"A Personal Anthology" invites authors to list some of their favorite stories. Here are titles chosen by Tony Malone ("twelve excellent Japanese stories. Rather than simply choose my favourites, I decided to select one story from each of twelve collections or anthologies, with the aim of introducing a wide range of sources for anyone interested in reading more Japanese short fiction." (The link at the end has the recommendations, plus a paragraph on each story/author).
‘A Bond for Two Lifetimes – Gleanings’ by Fumiko Enchi, translated by Phyllis Birnbaum (First published in 1957 and included in The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories, Penguin Classics, 2018)
‘Model T Frankenstein’ by Hideo Furukawa, translated by Samuel Malissa (included in The Book of Tokyo, Comma Press, 2015)
‘Lady of the Evening Faces’ by Yumie Hiraiwa, translated by Patricia Lyons (included in The Mother of Dreams: Portrayals of Women in Modern Japanese Fiction, Kodansha International, 1986)
‘What the Seasons Brought to the Almanac-Maker’ by Saikaku Ihara, translated by W. Theodore de Bary (First published in 1686. included in Anthology of Japanese Literature: From the Earliest Era to the Mid-Nineteenth Century, Grove Press, 1955)
‘Nightingale’ by Einosuke Itō, translated by Geoffrey Sargent (First published in 1938. Included in Modern Japanese Short Stories: Twenty-Five Stories by Japan’s Leading Writers, Tuttle Publishing, 2019)
‘Ugly Demons’ by Yumiko Kurahashi, translated by Lane Dunlop (First published in translation Mississippi Review, Vol. 9, No. 1/2 1980. Included in Autumn Wind and Other Stories, Tuttle Publishing, 1994)
‘The Breast’ by Yuriko Miyamoto, translated by Heather Bowen-Struyk (Written 1935-37. Included in For Dignity, Justice, and Revolution: An Anthology of Japanese Proletarian Literature, The University of Chicago Press, 2016)
‘At the Edge of the Wood’ by Masatsugu Ono, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter (Published in Keshiki: New Voices from Japan, Strangers Press, 2017)
‘Spider Lilies’ by Hiroko Oyamada, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter (‘Spider Lilies’ first published in English in 2014 in Granta 127: Japan, April 2014 and available for subscribers to read online here)
‘In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom’ by Ango Sakaguchi, translated by Jay Rubin (First published 1947. included in The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories, Oxford University Press, 2010)
‘Where Europe Begins’ by Yōko Tawada, translated by Susan Bernofsky (included in The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature (Abridged), Columbia University Press, 2011)
‘Time’ by Riichi Yokomitsu, translated by Donald Keene (included in Modern Japanese Literature: From 1868 to the Present Day, Grove Press, 1956).
‘A Bond for Two Lifetimes – Gleanings’ by Fumiko Enchi, translated by Phyllis Birnbaum
(First published in 1957 and included in The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories, Penguin Classics, 2018)
‘Model T Frankenstein’ by Hideo Furukawa, translated by Samuel Malissa (included in The Book of Tokyo, Comma Press, 2015)
‘Lady of the Evening Faces’ by Yumie Hiraiwa, translated by Patricia Lyons (included in The Mother of Dreams: Portrayals of Women in Modern Japanese Fiction, Kodansha International, 1986)
‘What the Seasons Brought to the Almanac-Maker’ by Saikaku Ihara, translated by W. Theodore de Bary (First published in 1686. included in Anthology of Japanese Literature: From the Earliest Era to the Mid-Nineteenth Century, Grove Press, 1955)
‘Nightingale’ by Einosuke Itō, translated by Geoffrey Sargent (First published in 1938. Included in Modern Japanese Short Stories: Twenty-Five Stories by Japan’s Leading Writers, Tuttle Publishing, 2019)
‘Ugly Demons’ by Yumiko Kurahashi, translated by Lane Dunlop (First published in translation Mississippi Review, Vol. 9, No. 1/2 1980. Included in Autumn Wind and Other Stories, Tuttle Publishing, 1994)
‘The Breast’ by Yuriko Miyamoto, translated by Heather Bowen-Struyk (Written 1935-37. Included in For Dignity, Justice, and Revolution: An Anthology of Japanese Proletarian Literature, The University of Chicago Press, 2016)
‘At the Edge of the Wood’ by Masatsugu Ono, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter (Published in Keshiki: New Voices from Japan, Strangers Press, 2017)
‘Spider Lilies’ by Hiroko Oyamada, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter (‘Spider Lilies’ first published in English in 2014 in Granta 127: Japan, April 2014 and available for subscribers to read online here)
‘In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom’ by Ango Sakaguchi, translated by Jay Rubin (First published 1947. included in The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories, Oxford University Press, 2010)
‘Where Europe Begins’ by Yōko Tawada, translated by Susan Bernofsky (included in The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature (Abridged), Columbia University Press, 2011)
‘Time’ by Riichi Yokomitsu, translated by Donald Keene (included in Modern Japanese Literature: From 1868 to the Present Day, Grove Press, 1956).
https://apersonalanthology.com