Kagero Nikki, translated here as The Gossamer Years, belongs to the same period as the celebrated Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikuibu. This remarkably frank autobiographical diary and personal confession attempts to describe a difficult relationship as it reveals two tempestuous decades of the
Written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the uncontested master of the short story in modern Japanese literature, the stories in this anthology are perfect examples of the the decadent aesthetic, with the gorgeous and the grotesque, the splendid and the sordid interwining in highly polished prose. Among
Imagine a universe constructed in layers: At the top is Heaven - where the gods live. Beneath is the Earth, where people dwell. And beneath the Earth lies a magical realm of witches, vampires, ghosts, and immortal foxes capable of assuming human form. This is the universe of Chinese folktale.
