A new translation of Osamu Dazai’s “No Longer Human” by Juliet Winters Carpenter will be released by Tuttle Publishing in March.
Dazai’s great masterpiece “No Longer Human” is the story of Yozo Oba, who, from early childhood, finds it impossible to form meaningful relationships with family or friends. As a child he copes by acting the fool — mocking himself while entertaining others. As an adult he turns to alcohol, sex and drugs, which lead to his eventual self-destruction.
Originally written in 1948 and based closely on Dazai’s own life, the timeless and universal themes of social alienation, failure and one man’s inner torture at his inability to feel like a normal human still resonate with young people everywhere, making this an enduring international classic.
This contemporary translation will be welcomed by all fans of modern Japanese literature as well as by readers familiar with Dazai. After Soseki Natsume, Dazai is Japan’s most popular writer. He is enjoying a surge in interest among young people today thanks to the success of the manga, anime and film series “Bungo Stray Dogs,” whose protagonist, a detective named Osamu Dazai, is based on the real-life author.
Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) was the pen name of Shuji Tsushima, the 10th of 11 children born to a wealthy landowner and politician in the far north of Japan. Dazai studied French literature at the University of Tokyo, but never received a degree. He first attracted attention in 1933 when magazines began to publish his work.
Between 1930 and 1937, he made three suicide attempts, a subject he deals with in many of his short stories. Despite his troubled life and rebellious spirit, Dazai wrote in simple and colloquial style, conveying his personal torments through literature. Dazai’s life ended early in a double suicide with a married lover.
Juliet Winters Carpenter is an award-winning American translator of modern Japanese fiction who studied Japanese literature at the University of Michigan and the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo. After completing her studies, she returned to Japan, where she became involved in translation and teaching.
She is professor emeritus at Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto and has received numerous awards for her translation work, including the 2019-2020 William F. Sibley Memorial Award for Japanese Translation for Mizumura Minae’s “An I-Novel” and the 2021-2022 Lindsey and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize for a lifetime of achievement as a translator of modern Japanese literature.
“Dazai’s brand of egoistic pessimism dovetails organically with the emo chic of this cultural moment and with the inner lives of teenagers of all eras.” — Andrew Martin, The New York Times
“A journey to hell with Osamu Dazai, Japan’s ultimate bad boy novelist.” — Damian Flanagan, The Japan Times