This Scheming World: Classic Tales of Desire, Deception and Greed in Old Japan

"The New Year's Eve is more precious than a thousand pieces of gold. It is the Great Divide between winter and spring, which none can pass over without copper and silver." —Ihara Saikaku

Ihara Saikaku is regarded as Japan's first popular writer. The twenty lively stories in This Scheming World recount raucous events surrounding New Year's Eve—as crafty money lenders attempt to collect their money from equally crafty debtors. From the bawdy to the outrageous, these tales demonstrate how far 1...