Feminist tales from Japan that blend humour, surrealism, and sharp societal critique, by the acclaimed author of Where the Wild Ladies Are

Piercing, inventive, and drily humorous, the fifty-two stories included in this collection shine an unforgiving spotlight on the various forms of discrimination still deeply rooted in Japanese society, with a particular focus on persistent and pervasive sexism.

The normalization of violence against women on screen and in the media is confronted in the title story, while others invest inanimate objects with their own perspectives, take as their subject the aesthetics of technology, or use clever wordplay to riff off the absurdity of life. Strong feminist viewpoints are presented with groundbreaking sharpness and a detached wit that only enhances their impact, perfectly striking the balance between gravity and levity.

More than a simple thrill ride, The Woman Dies is a vast, multifaceted theme park of ideas, and a unique space that invites readers to enter with a mix of awe and wonder.

Aoko Matsuda
Aoko Matsuda is an award-winning Japanese writer and literary translator. In 2013, her debut book, Stackable, was nominated for the Mishima Yukio Prize and the Noma Literary New Face Prize. In 2019, her short story 'The Woman Dies', was shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Award. In 2021, Her short story collection Where the Wild Ladies Are, published by Soft Skull Press, was nominated for the Ray Bradbury Prize sponsored by the LA Times, and won the Firecracker Award in the fiction category and the World Fantasy Award for Best Collection. This collection was also named by TIME and The New Yorker as one of the Best Fiction Books of 2020. She has translated work by Karen Russell, Amelia Gray and Carmen Maria Machado into Japanese.