Justice with a Smile
by Osamu Dazai
A sharp, intelligent coming-of-age story that shows a different side of Dazai.
ARC Review
Pub Date: May 5, 2026
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Format: eARC
Susumu Serikawa is sixteen, restless, and convinced he is destined for greatness. His diary swings between arrogance and self-doubt, biting observations and wild dreams, fleeting thoughts of despair and bursts of fast-talking excitement. One moment he calls himself brilliant, the next he wallows in shame. He wants to quit school. He wants to be Japan’s most famous actor. He wants a life bigger than the one he has, even if he doesn’t know what that means yet.
This was not the Dazai I was expecting. The familiar shadows of despair are here, but they are fleeting, part of the melodrama of youth rather than the heaviness of adulthood. You can see a a bit more darkness in the lives of the adults around him but it has not settled into his life yet. What struck me most was how much this really felt like a teenager’s diary: messy, cocky, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes piercingly honest.
Susumu reminded me of the contradictions I’ve seen in teenagers I know, full of themselves one minute, completely lost the next. He made me laugh, he made me roll my eyes, and he made me nod in recognition. Underneath all of it, there is an intelligence and sharpness that felt very much Dazai, even as the story leaned toward hope rather than despair.
Would I recommend it?
Yes. Justice with a Smile is sharper and more hopeful than much of Dazai’s work. If you’re curious to see a different side of him, or if you want to sit inside the teenage mind in all its contradictions, this one is worth your time.
Thank you to Tuttle Publishing for the ARC.
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Set the Mood for Justice with a Smile
Leather Journal - for your own restless teenage thoughts, or the ones that still linger
Minimalist Desk Lamp - because late-night scribbles deserve the right light
Loose-leaf Green Tea - steady energy for sharp words and sharper thought
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