Parting and Other Stories

A wandering flautist, a young artist and a visitor from a vanished age confront the stories they tell themselves about love and loss. Four complete works by Kunikida Doppo move from intimate confession to a starlit fable of freedom.

A wandering flautist tells the story of the women he feared—and the people he betrayed. A young artist, preparing to leave Japan, watches red maple leaves drift towards a stranger. In a fogbound city, an old revolutionary returns as a shadow of his former self. Above a quiet garden, two stars fall in love.

First published between 1896 and 1903, these works by Kunikida Doppo explore the uneasy border between love and self-deception. Intimate confession gives way to autumn landscapes, the pain of disappointed hopes and a luminous fable of freedom.