The sci-fi anthology The Future is Japanese presents 15 stories either about or in some way involving, well obviously, Japan (with at least one fantasy and one horror story slipping in there along with one Afica-set tale penned by a Japanese writer). And given the eclectic makeup of talent and types of stories, this is your usual grab bag of the very good, to the not-so-great, to the interesting misfires.
The Future Is Japanese winds its way through the usual anxieties about the future, whether they be about the collapse of human knowledge ("Endoastronomy" by Toh EnJoe,), to the collapse of country and communication ("Goddess of Mercy" by Bruce Sterling). But then you get one or two that are very specifically culturally informed by Japan like the gentle story that opens the book, "Mono no Aware" by Ken Liu or the kids-in-mechs drama by David Moles, "Chetai Heiki Koronbin."
Of all of these, the opening and closing stories, (Liu's and TOBI Hirotaka's "Autogenic Dreaming: Interview with the Columns of Clouds") are the best realized of the bunch, particularly as they both dig into feelings and sensation in their own specific ways. "Mono no Ware" is the story of the handful of survivors aboard a vessel taking the last of humanity to their new home, and one passenger's reflections on the meaning of sacrifice and the titular bittersweet feeling that, as I understand it, is akin to nostalgia. "Autogenic Dreaming" meanwhile plumbs the depths of an unrepentant killer's memories for a solution to a pervasive virus destroying the world's great works of fiction. "Mono no Ware" ends on just the perfect note for its character while even at 46 pages, "Autogenic Dreaming" feels like it's just getting started in its evocative world.
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