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.