The following stories were all written by a Japanese poet called Miyazawa Kenji (1896 - 1934) who lived in the town of Hanamaki in the northern province of Iwate prefecture. During his short life he wrote many poems that are still popular today (and some of which are taught in schools).
Many of Kenji's short stories have been translated. For a list of translations published in English, please click here. The six stories below are not by any stretch of the imagination Kenji's best work. They were simply stories that I read during the two years I spent studying my Master's degree in comparative literature. Three of the translations can also be found on the Miyazawa Kenji website, which is in English and is a great place to find out more about Kenji and his work.