The ”harvest” of the year 2023 is three children`s books (Troll: Oshiri tantei, The Butt Detective), a collection of stories from the Meiji-period (Sōseki Natsume), another collection of stories from Taishō/Shōwa period (Osamu Dazai) and two works of contemporary literature (Miri Yū and Emi Yagi). See details below.

Troll (Yōko Tanaka, illustr. Masahide Fukasawa): Mestarietsivä Peppunen. Mestarietsivä rakastuu ?! Translator: Mayu Saaritsa. Publisher: Nemo, Helsinki.
Japanese: Oshiri tantei. English: The Butt Detective.

Troll (Yōko Tanaka, illustr. Masahide Fukasawa): Mestarietsivä Peppunen. Translator: Mayu Saaritsa. Publisher: Nemo, Helsinki.
Japanese: Oshiri tantei. English: The Butt Detective.

Troll (Yōko Tanaka, illustr. Masahide Fukasawa): Mestarietsivä Peppunen. Sateenkaaritimantin tapaus.Translator: Mayu Saaritsa. Publisher: Nemo, Helsinki.
Japanese: Oshiri tantei. English: The Butt Detective.

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Osamu Dazai: Merenneito ja muita novelleja. Translator: Pekka Masonen. Publisher: Mala Fide, Tampere.

Until now Osamu Dazai had been known in Finland mostly by his two novels Shayō (The Setting Sun) and Ningen shikkaku (No Longer Human) while only few of his short stories had been translated. The unfair situation for this master of the genre was duly corrected by the present collection of 10 novels from the years 1939–1948 chosen by the translator Pekka Masonen.

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Miri Yū: Uenon asema. Translator: Raisa Porrasmaa. Publisher: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Sammakko, Turku. Japanese: JR Ueno eki kōenguchi, 2014. English: Tokyo Ueno Station, 2020, tr. by Morgan Giles.

The zainichi writer Miri Yū tells here the story of a homeless seasonal worker using his spirit after death as narrator. The work is at the same time tragic and beautiful, mixing social criticism and poetry. The result is deeply touching. Read more

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Emi Yagi: Tyhjyyspäiväkirja. Translator: Raisa Porrasmaa. Publisher: Otava, Helsinki. Japanese: Kūshin techō, 2020. English: Diary of a Void, 2022, tr. by David Boyd and Lucy North.

The first novel of Emi Yagi, editor of women´s magazine, deals with women´s position in Japanese work life in the framework of an absurd and entertaining plot. Read more

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Sōseki Natsume: Unta kymmenen yötä ja muita kertomuksia. Translator: Aleksi Järvelä. Publisher: Teos, Helsinki. Japanese: Yume jūya, 1908 and Eijitsu shōhin, 1909. English: Ten nights of dreams and Spring Miscellany.

Sōseki Natsume is one of the most important writers in Japan. He lived in the Meiji-period (1868–1916) when Japan´s modernization was the main driving force for the society. Sōseki was critical of this process, which is also seen in the stories now translated into Finnish. Read more