Reasons for optimism have been thin on the ground these past two years, but an upcoming bumper year for Japanese literature in translation gives us all cause to be cheerful.

The literary gifts of 2022 begin with a new collection of stories by one of the masters of modern Japanese literature, Junichiro Tanizaki. "Longing and Other Stories," translated by Anthony H. Chambers and Paul McCarthy, features three tales written early in Tanizaki's career that focus on family life and the influence of Westernization on Japan’s traditional culture.