The Caged Birds and Other Stories

A writer visits the copper mine managed by his older brother and listens to caged birds while dismissed workers prepare to leave. After an earthquake, another household gathers over tea, arguing about danger, family obligations, and whether love means sharing a fate or helping someone escape.

In these five stories, small domestic scenes reveal lives held together by affection and strained by dependence. A young woman’s sister quietly seeks help against a celebrated writer’s cruelty. A new companion tries to love two children equally while an older daughter lies ill and lonely. At an old inn, a traveling writer finds temporary peace, lively friends, and an insinuation prompted by a fallen vase.

Tokuda Shūsei follows the uncertain movements of thought without forcing his characters into simple judgments. Written between 1923 and 1926, these stories observe work, aging, bereavement, changing households, and the aftermath of disaster with patient attention to ordinary speech and feeling. This complete English collection preserves all five works, their dated publication lines, and the distinctions between memory and present experience, with brief explanatory notes.