Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

Yet Another DeathAuthor: Kusaka Yōko

Original Title	幾度目かの最期
Author	久坂葉子
Genre	Modern Short Fiction
Author Type	Female Author
Summary	In a series of confessional letters penned over decades, an unnamed woman unravels her fractured world for an aunt who has long been her silent confidante. Haunted by love’s contradictions, she oscillates between a married composer from her past, a magnetic new lover whose allure mirrors urban decay, and a detached fiancé bound by contractual obligation. Her heart splinters further under familial scorn—a domineering father obsessed with legacy and a brother crumbling under inherited expectations. As a playwright clinging to fading creativity, she orchestrates her final work while teetering toward self-destruction, each manuscript page doubling as a farewell. Between yakitori stalls and snow-dusted train platforms, fleeting moments of connection collide with suffocating guilt, until even art becomes inadequate armor against despair. With raw vulnerability, she maps her descent: a crescendo of betrayals, artistic paralysis, and the seductive pull of oblivion. Yet within her stark admissions glimmers a plea—not for absolution, but witness—as she balances on the precipice between confession and surrender.