Böcker utgivna av Kurodahan Press

Presenting a new collection of stories exploring the perennial themes of Miyamoto Teru's fiction, narrative sketches of the working-class world of the Osaka-Kobe region of his childhood employing memory to reveal a story in layered frames of time with consummate skill. His work examines the mutual proximity--or even the identity--of life and death, often touching on such grim topics with a touch of humor. Stories of personal triumph and hope are often set in situations involving death, illness, or loss, but what might be the stuff of tragedy in the hands of some writers turns into stepping stones for his characters to climb upward and onward.Miyamoto's considerable and devoted following in Japan has come increasingly to be mirrored in other Asian countries and parts of Europe as his fiction has been translated into various languages.With renditions of only three of his works currently available in English, however, Anglophone readers have for the most part been unaware of the "Teru" literary phenomenon. The present collection aims to fill part of this lack by offering a selection of some his finest short stories along with one of his most admired novellas--Phantom Lights--which was made into the internationally acclaimed 1995 movie Maborosi by Koreeda Hirokazu.The will to live, karma, and death are themes developed through the lives of Miyamoto's fictional characters, who struggle to achieve closure with their respective pasts and in their often difficult relations with others. The comments of Washington Times writer Anna Chambers in her review of Kinshu: Autumn Brocade aptly apply to the works presented here as well: "...existential crisis after existential crisis force the characters to question whether one can shape one's own karma--rather than construct one's own soul, as a Western reader might have put it. And herein lies the Westerner's entree into the book as more than an observer of Japanese culture." And like Kinshu, the stories in the present collection provide "a satisfying taste of what it means to grapple with fate at the intersection of modernity and tradition."Miyamoto deftly weaves his tales using scenes and settings from his native Kansai region, and all are flavored with the language of western Japan. Like the depressed areas described in much of his fiction, his characters too are "left behind" by post-war Japan's rapid economic growth, by unexpected changes in their lives, or by the deaths of loved ones. His heroes are ordinary people who, as he puts it, "are trying to lift themselves up, who are struggling to live," and who achieve quiet triumphs.

It is 2071, and Mars is being slowly terraformed by many nations often cooperating in an uneasy truce that reflects tensions back on Earth. The water of the polar ice cap, the most important resource for all the Mars colonies, is jointly controlled by the US, China, Japan and Russia, and doled out to the second-tier colonizing groups (Europe, Canada, Australia, India) only grudgingly. A military build-up is under way as different groups jockey for control of this all-important resource, and then the bodies of what appear to be intelligent aliens are found under the Martian ice. Saya Askai is dispatched from Earth in realtime, separating herself from the virtual reality network that encompasses civilization, to investigate... and finds herself in a battleground of cyborgs, virtual reality plagues, and Schwarzchild traps that she may only be able to navigate through safely with the help of people who probably don't exist... A brilliant work that deftly weaves cyberspace, artificial intelligence, colonies on Mars, aliens, nanotech and more into a science fiction experience.

The cultural foundations of Japan are intimately linked to continental Asia. China and Korea in particular helped shape the early Japanese states in many ways, over centuries of immigration and cultural exchange. The introduction of rice agriculture, the Chinese writing system, and the Chinese system of bureaucratic imperial government are perhaps the most well-known examples, but the influence of mainland cultures on the Japanese archipelago was pervasive.For the first time in English, this work presents a comprehensive, comparative study of the content of famous Chinese historical texts that are fundamental in the knowledge of Japan''s ancient history. Translations of documents from the Chronicle of the Wei to the History of the Song provide an unparalleled resource for scholars, students, and general readers with an interest in Japanese history and culture, and shed new light on formerly obscure aspects of intercultural exchange, contributing to our knowledge of the whole of Eastern Asia.The book serves as a guide for scholars in the field, providing information on date of first publication, content, and authors of the different histories, with source text accompanied by translations and explanatory notes. Reprints and related academic publications are covered in an extensive multilingual bibliography, making this an essential textbook for any student of ancient Japan, and a key reference work for investigations into the spread and influence of Chinese culture.

The Black Lizard (Kurotokage) features Rampo's main detective character, Akechi Kogoro, combining elements of Poe's Auguste Dupin with the gentleman adventurers of British golden age detective literature. The Black Lizard herself is a master criminal and femme fatale, whose charged relationship with detective Akechi and unconcealed sadism have inspired shuddering admiration in generations of readers. It is largely thanks to this classic of 1960s Japanese theater that the story remains associated with sexual transgression and blurred boundaries between male and female, hunter and hunted, detective and criminal. Themes of deviance and sado-masochism are central to Beast in the Shadows (Inju), a tale from the height of Rampo's grotesque period. This tale of secret identities, violent sexuality, and dark crimes stands in stark contrast to the genteel detective stories then popular in English literature.

This important work of Japanese science fiction presents the story of Yuichi, a youth who escapes the regimented world of Japanese society for the beauty and freedom of Aphrodite, a floating island city built by the visionary Mr. Caan. Excited by the seemingly limitless potential of Aphrodite and confident of his own future, Yuichi encounters a new world: friendship, responsibility, love, and growing up.Seen through the pattern of Yuichi's life, however, is the evolution and development of the true heroine of the work: the island city Aphrodite-ever beautiful, ever filled with the limitless energy of creation. And as the global economy spirals downward, leaving Aphrodite a deserted slum slated for destruction, perhaps Yuichi is the only person who can save her...Ideal for young adult readers, but with a philosophical depth to make it a thought-provoking and rewarding book for adult readers as well.

This massive collection of original stories and articles inspired by the 'Cthulhu Mythos' created by H.P. Lovecraft was published in Japan in 2002 as a two-volume set under the name Hishinkai. The list of contributing authors is a who's-who of Japanese horror fiction, featuring some of the finest writers in Japan today.In cooperation with Tokyo Sogensha, the Japanese publishers, and the anthology editor, Mr. Asamatsu Ken, we are proud to present these dark visions of the Mythos as interpreted by Japanese authors. You will find some stories that return like old friends, carrying on the Lovecraft tradition, while others will shock you with totally new and unexpected vistas of horror. Each story is accompanied by a thought-provoking introduction by Robert M. Price, the recognized master of the Mythos.The cover is by Yamada Akihiro, who has handled many of the covers for the Japanese-language editions of Lovecraft and other Mythos works, and has established a name for himself in the States as well.

Modern sinology -- the study of things Chinese --may trace its roots back centuries to Marco Polo, Byzantium and even Imperial Rome, but to a great extent it was built on foundations laid and extended by Herbert Giles, a consul for the United Kingdom in China and later a professor at Cambridge University. Two of his most important works, Chinese Sketches (1876) and The Civilization of China (1911), are now available in a single volume, revealing once again his piercing observations and a glimpse of a very different China.

The most famous Korean novel of all: a story of true faith tested by worldly ambition, set in Tang Dynasty China; a love story, and a classic expression of Confucian values in conflict with Buddhist beliefs.Penned by Kim Manjung (1617-1682), a public servant and courtier at the highest level, later a political exile, in seventeenth century Korea. Translated by James S. Gale (1863-1937), one of the most important early figures in the encounter between modern Korea and the English-speaking world.

Administrator, or Shiseikan in Japanese, took the Japanese SF community by storm when first published in 1974. Unlike traditional space opera, it pushed technology into the background to present a compelling portrait of colonial governors, the Administrators, trapped between the conflicting demands of Federation government, native inhabitants, and Terran colonists.This collection of four novelettes, the first volume of an extensive series of works set in the same universe, touches on key stages in the development of the Administrator system and the robots designed to support and protect it.