The origin of Boogiepop revealed at last! Not only is this the long-awaited story of how Boogiepop was born, but it is also the tale of four very strange individuals: a detective, an eater of fear, a popular writer and a skilled assassin. Uncover all the secrets!

Tohko Amano, a third-year high school student is actually a literature-gobbling demon, who can be found at all hours of the day munching on torn out pages from all kinds of books. But for Tohko, the real delicacies are hand-written stories. To satisfy her gourmet tastes, she's employed (rather, browbeaten) one Konoha Inoue, who scribbles away each day after school to satisfy Tohko's appetite. But when another student comes knocking on the literary club door for advice on writing love letters, will Touko discover a new kind of delicacy?

When her brother Hiroki disappears after a violent altercation with school bullies, the young Yuriko finds a magical book in his room. The book leads her to another world where she learns that Hiroki has been possessed by a spirit from the Book of Heroes. She visits the magical Nameless Land, where she is told how to save her brother, and is sent back to Earth with a young monk named Sora. Yuriko has to piece together the mystery and has a library of powerful magical books at her disposal to do so!

Botchan, a hilarious tale about a young man's rebellion against "the system" in a country school, is a classic of its kind. The setting is Japan's deep south, where the author himself spent some time teaching English in a boys' school. Into this conservative world, with its social proprieties and established pecking order, breezes Botchan, down from the big city with scant respect for either his elders or his noisy young charges.

From the internationally renowned film auteur "Beat" Takeshi Kitano (Zatoichi, Brother, Fireworks), comes a rare piece of literary fiction. Boy is a collection of three heart-warming stories of brotherhood, boyhood, and friendship.

With a determined plan to reunite his mother and father, a young boy named Wataru knowingly enters a fantasy realm inhabited by a goddess who has the power to change destiny. With the help of the Lizard Boy, the Cat Girl, and the Fire-breathing Dragon, Wataru faces a series of seemingly insurmountable obstacles on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Young Wataru flees his messed-up life to navigate the magical world of Vision, a land filled with creatures both fierce and friendly. His ultimate destination is the Tower of Destiny where a goddess of fate awaits. Only when he has finished his journey and collected five elusive gemstones will he possess the Demon's Bane - the key that will grant him his most heartfelt wish... the wish to bring his family back together again!

This collection of short stories by non-Japanese who choose to live in Japan is an absorbing look at the Outsider in a nation that does not absorb foreigners easily. Unlike that other, earlier hotbed of expatriate writing, Literary Paris, which was not so different from home, postwar Literary Japan has confronted its expatriate writing community with a challenging mental and physical landscape.

"Manager Takino" is just trying to live a quiet life running a suburban supermarket when an old yakuza mate convinces him to help two lovers on the run from the mob escape the country. On his tail is Detective Takagi, a smooth noir fixture with a French cigarette always dangling from his mouth. The beast within Takino will chafe against the cage of domesticity in which he's locked himself, and once he busts out there'll be no going back.

A girl creates a cell phone in her imagination, from which she can communicate with others. A young boy discovers his new friend has the power to heal others - and learns about true friendship and sacrifice. The healing power of love confronts the tragedy and horror of a deadly train accident.

Born into the burakumin - Japan's class of outcasts - Kenji Nakagami depicts the lives of his people in sensual language and stark detail. The Cape is a breakthrough novella about a burakumin community, their troubled memories, and complex family histories. Includes House on Fire and Red Hair.

Goro Kawakubo, the dashing son of a famous artist and now a widower, hires an au pair, Masayo Hariu, to care for his eight-year-old daughter Momoko, whose only companion is her cat Lala. The au pair quickly falls in love with Goro's lifestyle and then with the widower himself. One fateful night, Goro throws a party and meets the gorgeous Chinatsu, who soon becomes his girlfriend. Masayo is tormented with jealousy but can do nothing but watch.