Yasushi Inoue's 1949 novella won him the prestigious Akutagawa Prize and established him as one of Japan's most acclaimed authors.

From the planning of a bullfight through Tsugami's struggle, his focus and his detached isolation, Inoue crafts an intense tale of loss and the difficulty of loving. The novel brilliantly evokes the atmosphere of a population ground down by defeat, a society riddled with corruption and, at its heart, two men gambling with other peoples' money on a sporting event which is subject to the vagaries of the weather.

Meanwhile just as the two bulls are destined to lock horns, Tsugami the newspaper editor and his lover the young widow Sakiko wrestle with the emptiness of their desperate relationship. Should they remain together or end it ?

Born in 1907, Yasushi Inoue worked as a journalist and literary editor for many years, only beginning his prolific career as an author in 1949 with Bullfight. He went on to publish 50 novels and 150 short stories, both historical and contemporary, his work making him one of Japan's major literary figures. In 1976 Inoue was presented with the Order of Culture, the highest honour granted for artistic merit in Japan. He died in 1991.

Written by Yasushi Inoue
Translated by Michael Emmerich
Read by David Threlfall
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4 Show less