The Setting Sun: A New Translation

＂Dazai’s best novel [...] focusing on a woman forced to deal with the consequences of heedless, Dazai-like behavior＂ --The New York Times

A completely new translation of one of Osamu Dazai’s best-loved novels, by award-winning translator, Juliet Winters Carpenter.

The Setting Sun tells the story of Kazuko, a strong-willed young woman from an aristocratic family that has fallen into poverty since the war. The book follows Kazuko’s journey as she and her family struggle to adapt to the harsh new conditions of a Japan destroyed by American fire-bombings. In addition to having to move from the city to the countryside, where she has to work in the fields to support her family, she has to deal with a divorce, her mother’s illness, and the return of her drug-addicted brother from the army.

An inspiring portrait of one woman’s determination to survive in a society in the grip of a social and moral crisis, this classic work will appeal to those with an interest in modern Japanese literature as well as to those familiar with Osamu Dazai from the popular manga and anime series Bungo Stray Dogs, where he is the lead character.

Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) was the pen name of Shuji Tsushima, the tenth of eleven children born to a wealthy landowner and politician in the far north of Japan. Dazai studied French literature at the University of Tokyo, but never received a degree. He first attracted attention in 1933 when magazines began to publish his work. Between 1930 and 1937, he made three suicide attempts, a subject he deals with in many of his short stories. Despite his troubled life and rebellious spirit, Dazai wrote in simple and colloquial style, conveying his personal torments through literature. Dazai’s life ended early in a double suicide with a married lover.

Juliet Winters Carpenter is an American translator of modern Japanese literature. She studied Japanese literature at the University of Michigan and the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo. After completing her studies, she returned to Japan where she became involved in translation and teaching. She is professor emeritus at Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto and has received numerous awards for her translation work including the 2019-2020 William F. Sibley Memorial Award for Japanese Translation for Mizumura Minae’s An I-Novel and the 2021-2022 Lindsey and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize for a lifetime of achievement as a translator of modern Japanese literature.