Seven Japanese Tales

In these seven stories, the author of The Makioka Sisters explores the territory where love becomes self-annihilation, where the contemplation of beauty gives way to fetishism, and where tradition becomes an instrument of refined cruelty.

Junichiro Tanizaki was born in Tokyo in 1886 and lived there until the earthquake of 1923, when he moved to the Kyoto-Osaka region, the scene of his novel <b>The Makioka Sisters</b> (1943-48). Among his works are <b>Naomi</b> (1924), <b>Some Prefer Nettles</b> (1928), <b>Quicksand</b> (1930), <b>Arrowroot</b> (1931), <b>A Portrait of Shunkin</b> (1933), <b>The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi</b> (1935), modern versions of <b>The Tale of Genji</b> (1941, 1954, and 1965), <b>Captain Shigemoto's Mothe</b><i>r </i>(1949), <b>The Key</b> (1956), and <b>Diary of a Mad Old Man</b> (1961). By 1930 he had gained such renown that an edition of his complete works was published, and he was awarded Japan's Imperial Prize in Literature in 1949. Tanizaki died in 19