Volkov the Partisan and Other Writings

A partisan flees into a Russian village pursued by Japanese soldiers. The soldiers’ hunger for loot, the peasants’ anger, and an officer’s ambitions turn the encounter into a catastrophe. In another snowy landscape, hired sledge drivers discover what their labor is being used for, while exhausted enlisted men begin to question the war they are ordered to fight.

These two stories of the Siberian intervention are joined by “Shōdoshima,” an essay about the author’s farming family. Away from the celebrated scenery that attracts tourists, generations of labor bring little relief, and a conversation between father and son measures hope against experience.

Kuroshima Denji’s writing is unsparing about violence, hierarchy, and exploitation, yet attentive to ordinary people’s conflicting desires. This new English translation includes all three supplied works, preserves the original censorship marks, and provides concise notes on selected names, military references, and measures. AI-assisted translation.