Genre: Fiction
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The glass slipper and other stories
In addition to “The Glass Slipper,” this collection contains eight other stories held together by a common thread of self-perception. Yasuoka writes from the belief that the self has such depths that at times it can appear to be illusory. Set against the chaotic backdrop of the era running from before World War II to…
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The shadow of a blue cat : a novel
Businessman Yuki Yajima is fifty-one years old. He and his wife, Asako, are the parents of two daughters: Ryo, seventeen, and Yuka, an infant of only two months. Asking himself why he’s allowed himself to become a father again at his age, Yuki begins to remember his uncle, who died quite young–younger, indeed, than Yuki…
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Yukikaze
More than thirty years ago, a hyper-dimensional passageway suddenly appeared over the continent of Antarctica. Fighters from the mysterious alien force known as the JAM poured through the passage, the first wave an attempted terrestrial invasion. Their ferocity was unquestionable, their aim unknown. Humanity, united by a common enemy, managed to repel the invaders, chasing…
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Translucent tree
When divorced single mother Chigiri Yamazaki is called on to care for her dying father, the last thing she expects to find is true love with someone from her past.
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A view by the sea
A novella plus five short stories translated from Japanese.
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Spinning tropics : a novel
When Yun becomes one of Hiro’s students, they are instantly drawn to each other. Hiro is a young Japanese woman who has recently moved to Vietnam to be a language teacher, and Yun is a shy, young Vietnamese woman studying Japanese, determined to make a better life for herself. For both of them, it is…
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The paradise bird tattoo (or, attempted double-suicide)
After leaving his job at an advertising agency, Ikushima flees the city and finds himself in the town of Amagasaki, where his brief encounters with troubled neighbors lead to a contemplation of suicide and eventually a love affair.
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The blue wolf : a novel of the life of Chinggis Khan
One of the world’s most ruthless warriors, Chinggis Khan conquered nearly all of Asia in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, transforming the scattered and impoverished Mongols into an exceptionally proud and powerful nation. In this riveting and thoroughly researched portrait, Japan’s celebrated epic novelist drives at the root of the khan’s great desires and insatiable…
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Supermarket
After he resigns from his elite banking job to help a cousin manage a supermarket in post-World War II Japan, Kojima is challenged by a woman from his childhood to consider whether his business goals are worth his efforts.
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Woman on the other shore
This compelling novel, widely acclaimed for its perceptive portrayal of the everyday lives and struggles of Japanese women, struck a deep chord with readers throughout Japan. In 2005 it won the prestigious Naoki Prize, awarded semiannually for the best work of popular fiction by an established writer. Sayoko, a thirty-five-year-old homemaker with a three-year-old child,…