Table of Contents
VOLUME 5 | 2024

This Precious Opportunity
a story by Aoko Matsuda
translated by Polly Barton

Tamba-Sasayama
a story by Sachiko Kishimoto
translated by Margaret Mitsutani

White Dog, Black Crow
an excerpt from The Holy Family by Hideo Furukawa
translated by Kendall Heitzman

A Phone Call from Emily Dickinson
a poem by Inuo Taguchi
translated by Leo Elizabeth Takada

Bird’s-Eye View
a chapter from Sheltering from Reality by Kyōhei Sakaguchi
translated by Sam Malissa

After two years in a first-floor apartment, the tenant realizes that a certain cat would pass along the street in front at precisely the same time each day; following the cat, the tenant sees it disappear into a vacant house; when the tenant first moved into the apartment, the house wasn’t vacant
a story by Tomoka Shibasaki
translated by Polly Barton

Selections from
Communications from a Wandering Comet
five poems by Makoto Takayanagi
translated by Michael Emmerich

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Creatures: A Monkey’s Dozen

Cathedral
a story by Hiromi Kawakami
translated Ted Goossen

Bearman
a story by Natsuki Ikezawa
translated by Chris Corker

Other People’s Ghost Stories
a story by Kelly Link

The Heron
a selection from the novel Gretel and the Great War by Adam Ehrlich Sachs

Fish in Muddy Waters
graphic vignettes by Satoshi Kitamura

Four Poems
Sawako Nakayasu

The Q-Town Gazelle
a story by Kikuko Tsumura
translated by Polly Barton

Hildisvínis
a story by Hiromi Itō
translated by Jeffrey Angles

Four Modern Haiku Poets on Encounters with Creatures
selected and translated by Andrew Campana

A Bear’s Tale
a story by Laird Hunt

Discoveries
a story by Hiroko Oyamada
translated by David Boyd

To Abuse a Monster
a story by Kaori Fujino
translated by Laurel Taylor

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A Night in Anton’s Basement
a story by Midori Osaki
translated by Asa Yoneda and David Boyd

Utō: A Noh Play
from the modern Japanese translation by Seikō Itō
translated and with an introduction by Jay Rubin

True Story and They Say
two poems by Eleni Sikelianos

An Empty Shell
a story by Ichiyō Higuchi
translated by Hitomi Yoshio

Remembering Seiji Ozawa
an essay by Haruki Murakami
translated by Ted Goossen

Letter to the Silent Book Club
by Eric McCormack

What do you do when a straightforward translation sounds weird?
Remarks from twelve translators

Jeffrey Angles on peculiar poetry and lucid prose
Sonja Arntzen on the power of names
David Boyd in defense of weirdness
Ted Goossen on translating onomatopoeias
Kendall Heitzman on discovering what a thing meant
Sam Malissa on putting the pieces together
Jay Rubin on the freedom to improvise
Mariko Saitō on Japanese loanwords in Korean
Motoyuki Shibata on “you”
Asa Yoneda on rooms to dream in
Hitomi Yoshio on titles and cover designs
Anna Zielinska-Elliott on the temptation to add

Contributors

Credits

VOLUME 4 | 2023
MONKEY

Contents

Yoshiwara Dreaming
an excerpt from a novel by Hiromi Kawakami
translated by Ted Goossen

Selections from For the Transcription of Interstellar Music
five poems by Makoto Takayanagi
translated by Michael Emmerich

Flight
a story by Hiroko Oyamada
translated by David Boyd

Time as a Perpetual Motion Machine
a story by Kevin Brockmeier

The Zombie
a story by Haruki Murakami
translated by Jeffrey Angles

The Day Before
a poem by Mieko Kawakami
translated by Hitomi Yoshio

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Music: A Monkey’s Dozen

Angels and Electricity
a story by Aoko Matsuda
translated by Polly Barton

Heavensound
a chapter from an epic poem by Hideo Furukawa
translated and with an  introduction by Kendall Heitzman

Transformers: Pianos
a story by Kaori Fujino
translated by Laurel Taylor

The Music of the Koto
a story by Ichiyō Higuchi
translated by Hitomi Yoshio

Five Parallel Lines
graphic vignettes by Satoshi Kitamura

Eleven One-Second Stories
microfiction by Taruho Inagaki
translated and with an introduction by Jeffrey Angles

Listen for the Perfume
a chapter from a novel by Kyōhei Sakaguchi
translated by Sam Malissa

Takasago: A Noh Play
from the modern Japanese translation by Seikō Itō
translated and with an introduction by Jay Rubin

Eight Modern Haiku Poets on Music
selected and translated by Andrew Campana

A man opens a cafe in a shopping arcade, dreaming that it will become like the jazz cafe he used to frequent as a student; the cafe is open for nearly thirty years, then closes down
a story by Tomoka Shibasaki
translated by Polly Barton

Swifts, Swallows
a story by Stuart Dybek

Cricket Girl
a story by Midori Osaki
translated by Asa Yoneda and David Boyd

What kind of old person would you like to be?
Responses from eight poets

Just Like Her by Mimi Hachikai, translated by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda
Rain Clouds by Toshiko Hirata, translated by Chris Corker
Someday, My Annihilation Will Come by Iko Idogawa, translated by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda
Reach Out Those Young Limbs by Mizuki Misumi, translated by Chris Corker
Ant as a Glass of Water by Sawako Nakayasu
I Cook, and Eat by Sayaka Ōsaki, translated by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda
For Yoko Sensei by Shii, translated by Chris Corker
Dead Load by Rob Winger

What role, if any, does music play in your translation process?
Remarks from nine translators
Jeffrey Angles on musical alchemy
Polly Barton on translating in silence
David Boyd on feeling it
Anna Elliott on creating another melody
Ted Goossen on Dylan and translation
Sachiko Kishimoto on having a brain like a one-room apartment
Jay Rubin on the music of translating
Asa Yoneda on tour
Hitomi Yoshio on playing from a score

Contributors

Credits

VOLUME 3 | 2022
MONKEY

Contents

Upon Seeing the Evening Sky
an
essay by Mieko Kawakami

translated by Hitomi Yoshio

The Graffiti

a prose poem by Makoto Takayanagi

translated by Michael Emmerich

Tadanori: A Noh Play

from the modern Japanese translation by Seikō Itō

translated and with an introduction by Jay Rubin

Someday with the One, the Perfect Bag

a story by Kaori Fujino

translated by Laurel Taylor

I Don’t Remember

an essay by Sachiko Kishimoto

translated by Ted Goossen

2020 Triptych

microfictions by Matthew Sharpe

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Crossings: A Monkey’s Dozen

Walking

a story by Midori Osaki

translated by Asa Yoneda and David Boyd 

The Little Woods in Fukushima

a chapter from Zero F by Hideo Furukawa

translated by Kendall Heitzman

The Tale of Malig the Navigator

a story by Kyōhei Sakaguchi

translated by Sam Malissa

Four Modern Poets on Encounters with Nature 

selected and translated by Andrew Campana

The Kingdom

a story by Kikuko Tsumura

translated by Polly Barton

The Cave

a graphic story by Satoshi Kitamura

Lessons

a poem and a story by Stuart Dybek

Creta Kano

a story by Haruki Murakami

translated by Gitte Hansen

Selections from Only Yesterday

poems by Mutsuo Takahashi

translated and with an introduction by Jeffrey Angles

Lost and Found Babies

a story by Eli K.P. William

A Father and His Back

a story by Aoko Matsuda

translated by Polly Barton

With the Archaeopteryx 
a poem by Keijirō Suga

translated by Chris Corker

Mysterious Deaths, The Formula, Electricians, Prohibitions

vignettes by Hiromi Kawakami

translated by Ted Goossen

One summer during a long rainy spell, student number one from class one and student number one from class two discover mushrooms growing in a flower bed next to a covered walkway at their school; two years after leaving school they bump into each other, but after that, ten years pass, twenty years pass, and they don’t meet again

a story by Tomoka Shibasaki

translated by Polly Barton

Turtles

a story by Hiroko Oyamada

translated by David Boyd

The City Bird

a story by Natsuko Kuroda

translated by Asa Yoneda

How do you convey voice?

Remarks from twelve translators

Jeffrey Angles on finding the author’s voice in English

Polly Barton on voice boxes

David Boyd on good vibrations

Anna Zielinska-Elliott on discerning a voice

Hideo Furukawa on voice in The Tale of the Heike

Ted Goossen on love or danger

Hiromi Kawakami on the impact of translating Tales of Ise

Sam Malissa on finding the voice through voicing

Aoko Matsuda on retaining humor 

Motoyuki Shibata on first person singular

Royall Tyler on finding the right idiom

Asa Yoneda on talking voice to voice

Contributors 

Credits

VOLUME 2 | 2021
MONKEY

Contents

Sea Horse
a story by Hiromi Kawakami
translated by Ted Goossen

A woman hears an announcement on the radio that war has broken out, relatives arrive at her house seeking refuge, when the war ends they leave, then a civil war breaks out
a story by Tomoka Shibasaki
translated by Polly Barton

The Overcoat
a graphic story by Satoshi Kitamura

Hell
a story by Kikuko Tsumura
translated by Polly Barton

Seeing
a poem by Mieko Kawakami
translated by Hitomi Yoshio

The Decline of the Aliens + Sheep After Sheep
from City of Ears by Hideo Furukawa
translated by Jordan A.Y. Smith

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Travel: A Monkey’s Dozen

The Dugong
a chapter from Takaoka’s Travels by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa
translated by David Boyd

Jogging in Southern Europe
an essay by Haruki Murakami
translated by Ted Goossen

Whale Leg
a story by Laird Hunt

Kurozuka: A Noh Play
from the modern Japanese translation by Seikō Itō
translated and with an introduction by Jay Rubin

The Trail
a story by Eric McCormack

Five Modern Poets on Travel
selected and translated by Andrew Campana

Itō Goes on a Road Trip, Making a Pilgrimage to Yuda Hot Springs
a chapter from The Thorn Puller by Hiromi Itō
translated by Jeffrey Angles

Toad
a story by Barry Yourgrau

Every Reading, Every Sound, Every Sight
a travel essay by Jun’ichi Konuma
translated by Sam Bett

My First Trip
essays by Mikako Brady, Hirokazu Koreeda, Miwa Nishikawa, Yui Tanizaki, and Utamaru
translated by Morgan Giles

A Report on Travel
a story by Brian Evenson

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Along the Embankment
a story by Hiroko Oyamada
translated by David Boyd

From the Northern Sea
a story by Yasunari Kawabata
translated by Michael Emmerich

The Lake
a story by Kyōhei Sakaguchi
translated by Sam Malissa

Cardboard Boxes and Their Uses
a story by Taki Monma
translated by Ted Goossen

Flying Squirrels
an excerpt from a novella by Yūko Tsushima
translated by Rose Bundy

The Most Boring Red on Earth
a story by Aoko Matsuda
translated by Polly Barton

I can’t translate this!
Remarks from twelve translators
Jeffrey Angles on natsukashii
Polly Barton on obasan and ojisan
Sam Bett on midori
Michael K. Bourdaghs on everyday words
David Boyd on mi
Anna Elliott on haa
Michael Emmerich on homophonic names
Ted Goossen on fuyukai
Sam Malissa on mimetic words
Jay Rubin on kokoro
Ginny Tapley Takemori on irasshaimase
Hitomi Yoshio on sentence endings

Contributors

Credits

VOLUME 1 | 2020
MONKEY

Contents

The Peach Itō Threw Rots, and She Becomes a Beast Once Again
a chapter from a novel by Hiromi Itō
translated by Jeffrey Angles

Good Stories Originate in the Caves of Antiquity
Haruki Murakami in conversation with Mieko Kawakami
translated by Ted Goossen

The Razor
a story by Naoya Shiga
with remarks by Hirokazu Koreeda
translated by Ted Goossen

Fujito: A Noh Play
from the modern Japanese translation by Seikō Itō
translated and with an introduction by Jay Rubin

The Visitor
a graphic narrative by Jon Klassen
text by Yōko Ogawa
translated by Lucy North

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Food: A Monkey’s Dozen

Something Sweet
a story by Hiroko Oyamada
translated by David Boyd

Dinner at Mine
an essay by Tomoka Shibasaki
translated by Polly Barton

Sushi
a story by Kanoko Okamoto
translated by David Boyd

The Heart of the Lunchbox
a graphic story by Satoshi Kitamura

Nori and Eggs for Breakfast
an essay by Kuniko Mukōda
translated by David Boyd

Forest of the Ronpa
a story by Kyōhei Sakaguchi
translated by Sam Malissa

Turtledoves
a story by Naoya Shiga
translated by Ted Goossen

Seven Modern Poets on Food
selected and translated by Andrew Campana

The Goose
a story by Barry Yourgrau

Misaki
a story by Sachiko Kishimoto
translated by Ted Goossen

Dissecting Misogyny: A Live Demo!
a story by Aoko Matsuda
translated by Polly Barton

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Counterfeiting García Márquez
a story by Hideo Furukawa
translated by Jordan A.Y. Smith

Simone + Reminiscing
vignettes by Hiromi Kawakami
translated by Ted Goossen

A Tired Town
a story by Steven Millhauser

Five Prose Poems by Makoto Takayanagi
translated by Michael Emmerich
Living on the Far Side of the Moon
The Head of an Albatross
Sambucus Sieboldiana’s Lament
People Who Live in Walls
Messages from Space

Finding Mother
an essay by Jeffrey Angles

Why hasn’t this been translated?
Remarks from nine translators
Jeffrey Angles on Seikō Itō’s Imagination Radio
Polly Barton on Kō Machida’s Confessions
Michael K. Bourdaghs on Tōson Shimazaki’s Spring
David Boyd on Yukio Mishima’s Lessons in Letters
Anna Elliott on Haruki Murakami’s Spider Monkey of the Night
Michael Emmerich on Fumiko Enchi’s That Which Takes Away the Luster of Vermillion
Ted Goossen on Yasutaka Tsutsui’s Professor Tadano of the Faculty of Literature
Lucy North on Reiko Matsuura’s The Day of the Funeral
Hitomi Yoshio on Midori Osaki’s Wandering in the Realm of the Seventh Sense

Contributors

Credits