About The Book

Edited by one of Japan‘s leading and internationally acclaimed writers, this collection of short stories was compiled to mark the fortieth anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945; 1995 will mark the fiftieth.

Here some of Japan‘s best and most representative writers chronicle and re-create the impact of this tragedy on the daily lives of peasants, city professionals, artists, children, families. From the “crazy” iris that grows out of season to the artist who no longer paints in color, the simple details described in these superbly crafted stories testify to the enormity of change in Japanese life, as well as in the future of our civilization.

Praise

“In compiling this anthology I have come to realize anew that the short stories included herein are”a means for stirring our imaginative powers to consider the fundamental conditions of human existence; they are relevant to the present and to our movement toward all tomorrows.” –from the Introduction by Kenzaburo Oe