The Moon Over the Mountain

Atsushi Nakajima is a Japanese writer known for his popular novel “Light, Wind, and Dreams.” His short stories often take place in China and touch on themes of self-doubt, loneliness, and the search for the meaning of life.

The collection “Moon Over the Mountain” contains nine stories in which Chinese tales and legends intertwine with Japanese wisdom and the author’s light irony. In his stories, mythical creatures, warriors, and masters find themselves in unusual situations. A hunter meets a tiger that speaks with the voice of his missing friend; a statesman chooses as his assistant a bull-man; and a demon searches for the meaning of life, tormented by doubts and remorse.

In Japan, Nakajima’s works are studied in schools, but outside the country he is little known. In Russian, the stories by this author are published for the first time.