Short Story Highlight: “A to Z Theory” By Toh EnJoe (Japan)

Strange Horizons have published A to Z Theory by Japanese author Toh EnJoe, Translated from the Japanese by Terry Gallagher. The story is part of the book is Self-Reference ENGINE by EnJoe, published by Haikasoru. The Aharonov-Bohm-Curry-Davidson-Eigen-Feigenbaum-Germann-Hamilton-Israel-Jacobson-Kauffman-Lindenbaum-Milnor-Novak-Oppenheimer-Packard-Q-Riemann-Stokes-Tirelson-Ulam-Varadhan-Watts-Xavier-Y.S.-Zurek Theorem—called the A to Z Theorem for short—was, for a brief period about three centuries ago, in some sense the...

Yoko Ogawa’s Revenge!

Released today in the States is Japanese author Yoko Ogawa's new collection, Revenge - check out the blurb - and the trailer - below! Sinister forces collide---and unite a host of desperate characters---in this eerie cycle of interwoven tales from Yoko Ogawa, the critically acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor. An aspiring writer moves...

Recommendation: Death Sentences by Kawamata Chiaki

I recently received a review copy of Japanese author Kawamata Chiaki's classic 1984 novel, Death Sentences, translated by Thomas Lamarre and Kazuko Y. Behrens and published by the University of Minnesota Press. I've been raving about this book on Twitter recently. It's absolutely fantastic - a mixture of Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and Surrealism: the story of a...

2012 Seiun nominees announced

From Science Fiction Awards Watch, here are the 2012 Seiun nominees: Japanese Novel Tengoku to Chikoku Yakusoku no Hakobune (Ark of Promises) Kanzennaru Binagaryuu no Hi Hikari o Wasureta Sei de (Star of Forgotten Light) Kitsune no Tsuki (Fox Moon) Genocide Japanese Short Story “Space Kinyuudou” “Ushinawareta Wakusei no Isan” (“Legacy of the Lost Planet”)...

The Future is… Japanese!

Nick Mamatas has announced the table of contents for new anthology The Future Is Japanese, published by Haikasoru, and collecting brand-new SF stories from a mix of Japanese and foreign writers. Table of Contents: “Mono No Aware” by Ken Liu “The Sound of Breaking Up” by Felicity Savage “Chitai Heiki Koronbīn” by David Moles “The...

Original Content: Interview with Sayuri Ueda, author of The Cage of Zeus (Haikasoru)

We've been offering original content throughout this relaunch week: today, Charles Tan interviews Japanese author Sayuri Ueda, whose novel The Cage of Zeus is published by Haikasoru (translated by Takami Nieda). The Rounds are humans with the sex organs of both genders. Artificially created to test the limits of the human body in space, they...

Top Ten Japanese SF Novels

Over at SFWA, Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington list, and comment on, the list of all-time best Japanese SF, as voted on by readers of Japan's SF Magazine in 2006. 1. Hyakuoku no hiru to senoku no yoru  (Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights) by Ryu Mitsuse (1967) An epic, cosmic adventure in the manner of...

Monday Original Content: Brittain Barber reviews Ogawa Issui’s The Lord of the Sands of Time

The Lord of the Sands of Time Ogawa Issui  Reviewed by Brittain Barber I am going to go ahead and assume that no readers out there are currently wondering what would happen if aliens invaded ancient Japan, or how time traveling cyborgs would fight them off. Even if the cyborgs had been skipping through time...

2011 Seiun Award Winners

Locus reports on the 2011 Seiun Award winners: Winners of the 2011 Seiun Awards, the Japanese equivalent to the Hugos, were announced at Donbura Con L, the 50th Japanese Science Fiction Convention, Sept 3-4, 2011. Japanese Novel: Kyonen wa Ii Toshi ni Narudarou (Last Year Was Probably a Good Year), Yamamoto Hiroshi Japanese Short Story: “Arisuma-oo no Aishita...

Locus Reports Death of Japanese Author Sakyo Komatsu (1931-2011)

From Locus: Japanese science fiction writer, screenwriter, and essayist “Sakyo Komatsu”, (Minoru Komatsu), 80, died in Osaka of pneumonia on Tuesday July 26, 2011. Komatsu authored the disaster novel Japan Sinks! (1973), which inspired two live-action movies and a television series. The Komatsu Sakyo Anime Gekijo anime TV series was also inspired by his stories. Komatsu’s work has sold...