The Taxidermy Workshop and Other Writings

A man enters a taxidermy workshop and finds himself drawn into a strange, feverish world of animals, music, and memory. A poor farmer describes frozen paddies, summer heat, and the anger that leads his village to organize. In stories of the mighty wrestler Tanikaze, strength is measured against pride, cleverness, and affection.

The Taxidermy Workshop and Other Writings gathers seventeen pieces by eleven Japanese authors. Classical prefaces and investigations of folk custom stand beside modern prose poems and spoken ghost stories. Haneda Tōru remembers a disappearing Kyoto neighborhood and observes an imperial ceremony. Iwamura Tōru recounts uncanny sounds, a distant voice, and a mortuary bell. Sakai Toshihiko closes with a comic dialogue about a grand postcard campaign.

Each work retains its distinct voice, from reflective argument and lyric intensity to conversational humor. Short notes explain historical references, traditional measures, uncertain names, and contradictions in the original texts. Verse preserves the supplied line and stanza structure, and the anthology includes both original prefaces without inventing their absent continuations.