The Setting Sun

This book is a completely new translation of Dazai's classic novel, considered by many to be his masterpiece. Set in the aftermath of World War II, the story opens as Kazuko and her mother flee the devastated capital to their country home. Once wealthy, they have now lost everything and Kazuko has to work in the fields while looking after her sick mother. She is also dealing with the stigma of a recent divorce and the trauma of giving birth to a stillborn child.

Things take a turn for the better when Kazuko's brother Naoji returns from the battlefields in the Pacific, but it soon transpires that he is addicted to opium. Kazuko finds solace in a love affair with a novelist, although he turns out to be an alcoholic and incapable of sustaining a relationship. When Kazuko falls pregnant, she vows to raise the child alone, and moves confidently forward, finally liberated from outdated notions of morality.

The works of Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) have seen a huge surge in popularity thanks to the success of the manga and film series Bungo Stray Dogs, whose protagonist is a detective named Osamu Dazai, closely based on the real-life author. Fans of the series have turned to the writings of the real Dazai, whose themes of alienation and the split between inner and outer appearances resonate strongly with young readers today and have inspired generations of modern Japanese authors.

'Dazai's best novel […] the story focuses on a woman forced to deal with the consequences of heedless, Dazai-like behavior' – The New York Times

About the Author

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.

About the Translator

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.