A Great Classic of Japanese literature and the masterpiece of novelist Ihara Saikaku--now in a completely new and revised edition with introduction by noted scholar David J. Gundry

The culmination of Saikaku's perceptive genius, the 20 short stories within This Scheming World recount raucous events and incidents on New Year's Eve as everyone tries to settle their debts for the year, as is the New Year's custom. Crafty money lenders attempt to collect their money from equally crafty debtors, and Saikaku portrays his characters with so lifelike a touch that, even though three centuries have passed since his time, it seems as if they were our contemporaries.

The new Introduction by Saikaku expert David J. Gundry explains how and why this entertaining work still resonates with modern readers today.

The finely-crafted tales include stories of:
・Philanderers who slip off to hide in the homes of their mistresses
・Hustlers who leave town suddenly on "very important" business trips
・Connivers who become actors for a day to hide-in-plain-sight on stage

井原西鶴、晩年の傑作『世間胸算用』の英訳版（各4章、全20編）

井原西鶴が描くのは、大晦日の借金返済を巡る滑稽でいて痛切な人間模様です。本作の真髄は、欲望と体面が交錯する極限状態において剥き出しになる、人間の「生」のエネルギーにあります。単なる教訓話に留まらず、狡猾さの中に愛嬌を、悲劇の中に喜劇を見出す西鶴の冷徹かつ温かな眼差しは、三百年以上の時を経てもなお、読者の心を激しく揺さぶります。 「金は一年の総決算」というシビアな現実を前に、奇策を弄して逃げ惑う人々の姿は、現代を生きる私たちにとっても決して他人事ではありません。言葉の端々に宿る江戸の活気と、泥臭い生存本能の描写は、文学という枠を超えて生命のたくましさを雄弁に物語っています。人間という存在の本質を鋭く穿つ、比類なきリアリズムをぜひ体感してください。