Pathway to Japanese Literature

Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.

West Lake’s Corpse PeopleAuthor: Unno Juza

Original Title	西湖の屍人
Author	海野十三
Genre	Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In the shadowy backstreets of Ginza, a drunken private detective and his companion stumble into a surreal encounter with a gaunt young man plagued by existential dread, desperately questioning his own existence. This mysterious figure’s frantic pleas—“Am I alive?”—spark a chaotic chase through midnight alleys, revealing glimpses of a deeper enigma. Meanwhile, across the sea in Hangzhou, a nobleman named Han Yuren awakens in a tower shrouded in illusion, convinced he’s trapped in the afterlife. His world—a meticulously crafted mirage of West Lake’s beauty—crumbles as he uncovers a web of deception tying him to Tokyo’s spiriting experiments and shadowy political machinations. As reality blurs between clairvoyant visions and engineered delusions, threads connect emaciated youths, spiritual mediums, and a hemorrhoid medicine vial hinting at darker truths. With conspiracies spanning continents and identities unraveling, the line between living specter and corporeal truth dissolves, beckoning readers into a labyrinth where every revelation births deeper mysteries.