Mr. Mōri and Other Writings

An elderly English teacher enters a classroom in a faded morning coat and a flamboyant purple tie. His pupils laugh at his hesitant Japanese and dismiss his character. Years later, a chance encounter in a café makes one former pupil reconsider everything he believed about the man.

Mr. Mōri is joined by six complete writings that bring Akutagawa’s sharp observation to grief, memory, public life, and the uneasy boundaries of the self. Mother follows two women with the same name through an encounter in Shanghai and the conflicting emotions of bereavement. After Death turns jealousy and affection into a disquieting dream.

Brief Yokosuka scenes transform ordinary objects into strange images. A locomotive prompts reflection on artistic temperament; the grave of the critic Chogyū revisits a youthful judgment. Three Days of Floodwater records students’ relief work with sympathy, bustle, and humor.