Unmapped Territories: New Women's Fiction from Japan

by Yukiko Tanaka (Editor)

anthology, tr Tanaka

Genres: Short Stories, Japan, Japanese Literature

168 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1991

Reviews

[Kate]

Seven short stories by Japanese authors, all written within the 1980s. "A Family Party" by Agata--the story of a family who was pressured to sell their ancestral land for the development of a hotel and move to the suburbs, and who, upon returning to the area for a reunion, are confronted by the changes to the old neighborhood--was my favorite, but "Straw Dogs" and "Sinking Ground" were also good.

[Morgan]

Quality of the writing was all over the map, but several of the stories were more than excellent. Fascinating feminist POV from Japan, speaking softly but harshly. Challenging (and sometimes incomprehensible to) my Western mentality.

[Philip Shaw]

A tasty and surprisingly deep (for how slim an edition it is) introduction to women's literature from Japan. This was the third anthology translated by Ms. Tanaka and connects to a previous one in the context that it represents an era in Japan in which women's societal status leapt ahead. These stories were all produced in the 80's, the era of the woman in Japan, and they reflect the changing internal landscape of women's experience and finding their creative voices. Very delicious stories indeed.

I recommend buying it from your small local bookseller, mine are Elliott Bay Books and Bailey Coy.

-Philip Swanstrom Shaw

[Mimi]

Interesting mix of stories about family and other love relationships either told from the perspective of women or featuring dominant female characters at a time of flux for gender roles in Japanese society.