Whirlwind and Other Writings

A hungry traveler watches a small whirlwind rise from a dusty road. A painter explains why the eyes make a face come alive. An old man in a mountain hut finds comfort in a heavenly child, while writers remember the friends and teachers whose work changed their lives.

Whirlwind and Other Writings gathers fourteen complete pieces by nine Japanese authors, first published from 1905 to 1923. Uemura Shōen reflects on painting, Susukida Kyūkin turns temple visits into meditations on time and desire, and Taneda Santōka considers sensation, haiku, and symbolic expression. The longer memorials by Kuwabara Jitsuzō and Shimazaki Tōson portray a historian’s relentless study and a poet’s brilliant, troubled life.

Hagiwara Sakutarō’s warm portrait of Kitahara Hakushū, Miyamoto Yuriko’s springtime Nara, Tanaka Kōtarō’s preface to strange tales, and Tsuchida Kōhei’s quiet story complete the collection. These voices move between scholarship and intimacy, artistic argument and remembered landscape. This new English translation retains each writer’s perspective, with individual credits, brief explanatory notes, and publication details.