Ranmaru’s Picture and Other Stories

A boy determined to avoid a schoolmate’s transfer pictures suddenly longs for the image of Mori Ranmaru. A remembered children’s battle unsettles an adult narrator. Fireflies brighten a girl’s room as she wonders how to write to an old friend.

In Cicadas, an aspiring writer’s domestic quarrels and humiliating reunion expose the distance between artistic ambition and everyday life. The Watermelon Eater follows two friends through an orange harvest and nights of watching, writing, and ingenious evasion, ending with a startling reversal of who observes whom.

These five complete works, first published between 1919 and 1927, bring together Makino Shin’ichi’s childhood scenes, comic self-exposure, and restless experiments with literary perspective. Original endings, quoted songs, authorial notes, and emphasis remain intact. This English edition includes notes on names, traditional performance, and textual peculiarities.