Two 1930s novellas of seamy Tokyo by the writer whom Donald Richie called the "finest of Tokyo chroniclers." "During the Rains" takes as its subject a working girl of the Ginza district, while "Flowers in the Shade" follows a man whose lover (and breadwinner) is a prostitute. Throughout both books, Nagai Kafu laces lingering, nostalgic descriptions of Tokyo neighborhoods.  (JPN106, $21.95)