Japanese Literature discussion

The years are passing and still no more English translations for Natsuo Kirino. What is going on? What is taking so long? Why is Haruki Murakami the major one on the shelves? Not to mention that Ryu Murakami isnt even translated as much even though he is just as prolific and known in Japan. But back to Natsuo- In 2013 I was excited to read on her Wiki page that the book "In" will be released, only to never make a showing. And yet, it is still written there on her Wiki page. Any information on what happened to "In"?

Very few books ever get translated, unfortunately. Whether it's a lack of market or a perception of lack of market. We've like beggars taking the scraps of Japanese fiction we're given, and can't really afford to be picky about authors.

That said, I'm not excited about Kirino Natsuo. Yes, I was floored by Out. Then I went and read her other works: Grotesque, Real World, Goddess Chronicle. And none of them can hold a candle to Out.

Oddly, various sites list In as being released a year ago, but no one has it in stock. They say it was released by Vintage, but Vintage doesn't list it on their site.

I found the novel "in" available for sale on random house books Australia web page ...

While I enjoyed "out" despite its laughable ending, I found "grotesque" more powerful and engrossing ..

Out was very good, but I enjoyed Real World more. Haven't yet read Grotesque.

I preordered In back in 2013. The release date kept being pushed back. I think the last potential release date was May 2015 and it hasn't been updated since. I've given up hope.

I haven't seen anything for In either, which is a pity. Her wiki page says some of her short stories have been translated, but I haven't seen any of those on the shelves (maybe I missed them).

I liked Out, but was not particularly floored by it. Grotesque, however, was a really absorbing and powerful read and I couldn't put the novel down. Real World was okay, but I felt rather disconnected from Goddess Chronicle.

One of her short stories is available online, I think from Granta. It's one of those imaginary repressive society sort of things.
I thought Grotesque was her best. The Goddess Chronicle was interesting but yeah, very cold and didactic.

I also think her production is uneven, but I'm still willing to try and I hope In is translated. Out is my favorite, but Soft Cheeks is also very good. I was lucky it was translated in Italian, but I can't see it English, unfortunately. Grotesque and Real World seemed a little too pulp-y for me.

Tenma wrote: "I found the novel "in" available for sale on random house books Australia web page ...

While I enjoyed "out" despite its laughable ending, I found "grotesque" more powerful and engrossing .."

Tenma, I tried finding it at Radom House Aus, but couldn't find it. Do you have a link?

This is strange. I can still see the Google search entry, but the link to random house leads to nothing. You are correct. It is not there anymore.

Go to booksamillion and search for it. I found an entry for "In" where you can pre-order for its release in April 2019.

Does Natsuo Kirino has a fan page? Maybe someone should ask her directly for the status of the English translation of her novels.

Or contact Philip Gabriel, the translator, at the University of Arizona

Coming into this conversation four years later... I still can't find "In" ANYWHERE. WHERE IS IT? I also can't find "What Remains," which was apparently translated too.

This is her official website. There’s no indication of In or What Remains being or becoming available in English.

http://www.kirino-natsuo.com/eng/inde...

I was looking for any updates on new titles by Natsuo Kirino, if I can find anything I will add to spreadsheet. However, here are some short stories that are available:

Tokyo Island (original title: Tōkyō-jima), trans. Philip Gabriel (Granta, No.110, 2010 Spring, p. 31-50)

In Goats' Eyes Is the Sky Blue? (original title: Yagi no Me wa Sora o Aoku Utsusu ka), trans. Philip Gabriel (Granta's website, July 2010

The Floating Forest (original title: Ukishima no Mori), trans. Jonathan W. Lawless (Digital Geishas and Talking Frogs: The Best 21st Century Short Stories from Japan, Cheng & Tsui Company, 2011)

Amazon US now has it listed for pre-order (date tbd) with a change of publisher. The new ISBN is 978-1400044955, to be published by Alfred a Knopf Inc. The listed translator is still Philip Gabriel. I have seen one reference (of a reference) as May 2025. I can not find the original source.
It is possible that The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group picked up the rights for the English language publication as part of their acquisition of Vintage Crime/Black Lizard.
At the present, the only translation of the book is in Italian, translated by Gianluca Coci, published by Neri Pozza. IN
So some of our forum members who read in the original Japanese or translations in ita have access.

The previous listed English language publisher, Harvill Secker, went through numerous purchases/buyouts. One of these was during when they were listed as planning the publication of In.

"
The Harvill Press was founded in 1946 by Manya Harari and Marjorie Villiers. The imprint was later acquired by the Glasgow-based publishing firm William Collins and Sons, which in 1989, merged with the American publishers Harper & Row to form HarperCollins.

In 1996, Harvill Press became independent following a management buyout. The firm was bought by Random House in 2002, and was merged with Secker & Warburg in 2005 to become Harvill Secker.

As of 2019, Harvill Secker is an imprint of Vintage Publishing UK.
"
per Wikipedia (US), accessed August 10, 2024. There is very limited information on Harvill Secker at the Vintage website.

Oh, interesting! This looks like a different ISBN and product listing from the ghost listing that has been floating around since it was first announced. I'm looking forward to being surprised! German and Dutch Amazon give a publication date for December 30, 2024.

This book is so fascinating to me. I preordered the hardcover edition with ISBN 9781846554247 back in November 2014 (the accompanying paperback ISBN is 9781846556425). The book link in my Amazon preorder mail from back then still works and the product is still up - that specific 'edition' has a publication date of January 1st, 2098 now haha.

I'm reading Out right now, I'm very hooked on it. I find it sort of surprising that 柔らかな頬 (transl. Soft Cheeks) was mentioned only once in this thread and is barely ever mentioned elsewhere. It not only won the coveted Naoki Prize but was also adapted into a movie (which was titled A Tender Place in English). I just added both parts (it's a 上下巻) to my to-read pile. I wonder if there's just not as much interest in it as it seems to be more of a drama-centric mystery than something intense like Out, or if it's just flown under the radar in the English world so far.

Vj wrote: "I'm reading Out right now, I'm very hooked on it. I find it sort of surprising that 柔らかな頬 (transl. Soft Cheeks) was mentioned only once in this thread and is barely ever mentioned elsewhere. It not..."

I'm reasonably certain that one's not available in English translation. (I'm more certain than normal because I've spent the past week digging through the available English-language translations of Japanese crime and mystery writers.) We certain have members who can read Japanese and the languages it has been translated into, but many of us (including me) cannot.

Soft Cheeks was at least translated into Italian by Neris Pozza in ~ 2004. The Italian title is "Morbide guance" (soft cheeks).

I also wish it were available in English. Some of the forum member read Japanese novels in the Italian translation.

Here is a description of the story:
Kasumi was born and raised in Hokkaido, but soon fled to Tokyo, where she dreams of achieving a free life different from the monotonous and squalid one of her parents. Married to a mild and serious typographer, Kasumi seeks an escape route in the arms of one of her husband's clients with whom she will begin a secret and passionate relationship, which will lead the man to buy a house in Hokkaido to host the woman and her family. During this stay, Kasumi's eldest daughter disappears without a trace. Convinced that the disappearance of the child is the deserved punishment for having betrayed her husband, daughters and, years earlier, her parents, Kasumi embarks on a journey in search of her daughter who will lead her back to her origins.

I believe that there are more of her translated works in Italian than any other language.

If anyone in the GR group has any idea why Italian readers of Japanese works in translation are so blessed,
please post your thoughts.

thank you,
Jack

Jack W wrote: "Soft Cheeks was at least translated into Italian by Neris Pozza in ~ 2004. The Italian title is "Morbide guance" (soft cheeks).

I also wish it were available in English. Some of the forum member r..."

Part of the reason translation from Japanese started so late was that English language publishers HATE short books. That's why the Pushkin novella series was such a big deal.

That's all I've got ATM. Doesn't explain Kirino.

In February 2023 I exchanged emails with Philip Gabriel and this is what he told me:
1 He translated In, but it has not been published.
2 He translated Tokyo Island, but that has not been published either. I have read the piece in Granta of that title, but PG referred to it as a book and the pice in Granta only runs about twenty pages so I don’t know if it is only an extract from a longer work. It reads like a complete short story to me.
3 He has not heard of What Remains which is mentioned on the net, but doesn’t seem to exist!
4 He has heard of The Swallows Never Return and expected it to be translated and it has been - by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda. You can order it on Amazon, due out on 17 September 2025. Time will tell.
On a different subject, Amazon also advertise a Kindle book called Koizora by Kirstin Chen and Natsuo Kirino. I don’t know whether it exists, it from reading the preview it seems to be Out under a different title.
Miss Kirino is a bit of a mystery herself.
D.R.

Jack wrote: "Amazon US now has it listed for pre-order (date tbd) with a change of publisher. The new ISBN is 978-1400044955, to be published by Alfred a Knopf Inc. The listed translator is still Philip Gabriel..."

I have 'In' (ISBN 9781400044955) on preorder right now, with an advertised publication date of December 30. Funnily enough when you last posted this, Jack, I found several sites that had it available for preorder. Now when I Google I can only find a handful of websites that have it listed. I preordered from Dutch Amazon which still has the publication date listed - some other Amazons still have it listed but the publication date is gone. Another Dutch website has it listed (but 'unavailable') but has an old publication date of March 2020. I genuinely think this is another ghost edition, but we'll see! Should be delivered early January if it exists ;-)

Update on this rather exciting multiyear saga: the book was supposed to arrive January 6-7, but I just got a notification that shipping has been "delayed" until July.

At least we're getting another Natsuo Kirino (Swallows) to make up for it!

Both still on preorder but no release date for IN on Amazon US