Conundrum!

The English translation of the late author Fumio Yamamoto’s short stories collection The Dilemmas of Working Women has hit the shelves.

Translated by Brian Bergstrom, the book tackles the relatable lives of women in modern Japan through five tales. Divorced and unemployed, Izumi wonders if the alternative is really better; the people around cancer survivor Haruka think now that she has recovered she should just forget about it; Kato feels invisible to her husband and children; Mito is cheating on her boyfriend and can’t decide whether or not to accept his marriage proposal and Sumie is searching for a place to live.

Brian admires Fumio and in a social media post, expressed his joy of getting to deliver her work to an English-speaking audience.

The post reads: “This is a dream come true as I’ve been a big fan of her for years, and I had almost lost hope of her work getting translated (not just by me, but by anyone!) after her untimely death (at 58 due to pancreatic cancer) in 2021. But in the end, I found people who responded warmly to her unique voice and vision and were willing to do what it takes to bring her to a whole new set of readers. I couldn’t be happier.”