Abstract

The author's life work, "The Almost 100-character Novel," is posted daily on X/Twitter, with over 5,000 posts. This volume contains a selection of 200 short stories from the author's extensive collection of works.
The fourth instalment of Kitano's micro-novel “100-character Theater” features a large group of turtles. While moving through biological time as a turtle, it sometimes crosses into human time, occasionally halting the flow of the world. The turtle may be a mirror that reflects us when we notice it.

There are airplanes creating straight cloud formations. Think of summer heat as a flow of heat. In this series, there is a "Copernican turn," but the turn often seen in the 100 words of this series has a simplicity and comfort that makes us want to call it “Kitano-like” in its own way. This comfort arises from Kitano-san's unique boldness, allowing him to watch and feel the turtle, for example, without getting tired of it. (From the commentary)

Author’s Information

Kitano was born in 1962 in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. In 1992, he won the 4th Japan Fantasy Novel Award for Excellence for his debut novel titled "Where Mars Used to Be" (Mukashi, Kasei no atta basho). He also received 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). Kitano has written numerous books, including "Do-Natsu," "KITANO Yusaku's Animal Book," "Doronko Rondo," "Kitsune no Tsuki," "Kameri," "Reiko the Kamaboko Factory," and many others.
His lifework, "The Almost 100- Novel," is being published daily on X/Twitter and has amassed over 5,000 entries.