In the dying days of the War, Seita and Setsuko must fend for themselves. Firebombs have obliterated their home in Kobe, leaving them searching for shelter and scrambling to survive in the depths of the countryside. But, as their suffering becomes a constant companion, so do the lights of the fireflies shining from the bomber planes, and the insects glowing by the lake at night.
This unforgettable semi-autobiographical tale by Akiyuki Nosaka won him the Naoki Prize, cementing his place in the Japanese cultural canon. Published here for the first time as a standalone story, Grave of the Fireflies illuminates the untold sorrows of normal people who live in the shadow of war.
Akiyuki Nosaka (1930-2015) was a novelist, singer, lyricist and former member of the House of Councillors in Japan. Born in Kamakura, Kanagawa, his memories of living through the Second World War including the loss of his adoptive father in the 1945 Kobe bombings served as the inspiration for his most famous short stories. In 1967, he won the Naoki Prize for Grave of the Fireflies and American Hijiki, both based on the Japanese experience of the War. Nosaka also wrote erotic fiction, including The Pornographers (1963), and in later life he continued his career as a newspaper and TV journalist, as well as a politician and chanson singer. Ginny Tapley Takemori is the award-winning translator of Sayaka Muratas Convenience Store Woman and other contemporary Japanese literature. She lives in rural Japan with her husband and three cats.
