Note: this content has been re-released in the compilation "Fast Forward Japan" (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...). Juza Unno, the father of Japanese science fiction, wrote a great number of stories in the 1930s and 1940s which contained exceptional elements of science and technology. Eighteen O’Clock Music Bath, one of his most well-known works, is a dystopian novella set in a future where humanity has obtained eternal life and the freedom to do almost anything–except for a single hour a day, where citizens must perform the most important societal tasks with superhuman productivity. This extreme productivity is made possible by the refreshing 30-minute “music bath”, where citizens listen to a specially-engineered melody that integrates a long list of factors chosen by the government. However, little do the people know that increased productivity is not the only side-effect... Eighteen O’Clock Music Bath is a tour de force skillfully crafted by Juza Unno–a roller coaster ride of political intrigue, drop-dead gorgeous robotic girls, interplanetary war, and a unique form of gender bending. It is a tribute to the roles of science vs government, and a must-read for fans of dystopian or Japanese literature.
Author
Unno Jūza or Unno Jūzō (海野 十三, December 26, 1897 - May 17, 1949) was the pen name of Sano Shōichi (佐野 昌一), the founding father of Japanese science fiction. He was born to a family of medical doctors in Tokushima city. In 1928 he opened his writer’s career with The case of the mysterious death in the electric bath (Denkifuro no kaishijiken). During the Pacific War he wrote a great number of science-fiction novels, remaining in Tokyo throughout the air raids.[1] Japan’s defeat in World War II was for him a hard blow, and Unno spent the last years in his life in a deeply prostrated state. Unno's scientific work was influenced by that of Nikola Tesla. The captain, Okita Juzo of Space Battleship Yamato was named so as a tribute.
