Osamu Dazai

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

The Flowers of Buffoonery opens in a seaside sanitarium where Yozo Oba—the narrator of No Longer Human at a younger age—is being kept after a failed suicide attempt. While he convalesces, his friends and family visit him, and other patients and nurses drift in and out of his room. Against this dispiriting backdrop, everyone tries to maintain a lighthearted, even clownish atmosphere: playing cards, smoking cigarettes, vying for attention, cracking jokes, and trying to make each other laugh.  While No Longer Human delves into the darkest corners of human consciousness, The Flowers of Buffoonery pokes fun at these same emotions: the follies and hardships of youth, of love, and of self-hatred and depression. A glimpse of the lives of a group of outsiders in prewar Japan, The Flowers of Buffoonery is a darkly humorous and fresh addition to Osamu Dazai’s masterful and intoxicating oeuvre.

Osamu Dazai's 1939 novella depicts a day in the life of a Tokyo schoolgirl. Propelling Dazai into the literary elite of post-war Japan, Schoolgirl gained notoriety for its ironic and inventive use of language. Now it illuminates the prevalent social structures of a lost time, as well as the struggle of the individual against "them" -- a theme that occupied Dazai's life both personally and professionally. This new translation preserves the playful language of the original and offers the reader a new window into the mind of one of the greatest Japanese authors of the 20th century.

The post-war period in Japan was one of immense social change as Japanese society adjusted to the shock of defeat and to the occupation of Japan by American forces and their allies. Osamu Dazai’s The Setting Sun takes this milieu as its background to tell the story of the decline of a minor aristocratic family. The story is told through the eyes of Kazuko, the unmarried daughter of a widowed aristocrat. Her search for self meaning in a society devoid of use for her forms the crux of Dazai’s novel. It is a sad story, and structurally is a novel very much within the confines of the Japanese take on the novel in a way reminiscent of authors such as Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata – the social interactions are peripheral and understated, nuances must be drawn, and for readers more used to Western novelistic forms this comes across as being rather wishy-washy. Kazuko’s mother falls ill, and due to their financial circumstances they are forced to take a cottage in the countryside. Her brother, who became addicted to opium during the war is missing. When he returns, Kazuko attempts to form a liaison with the novelist Uehara. This romantic displacement only furthers to deepen her alienation from society.

"I've led a life full of shame. Human beings are a complete mystery to me."This manga version of novelist Osamu Dazai's masterpiece NO LONGER HUMAN—the #2 bestselling novel of all time in Japan—tells the story of Yozo Oba, a young man growing up in Japan in the immediate aftermath of World War II, who finds himself caught between the disintegration of the traditions of his aristocratic provincial family and the impact of the new postwar world.Oba is tormented by a failure to find any value in himself or in human relationships, despite being surrounded by women who love him. He creates the persona of a buffoon who mocks himself while entertaining others. But inside he is tortured, and as he moves from childhood to adulthood he becomes addicted to sex and alcohol. Largely autobiographical, No Longer Human explores Dazai's own sense of failure and alienation which drove him to self-destruct with alcohol and numerous suicide attempts.Osamu Dazai (1909—1948) is Japan's second most popular novelist (after Soseki), and his works are seeing a huge surge in popularity among young people worldwide thanks to the success of the recent manga, anime and film series Bungo Stray Dogs, whose protagonist, a detective called Osamu Dazai, has similar character traits to Yozo Oba. Fans of manga and anime are turning to the original No Longer Human novel, whose themes of alienation from society and an inability to reconcile social appearances with inner self—told with great wit, irony and pathos—strike a deep chord among readers today.**Recommended for readers ages 16+ due to mature themes and graphic content**

Dazai's timeless tale of fame, doubt, family and critics. A brand new translation from Maplopo.

Blue Bamboo is a collection of seven short stories by one of Japan's preeminent postwar writers and prose stylists, Osamu Dazai. Not the typical romantic fantasies so often seen in Japanese writing, filled with water sprites and vengeful ghosts, these stories are a mixture of fantastic allegory, slightly skewed fables, and affecting romantic tales. Revealing the wide range of Dazai's imaginative powers, they also give a glimpse of his humane and idealistic side. From the title story, about an impoverished, henpecked scholar who is transformed by the love of a voluptuous bird, to "The Chrysanthemum Spirit," about a passionate gardener who meets a brother and sister with extraordinary powers, Dazai creates a world of fantasy and romance that is infused with his own psychological concerns. Many readers may recall the poignancy of Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince or Han Christian Andersen. The collection is capped by two delightful stories-within-a-story, in which the assorted members of a quirky family compose alternate episodes of a slightly gothic romance with hints of Poe and Saki (in "On Love and Beauty") and a wildly elaborate retelling of Rapunzel that is engaging, horrifying, and touching by turns (in "Lanterns of Romance"). All in all, these warm, inventive, and life-affirming stories will strike a deep, satisfying chord in many readers.

The war is over. Japan is defeated. Together with his country, a young man must rebuild his life. He will begin at a sanatorium, where everyone gets a nickname, surrounded by an interesting ensemble of patients and caregivers.

For fans of No Longer Human, Osamu Dazai’s darkly bewitching novel about the small redemptions of being a pathetic, miserable writer. A fictional thirty-something writer named Osamu Dazai has just mailed his publisher a terrible manuscript, filling him with dread and shame. Shortly afterward, while moping around a park in suburban Tokyo, he spots a figure drowning in a nearby aqueduct. He doesn’t want to become a witness to a suicide and eventually decides to flee the park. But as he is leaving, he trips over the boy who had been drowning, and the two begin an unlikely conversation that turns into an intellectual spat. Hoping to ingratiate himself with the boy―a high-school dropout―Dazai finds himself agreeing to perform that very night as the live narrator of a film screening in the boy’s stead… So begins the madcap adventure of The Beggar Student, where there is glamor in destitution and glimmerings of truth in intellectual one-upmanship. Replete with settings straight out of the popular anime Bungo Stray Dogs and echoes of the themes in No Longer Human, this biting novella captures the infamous Japanese writer at his mordant best.

A glimpse into the humorous, sardonic world of Dazai Osamu, presenting a new and very different look at a one of the recognized masters of Japanese, and indeed global, literature. These works from the middle years of his brief career show a skilled hand, with angst muted and his penchant for subtle comedy deftly displayed. Scholars and fans often divide the career of Dazai Osamu (1909-1948) into three periods: early, middle, and late. The early and late periods tend to get all the attention, but in fact Dazai was at his very best in the middle period, which corresponds roughly to the years of the Pacific War. All the stories in this collection, with the exception of the early "Romanesque," were written during that time.

内容紹介 「セリヌンティウスよ、私も死ぬぞ。君と一緒に死なせてくれ」 タイムリミットは日没。メロスの身代わりに磔にされた友を救う為に、友の信頼を守る為に、メロスは疾風のごとく走った―― 美しい愛と友情を力強く綴った永遠の名作『走れメロス』、「富士には、月見草がよく似合う」の一節が名高い『富嶽百景』ほか、 『駈込み訴え』、『東京八景』など全六篇を収録した短編集。 声優・鈴木達央が紡ぐ『走れメロス』名場面抜粋の朗読CD封入。 内容（「BOOK」データベースより） タイムリミットは日没。メロスの身代わりに磔にされた友を救う為に、友の信頼を守る為に、メロスは疾風のごとく走った―美しい愛と友情を力強く綴った永遠の名作『走れメロス』、「富士には、月見草がよく似合う」の一節が名高い『富嶽百景』ほか、『駈込み訴え』、『東京八景』など全六篇を収録した短篇集。声優・鈴木達央が紡ぐ『走れメロス』名場面抜粋の朗読CDを封入。 著者略歴 (「BOOK著者紹介情報」より) 太宰/治 1909年、青森県金木村(現五所川原市)生まれ。本名、津島修治。東大仏文科中退。1939年、井伏鱒二の世話で結婚。平隠な生活を得て多くの作品を執筆するが、1948年、玉川上水にて入水自殺(本データはこの書籍が刊行された当時に掲載されていたものです)