Nonfiction by Allison Markin Powell

Introduction

Over the past several decades, a steady stream of fascinating writers from Japan have appeared in English, including two Nobel prize winners, Yasunari Kawabata and Kenzaburo Oe, as well as the now wildly…

Fiction by Sogil Yan

from “Corridor of Dreams”

For the past two months, I've been dreaming the same dream over and over. It only dawned on me recently. We forget most dreams, so why should I dream this again and again? It begins in the Osaka alley…

Translated from Japanese by Linda Hoaglund

Fiction by Kaho Nakayama

from “Sentimental Education”

The woman gave birth to a baby girl at the maternity hospital and then disappeared the very same day. Located not far from downtown Isezaki-cho, the maternity hospital was well known as a place where many…

Translated from Japanese by Allison Markin Powell

Fiction by Hiromi Kawakami

from “Manazuru”

I walked on, and something followed. Enough distance still lay between us that I couldn't tell if it was male or female. It made no difference, I ignored it, kept walking. I had set out before noon…

Translated from Japanese by Michael Emmerich

Fiction by shinji ishii

from “Once Upon a Swing”

Mr. Twisted When I returned home as usual from yet another ridiculously mind-numbing day at school, I noticed a linen sack on my desk. In the blink of an eye my grandmother, who looked as though she'd…

Translated from Japanese by Bonnie Elliott

Nonfiction by Michael Emmerich

Beyond Between: Translation, Ghosts, Metaphors

What is translation? Translation is an English word. Translation is, moreover, a somewhat peculiar English word. Peculiar, I would suggest, because it eludes definition. It is impossible to define because…