Troubled Waters and Other Writings

In a small Tokyo drinking house, O-Riki's bold talk and easy laughter hide a past she can scarcely bear to tell. A prosperous visitor, a ruined former customer and a struggling family are drawn into a story whose last voices offer rumour in place of certainty. That is Troubled Waters (Nigorie, 1895), the masterpiece of Higuchi Ichiyo (1872-1896), who died at twenty-four.

Alongside it: Purple Beneath, An Autumn Kimono, Idle Words and Drops from a Boat Pole. Fiction, seasonal sketches, humour, verse and literary reflection on livelihood, reputation and a writer's determination to make room for thought. A complete new translation from the Japanese, with a translator's note, 60 endnotes and source information. AI-assisted translation.