"Motoyuki Shibata +Modern Life and Other NonsenseTitleAuthorTranslator"Mr English"Keita GenjiJay Rubin"Factory Town"Minoru BetsuyakuRoyall Tyler"Dreams of Love, Etc."Mieko KawakamiHitomi Yoshio"Shoulder-Top Secretary"Shinichi HoshiJay Rubin +DreadTitleAuthorTranslator"Hell Screen"Ryūnosuke AkutagawaJay Rubin"Filling Up with Sugar"Yuten Sawanishi"Kudan"Hyakken UchidaRachel DiNitto +Disasters, Natural and Man-MadeTitleAuthorTranslatorThe Great Kantō Earthquake, 1923"The Great Earthquake and General Kim"Ryūnosuke AkutagawaJay RubinThe Atomic Bombings, 1945"Hiroshima, City of Doom"Yōko ŌtaRichard Minear"Insects"Yuichi SeiraiPaul WarhamPost-war Japan"The Silver Fifty-Sen Pieces"Yasunari KawabataLane Dunlop"American Hijiki"Akiyuki NosakaJay Rubin"Pink"Tomoyuki HoshinoBrian BergstromThe Kobe Earthquake, 1995"UFO in Kushiro"Haruki MurakamiJay RubinTōhoku Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown, 2011"Weather-Watching Hill"Kazumi SaekiDavid Boyd"Planting"Aoko MatsudaAngus Turvill"Same as Always"Yuya SatoRachel DiNitto
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