A Basket of Light and Other Prose and Poems

A country girl gathers moonlight in a basket while a troupe of traveling performers mistakes her for a fool. Two children cross a freezing mountain pass and find a single violet. A shy older boy repairs a broken sandal, then leads his friend into a cave whose darkness tests them both.

Around these stories, eight Japanese writers offer sharply different ways of seeing. Uemura Shōen defends the art of painting beautiful women; Wakayama Bokusui gives children singing birds, rain, snow, and mischievous rabbits. Miyazawa Kenji finds nourishment in wind and morning light.

Yokomitsu Riichi examines marriage and the tricks of thought, Tominaga Tarō brings a restless modern city into verse, and Miyamoto Yuriko considers what makes a theatrical character live. With Tsuchida Kōhei’s childhood stories and Izumi Kyōka’s uncanny moonlit tale, this varied collection follows tender observation into unease and wonder. All fourteen supplied works are translated in full, with verse layouts, individual authors, and brief explanatory notes.