Kurahashi Yumiko, the original author of The Adventures of Sumiyakist Q (translated by Dennis Keene), is renowned for intellectual qualities comparable to those of Franz Kafka and Abe K?b? demonstrated in her short stories, essays, and novels. She has been awarded several literary prizes, including Jory? bungaku sh? (Women’s Literary Prize), Tamura Toshiko sh? (Tamura Toshiko Prize), and Izumi Ky?ka sh? (Izumi Ky?ka Prize)., Atsuko Sakaki is Associate Professor of Japanese Literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. Her publications include K?i to shite no sh?setsu (Shin’y?sha, 1996), Ibuse bungaku no honshitsu (Translation of Anthony Liman’s book on Ibuse Masuji; Meiji shoin, 1994), and a number of English and Japanese articles on Kurahashi Yumiko and others. She is finishing a book manuscript in English on the contextuality of narration in prose fiction by S?seki, ?gai, Tanizaki, and Ibuse.