Bullfight

Tsugami, the editor-in-chief of a newspaper in war-scarred Osaka, agrees to sponsor a bullfight.

For months this great gamble consumes him, making him as wary and combative as if he were in the ring himself. As he becomes ever more distant, his lover Sakiko is unsure if she would like to see him succeed or be destroyed.

As much a story of post-war Japan as it is about the country's unique form of bullfighting, this novella is a masterly exploration of hope, ambition, and despair. Yasushi Inoue's novella won him the prestigious Akutagawa Prize and established him as one of Japan's most acclaimed authors.

From the planning of a bullfight, through Tsugami's struggle, his focus, and his solitude, Inoue crafts something intensely memorable—a profound and compelling existential tale.