Inoue Yasushi
Pushkin Press
30 June 2026
128
eBook - PDF
Modern Classics
ARC via Edelweiss
Tsugami, the editor-in-chief of a newspaper in war-scarred Osaka, agrees to sponsor a bullfight. For months this great gamble consumes him, makes him as wary and combative as if he was in a ring himself. And, as he becomes ever more distant, his lover Sakiko is unsure if she would like to see him succeed or be destroyed.
As much a story of post-war Japan as it is about the country’s special brand of bullfighting, this novella is a masterly exploration of hope, ambition and despair. Tsugami has built his newspaper into something solid and sustainable in the uncertain aftermath of the war. But the idea of more – more money, more excitement, more life – holds an irresistible appeal. Just as he has been sleeping with Sakiko for years despite having a wife and children elsewhere, his yearning for a bigger life pulls him into the chaotic endeavour of the bullfight, putting everything he’s worked for at risk.
Yasushi Inoue's novella won him the prestigious Akutagawa Prize and established him as one of Japan's most acclaimed authors. From the planning of a bullfight, through Tsugami's struggle, his focus and his solitude – he crafts something intensely memorable, a profound and compelling existential tale.
Bullfight was a quick but interesting read. On the surface, a newspaper aiming to make money sponsoring a bullfight is not a thrilling plot, the prose really drew me in, the minutiae of the the characters' actions and feelings oddly compelling. Of course, there are plenty of parallels you can draw about post-war Japan or about the nature of greed, but essentially this book is an exquisite look at a group of characters captured in a moment in time and will be best suited to readers who enjoy the fine details in prose and a look at characters' inner lives rather than those looking for an action-packed plot. I am giving it 4 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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