THE PAPER DOOR AND OTHER STORIES <i> by Shiga Naoya translated by Lane Dunlop (North Point Press: $8.95) </i>

Often described as “the god of the Japanese short story,” Shiga Naoya blends a European approach to the psychology of his characters with a distinctly Japanese point of view. The romantic longings of the steadfast but gauche title character in “Akanisha Kakita” recall de Maupassant, but Kakita’s decision to sacrifice marriage to the woman he adores for a minor point of etiquette follows the tradition of “The Tale of Genji.” Like bonsai, Naoya’s stories compress larger realities into miniature forms. In “The House by the Moat,” the plight of a stray cat caught robbing a neighbor’s henhouse becomes a metaphor for the conflict between self-preservation and the desire to aid those in need.