SPECULATIVE JAPAN 3: "Silver Bullet" and Other Tales of Japanese Science Fiction and Fantasy. Kurodahan Press, 2012, 292 pp., $16 (paperback)

One pleasing quality of the third volume of Kurodahan Press's "Speculative Japan" series of anthologies is that it exists at all.

Generally, an anthology of translated stories, especially if it is devoted to genre fiction, is a one-off, a snapshot of a particular literary culture as it existed a year or two or five before the anthology was published. It's rare that we get another snapshot of that culture and genre until a decade, at least, has passed.

Kurodahan, however, appears to be committed to giving us regular updates on the state of speculative fiction in Japan. Hats off to them for that.