A collection of plays, essays, poetry, and reportage compiled by "the 20th-century's premier scholar of Japanese literature" (Slate).Modern Japanese Literatureis Donald Keene's critically acclaimed companion volume to his landmarkAnthology of Japanese Literature. Now considered the standard canon of modern Japanese writing translated into English,Modern Japanese Literatureincludes concise introductions to the writers, as well as a historical introduction by Professor Keene. Includes: "Growing Up" by Higuchi Ichiyō, a lyrical story of pre-adolescence in the nineties; Natsume Sōseki's story of "Botchan," an ill-starred and ineffectual Huck Finn; Nagai Kafū's "The River Sumida;" Yokomitsu Riitchi's Kafkaesque "Time;" Kawabata Yasunari's "The Mole;" "The Firefly Hunt;" a glimpse into Tanizaki Junichirō's masterpiece "Thin Snow;" and the postwar work of such writers as Dazai Osamu and Mishima Yukio.