Troubled Waters by Ichiyo Higuchi

Troubled Waters by Ichiyo Higuchi

'A pleasure to read' Mieko Kawakami

'Subtle, precise and deft' Lucy Caldwell

'Remarkable and devastating' Senaa Ahmad

Ichiyo Higuchi, Japan's first professional female author, wrote about daily life with unprecedented intimacy and honesty. This new translation of her finest stories showcases the profound sensitivity, lyrical eye and classical elegance of a revered Japanese writer.

Vividly evoking the colourful festivals and salty street banter of Tokyo's turn-of-the-century red-light district, delicately eliciting its inhabitants' quiet yearning and regret, Higuchi introduces us to children losing their innocence, working-class women losing their livelihoods, and teahouse courtesans losing their hearts. In her clear-eyed vision of the world, longing and memory are what save us.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.

Translated by Bryan Karetnyk.

Ichiyo Higuchi (1872-1896) was born into a prosperous family whose fortunes declined sharply over the course of her childhood. After the deaths of her father and brother, she moved with her mother and sisters to a poor Tokyo neighbourhood adjacent to the Yoshiwara pleasure district. In an effort to shore up the family finances, Higuchi began publishing her short stories, which quickly earned her a reputation as a major new writer. Over a brief period she wrote some twenty-one stories, thousands of poems and an extensive diary. She died of tuberculosis shortly after the beginning of this brilliant literary career, aged only twenty-four. From 2004 to 2024 her face appeared on Japan's 5,000-yen note.

Bryan Karetnyk is a British writer and translator. His translations for Pushkin Press include works by Gaito Gazdanov, Irina Odoevtseva, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki and Ryunosuke Akutagawa. He is also the editor of the Penguin Classics anthology Russian Émigré Short Stories from Bunin to Yanovsky.

She depicts, in superb prose, the brilliant innocence of children and the customs of the old part of Tokyo.. a pleasure to read -- Mieko Kawakami * Guardian *

Ichiyo Higuchi (1872-1896) was born into a prosperous family whose fortunes declined sharply over the course of her childhood. After the deaths of her father and brother, she and her mother and sisters moved to a house in a poor Tokyo neighbourhood adjacent to the Yoshiwara pleasure district, and survived by running a small shop and taking in laundry. In an effort to shore up the family finances, Higuchi began publishing her short stories, which quickly earned her a reputation as a major new writer. Over a brief period she wrote some two dozen stories, thousands of poems and an extensive diary, drawing inspiration from her life among Tokyo's working classes, her family's misfortunes, and her disappointed love for an older writer. She died of tuberculosis shortly after the beginning of this brilliant literary career, aged only twenty-four.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781805332725
ISBN 10	1805332724
Title	Troubled Waters
Author	Ichiyo Higuchi
Series	Pushkin Press Classics Ser
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Pushkin Press
Year published	2026-05-26
Number of pages	208
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.