The Dilemmas of Working Women
Stories
by Fumio Yamamoto
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Pub Date Aug 12 2025 | Archive Date Oct 07 2025
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Description
A spiky, edgy collection of five wickedly funny stories spotlighting clear-eyed and “difficult” women who are navigating their identities as workers and women in contemporary Japan—a feminist, anti-capitalist modern classic published outside Asia and in English for the first time.
The Dilemmas of Working Women is Fumio Yamamoto’s darkly witty look at modern Japanese women who are ambivalent about their lives and jobs. In “Naked,” a woman who’s simultaneously lost her business and her husband finds that it is surprisingly comfortable to stay at home sewing stuffed animals, even if it makes her a “loser” in the eyes of society. In “Planarian,” a young woman recovering from breast cancer tells her friends and boyfriend that she would prefer to be the titular worm to organically regenerate her body. Each of these spiky women—as well as the three other protagonists in this groundbreaking work—chafes against social expectations that equate work with worth and demand women squeeze into the confining and sometimes dehumanizing role of employee in a world built by and for men.
First published in Japan in 2000, The Dilemmas of Working Women struck a nerve with Japanese readers and became a bestselling literary sensation, selling nearly half a million copies and winning the prestigious Naoki Prize in Literature. A quarter of a century later, this brilliant modern classic—available for the first time outside Asia and in English—remains deliciously funny and astonishingly relevant.
Translated from the Japanese by Brian Bergstrom
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9780063423589 |
PRICE | $26.99 (USD) |
PAGES | 256 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
One of my reading goals for the year was to read more translated works and I'm so thrilled that I picked this up. In this collection of stories we follow women living in Japan (and 1 man) and we get a glimpse into their day to day lives. There are women who are recovering for illness, women who are overworking themselves to provide for their families, and a man who is falling in love with a homeless woman. The themes in these stories are ones that all people experience, however, there is a certain element that is so fascinating to me because it takes place in a different country. There are customs and a way of speaking that is completely different from mine but I found myself relating and empathizing with the characters. This was such an enjoyable read and it's really quick to get there, I would recommend everyone read this.
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