Geisha in Rivalry, first published as Udekurabe in 1918, has a secure place among Kafu Nagai's masterpieces.Set against the backdrop of Tokyo's Shimbashi geisha district, a company of vivid characters play out their drama of illicit love, shady intrigue, and unrelenting rivalry. In the forefront are the geisha: some powerful and spiteful like the imperious Rikiji, some crude and obvious like the gaudy Kikuchiyo, some naive and pathetic like the he...

Organized sex in Japan has always been big business, and nowhere was it more politely offered than in the Yoshiwara Yukwaku (red light district) of Tokyo.The appeal of the Yoshiwara was its women, all the surroundings being a frame for display of their charms. The Nightless City provides us with a fascinating picture of a "floating world" that was as transient as a butterfly. Today its teahouses, establishments of assignation, geisha, courtesans, customers...

A masterful translation of one of the most-loved classics of Japanese literature—part travelogue, part haiku collection, part account of spiritual awakeningBashō (1644–1694)—a great luminary of Asian literature who elevated the haiku to an art form of utter simplicity and intense spiritual beauty—is renowned in the West as the author of Narrow Road to the Interior, a travel diary of linked prose and haiku recounting his journey through the far northern pro...

A powerful and intimate memoir of a real-life geisha, Geisha, A Life reveals the hidden world of Kyoto’s traditional arts, Japanese tea ceremonies, and cultural secrets through the eyes of Japan’s most renowned and pioneering geisha.“No woman in the three-hundred-year history of the karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story. We have been constrained by unwritten rules not to do so, by the robes of tradition and by the sanctity ...

These have been called the most famous and beloved letters of the past century. Rainer Maria Rilke himself said that much of his creative expression went into his correspondence, and here he touches upon a wide range of subjects that will interest writers, artists,and thinkers. This luminous translation of Rainer Maria Rilke's classic offers brilliant inspiration to all people who seek to know and express their inner truth. Letters to a Young Poet is a classic that should be required readi...

In this text, Brunton recounts his journey throughout India to seek out illumined yogis, swamis, sadhus, and saints. He meets fascinating figures such as as Meher Baba - the silent Messiah; Shri Shankara - the spiritual Head of South India; the Master Mahasaya; Vishudhananda - the Magician; and many others. Brunton experiences siddhis and miracles firsthand as he learns the wisdom of these masters. Of particular interest is the account of how Paul Brunton met his own guru, Sri Ra...

Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poetare arguably the most famous and beloved letters of the twentieth century. Written when the poet was himself still a young man, with most of his greatest work before him, they were addressed to a student who had sent Rilke some of his own writing, asking for advice on becoming a writer. The two never met, but over a period of several years Rilke wrote him these ten letters, which have been cherished by hundreds of thousands of readers for what Stephe...

Step into a series of dazzling, funny, melancholy, and joyous moments with this collection of haiku masterworks. Beloved translator Peter Beilensons goal was twofold: to craft a book of haiku accessible to anyone, and to render his best guess at what the poets would have written in English. His translations preserve the sublime spirit of each verse, conjuring vivid visual and emotional impressions in spare words.Haiku icon Basho is represented amply here, as are imagery-virtuoso Buson and wry...

A timeless travel-writing classic that inspired the film, with photography by Yoichi Midorikawa.In this acclaimed travel memoir, Donald Richie paints a memorable portrait of the island-studded Inland Sea. His existential ruminations on food, culture, and love and his brilliant descriptions of life and landscape are a window into an Old Japan that has now nearly vanished.The book that cemented Donald Richie's reputation as a master of observation. With lucid...

"These three stories illustrate Inoue's versatility, his mastery of detail and his control of narrative structure. Inoue presents the tale as mystery and solution, the tale as psychoanalytic exploration…, the tale as emblematic social history."-Arizona QuarterlyIn The Counterfeiter, a writer is commissioned to write the biography of a famous painter but becomes fascinated by a man who produced forgeries of the artist's work. Obasute

An NYRB Calssics OriginalA humble clerk and his loving wife scrape out a quiet existence on the margins of Tokyo. Resigned, following years of exile and misfortune, to the bitter consequences of having married without their families’ consent, and unable to have children of their own, Sōsuke and Oyone find the delicate equilibrium of their household upset by a new obligation to meet the educational expenses of Sōsuke’s brash younger brother. While an unlikely new friendship appears ...

Step into a series of dazzling, funny, melancholy, and joyous moments with this collection of haiku masterworks. Beloved translator Peter Beilensons goals were twofold: to craft a book of haiku accessible to anyone, and to render his best guess at what the poets would have written in English. His translations preserve the sublime spirit of each verse, conjuring vivid visual and emotional impressions in spare words.Haiku icon Basho is represented amply here, as are imagery-virtuoso Buson and w...