Monday, January 21, 2013

Osamu Dazai Short Stories

As a follow-up to my first post I am posting a list of Osamu Dazai short stories that have been translated into English.  Dazai was primarily a short story writer, and many of his stories have been translated into English.  However, I have been unable to find a complete or almost complete list of them.  I now own most of his works that have been translated into English, so I am able offer a much more complete list than I have been able to find previously. 

This first list, including the works where the stories appear, has been compiled based on what I own.  There is some duplication of the stories that have been translated multiple times or appear in multiple books.


8 Scenes From Tokyo (RM)
8 Scenes From Tokyo (SP)
8 Views of Tokyo (SDO)
8 Views of Tokyo (SSS)
100 Views of Mount Fuji (RM)
100 Views of Mount Fuji (SP)

Almanac of Pain, An (SDO)
Alt Heidelberg (KBB)

Blue Bamboo (BB)

canis familiaris (SP)
Cherries (SP)
Cherry Leaves and the Whistler (RM)
Cherry Leaves and the Whistler (BB)
Chiyojo (ALC)
Chrysanthemum Spirit, The (BB)
Click-Clack Mountain (O)
Courtesy Call, The (WJF)
Crackling Mountain (CM)
Currency (SSS)

Das Gemine (SSS)

Early Light (SP)

Fallen Flowers (MN)
Father, The (MN)
Female (SP)

Garden (SP)
Garden Lantern, The (ALC)
Going Home (SDO)
Golden Picture, A (ALC) / Seascape With Figures in Gold (SP)

Handsome Devils and Cigarettes (SP)
Heed My Plea (CM)
Homecoming (SSS)
Hometown (SDO)

I Can Speak (SP)
Island of Monkeys, The (SSS)
Lanterns of Romance (BB)
Leaves (CR)
Little Beauty, A (SP)

Magic Lantern (SA)
Memories (ALC)
Memories (CM)
Memories (SSS)
Mermaid and the Samurai, The (BB)
Merry Christmas (SP)
Monkey Island (CM)
Monkey’s Mound, The (CM)
Morning (MN)
Mother (MN)
Mound of the Monkey’s Grave, The (SSS)
My Elder Brothers (SP)
My Older Brothers (SSS)

No Kidding (SP)

One Snowy Night (RM)
On Love and Beauty (BB)
On the Question of Apparel (CM)
On the Question of Apparel (SSS)
Osan (SSS)

Poor Man’s Got His Pride, A (CM)
Poor Man’s Got His Pride, A (SSS)
Promise Fulfilled, A (RM)
Promise Fulfilled, A (SP)
Putting Granny Out to Die (SSS)

Recollections (SDO)
Romanesque (BB)
Run, Melos! (CM) [Melos, Run!]
Run, Melos! (RM)

Schoolgirl (S)
Schoolgirl (RM)
Seascape With Figures in Gold (SP) / Golden Picture, A (ALC)
Sound of Hammering, The (CM)
Sound of Hammering, The (SSS)
Sparrow Who Lost Her Tongue, The (O)
Stolen Wen, The (O)

Taking the Wen Away (CM)
Taking the Wen Away (SSS)
Thinking of Zenzo (SP)
Toys (SSS)
Train (SP)
Transformation (SSS)
Two Little Words (SP)

Undine (CM)
Urashima-San (O)

Villon’s Wife (MJL)

Waiting (MN)

(MJL) - Modern Japanese Literature: From 1868 to the Present Day
(ALC) - A Late Chrysanthemum: 21 Stories from the Japanese, edited by Lane Dunlop
(SSS) - Dazai Osamu: Selected Stories and Sketches, translated by James O’Brien
(BB) - Blue Bamboo: Tales of Fantasy and Romance, translated by Ralph F. McCarthy
(KBB) - Blue Bamboo: Tales of Fantasy and Romance, translated by Ralph F. McCarthy (Kurodahan Press)
(CM) - Crackling Mountain and other stories, translated by James O’Brien
(RM) - Run, Melos! and Other Stories, translated by Ralph F. McCarthy
(SDO) - The Saga of Dazai Osamu: A Critical Study With Translations by Phyllis Lyons
(SP) - Self Portraits: Stories, translated by Ralph F. McCarthy
(WJF) - The World of Japanese Fiction - edited by Hakutani Yoshinobu
(SA) - The Showa Anthology
(S) - Schoolgirl, translated by Allison Markin Powell
(O) - Otogizoshi, translated by Ralph F. McCarthy
(MN) - Monumenta Nipponica

(CR) - Chicago Review

This second list includes more of Dazai's short stories translated into English, but I do not own them.  I have just come across them in my so-called research.

“December 8th” - The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature: From Restoration to Occupation, 1868-1945 (Modern Asian Literature Series) (vol. 1)

“Ha” (Leaves) Eric Gangloff. Chicago Review 20 (1968): 31-41
“Hanin” (The Criminal) Takashi Kojima. Ei-Bei Bungaku (English and American Literature), no. 2 (1956): 1-11
“Kakekomi uttae” (I Accuse) Tadao Katayama. The Reeds 4 (1958): 69-88
“Mesu ni tsuite” (Of Women) Edward Seidensticker. Encounter I, no. I (1953): 23-26. Reprinted in Atlantic Monthley 195 (1955): 145-47

This list should represent the most extensive list of Osamu Dazai short stories translated into English on one single site.  Unfortunately, many of the books that these stories are found in are out-of-print, which makes finding this information more difficult. 

If you notice any missing stories, please feel free to mention it in the comments section.  This is an ongoing project for me and I will continue to update the list.  Eventually I would like to include the Japanese titles next to the English titles.

3 comments:

  1. This is a fantastic resource & 1 I hope to plunder regularly

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you and please feel free, that's what it's here for. While I'm no Dazai expert in the academic sense, I do know a fair amount, so if you have any questions I'll do my best to help.

    ReplyDelete