one of the purest representatives of modern japanese literature, from an author i hadn't actually heard of! this collection blends all the usual attributes of the 20th century japanese short story (harsh brevity, a soft eye for nature, semi-autobiographical confessions, simple prose) with an immense range of subjects. in naoya's hands (and lane's), we make heroic leaps from a little children's tale about a rapeseed flower (the little girl and the rapeseed flower) to a record of the weirdly agitating exploits of an undercover samurai retainer (akanishi kakita) to a trio of stark confessions about adultery (a memory of yamashina, infatuation, kuniko). in some ways, the collection appears to actual trace out the author's own autobiography, in little observational tales. there's some incredibly interesting psychology on display here. we see superhuman resilience (as far as abashiri, kuniko) and some truly bizarre moral acrobatics (han's crime, the shopboy's god), and through it all runs an odd fascination with evil, at scales both large and small. is it possible that this has something to do with naoya's inner struggle with christianity? apparently, he had some issues with lust, both in terms of homosexuality and adultery, which make appearances in these stories. regardless, i hope his faith allowed God's grace to lift this burden from him at the end of the day.