Search Worlds Without End

"...the stories you'll find collected here will broaden your view of what is possible or imaginable, provoking unusual - and sometimes uncomfortable - thoughts. That is as it should be."
- David Brin, Preface

The first book in an ongoing series, Speculative Japan presents a selection of outstanding works of Japanese science fiction and fantasy in English translation... and a glimpse into new worlds of the imagination. It was first released at Nippon 2007, the 65th World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, Japan, and then made available worldwide.

Japanese fiction has assumed a position of significance in many genres of world literature as it continues to chart its own creative course. Whereas science fiction in the English-speaking world developed gradually over a period of evolutionary change in style and content, SF in Japan took off from a very different starting line. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese SF writers worked to combine their own thousand-year-old literary tradition with a flood of Western SF and other fiction. Contemporary Japanese SF thus began in a jumble of ideas and periods, and ultimately propelled Japanese authors into a quantum leap of development, rather than a steady process of evolution.

The result has been phenomenal. As new authors developed in this exotic environment, they invented new ways to view SF, and used the genre to form new images of themselves and their culture. The time is long overdue to present the work of Japanese science fiction and fantasy writers to the world in English. We hope this shared world of speculative fiction produces a creative feedback relationship, which can only encourage new and more stimulating visions of tomorrow.

Table of Contents:
• Judy-san - Judith Merril, 1923-1997 • essay by Grania Davis
• Preface • essay by David Brin
• Introduction: Phase Shifting • essay by Gene Van Troyer
• "Collective Reason": A Proposal • essay by Shibano Takumi
• The Savage Mouth • short story by Komatsu Sakyo
• A Time for Revolution • short story by Kazumasa Hirai
• Hikari • short story by Kono Tensei
• I'll Get Rid of Your Discontent • short story by Mayumura Taku
• The Road to the Sea • short story by Ishikawa Takashi
• Where Do the Birds Fly Now? • short story by Yamano Koichi
• Another Prince of Wales • short story by Toyota Aritsune
• The Flower's Life Is Short • short story by Fukushima Masami
• Girl • short story by Ohara Mariko
• Standing Woman • (1974) • short story by Tsutsui Yasutaka
• Cardboard Box • short story by Hanmura Ryo
• The Legend of the Paper Spaceship • short story by Yano Tetsu
• Reiko's Universe Box • short story by Kajio Shinji
• Mogera Wogura • short story by Hiromi Kawakami
• Adrenalin • short story by Yoshimasu Gozo
• Afterword: From Vertical to Horizontal • essay by Asakura Hisashi
• Editor's Afterword: "Translator As Hero" • essay by Grania Davis

The second book of the groundbreaking Speculative Japan series, this volume presents a selection of never-before published translations covering a broad range of speculative fiction... from gritty SF to soft fantasy, it offers glimpses into the diverse and rich imaginations of modern Japanese authors.

"...the stories you'll find collected here will broaden your view of what is possible or imaginable, provoking unusual -- and sometimes uncomfortable -- thoughts. That is as it should be."
--David Brin, preface to Speculative Japan Volume 1

While the first volume in the Speculative Japan series concentrated on outstanding works from authors positioned solidly in the SF field, we have deliberately widened the scope of this volume to include stories that are a bit outside the usual definition of "science fiction", choosing instead to concentrate on "speculative" in an attempt to explore a bit of the immense universe of the Japanese imagination. Most of these authors are appearing in English for the first time, and are sure to open up new dimensions in reading pleasure in a variety of genres.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Darrell Schweitzer
• A Gift from the Sea - short fiction by Awa Naoko
• Freud - short fiction by To Enjo
• The Whale That Sang on the Milky Way Network - short fiction by Ohara Mariko
• Old Vohl's Planet - short fiction by Ogawa Issui
• The Big Drawer - short fiction by Riku Onda
• Emanon: A Reminiscence - short fiction by Kajio Shinji
• Midst the Mist - short fiction by Koji Kitakuni
• The Man Who Watched the Sea - short fiction by Kobayashi Yasumi
• Melk's Golden Acres - short fiction by Takagi Nobuko
• Q-Cruiser Basilisk - short fiction by Tani Koshu
• Mountaintop Symphony - short fiction by Nakai Norio
• Open Up - short fiction by Hori Akira
• Perspective - short fiction by Yamao Yuko

The third book of our well-received Speculative Japan series, this volume brings more outstanding authors from the Japanese archipelago to English, with a selection of never-before published stories covering a broad range of speculative fiction... from gritty SF to dark fiction, enjoy a whole new dimension of the imagination!

Nominated for the 2012 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards!

"...the stories you'll find collected here will broaden your view of what is possible or imaginable, provoking unusual -- and sometimes uncomfortable -- thoughts. That is as it should be."
--David Brin, preface to Speculative Japan Volume 1

This, the third volume of the Speculative Japan series, introduces a few touches of horror, gently flavoring the mix to give an extra tang to the usual shot of science fiction. And, as always, all of the stories and many of the authors are coming to English for the first time.

Enjoy!

Table of Contents:
• Preface • essay by Edward Lipsett
• Introduction • essay by Darrell Schweitzer
• A White Camellia in a Vase • short story by Ken Asamatsu
• Heart of Darkness • short story by Ayatsuji Yukito
• Angel French • short story by Masaya Fujita
• A Piece of Butterfly's Wing • short story by Kamon Nanami
• The Finish Line • novelette by Matsuzaki Yuri
• Sunset • short story by Minagawa Hiroko
• It's All Thanks to Saijo Hideki • short story by Natsuko Mori
• To the Blue Star • short story by Ogawa Issui
• The Warning • novelette by Riku Onda
• Green Tea Ice Cream • novelette by Mark Schultz
• Five Sisters • novelette by Suga Hiroe
• Invisible • novelette by Tachihara Toya
• Lest You Remember • novelette by Takano Fumio
• Fin and Claw • novelette by Sayuri Ueda
• Silver Bullet • novelette by Yamada Masaki

The fourth book of our well-received Speculative Japan series introduces new talents from Japan, and fresh new stories by some of the outstanding authors we've introduced to the English-speaking world already. From deep in the mountains of the Japanese countryside to the plains of frigid Pluto, from a warm South Pacific isle to a freezing mountainside, to Mars or inside a lonely psyche... a positive smorgasbord of speculative enjoyment, in English for the first time!

"...the stories you'll find collected here will broaden your view of what is possible or imaginable, provoking unusual -- and sometimes uncomfortable -- thoughts. That is as it should be."
- David Brin, preface to Speculative Japan Volume 1

Table of Contents:
• Genesis: Dark Birth—Shining Death • short fiction by Asamatsu Ken
• The Fish in Chryse • novella by Azuma Hiroki
• The Sparrow Valley • short fiction by Hanmura Ryo
• Encounters on the Solar Wind • short fiction by Hori Akira
• Last Words • short fiction by Inoue Masahiko
• Pearls for Mia • short fiction by Kajio Shinji
• Prototype No. 3 • short fiction by Kobayashi Yasumi
• Dancing Babylon • short fiction by Makino Osamu
• The Ebb and Flow of the Aurora Sea • short fiction by Mase Junko
• Morceaux • short fiction by Minagawa Hiroko
• Nightfall • short fiction by Suzuki Miekichi
• Communion • short fiction by Takahashi Takako
• The Burning House • short fiction by Tsukimura Ryoe
• Vermilion • novelette by Ueda Sayuri
• Matsui Seimon, on the Case • short fiction by Yamada Masaki