Japanese

The political situation at court has changed: the birth of Gyokuyou’s son has seen her elevated to the status of Empress, and meanwhile Jinshi is no longer able to continue his pretense at the rear palace. Although all seems peaceful after the destruction of the Shi clan, threats continue to loom—not least a potential plague of insects—and Maomao, as ever, somehow finds herself caught up in them. When Jinshi orders an expedition to Gyokuyou’s homeland, Maomao heads west. But is there something lurking in the shadows of the glittering city? And will Maomao be able to discover what it is before it’s too late?

Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human, this leading postwar Japanese writer's second novel, tells the poignant and fascinating story of a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas. In consequence, he feels himself "disqualified from being human" (a literal translation of the Japanese title). Donald Keene, who translated this and Dazai's first novel, The Setting Sun, has said of the author's work: "His world … suggests Chekhov or possibly postwar France, … but there is a Japanese sensibility in the choice and presentation of the material. A Dazai novel is at once immediately intelligible in Western terms and quite unlike any Western book." His writing is in some ways reminiscent of Rimbaud, while he himself has often been called a forerunner of Yukio Mishima. Cover painting by Noe Nojechowiz, from the collection of John and Barbara Duncan; design by Gertrude Huston

What would you change if you could go back in time? In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time. In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know. But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . . Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?

The whole capital seems to have gone Go-crazy when Lakan publishes a book about his games. He’s got even bigger plans, holding a Go tournament that’s open to all—and rumor has it that if anyone can topple the strategist himself, he’ll grant them any single request they might ask. Jinshi sees an opportunity. But it’s not all fun and games, as Jinshi learns when reports arrive of crops devastated by a plague of locusts in a remote village. All his attempts to forestall the insects’ devastation will soon be put to the test, and the outcome may mean survival or starvation.

It's not about the destination... What's your favorite story? Does it have a hero who slays a dragon and saves a princess? Or a child of prophecy destined for greatness? Well, my favorite story is a little different. It's the tale of a witch who travels the world, seeking nothing in particular. With no quest of her own, she's free to wander wherever the wind takes her, adding a few pages to the story of whomever she meets before setting off on her next adventure. At the end of her travels, the witch takes on an apprentice who will one day begin her own journey. And so the cycle continues, or so the story goes. Now, the witch who starts the story anew...who could she be?

Mitsuha, una ragazza di provincia, e Taki, giovane di Tokyo, sconosciuti entrambi delusi dalle loro quotidianità, si ritrovano un giorno a vivere in sogno una la vita dell'altro. Lasciandosi dei messaggi per il "risveglio" inizieranno a comunicare e a conoscersi, cercando di capire la loro strana relazione e il legame che li unisce e si rafforza notte dopo notte, sogno dopo sogno, mentre incombe il passaggio di una misteriosa cometa... Una storia per tutti a cui è impossibile rimanere indifferenti, capace su carta come sullo schermo di danzare sul filo del reale, del sogno e del soprannaturale e di farci entrare nelle vite dei suoi protagonisti.

The events in the western capital threaten to shake not only the political order, but Maomao’s personal relationships as well, and she departs the city uncertain what her future holds. A detour on the way home, however, gives her an unexpected insight into her own family. Meanwhile, Consort Lishu finds herself at the center of an ugly scandal. Might the truth of the matter help explain everything that’s happened recently?

Maomao attempts the court service exam once more, winning herself a position as an assistant in one of the medical offices. That’s only the beginning of her troubles, though, as a new consort enters the rear palace and brings new riddles with her. What does a former emissary to the court want with three young medical assistants? How is that connected to a mysterious shrine maiden from Shaoh? And will one particular monocled freak ever just mind his own business?

Maomao has effectively become Jinshi’s personal physician, but she’s just a simple apothecary. If she’s going to give him proper medical treatment, she’ll need more than her meager surgical skills. When she turns to her father for help, he says he’ll only teach her if she can pass a test he sets for her. Even if she succeeds at his mysterious request, however, the truth behind the practice of surgery at court may be more than she cares to know. And only once she has the knowledge she needs will she be able to accompany Jinshi on what could be his most dangerous journey yet.

The spine\-tingling bestseller that has taken Japan by storm—an eerie fresh take on horror for fans of Hidden Pictures and Junji Ito, in which a series of seemingly innocent pictures draws you into a disturbing web of unsolved mysteries and shattered psyches. An exploration of the macabre, where the seemingly mundane takes on a terrifying significance... A pregnant woman's sketches on a seemingly innocuous blog conceal a chilling warning. A child's picture of his home contains a dark secret message. A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments leads an amateur sleuth down a rabbithole that will reveal a horrifying reality. Structured around these nine childlike drawings, each holding a disturbing clue, Uketsu invites readers to piece together the mystery behind each and the over\-arching backstory that connects them all. Strange Pictures is the internationally bestselling debut from mystery horror YouTube sensation Uketsu—an enigmatic masked figure who has become one of Japan's most talked about contemporary authors.

Maomao finds herself once more in the western capital. She tries to focus on her work—which isn’t made any easier when she’s paired with not just the quack doctor but the smart-mouthed young physician Tianyu. Meanwhile, Jinshi might be the Imperial younger brother, but the western capital has its own hierarchies, both obvious and hidden. He and the other visitors from the court will have to navigate these halls of power even more carefully than usual, lest they run afoul of enemies they don’t even know they have. Over it all looms the threat of the insect plague, which seems insurmountable—until one man claims to know how to counter the menace. His method is intimately connected to secrets buried deep in the region’s past.