Ihara Saikaku is a recognized classic of Japanese literature who honed his skill in everyday storytelling—writing in a vivid, concise style with inventive twists, flashes of humor, and wordplay.
The genre range of Saikaku’s works is unusually wide. In this book, the reader will find works of different types—romantic, domestic, magical and fantastic, legal, and others. Irony, sarcasm, and parody grotesque are among the author’s favorite techniques, but in his laughter one can hear sadness about the fickleness of life and human fate.