Inside and Other Short Fiction--Japanese Women by Japanese Women

Otto donne, otto storie.

Eight women, eight stories.

Otto personalità diverse, stili di vita diversi, per raccontare all'Occidente in quanti modi si può essere una donna in Giappone, certo non solo come te la aspetti dai racconti tradizionali.

Eight diverse personalities, different lifestyles, to tell the West in how many ways one can be a woman in Japan, surely not only as you might expect from traditional stories.

The female world in Japan is fighting for the achievement of certain rights.

È una situazione sociopolitica certamente diversa dalle proteste femministe europee, diversa per situazione di partenza, percezione della donna nella società, tipologia di richieste, modalità d'espressione del malcontento.

It is a socio-political situation certainly different from the feminist protests in Europe, different in terms of the starting situation, the perception of women in society, the type of requests, the ways of expressing dissatisfaction.

These eight stories offer a unique perspective into the complex and evolving world of Japanese women.

They show the struggles, the dreams, and the determination of these individuals to carve out their own paths in a society that is still grappling with issues of gender equality.

By sharing these stories, we hope to gain a better understanding of the diverse experiences of women in Japan and to inspire others to continue the fight for a more just and equal world.

Quick: Name three, living female Japanese authors?

Stumped?

How about three female Japanese authors -- living or dead?

Got it? No? OK. Can you name just one?

If you come up empty, don't worry. Most Americans draw blanks when trying to identify writers, artists or musicians from other lands.

The cultural trade imbalance with Japan, though, is especially poignant when considering the history of the novel. Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote" from 1605 is called the first novel in the West, but the very first novel is said to be Lady Murasaki's "Tale of Genji," written in Japan about 600 years before. With such a long literary tradition, female Japanese authors certainly have something unique to offer readers.

The acclaimed Japanese-American novelist Ruth Ozeki points to this literary history and cultural imbalance in arguing for the vitality of contemporary female Japanese writers in the foreword to "Inside and Other Short Fiction." This is a necessary collection of eight short stories by eight different female, Japanese writers that have been translated into English.

"Most of the authors contained herein are prizewinning popular Japanese novelists who have never before been published in English," Ozeki writes. "… What these eight stories share is a fearless and unsentimental narrative gaze that is fixed unblinkingly on the female experience in Japan today."

That experience seems to be dominated by a desire to please others: friends, lovers, husbands, children and strangers.

In the moving "Her Room" by Chiya Fujino, the main character Kyoko, a 28-year-old living with her parents after divorcing her immature husband, finds herself unable to escape getting deeper into a relationship with "a woman friend of some mutual acquaintance" she meets in a theater lobby.

Kitahara-san is pushy, tactless and far too talkative. But she also has a lonely, pleading look that makes Kyoko invite her out to dinner and into her life. The narrator's statement about Kyoko, "This was the girl whose grade school report card used to say, Always tries to please," shapes the rest of the story.

This statement can apply to the women in some of the other stories. "My Son's Lips" by Shungiku Uchida presents a woman in a strained situation as a mother and full-time worker. She finds herself unable to decline a taxi driver's request for help.

Later, when she tells her husband about the incident, she is made to feel weak. She says, "It was a hundred times easier just to go, rather than refuse him." The demands on her between home and work also play out in the office, where male subordinates view her as their own mother.

The richest story in the collection, "The Shadow of the Orchid" by Nobuko Takagi, features Michiko, a woman a year shy of 50. She continues with her household routines even though her son has gone to college. She communicates with the ghost of a young woman who was her husband's cancer patient and lover.

In their conversations, they reveal a mutual jealousy. The story never makes clear whether the ghost is real or a fantasy, but it points to a truth of Michiko's experience. She sacrificed the possibility of a career as a translator to support her husband's career and raise their son.

The other stories in the collection lack this depth, but the first three stories written by younger writers about younger women are worth noting. "Milk" by Tamaki Daido gives a portrait of a high school girl's relationships. "Inside" tells of a young woman's first sexual encounters. "Piss" by Yuzuki Muroi is a sexually explicit account of a young prostitute's struggles.

Though the situations and characters are different, these three stories share a young, female first-person point of view. Reading them one after the other gives the impression of reading from one person. This might be due to the convention of the shisosetsu, or the "I novel."

However, having this technique in the first stories creates a problem with the book as a whole. The way Ozeki's foreword frames the stories suggests they should be read as anthropological evidence instead of artistic works.

Taken further, the book could be seen as suggesting that only Japanese females can authentically represent the female experience in Japan today. To counter this argument, the book needs to be considered in light of the cultural trade imbalance and the history of how Japanese women have been represented in the U.S.

In addition to the iconic image of the geisha, Western images of Japanese women range from Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" to Quentin Tarantino's Gogo Yubari. These images have maintained a male fascination for extremes of sex and violence.

Beyond Japanese voices expressing Japanese lives, "Inside and Other Stories" offers a chance to go against the grain of past images of Japanese women and present more subtle shades of experience.

I thought the first three short stories were really good, and the last one was also quite impressive.

A theme that comes to my mind when describing this book is loneliness.

These stories vividly convey the sense of how lonely it can be to be a woman. It's truly fascinating to observe how this feeling of loneliness is depicted in a different society.

Although the stories were a little on the "weird" side, I really enjoyed the rich imagination and excellent writing.

The author has managed to create a world that is both strange and engaging, making it a unique reading experience.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys short stories that explore deep emotions and themes.

It's a great read that will leave you thinking long after you've turned the last page.

What drove me to buy it was the particular cover and the fact that it talked about Japan (one of my weaknesses). Let's also add the fact that it really cost very little and the deal was done. Added to my library.

There are eight stories, by eight different authors, and each one described the way of life of women of different ages. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was disappointed and some left me decidedly perplexed. (see Piss). Yes, as a quick read it is, but I don't know. Maybe I was expecting too much.

The stories seemed to lack depth and the characters didn't really come alive for me. Some of the plots were rather predictable and didn't offer any real surprises. However, I did appreciate the different perspectives on the lives of Japanese women that the book presented. It gave me a glimpse into a world that I'm not very familiar with.

Overall, I would say that this book is an average read. It's not bad, but it's not great either. If you're looking for a quick and easy read about Japan, then this might be worth checking out. But if you're looking for something more profound and thought-provoking, then you might want to look elsewhere.

The text "Very insightful, and at times strange" is rather concise. It presents a dual assessment. On one hand, it acknowledges that something is highly perceptive or has deep understanding, which is quite remarkable.

However, it also mentions that at certain moments, it exhibits an element of strangeness. This could imply that the insights or the way they are presented deviate from the norm or what is expected.

Perhaps the strangeness adds an air of mystery or uniqueness to the overall impression. It makes one wonder what exactly gives rise to this strangeness and how it relates to the insights.

Overall, this brief description leaves room for further exploration and interpretation, as it combines two seemingly contrasting qualities in an interesting and thought-provoking way.

Another gem that I discovered at my local library, which has a small selection of English books.

Long before the movie Inside Out was created, the author of Fiesta penned a highly plausible grownup version of Riley. In this version, there are grownup grey area emotions swirling around her head.

The story is narrated by Desire, and it delves into its interactions with Pure Love, Murderous Intent, Reason, and Conditioned Reaction.

It is truly brilliant! The way the author explores these complex emotions and their relationships is both captivating and thought-provoking.

It makes you wonder about the hidden emotions that lie within us all and how they influence our lives and decisions.

This book is definitely a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the depths of the human psyche.

I have been fascinated by this book of eight short stories by as many Japanese female authors. It is a smooth and pleasant read.

The stories reflect the experiences of very diverse protagonists. Three are narrated by adolescents, four by working women, and one by a housewife.

The stories are at times delicate and explicit, pressing and aggressive, intense and ironic. Obviously, there are highs and lows from one story to another. Reading "Piss" was a punch in the stomach! It is one of the hardest stories ever. "Fiesta" is the most original and fun story I have ever read. "The Son's Lips" has a decidedly Murakami-esque atmosphere. "The Orchid's Shadow" and "Infertile Egg" make you think. "The Room" is disturbing, while "Milk" and "Inside" did not arouse great emotions in me.

Overall, this collection offers a rich and varied exploration of different lives and emotions, making it a worthwhile read for those interested in Japanese literature and the female perspective.

A compilation of 9 short stories by female authors is presented, with the foreword promising an exploration of Japanese womanhood by Japanese women. The introduction, written by Ruth Ozeki, is truly delightful, and it has made me eager to seek out her work. I was really excited about the potential of this book.

Recently, I saw an ad for a California-based skateboard company that presented a different vision of Japanese womanhood: an anime-style image of a saucer-eyed, knock-kneed schoolgirl, dressed in a blood-spattered, miniskirted school uniform and sailor blouse, carrying a chain saw and dragging a severed head. Hmm.

The book had its ups and downs. In hindsight, the stories seem to be organized in a rough chronology of age by the lead protagonist. I enjoyed the social complexity and apathy in the first story, 'Milk,' by Tamaki Daido. If my understanding of the word play on the title is correct - the idea that milk is important for growing children - then the title is particularly clever. The second story, 'Inside,' by Rio Shimamoto, was my favorite. I won't say much about these, as they are difficult to describe without spoiling some of the beauty in the way they unfold.

The third story, 'Piss,' by Yuzuki Muroi, needs a warning label. I don't mind depictions of the violence in the sex industry, but using any such depiction with the only apparent goal of getting paid for the story not only reinforces the binds that make these horrible conditions possible but also uses the women in the same abusive way as their 'manager.' In short, this story is vulgar, violent, and disgusting, seemingly just for the shock value to boost Muroi-san's career.

Both 'My Son's Lips,' by Shungiku Uchida, and 'Her Room,' by Chiya Fujino, focus on the inability of some women to flatly refuse requests. The interplay in this effect was quite enjoyable.

Amy Yamada's 'Fiesta' was a unique and interesting play on'self,' dividing the main character into a bundle of different emotions and thoughts that act as the main characters in the piece. However, it was incredibly predictable to have Desire be a male character, separate from another male character, Reason. The gender of the internal characters is problematic for my sense and understanding of feminist theory, but this may just be a matter of personal idiosyncratic tastes.

'The Unfertilized Egg' used many dream sequences, which was nice to see as they are an important historical trope in Japanese narratives. Given that this is a book about women, you can probably guess what the story is about from the title.

The last story, 'The Shadow of the Orchid,' by Nobuko Takagi, was another of my favorites, focusing on a woman entering menopause. I particularly enjoyed the main protagonist's take on television: "She could avoid boredom by turning on the television, but Michiko could not watch the afternoon shows for more than ten minutes at a time. Trivial incidents involving celebrities were hashed out like major world events, and male analysts knit their brows over concerns such as a housewife who shoplifted during her period. It quickly became too much." That was a refreshing outlook on television aimed at housewives.

For my decidedly American (and slightly askew) liberal college-educated feminism, the choice of nine stories that rely so heavily on the countenance of a male and of sex as a portrayal of how Japanese women are female was a little disturbing. While some stories had less emphasis on heterosexual sex than others, all of them included a male-female coupling in some form or another. This was a bit of a letdown, as if the only way "Japanese Women" can see themselves is through their relationships with men and their relationships with other women through sex with men. I wouldn't have found this so problematic if it wasn't for the mission statement given in the introduction of the text.

It cannot be that this is the only core of female identity for women born in Japan. I have to believe that this represents the core of what is acceptable to publish on Japanese women's identity, and like the television programming, perhaps the industry is still too male-dominated to really write outside of stereotypes.