A Sketch and Other Stories

Hasebe throws himself into billiards, gardening, and strange experiments with a fervor that leaves work and responsibility far behind. A wandering conjurer seeks a gift that will astonish the world, only to find himself caught by the desires of his audience. In another story, a geisha’s clear understanding of her profession meets a man’s troubled longing for redemption.

A Sketch and Other Stories brings together four complete works by Toyoshima Yoshio: A Sketch, The Conjurer, Integrity, and Moonlight. Their settings range from offices and schoolrooms to a fabulous Persia, private entertainment rooms, and a café in the small hours. Humor and unease accompany intimate observations of pride, self-deception, and the wishes people can scarcely explain.

Toyoshima Yoshio (1890–1955) wrote fiction for adults and children as well as essays and translations. These stories appeared in Japanese periodicals between 1923 and 1929.