Women authors have played an important role in Japanese literature for centuries, for example Murasaki Shikibu who wrote "The Tale of Genji" over 1000 years ago, which is considered to be the world's first novel. The last few decades have seen compelling works by authors such as Banana Yoshimoto, Yoko Ogawa, and Mieko Kawakami.
A few decades earlier we find another group of influential women authors, with Hayashi Fumiko--said to be one of the most important twentieth-century Japanese woman authors--a key representative of this group. Living a life of poverty until her breakthrough as an author, Hayashi Fumiko was known for her realistic depictions of urban working-class life, especially impoverished women. Her works typically address themes such as fate, troubled relationships, and the repercussions of war.
These nine stories are all connected in some way by the overarching theme of human relationships. Stories from a variety of genres are included: a tale of a woman's gradual downfall in the big city, a couple's struggle to find happiness, a fairy tale about an estranged crane family, a comical look at a traveler enamored by a maid, and a man wandering through the remnants of post-war Tokyo.
