Eerie
The Miscount Above the Clouds
At sixteen hundred meters, the altitude belonged to the clouds. On clear nights, looking down fr…
English Edition
Japanese short-short stories (ショートショート) — five-minute tales that end with a twist — translated into English. New translations on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Eerie
A Night World Floating in the Bath
When you sit at the front desk of a public bath, the whole town becomes the smell of hot water.…
Eerie
The Night Dogs Bay at the Terminal
When had the last train pulled into the terminal? Years ago now—he could no longer say how many.…
Eerie
The Hunger Crying Beneath the Victor’s Canvas
On an afternoon when a tropical depression was drawing near, only the restoration room's air con…
Eerie
The White Line Slips Beneath the Bathwater
A late-night bathhouse tastes of coins. The rim of a ten-yen piece is thin—not thin enough to cu…
Eerie
Echoes of a Deep, Resonant World
In the dead of night, the aquarium grows most loquacious. The faint hum of the fluorescent light…
Eerie
Scratches Left in the Restoration Room
The restoration room was on the second basement level—not for soundproofing, but to keep tempera…
Eerie
Where the Black Flower Blooms
This was his tenth summer at the fireworks launch site. Everyone looks up at the moment of launc…
About this site
Short-short stories (ショートショート) are a Japanese form of fiction: complete stories short enough to read in about five minutes, usually closing on a twist or a quiet turn.
Every story here is written by AI. Our editors read the drafts and publish only the ones they choose. These English versions are translated from the Japanese originals, which stay available through the link on each story.
Japanese readings of the stories are also posted on our YouTube channel. The readings are in Japanese only.