When a selfish prince is cursed to live as a hideous beast, he begins to lose hope for himself and his enchanted staff. That is until Belle, a smart, brave young woman with a caring heart, enters their lives. Listen along as a different sort of enchantment sparks and beauty is found within.

..But, if you ever tell anybody.... This is a well-known story in Japan. The excitement of a live performance as well as the horror of the original story and the exoticism of Japan has been fully recreated by an experienced staffs of radio dramas. This is part of the audio book series from the publisher of the hit title Rashomon-drama version. I hope you enjoy our presentation. (C)Kotonoha shuppan. The list of our audio books could be found at: http://www.kotonoha.co.jp

Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) is one of Japan's most beloved writers and poets, known particularly for his sensitive and symbolist children's fiction. This volume collects stories which focus on Miyazawa's love of space and his use of the galaxy as a metaphor for the concepts of purity, self-sacrifice and faith which were near and dear to his heart.

Essentially the start of Dazai's career, Schoolgirl gained notoriety for its ironic and inventive use of language. Now it illuminates the prevalent social structures of a lost time, as well as the struggle of the individual against them—a theme that occupied Dazai's life both personally and professionally. This new translation preserves the playful language of the original and offers the listener a new window into the mind of one of the greatest Japanese authors of the 20th century.

日本文学の名作10編を、アメリカ生まれの日本文学研究者が英語に翻訳。

＜収録内容＞
幽霊瀧の傳説

茶碗の中

常識

生霊

死霊

おかめのはなし

蠅のはなし

雉子のはなし

忠五郎のはなし

或女の日記

平家蟹

露の一滴

餓鬼

尋常の事

黙想

病理上の事

真夜中

草雲雀

夢を食ふもの

耳無し芳一の話

をしどり

お貞のはなし

姥櫻

術藪

鏡と鐘

食人鬼

貉

ろくろ首

葬られたる秘密

雪女

青柳のはなし

十六日櫻

安藝之助の夢

力ばか

日廻り

蓬来

「・・このことを だれにも いっては いけないよ・・・・」 少年は、うつくしい女のそのいいつけを、成長し、青年となり、妻を娶り、子をなしてもずっと守りつづけていたのでした。それを、ある日、妻にもらしてしまいます・・・。オーディオブックヒット作「羅生門」ドラマバージョンを制作したスタッフたちが、再びドラマバージョンにチャレンジしました。お得な両言語セットです。学習教材として利用してみてはいかがでしょうか?余談ながら、この物語のもととなったのは、 現在の東京都青梅市中部多摩川沿いの地方での言い伝えであったようです。現代は、ずいぶんと暖かくなったものです。(C)ことのは出版「ことのは出版オーディオブック作品一覧はhttp://www.kotonoha.co.jpにて」

小泉八雲の作品の中から選りすぐりの十二編を集めました。「雪女」「葬られたる秘密」「おかめの話」「ろくろ首」「おしどり」「茶碗の中」「むじな」「お貞のはなし」「常識」「忠五郎の話」「幽霊滝の伝説」「耳なし芳一」。いずれの作品も多くの人に親しまれ、心に残る作品です。

As a child, Natsuki doesn’t fit into her family. Her parents favor her sister, and her best friend is a plush toy hedgehog named Piyyut who has explained to her that he has come from the planet Popinpobopia on a special quest to help her save the Earth.

An aspiring writer moves into a new apartment and discovers that her landlady has murdered her husband. Elsewhere, an accomplished surgeon is approached by a cabaret singer, whose beautiful appearance belies the grotesque condition of her heart. And while the surgeon's jealous lover vows to kill him, a violent envy also stirs in the soul of a lonely craftsman. Desire meets with impulse and erupts, attracting the attention of the surgeon's neighbor - who is drawn to a decaying residence that is now home to instruments of human torture.

A young woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that has the following traits: It’s close to her home, and it requires no reading, no writing, and, ideally, very little thinking. Her first gig - watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods - turns out to be inconvenient. Her next gives way to the supernatural: announcing advertisements for shops that mysteriously disappear. As she moves from job to job, it becomes increasingly apparent that she's not searching for the easiest job at all but something altogether more meaningful.

A hugely enjoyable, must-listen murder mystery sure to appeal to fans of Elly Griffiths, Anthony Horowitz, and Agatha Christie, with one of the best and most satisfying conclusions you'll ever hear. A classic in Japan, available in English for the first time.

It’s Christmas Eve and Stella Hansen is broke. She is so broke that despite working two jobs, she can’t even afford a present for her husband on their first Christmas as man and wife. But then a mysterious storekeeper at a pawn shop offers Stella an intriguing trade. Stella wants more than anything to buy her husband the Christmas gift of his dreams. But will it come at a terrible price?

In Ghostly Japan collects 12 ghostly stories from Lafcadio Hearn, deathless images of ghosts and goblins, touches of folklore and superstition, salted with traditions of the nation. While some of these stories contain nightmare imagery worthy of a midnight creature feature, others are not ghostly or ghastly at all. "Bits of Poetry" offers an engaging study on verse, and "Japanese Buddhist Proverbs" explains the meaning of several aphorisms based on Japanese cultural references.

学研サウンド文学館パルナスから、オーディオブックで厳選復刻。現代の文壇を代表する編集委員が、内外の作家の傑作を厳選。

純朴な青年ドン・ホセは、情熱的で大きな黒い瞳のカルメンに出会う。しだいにその運命を狂わせて行く…ビゼーのオペラで有名な「カルメン」の原作をオーディオドラマ化。

This very short introduction offers listeners a superb overview of the teachings of the Buddha, as well as a succinct guide to the integration of Buddhism into daily life.

Breakfast of Champions (1973) provides frantic, scattershot satire and a collage of Vonnegut's obsessions. His recurring cast of characters and American landscape was perhaps the most controversial of his canon; it was felt by many at the time to be a disappointing successor to Slaughterhouse-Five, which had made Vonnegut's literary reputation.

Essential for anyone interested in Japanese culture, this unsurpassed masterwork opens an intriguing window on Japan. The World War II-era study by the cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict paints an illuminating contrast between the people of Japan and those of the United States. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword is a revealing look at how and why our societies differ, making it the perfect introduction to Japanese history and customs.

Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.