This Scheming World: Classic Tales of Desire, Deception and Greed in Old Japan was written by Ihara Saikaku.

Ihara Saikaku is regarded as Japan's first popular writer. The twenty lively stories in This Scheming World recount raucous events surrounding New Year's Eve--as crafty money lenders attempt to collect their money from equally crafty debtors. From the bawdy to the outrageous, these tales demonstrate how far 17th-century Japanese would go to avoid paying their debts--with hilariously unexpected and often disastrous results!