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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.

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 8

someone who turn over a new leaf

Weekly Contest #284

it was in secondary school when all this occurred : being a top achiever . he has always gotten good grades since schooling but everything change when he went up to secondary schools : he disrupted classes , made teachers helpless and never gotten good grades , it all seem like a broken teen . it was not all that devastating , he only realized after some time it was burn out in a student's life. he actually got burned while in higher streams during primary school , there was no reward being in a higher stream even though getting good grades ...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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A Christmas in Japan

Weekly Contest #283

Maybe I was just trying to escape from my problems–'doing a geographical’ as the self help people say these days. Or maybe I just wanted to have some fun. Regardless, in my early 20s, I decided that immersing myself into a foreign language and culture would be a therapeutic escape. After digging through a mountain of application paperwork, I landed a scholarship to study geology at Hiroshima University. After my first busy year of study, and facing the butt end of my savings and my student visa, seemingly out of nowhere, I was offered a...

18 likes 17 comments 17
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The Devil You Know

Weekly Contest #279

I made it to Lamma Island the day the ferry stopped. I’m an American who has lived in Hong Kong since high school, I know the territory, and I choose my escape route carefully, though I admit I barely speak a word of Cantonese. I made the right choice. It turned out that Lamma Island, green, sparsely populated and just two kilometers off the coast, might be the best place on earth to survive a zombie apocalypse. Let me explain more. Banana and papaya trees pepper the jungle here, and the South China Sea teems with sea life. In an apocal...

22 likes 16 comments 16
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Quiet Shadow

Weekly Contest #274

Michael Hughes set his teacup down with practiced grace, eyeing across the veranda. Behind him, a red pagoda cast long shadows over his otherworldly garden, where solemn statues stood sentinel among unfamiliar plants. His blue-grey eyes, piercing and astute, seemed to look through Margaret. "Drawn by the occult, are you, Miss Hodgkins?" His voice coarse and unfeeling. “I understand Gothic fiction is quite popular these days among the youth.” Margaret nodded weakly, relaxing a bit as the familiar subject took hold. "It’s for my writing assign...

16 likes 11 comments 11
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Yurika's Tale

Weekly Contest #272

“Did you hear that?” “What?” “I heard Yurika was spotted going to a hotel with Teacher Masuda.” “Wow, seriously?!” “Isn't Teacher Masuda…” “Yes! He's already married. Doesn't that make her a third wheel? I can't believe she did that.” Yurika could only stand in front of the door, listening to her classmates' chatter and the harsh words from the people she thought were her friends. She almost couldn't hold her tears anymore. But no—they might think she's playing the victim if she cried. While rubbing her eyes, the announcement rang.  ‘St...

22 likes 2 comments 2
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A Long Day's Rain

Weekly Contest #271

And so, the longest day in Mogali's life would end up being the shortest. Every now and again, she heard the metallic tinkle of her little trigger-ring play against the explosive payload of her suicide vest. It sounded almost musical, like the childhood dominoes she remembered from long ago. Just across the main intersection of Zaibunnisa Street, three women were drinking chai, chatting something about school, something about a boy, something about the monsoon rain being very late. It was a busy day in Karachi, but to her, it was the very l...

12 likes 0 comments 0
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Chapter 39 of "Sengoku": Kennyo's Revenge

Weekly Contest #267

This is chapter 39 of a book I am writing titled "Sengoku." The book is based off real life warlords from Sengoku era Japan. In this chapter, the famous monk Kennyo is desperate for revenge against big-time warlord Nobunaga Oda, and kidnaps the four main female characters of the book: Sakura, Misa, Kaiyo, and Yukari. Please enjoy the chapter and let me know if you have any feedback! The eleven men stood in front of their horses, their hands on their weapons, ready for anything. Oda on one side, Uesugi-Takeda on the other. Nearly five feet s...

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Chapters 45-47 of "Sengoku"

Weekly Contest #267

These are chapters 46 and 47 of the book I am writing titled "Sengoku". This is based off real warlords from Sengoku era Japan. Please enjoy and share any feedback you may have!A few days later, Kaiyo was walking around with a small stack of letters for Mitsuhide.“I’m glad I decided to take the long route. The sunset by the little temple is so pretty.” She walked along, happily humming to herself.“My apologies for such a meeting place. I know it is not ideal.” Huh? That sounds like Mitsuhide. Kaiyo rounded the corner to find Mitsuhide next t...

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An Epiphany

Weekly Contest #266

An Epiphany'Sorry dear, I can't do it.'Pawan yanked the sticky note sheet from the bathroom mirror, and read the message again – ‘Sorry dear, I can't do it’. He could not believe it. How can she step back when a step forward would be opening a whole new world for her, he thought. He swung around and stomped out, shutting the door behind him with a bang. "Sujata, Sujata! Where are you?" He marched to the kitchen, where his wife was preparing breakfast. “What’s this? He slammed the sticky note on the kitchen table. “How can you do this now? Wh...

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Aaliyah

Weekly Contest #266

Chapter 1: Aaliyah           It was early morning, and Aaliyah, still rubbing her eyes as usual, stepped into the blinding sunlight as warmth began to crawl across her skin. Younger than her peers, the elderly women of her community would often ask her to run errands near the bustling marketplace in the morning, such as purchasing herbs, flowers, oils, and fish, and to wash the dishes and clothes at night. “Why do I have to go?” she shouted to a eunuch, ordered to guard the walls of the ...

15 likes 2 comments 2
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The Arrangement

Weekly Contest #265

The Arrangement Back to India for Christmas, the overwhelming humidity in the air is always a welcome-home banner. The familiar road to my ancestral home, a coffee plantation-laden landscape, is now unfamiliar. It's been a while since I've ventured to return, for a reason. Mom draws me into a tight embrace, immediately scolding me. “It’s been too long Vik." Without hesitation, she draws out the elephant in the room that needs addressing, “Your aunt and I have been long considering your options and you’re not getting any younger.” "Mom, I nee...

12 likes 0 comments 0
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The White Dragon - Part 1

Weekly Contest #263

In ancient China, there was a special vocation for transporting important items from one point to another. Usually, the items can range from a huge amount of gold to important military letters that might impact the future of a nation. Only the Kungfu masters with special abilities can take this job because many dangers can happen on the way. This was the first time Wuxi’s Biaoju(bureau for transporting items) was asked to transport a prisoner. Wuxi’s father was assassinated brutally before the mission set off. The young Wuxi had no choi...

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The Tree Remembers

Weekly Contest #263

Trigger Warning: Verbal abuse I was fourteen years old when I left my mother. Or rather, when she abandoned me. It was a wet spring morning when Mother called me to her room. I passed my father’s–no, Lord Heo’s – quarters, already bustling with servants readying his carriage for the day. Then, I softened my steps to slink by Lady Heo’s garden, as she would be on her morning walk, and she would be furious as a rabid dog if she saw me. To my surprise, she wasn’t there. Finally, I arrived at Mother’s room. Dread had hung over me like a cloud al...

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With Love, From Home

Weekly Contest #263

“The Cherry Hotel. Walk down the pavement, turn right, and it’s the first building on your side of the street.” There was wind on the other end of the line, distorting Mom’s voice. She was uncharacteristically precise with her instructions, but of course, I wasn’t exactly complaining - if it took longer than twenty minutes to find the mystery relative I was to bring home with me, there would be no bus to ride on for either of us. The early winter wind bit into my bare hands as my hurried footsteps sounded across the empty cement. Every build...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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What We Have and What We Have Lost

Weekly Contest #262

tw: brief suicidal thoughts, verbal abuse, war and mentions of death It was impossible to think in this sticky heat; but they had had but five hundred arrows left to defend themselves with.  In disbelief, Seung read the report once more, feeling the paper stick to his thumb. The sun had risen just an hour ago, and yet its warmth was already making his hands clammy, “Is this really all that we have?”  He tried to keep his voice steady, but they wouldn’t last a day with that number. So his hope to survive this siege for another month...

9 likes 3 comments 3
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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