The Rental House at Number 132 and Other Plays and Essays

A house-hunting couple finds an unusually accommodating landlord whose interest in his tenants becomes increasingly unsettling. The Rental House at Number 132 follows his changing offers and intrusive questions through two scenes. In An Autumn Dialogue, flowers, wind, and a snake speak in the garden of a summer villa, while a young woman and her anxious nurse inhabit different understandings of what they hear.

Seeing the Red Sky turns to an ill father, the expense of a journey home, and a family divided over care and obligation. An unexpected inquiry from an employer makes the household’s uncertainty still more painful. Kishida Kunio lets conversation, silence, and ordinary actions carry these conflicts toward their sharply drawn endings.

Four essays connect the plays with theatrical practice and criticism. Kishida explains his interest in the emptiness of words, reflects on rehearsal and actors’ spontaneity, defends the dignity of minor parts, and assesses the Tsukiji Little Theater’s opening performances. Complete translations of all seven supplied works retain their dialogue and arguments, with concise notes on names, historical terms, and textual details.