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Butterflies
Written by Dazai Osamu and published in February 1935 as the first part of Retrogression. Translated by A L Raye. Original text: https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000035/files/260_34634.html He was not an old man. He was only around 25 years old, but at the same time he was, undoubtedly, an old man. For every year that a normal person lived,…
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Dazai’s School Notebooks
Dazai Osamu attended Hirosaki High School from 1927 until 1930, and many of his school notebooks from this period, complete with the inky doodles of a bored schoolboy, are currently being held in various University and Museum archives. Three of them have made their way online and have been preserved by Yobanashi Café over on…
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Diary of My Distress
Written by Dazai Osamu, first published in Bungei Vol. 4, No. 6, 1st June 1936. Though the dates are not marked, it covers the period between the end of April to the beginning of May 1936. Translated by Laurie Raye. Original Text: https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000035/files/1589_18111.html ___th of ______ Somebody put a live snake in my letterbox. I’m…
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February Letter to Satō Haruo from Dazai Osamu
Written February 5, 1936. The letter was one metre long. Dazai’s previous letter to Satō can be read here. Translated by Laurie Raye. Original Text: 記憶の宮殿 / Memory Palace Dear Sir, I will not waste your time by telling any lies or uttering even the smallest of falsehoods. I am only ever thinking about the act…
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Human Lost
Written by Dazai Osamu and published in April 1937. He began writing it after his hospitalisation in October 1936, and also includes material he scribbled on the walls of his room whilst an in-patient. Translated by Laurie Raye. Original Text: https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000035/files/271_15084.html The only thing on my mind is the flower outside the window. October 13th. Nothing.…
Dazai Osamu
Yobanashi Café 