Where to find Goro Masaki works?

November 27, 2017 9:49 PM

Does anybody know where I could find the Goro Masaki works Evil Eyes (published in 1986, won the 13th Hayakawa SF Contest in 1987) and Venus City (published in 1993 and won the 14th Japanese SF Award, which is apparently the Japanese equivalent of the Nebula Award)? He apparently use to be considered the Japanese William Gibson, but I can't find either of these stories anywhere, and I have no idea where I'd potentially find them in person. Evil Eyes ended up being released in a collection in 1988 under the same title. Thank you!
posted by gucci mane to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

Best answer: They appear to be untranslated. Here's a taste of Evil Eyes, though:

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Human+Factor+%28from+Evil+Eyes%29.-a089928965

Here's Venus City:

https://www.amazon.co.jp/ヴィーナス・シティ-ハヤカワ文庫JA-柾-悟郎/dp/4150305366
posted by the Real Dan at 11:45 PM on November 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Maybe you/someone could look at LexisNexis, but I suspect that this author remains largely untranslated. In the (fascinating) interview linked from his wikipedia page, he remarks, tantalizingly:

I have an English version of "Evil Eyes," which is a close representation of what I have written, [...]

posted by Standard Orange at 12:01 AM on November 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Er, maybe not LexisNexis but some other full-text search service that would cover the appropriate publications.
posted by Standard Orange at 12:07 AM on November 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks the Real Dan! Do you know how I could go about ordering it from that Amazon Japan site? It won't translate on Chrome for me.
posted by gucci mane at 10:48 AM on November 28, 2017

Best answer: Perhaps your next askmetafilter question would be for aid from a Japan affiliated mefite with the purchase of this book. My own experience of Japan is not helpful for this approach.

The screens and forms for amazon.co.jp are similar enough to the english language version that I was able to add the book to my shopping cart, and start the checkout process. However, when I tried to log in with my amazon.com account, amazon.co.jp complained that it did not recognize my email address ("There was a problem. I can not find an account with this e-mail address", obtained by cutting and pasting from the web page error message to translate.google.com).

I think you could try to work through the account creation page of amazon.co.jp, with the help of translate.google.com, and get the book ordered. You can imagine some of the difficulties you might have, communicating with a private seller of an out-of-print book that needs overseas shipping when neither of you share a common language, but google translate is a powerful tool.

One other approach might be to post english comments onto the two reviews that Venus City has accumulated, asking for help regarding the purchase of that book.

It'll be an adventure, no matter what.
posted by the Real Dan at 2:05 PM on November 28, 2017

Best answer: [I read Japanese.]

Quick take: That Amazon listing shows only used copies available from third-party sellers. The book comes in two formats/sizes. Whether international shipping is available would probably depend on the seller. Some have customer service contact info. (To see the different listings, go to the yellow button BELOW the "Add to Cart" yellow button--on US Amazon, it's where the "See other sellers on Amazon" section appears.)

Though I've never used them, I've heard of proxy services in Japan that collect your online shopping in Japan and ship them out to your overseas address. Dunno if the expense would be too high but you could look into that as an option.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 5:50 PM on November 28, 2017

Best answer: Another idea: Contact the Kinokuniya (or Book Off or another bookstore with Japanese books) in your town and see if they either have some format of the book in stock or can order it for you.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 5:54 PM on November 28, 2017

Response by poster: Thanks you three! I will actually try Sockin’inthefreeworld’s idea first, because Powell’s Books may have a way of ordering it for me. I imagine there must be a Japanese bookstore here, since Portland has a large amount of Japanese people and Japanese tourism is one of our largest industries (or however you say it).
posted by gucci mane at 6:49 PM on November 28, 2017

If you do end up having to order it yourself, amazon.co.jp actually has an official English version -- click the globe thing underneath the magnifying glass and it will give you the option.

Most used sellers on Japanese Amazon don't ship internationally. I don't think I'd bother contacting any seller personally, they would've ticked the correct box when setting up their profile. On the other hand, there is a plethora of third-party proxy services out there that will be glad to take your money. (I've used Tenso in the past, but there really is a slew of options these days.)
posted by Standard Orange at 12:03 AM on November 29, 2017 [1 favorite]