A Picture of Lotus Flowers and Other Writings

A lotus painting opens onto a neglected garden, a dog, and a solitary flower. Mosquito smoke calls up memories of summer; a fly becomes the object of an unsettling pursuit. Old books lead a writer back through family history and the hopes of a changing Japan.

These nine complete works by Miyamoto Yuriko range across intimate observation, fiction, and commentary. In “The City,” Russian emigrants share cramped Tokyo rooms, arguments, music, and uncertain futures, while their landlady forms a private plan. Elsewhere the writer considers Lady Byakuren’s choices, records what she saw of Ainu life, responds to another woman’s fiction, and describes her own tastes and working habits.

First published between 1918 and 1927, the collection retains each work’s voice, divisions, quoted letter and song, and complete ending. Reader notes explain historical references and identify period assumptions, provisional names, and unusual source wording. AI-assisted translation, prepared and edited by Valentin Sarić.