THE HOUSE SPIRIT AND OTHER STORIES ...

THE HOUSE SPIRIT AND OTHER STORIES by Kanoka Kamoto, translated from the Japanese by Kazuko Sugisaki (Capra Press: $10.95; 156 pp., paperback original). One of the most prominent women writers in prewar Japan, Kamoto depicted the conflict between Japanese tradition and the rapidly changing mores of the period between the wars. In “House Spirit,” a once prominent craftsman is reduced to begging for his meals; the title character in “The Old Geisha” is fascinated by an unfocused young inventor who fails to appreciate her traditional graces.