The successful writer Oki has reached middle age and is filled with regrets. He returns to Kyoto to Otoko, a young woman with whom he had a terrible affair many years before, and discovers that she is now a painter, living with a younger woman as her lover. Otoko has continues to love Oki and has never forgotten him, but his return unsettles not only her but also her young lover. This is a work of strange beauty, with a tender touch of nostalgia and a heartbreaking sensitivity to those things lost forever.

All Editions

Paperback, 4th Edition

ISBN13: 9780141192611

PENGUIN BOOKS LTD, UK, 2011

Paperback, 9th Edition

ISBN13: 9780679761051

Vintage, 1996