Abstract

The Hundred Character Theatre is a collection of extra-short stories or micro-novels. Each story is completed in just one hundred characters in Japanese (approximately 50 words). KITANO Yusaku who won the Japan Science Fiction Grand Prize for Mr. Turtle which has been published in English by Kurodahan Press, is known for his long novels, but in recent years he has been publishing "almost 100 character novels" daily on Twitter as his lifework. This book, The Cat Radio, contains 200 stories, mostly featuring cats. Although the author himself does not own a cat, his stories, inspired by the ecology of cats he encounters in his daily life, move freely between the real world and other worlds. Sometimes they resemble poems or haiku and the diary of the author. Moreover, "the multiple overlapping episodes as a whole evoke a larger story" (from the commentary).

The extra-short novel is easy to read, making it ideal for bilingual editions for Japanese language learners.

"This is a cat radio, fits on your lap just so.
You touch it and scratch it, listening to it purring,
till you find the spot where you get out of it the best sound.
You call it tuning it in, to get the purrfect reception.
Two of them you can also pair, to make a stereo purr."
(The Cat Radio, page 70. English translation by Asahi Takaiye)
Cover illustration by WADA Radio, Commentary by Tori-Miki

Author’s Information

Born 1962, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. In 1992, Kitano won the 4th Japan Fantasy Novel Award for Excellence for his debut novel, Where Mars Used to Be (Mukashi, Kasei no atta basho). He was awarded the 1st KATSURA Jakusaburo New Rakugo (Yagura Cup) Grand Prize for his story, Geocentric Theory (Tendosetsu) and the 22nd Japan Science Fiction Grand Prize for his work, Mr. Turtle (Kurodahan Press. 2016, English translation by Tyran Grillo). He has written numerous books, including Do-Natsu, KITANO Yusaku's Animal Book, Doronko Rondo, Kitsune no Tsuki, Kameri, Reiko and the Kamaboko Factory, and many others.
His lifework, The Almost 100-character Novel, continues to be published daily on Twitter, with more than 4,000 entries.