“Dazai’s best novel […] focusing on a woman forced to deal with the consequences of heedless, Dazai-like behavior.” —The New York Times”Carpenter conveys Dazai’s discordant voices while sweeping away some of the rhetorical cobwebs of Donald Keene’s 1956 translation and its dated introduction, making this the definitive edition of an epochal classic of postwar Japan for a new generation.” —Library JournalA completely new translation of one of Osamu Dazai’s best-loved novels, by award-winning translator, Juliet Winters Carpenter. The Setting Sun tells the story of Kazuko, a strong-willed young woman from an aristocratic family that has fallen into poverty since the war. The book follows Kazuko’s journey as she and her family struggle to adapt to the harsh new conditions of a Japan destroyed by American fire-bombings.

In addition to having to move from the city to the countryside, where she has to work in the fields to support her family, she has to deal with a divorce, her mother’s illness, and the return of her drug-addicted brother from the army. An inspiring portrait of one woman’s determination to survive in a society in the grip of a social and moral crisis, this classic work will appeal to those with an interest in modern Japanese literature as well as to those familiar with Osamu Dazai from the popular manga and anime series Bungo Stray Dogs, where he is the lead character.

Having married her childhood sweetheart, Riko now finds herself trapped in a relationship that has been soured by infidelity. One day, she runs into her old friend Mr Takaoka, who offers friendship, love, and an unusual escape: he teaches her the trick of living inside her dreams. Now, each night, she sinks into another life: first as a high-ranking courtesan in the 17th century, and then as a serving lady to a princess in the late Middle Ages.

As she experiences desire and heartbreak in the past, so Riko comes to reconsider her life as a 21st-century woman – as a wife, as a mother, and as a lover – and to ask herself: after loving her husband and loving Mr Takaoka, is she is ready for her third great love?