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Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of east asian short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

420+ East asian Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Discover the best new stories by East Asian authors.

East asian Short Stories – Page 6 of 29

Punchy Nirvana Under The Tree

Submitted to Contest #233

A Punchy Biography. ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Once upon a time, in a little kingdom somewhere between the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers, I was born. Siddhartha Gautama, they called me. Yeah, I had a fancy name, but my old man wanted me to be a king or a great warrior or something. So, my crib was decked with gold, and my toys were probably worth more than your house. But you know what? I got sick of that shiny crap real quick. All right, so picture this: I'm Siddhartha Gautama, born into this pal...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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P.S. 1

Submitted to Contest #231

P.S. 1                                                 Salon Tango Mi Vida is buzzing when I walk in at 10:25 p.m.  Early, really, when you consider that the true maestros come well past midnight.  I have slipped away from the flat and taken a bus to the Teatro Colon.  Ev...

4 likes 0 comments 0
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The girl from yesterday

Submitted to Contest #231

Every year, in the third month of the Lunar year, Vietnamese flock to cemeteries in the occasion called “Thanh minh” period. Seldom do they leave modern life for traditional values like this occasion or Tet holidays. It is the day for people to remember their relatives living in the world of the dead. Everybody of every age visits graves. You can see old men with snow-white hair and bent back. You can also see naive kids who know nothing about the meaning of this day. The only thing they know is that they are visiting a surreal world which s...

13 likes 9 comments 9
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The Real Illness

Submitted to Contest #231

He lay inside the pink mosquito net on a rickety bed near the window, pale and thin. He would turn over to the window to welcome the new day. He would do it slowly afraid that the legs of the bed might give in. He did it every morning when the sun came out on the horizon. At night before sleeping, he would face away from the window. It had a benefit to him because when he coughed and needed to spit phlegm, he would just reach the tin can under his bed. It was better than to spit through the window and somebody would spot him. But the coughin...

14 likes 10 comments 10
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Barefoot

Submitted to Contest #230

On Skype, Mom’s eyes were closing, her drooping eyelids covered by silvery strands of loose hair.  She was slipping into a doze.   “Tell me about the Four-Cleanse, Mom.” I brought up the “Four-Cleanse,” and her eyes shot open in a blast of energy. Mom came back. “Ahh, I had just graduated, fresh from medical school. Who could imagine I got sent to the country, and for what? Walking barefoot on the field!  I was from Shanghai. ” Mom knitted her brows when barefoot was mentioned, as though walking barefoot wa...

5 likes 2 comments 2
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In The Snow.

Submitted to Contest #229

Suzuharu Yuto (スズハル ユウト), at 27 years old, was a man steeped in tradition, a vestige of a bygone era. With raven-black hair and a countenance that mirrored the classic ideals of Japanese beauty, he moved through life with a sense of purpose—his convictions rooted in the romantic notions of love that echoed through the pages of ancient poetry. Ehime Prefecture, with its serene landscapes and traditional charm, served as the perfect backdrop for Suzuharu's steadfast beliefs. In a world where love was often a fleeting whisper drowned by the c...

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Aka

Submitted to Contest #228

Oh. You’re awake. Bit sooner than expected but…oh well. Must have got the strength wrong. I’m not exactly experienced with using chloroform, only tried it twice so far, and once was on myself. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy but how else was I supposed to see if it worked? Amazed it did, to be honest. Thought it was just a movie thing. But it gave me the best sleep I’ve had in years. Kenji too. Doesn’t look like it did much for you, you were only out for about three hours. Your eyes look like shit. Crusty and bloodshot. Lucky for you, she won...

38 likes 46 comments 46
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Arranged

Submitted to Contest #228

ArrangedIt was 1974, and Priya was getting ready to get married to Rahul; a boy she barely knew. Her father and his uncle knew each other since childhood and worked at a factory together. The families were meeting together in their homes this weekend, and her mother asked Priya to cook the meal. It felt like an interview. She felt like her paneer tikka masala was going to be judged by her future mother-in-law, husband and future father-in-law as the last assessment before tying the knot. Priya’s mother, Darshana, prepped her for months ...

17 likes 12 comments 12
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Phoenix on wheels

Submitted to Contest #227

We put in blood, sweat, and tears for you to just give up now! It’s not about losing the match. You know I’ve never liked tennis! I muttered.  So what now? Don’t tell me you’re going to spend your time playing video games. A raspy and crickety train-like sound echoes behind me. At first, I think it is the rain.  A blur glides past like a lightning bolt.  The blur has bleached hair and his pants are drooped down below the waistline. He jumps, rotating 180 degrees in midair, his board glued to his feet, landing lightly...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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Jet Lag

Submitted to Contest #224

I lay in bed looking at the ceiling and sighed. I could not get to sleep. I knew jet lag was a thing but I had no idea how much it sucked until I had gotten to Tokyo. I sighed again and turned to the ceiling-to-floor windows that covered the wall next to my bed. The hotel room I was staying in was quite nice, almost like one of those gigolo penthouses you see in the movies but with everything in one room. The window outside showed skyscrapers that touched the moon and glowing neon lights that softly lit up my room in a blend of col...

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Bargirl

Submitted to Contest #224

Turning into Soi Cowboy is a full out assault on the senses. You leave the stink of noisy tuk-tuk traffic fumes and it’s replaced by hot oil cooking chili-flavoured street food. Its stirred together with beer and perfume with an undercurrent of sweat. The light of the coloured neon flickers across the bare skin of a host of girls. Rainbow tinged shoulders and stomachs and thighs. A thousand people chatter and the girls call out constantly.“You come with me? Show you good time.”Pay them any attention and they grab your hand, hit you...

16 likes 13 comments 13
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The Phoenix Tea

Submitted to Contest #223

The sound of rain hitting the tent perfectly mirrored the mood of a dejected-looking woman sitting inside it. It vibrated on the tent’s plastic material, mixing with the chatter and glass clinking of the other customers. The woman, whose name was Holly, gazed through the transparent plastic squares onto the flooded Busan street and imagined her own ambitions flowing away down the river of rainwater.A table full of men erupted in a roar of boisterous laughter, but it was the vibration of her phone that forced her out of her trance moment...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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Sila-pattikaram - ("The story of the anklet")

Submitted to Contest #221

Sila-pattikaram ("The story of the anklet") I recently read an English translation of the above Tamil epic purported to be written in 1 CE . This epic relates the revenge the legendary Tamil woman Kannagi wrecks on the Kingdom of the Pandyan Dynasty in Southern India. While watching the mesmerizing ballet from an old film noir rendition, couple of weeks later , subtle furrows of my mind were dredged up and the following episode from back when I was an engineering student in the 70s surfaced. Some of you may be...

6 likes 1 comment 1
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High Tea / High Desert

Submitted to Contest #220

The world was red, upon red, upon red. Not the artificial red of dyes and cautioned danger, but the rich, primal red only found in nature. The type of red one feels rather than sees, shades a sensation on the senses that grounds you to the very base of what it means to be human. The tiresome sun was bleeding from his place against the horizon, spreading red light across the already red desert. Antonia Cahoy cast her eyes from the shattered sky (ruby, scarlet, wine) to the path before her (vermillion, cardinal, carmine), though it w...

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The Culling

Submitted to Contest #217

“Ayame, please!” Hana whispers harshly into her daughter’s ear. “You don’t have to do this. There’s still time. I can get you out.” Hand in hand, fist clenched tightly around her daughter’s slighter frame, Hana scans the other Ryushi Clan tributes and their warrior parents for listening ears as they traverse the dark tunnel towards the arena floor. “Mom, no.” Ayame shakes her head, squeezing her mother’s hand once as she whispers back. “I have to do this. You know that. It’s the only way.” “You’re wrong.” Hana stops, pulling her daughte...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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