'Perfection is the only word to describe this subtle tale' Irish Times

Winner of the Akutagawa Prize

Tsugami, the editor-in-chief of a newspaper in war-scarred Osaka, agrees to sponsor a bullfight. For months this great gamble consumes him, makes him as wary and combative as if he was in a ring himself. And, 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 special brand 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 - he crafts something intensely memorable, a profound and compelling existential tale.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.

Translated by Michael Emmerich.

Born in 1907, Yasushi Inoue worked as a journalist and literary editor for many years, only beginning his prolific career as an author in 1949 with Bullfight. He went on to publish 50 novels and 150 short stories, both historical and contemporary, his work making him one of Japan's major literary figures. In 1976 Inoue was presented with the Order of Culture, the highest honour granted for artistic merit in Japan. He died in 1991. Pushkin Press also publishes Inoue's novella The Hunting Gun, and a collection of short stories titled Life of a Counterfeiter.

Michael Emmerich is a translator, editor and an professor in the department of Asian Languages and Cultures at UCLA. His many translations include work by Yasunari Kawabata, Genichiro Takahashi and Banana Yoshimoto.

"Intense, brilliantly paced narrative...Inoue's masterful novella triumphs through a series of perceptive character studies. It is a wonderful book, ironic yet sympathetic, and the perspective cleverly shifts between the players and their expectations, some complex, some relatively simple" - Irish Times

"Superb... a straightforward depiction of urban life expands into a rich, philosophical exploration of human agency and choice... Pushkin Press has performed a valuable service in making this great work available in English" - Independent on Sunday

"A disarmingly simple tale of ambition and entrepreneurial daring... written in tight, confident prose... Pushkin's exquisitely produced edition provides readers of English with long-overdue access to an important Japanese voice. There are plans to publish more... If Bullfight is any guide, what follows should be well worth the wait" - Financial Times

"A modern Japanese master... Inoue's humane and searching world view is there to be explored and these two novellas reward the effort" - Spectator

"Both of these novellas are delightfully reminiscent of the works of Ryuunosuke Akutagawa... Inoue and Akutagawa were both intellectuals who managed to restrain over-intellectualisation in their writings. They wrote compassionately, but without a hint of sentimentality" - Times Literary Supplement

"Perfection is the only word to describe this subtle tale of a plan to host a bullfight in a Japan still battered by the second World War" - Irish Times

"Rich with imagery and meaning that few novels manage today" - Japan Society

"Bullfight, a beautifully crafted tale, is a delight to read and its translation into English is long overdue" - World Today

"Written in spare, clean prose, and excellently translated by Michael Emmerich, Bullfight is a powerful, accessible read... Pushkin's edition is not only a beautifully produced physical object in itself, but an important and long-overdue introduction of a masterful writer to the anglosphere. With another title forthcoming from Pushkin this year, we may all hope to see Inoue's work achieve the global readership it so richly deserves" - Quarterly Conversation

"Inoue's prose is wonderful - deceptively clear and lucid on the surface, but with sufficient depth and subtlety to make this a very satisfying and meaningful novella" - JacquiWine's Journal