Yamashita reads from "Mystery Spot 95065." Click image to play clip.

Karen Tei Yamashita’s first professional publication was the short story “The Bath” (1975), which she wrote and submitted during her first months in Brazil. “The Bath” was followed by other short stories, some award-winning and published in multiple translations, including “Asaka-no-Miya” (1979) and “The Orange” (1991). Additional short works by Yamashita include “Madama B” (1993) and “The Dentist and the Dental Hygienist” (1995). Yamashita’s short stories explore a variety of topics as they consider the intersections of race, gender, love, and stereotype. 

A collection of short prose pieces, Circle K Cycles, was published in 2001. This hybrid text, featuring images, essays, and short fiction, was inspired by Yamashita’s six-month stay in Japan in 1997. Based on web journals written during that stay, Circle K Cycles reflects on Japanese-Brazilian experiences in Japan at the end of the twentieth century. Yamashita’s original web journals can be found at CafeCreole, linked here. 

Many of Yamashita’s short stories, as well as correspondence, research, and publication materials related to Circle K Cycles, can be found in the Karen Tei Yamashita papers.