Passing through a glowing mirror, they gather in a magnifcent castle which becomes their playground and refuge during school hours. The students are tasked with locating a key, hidden somewhere in the castle, that will allow whoever finds it to be granted one wish. At this moment, the castle will vanish, along with all memories they may have of their adventure. If they fail to leave the castle by 5 pm every afternoon, they will be eaten by the keeper of the castle, an easily provoked and shrill creature named the Wolf Queen.Delving into their emotional lives with sympathy and a generous warmth, Lonely Castle in the Mirror shows the unexpected rewards of reaching out to others. Exploring vivid human stories with a twisty and puzzle-like plot, this heart-warming novel is full of joy and hope for anyone touched by sadness and vulnerability.

    Molasky, University of MinnesotaIn the Woods of Memory is a powerful, thought-provoking novel that focuses on two incidents during the Battle of Okinawa, 1945: the sexual assault on Sayoko, 17, by four US soldiers and her friend Seiji’s attempt at revenge. Narrations through nine points of view, Japanese and American, from 1945 to the present day reveal the full complexity of events and how war trauma inevitably ripples through the generations.Akutagawa Prize–winner and activist Shun Medoruma was born in Okinawa. This is his first full-length work in English translation.

    The five weird and wonderful tales collected here each unlock the many-tongued language of desire, whether it takes the form of hunger, lust, sudden infatuation or the secret longings of the heart.Selected from Haruki’s Murakami’s short story collections The Elephant Vanishes, Blind Willow Sleeping Woman and Men Without Women.

    Japan, with all her treachery and greed, remains unsubdued. We must now devote all our strength and resources to the completion of our task, both at home and abroad.”Arthur knows that he is not, like many of his fellow conscripted airmen, about to be demobbed. He is to be sent to the Far East as a member of 31 Squadron RAF, which is equipped with a fleet of battered Dakotas ferrying supplies into remote jungle bases and bringing out a wretched human cargo from Japanese internment camps.Even after the Japanese surrender, it’s grim work for Brownlow and fellow crew members. They keep a stiff upper lip, but harmony is threatened with the arrival of a subversive Glaswegian docker Jock Patterson and his mutinous message.However, life is not without its lighter moments – and wireless operator Freddie falls in love with Nelli who, following her release from internment, is working with the RAF. Her Dutch origins hint at the country’s history under colonial rule. Resentment at centuries of colonisation, first by the West then by the Japanese, is coming to the surface, and the RAF men are soon to feel the backlash in the most horrific way possible.Freddie is dropped off by ‘U for Uncle’ at a base near where Nelli’s father has been detained, but the Dak fails to return to pick him up.What shocking news is about to emerge from Bekasi, where 'Uncle' forced landed? Can Wing Commander Brian Macnamara deal with the poisonous Patterson and get the squadron’s mission completed? How do men react when they discover a loved one at home has betrayed them? Will the conscripted men of 31 Squadron ever be able to cope in Civvy Street again?Ian Hall’s impressive Storm at Sunset portrays the RAF’s little-appreciated work in the aftermath of the Second World War – its all-too human face and the political and military backlash that affected even their essentially humanitarian mission.

    We hear Shiki's haiku as the voice of a friend bringing complex news in a few intimate words. These haiku are drawn from a world that feels close to our own, and they bring our own lives and world closer. Shiki's poems are necessary and delicious as mountain water, carrying the mountain's hidden minerals from inside it to inside us." —Jane Hirshfield, author of The Heart of Haiku and The Ink Dark MoonLast year's dreamI wake to this year'srealityShiki is considered by the Japanese as one of the masters of haiku. He radically reformed the haiku, suggesting "sketching from life" as an aesthetic.

    English translations of 20 stories selected from five decades of the author's work.BullseyeCall for the Devil!The OnlookerIt’s My BabyZarathustra on MarsHaving a LaughThe Good Old DaysRunning ManSleepy Summer AfternoonCross SectionNarcissismSadismThe WindA Vanishing DimensionOh! King LearMeta NoirThe Agency MaidThe Night they Played Hide and SeekThe Countdown ClockAnimated Realism

    Pearl seeks to uncover the real reasons why the leaders of the US failed to pick up the huge threat to their security until it was too late, and why the Japanese felt the compulsion to launch an attack in the first place. Was Roosevelt's confidence in the safety of America misplaced? Did arrogance on both sides make the war inevitable? 'Pearl' is an excellent exploration of where the culpability lies, as the reader is placed at the heart of the action of the attack on Pearl Harbor that left 2,337 American citizens dead. Many stories of individual heroism and cowardice emerge as essential parts of the Pearl Harbor narrative, as Pearl follows the American and Japanese navies in their fights to protect their nations.

    However, the fact that he once drew illustrations for the world-famous tale Cinderella is relatively unknown. Fukkan.com, the publisher dedicated to reintroducing out-of-print titles, now presents Amano's hidden masterpiece in a large-format and beautiful printing. The fact that the original publication was not sold in bookstores will also make it indispensable for all the fans of Amano.

    Studies of the Japanese city have focused on Tokyo, but a fuller understanding of urban space and life requires analysis of other cities, beginning with Osaka. Japan's "merchant capital" in the late sixteenth century, Osaka remained an industrial center--the "Manchester of the East"--into the 1930s, developing a distinct urban culture to rival Tokyo's. It therefore represents a critical site of East Asian modernity. Osaka Modern maps the city as imagined in Japanese popular culture from the 1920s to the 1950s, a city that betrayed the workings of imperialism and asserted an urban identity alternative to--even subversive of--national identity.Osaka Modern brings an appreciation of this imagined city's emphatic locality to: popular novels by Tanizaki Jun'ichirō, favorite son Oda Sakunosuke, and best-seller Yamasaki Toyoko; films by Toyoda Shirō and Kawashima Yūzō; and contemporary radio, television, music, and comedy. Its interdisciplinary approach creates intersections between Osaka and various theoretical concerns--everyday life, coloniality, masculinity, translation--to produce not only a fresh appreciation of key works of literature and cinema, but also a new focus for these widely-used critical approaches.

    He was a great admirer of Western mysteries. Especially, he loved Edgar Allan Poe and Rampo’s pen name was originated from Poe. He had a large number of jobs such as a library officer, teacher, sales person, news writer, trader and so on before he became a author. He moved 46 times and died in Tokyo. He is still well admired. The Edogawa Rampo Prize named after Edogawa Rampo. This book contains three short stories written by Rampo Edogawa, "A DAYDREAM" "THE RING" and "TWINS". A DAYDREAM I am not sure if it was a daydream or real thing. It was a humid afternoon. I felt a warm wind on my hot cheek. I don’t remember if I went there to do something or just to look around. I was walking on a long main street... THE RING A “Excuse me. I think we took the same train at the other day.” B “Oh, yes. I remember it now. It was this line, right?” A “It was a disastrous trip, wasn’t it? ” B “Yes. It was! I didn’t know what to do.”... TWINS I have decided to talk about my secret, sir. The day of my death penalty has come closer. I would like to tell you what’s in my mind soon and I can stay in peace until the death penalty. I know it will be annoying for you but please spare some time for this pitiful death-row inmate...