The Setting Sun

“Since about the time of Osamu Dazai’s death in 1948, the publishing firm of Tuttle has been instrumental in bringing translations of Japanese literature and culture into forms suitable for the English-speaking audience.” —ICv2“This fresh translation of Dazai’s somber 1947 novel is a welcome addition as the author undergoes a BookTok renaissance. […] Carpenter conveys Dazai’s discordant voices while sweeping away some of the rhetorical cobwebs of Donald Keene’s 1956 translation and its dated introduction, making this the definitive edition of an epochal classic of postwar Japan for a new generation.” —Library Journal“Based on the Japanese novel of the same name, The Setting Sun follows a privileged young woman, Kazuko, as her world falls apart after World War II. With no money, a sickly mother, and a drug-dependent brother to deal with, Kazuko struggles to find reasons to stay positive. An unhealthy romantic relationship offers a solution, but only if she is willing to sacrifice her principles to take advantage of it.” —Book Riot

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 Centre 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.