Hayashi Fumiko

Mei Yumi’s Postwar Japanese Literature

Late Chrysanthemum
Downtown
Floating Clouds

Hjosui Publishing

Mei Yumi’s Postwar Japanese Literature

Novel
Author of original novels: Hayashi Fumiko
Translation and writing: Mei Yumi

Publisher: Hjosui Publishing Japan

Printing: CreateSpace

Cover photograph: Kōda Rui

Calligraphy: Saiko Nakajima
Cover design: Studio Modern Aotsu
Editing service: Fredlyn Chung

Copyright ©Mei Yumi & Hjosui Publishing 2015

All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1517080990
ISBN-10: 1517080991
Mei Yumi’s Postwar Japanese Literature

©Mei Yumi & Hjosui Publishing 2015

ISBN-13: 978-1517080990
ISBN-10: 1517080991
<Contents>

Late Chrysanthemum Ban’giku November 1948

Downtown Shita’machi April 1949

Floating Clouds Uki’gumo November 1949

Postscript
Appendix, Unit Kitagishi
Translator’s Notes
LATE CHRYSANTHEMUM
Hayashi Fumiko, Ban’giku, November 1948
Mei Yumi’s Postwar Japanese Literature

Late Chrysanthemum　

Characters

Kurahashi Kin --- Aizawa Kin, an ex-geisha, 56 years of age.

Tabe --- Kin’s ex-partner.
Kinu --- Kinu (O’Kinu), a housemaid in the house of Kin.
Aizawa Hisajirō --- Kin’s father-in-law.
Aizawa Litsu --- Kin’s mother-in-law, a good financier.
Machiko --- A beauty of reputation, a daughter of a tabi production
store, Tatsui.
Torikoshi --- A gambling dealer of stock markets, the gōbyaku.
Sumiko --- Kin’s sister-in-law.
Itaya Kiyoji --- Kin’s ex-partner. A no more than 40-year-old
horticulturist, living in Matudo, Chiba Prefecture.
Yamazaki --- Kin’s acquaintance, who died after the stomach surgery.
Michel --- A French man and Kin’s customer
Late Chrysanthemum　

“I will come see you, around five o’clock in the evening.”

Kin[*94] got a sudden phone call, and replied, thinking another way
in mind; ‘That’s it, one year has passed, before I knew.’
She put the phone down and looked up at a wall clock. She still had
two hours before five o’clock. ‘First of all, I have to take a bath.’ Kin
ordered her housemaid to prepare supper earlier than usual, and went
out to the public bath house.
‘I must look younger than the time we separated. It would be my
defeat if he scented oldness in me.”
Kin took time in the hot water leisurely. Soon after she got back
home, she took ice out from the ice box, crushed the ice, and wrapped
pieces of it in gauze, folded in two, with which she massaged her face
evenly in front of a mirror, for more than 10 minutes. Finally, her face
became reddish and so numb that her skin was senseless. Her age was
56 years, which bore the fangs and growled at her. ‘I have longtime
experiences, so I can gloss over a woman’s age in any way that I like.’
Kin, with a stern look, wiped her cold face with an imported face
cream which she praised.
In the mirror, the pale and old face of a woman, like the dead, stared
wide-eyed at her. During making up, she became disgusted with her
own face. Her own beautiful images printed in picture postcards,
however, flashed back inside her mind. She rolled up her clothes on
her knees, and stared at her thigh skin. The thigh did not plump up
softly anymore as before, but capillaries of thin veins appeared on the
thigh skin. She felt relieved only that her thighs had not become thin.
She closed both thighs, which fit together well.
In the bathroom, Kin, sitting properly on her knees, always poured
hot water on her thighs, between which water stayed without flowing
down. The slight relief was a comfort to Kin’s oldness, ‘I can still
entertain a man.’ Only her anticipation like this was her last resort in
her life. Kin opened her thighs, and lightly caressed the skin of her
inner thigh, as if other people’s skin, which were soft, like smooth
fawn skin anointed with oils.
Kin remembered “The Tales of Ise to thoroughly know Japan,”
“Shokokuwo’mishiruha’ Ise Monogatari,” which was Saikaku’s[*157]
palody of ‘The Tales of Ise[*191],”originally written during the Heian
period from 794 through 1192. In the section of ‘Ise Sightseeing’, a coin-
throwing game was described. Two beautiful shamisen players, before
playing their shamisen, stretched a scarlet net around them, and asked
onlookers to throw coins aiming at their faces while they played the
shamisen. Kin could not help thinking that such a Nishiki’e[*134]-like
beautiful scene of the spread scarlet net had already been the past for
Kin, now.
During her younger days, money greed overwhelmed her as if
piercing to flesh and bones. Getting older, besides, after passing
through the fierce waves under the war, Kin felt her life empty and
uncertain, if not a man. Due to gradual changes in beauty by ages, the
dignity of beauty had transformed differently in every phase of her
life.
Kin did not wear anything flashy or ostentatious, as if in
competition with her own age, which seemed folly to her. Kin disliked
such a ridiculous trickery that a sensible woman over the age of 50
would wear a necklace down to her meager bosom, and wear a skirt of
red striped pattern, just right for underwear, yumoji[*225], with a white
satin baggy blouse, hiding her wrinkled forehead under a wide brim
hat. Besides, she did not have indecent taste for garments, like the
whore’s, jorō’s, favorite, to show the scarlet color from the back of the
neckband of the kimono.
Kin had never worn western style clothes up to this period. She liked
the neckband of pure white chirimen[*19], the lined kimono made of
Ōshima-brand indigo-blue textile fabrics with splashed pattern. Her
favorite obi[*139] sash was the Hakata obi of light cream in color with a
white lateral stripe pattern. She never would show her light blue
obiage[*140] at the breast part of the kimono. When it came to western
clothing, by herself, she devised dressing in the style of a western
woman. She formed the bulky breast and a slender waist by wrapping
a datemaki[*26] belt around her belly as tightly as possible, and then
put a waist pad lined with floss-silk wadding on the upper part of her
bottom. Her hair was originally brown, giving a younger impression to
her white face of over 50 years of age. She was tall, and wore the
kimono upward to a higher position, so that the hem of kimono
showed a clear-cut outlines around her feet. When she was to meet a
man, she, without fail, prepared herself to be like a professional
woman who was sedate in demeanor. Then, she drank, in one gulp,
half a cup, choko, approx. 0.09㎗of cold sake[*159]. Thereafter, she
brushed her teeth to mask the smell of sake cautiously. Only a bit of
sake had a better effect upon Kin’s body than using any cosmetics.
When she slightly felt tipsy, sides of her eyes turned red as if dyed, and
her large eyes appeared wet. She made up her face in shades of blue
with cosmetics, and applied to her face the cream solved with glycerin.
Her facial complexion became clear as if revived. Lips only were
colored in dark red with high quality lipstick. The red was seen only
on her lips. Kin had never colored her fingernails so far in her life. The
fingernail coloring for hands of the aged seemed absurd, and shabby
as if begging for something. She patted lotion only on the back of the
hands. She cut her fingernails nervously very short, and polished with
a woolen cloth.
Her favorite color visible from the opening of sleeves of her
juban[*76] had a soft and subdued shade, and she always used the
juban with a pattern of shaded-off reins in light blue and light peach.
She put a sweet fragrant perfume with a light touch on her shoulders
and the soft inside of upper arms. She did not dare to absolutely put
perfume on her earlobes. Kin did not want to forget that she was a
woman. She would have rather died if she became a dingy old woman
common to the world. ……
My body shall not be so
richly adorned like roses in bloom, but
I adore roses like my body
This waka[*212]-style poetry made by the famous poet, Yosano
Akiko[*220], was Kin’s favorite. She would be appalled by a life without
men. Seeing light pink petals of roses which Itaya brought to her, the
luxury of which reminded Kin of the past. A gradual change in
previous manners and customs, and in her hobbies and sensual
pleasures, was fun for Kin. When Kin, sleeping alone in bed, awoke in
the middle of the night, she silently began to count on her fingers the
number of men with whom she had relationships. ‘That man, he, and
that, ah! with him also …… but I wonder which man I met earlier than
the other …… or later.’ Memories of men, as if it were counting rhymes,
choked Kin’s heart like smoke.
Among men, there were such that Kin shed tears remembering
scenes and situations on how she parted. Kin felt inclined to think
only about the time of the first encounter with each man. It was Kin’s
pleasure to think of her ex.s while being drowsy, maybe because Kin
kept many such memories in her mind like the Tales of Ise where the
tale began with phrases, ‘In old days, there was a man.’ …… The phone
call from Tabe was a good surprise to Kin, as if she came across the
select wine of high quality.
‘Tabe must be tempted by old memories, which put in his head to
come see me, with his sentimental curiosity so as to see whether I still
retain the traces of my former appearance. It is like trying to visit the
burnt ruin of old love. I won’t let him sigh as if he stood on the ruins
and debris covered with weeds. My age and surroundings must be free
from even a slightest impression of poverty. A reserved look is the
best, after all. The atmosphere must have an uncertain touch of
floating somewhere. A relic of the aftertaste must remain in his
sentiments so as not to forget that his woman is still beautiful.’
Kin, after dressing, stood in front of the mirror to make sure her own
stage appearance. Is everything good? ……
In the living room, the supper was ready. She ate, face to face with
her housemaid, a bowl of boiled barley and rice, with watery miso
soup, and salty thin and dried strips of edible kelp, shio’kombu. Then,
she broke an egg and drank the yolk in a gulp. Since her old days, Kin
rarely prepared meals for a man who visited her. She did not expect a
man to regard her as a lovely home keeper, who treats a man with a
variety of dishes, saying, “I hope my home cooking is palatable to your
taste.” Kin was not interested in being a home keeping woman.
There was no reason for her to pretend to be so to flirt with a man,
whom she did not have in mind any intention to marry. Men, who
approached Kin regardless of her disposition like this, always brought
various souvenirs to please her. For Kin, it was natural. Kin had never
associated with men who had no money. No one else was as
unattractive as the one without money.
Besides, she tended to suddenly become weary of such a man, despite
her love for him, who wore clothes which were not brushed off, or
indifferently wore the underwear, a button of which came off.
Being in love itself, Kin felt like it was producing art works one after
another. Kin was said to resemble Manryū[*108], a geisha in Akasaka[*2].
Kin had once seen Manryū just after her marriage, a truly fascinatingly
beautiful woman. Kin groaned, being infatuated with her stunning
beauty. Simultaneously, she understood that any woman could not
keep her lasting beauty if not money. It was 19 years of age that Kin
had become a geisha. Her artistic accomplishments did not meet the
requirement to be a geisha. Only her beauty, however, enabled her to
be a geisha. At that time, she was invited to the feast sponsored by a
considerably aged French gentleman who visited Japan while
sightseeing the Orient. He had great affection for Kin, calling her
Japan’s Marguerite Gautier[*109]. Kin, herself as well, enjoyed playing
the role of the lady of the Camellias. He was surprisingly boring
sexually, however, Kin somehow could not forget him.
She called him Michel’san[*161], who, at his age, probably had passed
away already somewhere in the northern part in France. After he went
back to France, Michel once sent Kin a bracelet studded with opals
and fine diamonds, with which Kin had never parted even during the
war. …… Everyone with whom Kin had become related succeeded in
life. After the war, however, nothing was heard of hardly everyone. It
was rumored that Aizawa Kin amassed a considerably huge property.
Kin had never thought so far as to run a meeting teahouse,
machiai[*107], or a restaurant.
Her properties were her own house which fortunately was not burnt
in fire in the 1945 air raids on Tokyo, and a villa in Atami[*8]. She did
not have so much money as people rumored. The villa was registered
in the name of her sister-in-law, and after the war, Kin took occasion
to put it up for sale. Kinu, the housemaid, whom the sister-in-law
introduced to Kin, was speech-impaired and such a type as passing
time doing almost nothing. Kin lived unexpectedly a modest life. She
did not feel like going to watch movies or plays at theaters. Kin
disliked going out around without purpose. She was averse to being
seen in her old age by passersby under the sun, because she was
mercilessly shown an old woman’s misery. However expensive the
clothing might be, it was of no use before the sun.
Kin was content with her way of living like a flower in the shade, and
her hobby was reading novels. She sometimes was advised to adopt a
girl as a consolation in her old age. Kin felt displeased at such an idea
as the old age. There was a certain reason for her having been lived
alone till today. …… Kin did not have parents. In her early memory,
she was born in Kosagawa town near Honjō in Akita prefecture, and
was adopted around the age of five, and thus, her family name
changed to Aizawa. She grew up as a daughter of the Aizawa. Aizawa
Hisajirō was her adoptive father, who went over to Dalian in the
northern China for a civil engineering and construction business. Her
adoptive father had always been in Dalian, ever since the time that Kin
was a primary school pupil, and no one had heard of him.
Litsu, her adoptive mother, was a quite good financier, dealt in
stocks, and ran rented houses. At that time, the family lived in
Waradana along Kagurazaka[*78] slopes in Ushigome, Tokyo. ‘Aizawa
in Waradana’ was known in the neighborhood as a considerably
wealthy family. At that time, in Kagurazaka, there was an old tabi[*187]
production store named Tatsui, where a beautiful daughter named
Machiko lived. This tabi store, along with the Myōga’ya store in
Ningyō’chō town, was a house with history, therefore, inhabitants of
the wealthy residential area, Yamanote, placed confidence in Tatsui-
brand tabi socks. In the wide storefront of the Tatsui store, Machiko
with her hair done up in a peach-shaped chignon, momoware[*120], and
with a black satin collar for her kimono, worked stepping a sewing
machine, and had favorable reputation among Waseda University
students. Students came to order their tabi socks, and gave a gratuity
to her. Kin was five or six years younger than Machiko, and was also a
beauty of reputation around here. Two Komachi[*97] girls in
Kagurazaka was a good topic of rumor in the town.
It was the time when Kin was 19 years old, and Torikoshi, a gambling
dealer, the gōbyaku[*48], began to frequently visit their home that the
Aizawa’s family circumstances began being destitute, and the adoptive
mother, Litsu, fell into a habitual drunken frenzy. A long and dismal
life followed afterward. Besides, Kin was raped by Torikoshi as if it was
a bad joke. Kin, then, ran away from home desperately. Soon after, she
showed up as a geisha of the Suzuki geisha house in Akasaka. Just
around at that time, Machiko of the Tatsui tabi production store was
invited to board a brand-new airplane. She, wearing a long-sleeved
kimono, was on board. Newspaper, however, reported that the airplane
crashed in a meadow at Susaki[*186], making Machiko much more
famous. Kin went on as a geisha by the name of Kinya, soon, her
portraits decorated storytelling magazines. Postcards with Kin’s
portraits, so called ‘bromide,’ trendy in those days, were released
eventually.
 These were events of the distant past in hindsight. Despite that, Kin
just could not recognize that she herself was a woman of over 50 years
at present. She sometimes was astonished at her having lived so long.
On the other hand, she sometimes thought that her springtime in life
was short. When her adoptive mother died, her scanty property was
inherited quickly by her sister-in-law called Sumiko who was born
after Kin had been adopted by this family. Therefore, Kin was no
longer responsible to her adoptive family.
It was when Sumiko and her husband ran a student lodging house in
Totsuka[*203] as full-time owner managers that Kin became acquainted
with Tabe. At the time, Kin, parting from her patron after a three-year
relationship, leased a room in Sumiko’s lodging house and lived a
carefree life alone. It was the time when the Great East Asia War just
had begun. Kin saw a student, Tabe, sometimes in Sumiko’s living
room. Kin and Tabe, despite the large age difference like a parent and a
child, began to secretly meet before anyone knew. Fifty-year-old Kin
looked young like no more than 37 years. Her dark eyebrows effected
her pomp.
Tabe, immediately after university graduation, went on active service
as a Second Lieutenant. His unit, however, was stationed in Hiroshima
for a while. Kin visited him in Hiroshima, twice.
As soon as Kin arrived in Hiroshima, Tabe, wearing his military
uniform, came to see her at the inn. Kin was fed up with the smell of
leather, however, stayed there for two nights with Tabe. Kin was
fatigued after a long journey as far as Hiroshima, and furthermore,
Tabe’s stout power was wearing her out. Later, Kin confessed that she
was worn out almost to death. She had visited Tabe twice in
Hiroshima. Afterwards, however, Kin never did go again to Hiroshima,
although receiving many telegrams from Tabe.
In 1942, 17 Shōwa, Tabe went to Burma, and was demobilized in May
in the following year after the end of the war. Immediately, he came to
Tokyo, and visited Kin’s house in Numabukuro[*137] in Nakano, Tokyo.
Tabe looked badly aged, and Kin was disappointed when she saw him
lacking a front tooth, and at the same time, her dream of the past was
gone. Tabe, however, came out again in less than one year after their
meeting in Tokyo. He was transformed this time into a fine gentleman
utterly incompatible from the previous appearance. Tabe talked about
himself to Kin. He was born in Hiroshima, where his eldest brother
became a deputy in the local legislative body thereafter. Tabe started a
car company business with the help of this brother, and would be
married very soon. After that, one year or more passed again without
Kin meeting Tabe.
During the time when the US fiercely raided the metropolitan area,
Kin bought a house furnished with a phone, which was sold no better
than a giveaway price, in Numabukuro, and moved from Totsuka. Both
towns were a stone throw away from each other, but Kin’s house in
Numabukuro was safe, and Sumiko’s house in Totsuka was burnt
down. Sumiko and her husband came escaping to Kin’s house. Kin,
however, drove them away soon after the end of the war. Sumiko,
driven away by Kin though, could afford to build a house quickly in
Totsuka, and now thanked Kin despite the other day’s plight. Kin
understood, in retrospect, that people could build their houses at the
lower costs owing to the circumstances immediately after the end of
the war.
Kin as well sold her villa in Atami, and got nearly 300,000 yen[*211]
clear for it. With the money, she bought an almost dilapidated house,
reformed it, and sold at a three or four times higher price. She had
never rushed to the money. Kin had learned from her long trainings
and practices that the money’s reward consisted on the virtue of
benefit. If you did not rush to the money, the money would grow
quickly and healthily in bulk like a snow man. She lent money in
exchange of secure pledges on a lower yield basis than usury. Since the
war, Kin had not trusted banking corporations, and so, circulated her
money in an outward flow as much as possible. Besides, she did not
make such a folly as accumulating her money inside her house like
farmers did.
She sent Sumiko’s husband on an errand. Kin knew that people, with
some reward, worked suitably to the needs. She lived alone with her
housemaid in a house of 8 tatami mat size, which was lonely in the
appearance, however, Kin did not feel lonely at all. She was a stay-at-
home woman, therefore, there was nothing inconvenient for two
people’s living. As a caution against thieves, she trusted a firm lockup
much more than keeping a dog. Kin’s house was locked up more firmly
than any other houses.
The housemaid was a mute, so Kin did not have to worry about the
accidental overhearing even if whatever man might visit her. Kin,
however, sometimes imagined her own fate that she would be bloodily
murdered. She was not hesitant to worry about the quiet and
speechless house like bated breath. Kin did not forget to keep the
radio on constantly from morning to night.
Kin became acquainted with a horticulturist who cultivated gardens
in Matsudo[*111] in the northern Chiba Prefecture. He was a brother of
the person who purchased Kin’s villa in Atami. He was a repatriate
after the end of the war from Hanoi in Vietnam, where he managed a
business during the war. He began cultivating flowers in Matsudo,
with his brother’s capital. He was no more than 40 years old, but
looked older than his age because he went totally bald. Itaya Kiyoji
was his name, and visited Kin two or three times on business at Kin’s
house. Before long, he began coming to see her once a week. Since
that Itaya began to come, Kin’s house was filled with various flowers of
his gifts. …… Today, again, yellow roses named Castanian were roughly
arranged in a vase in the alcove, the tokonoma[*200].
Leaves of gingko are fallen here and there
my wistful yearning for the rose garden
slightly wet with frost
Yellow roses reminded her of the beauty of a mature woman.
Someone’s poetry. Fragrance of roses wet with frost in the
morning filled her heart with memories.
When she got a phone call from Tabe, she realized that she was
attracted to young Tabe rather than Itaya. In Hiroshima, his stout
youthfullness caused her pain. At that time, however, Tabe was a
soldier. No wonder that he was strong and durable, and only today his
stout youth arose her longing. She happily recalled him in mind. After
that the time had passed, therefore, she was affected with emotion by
her own intense memories.
 Tabe came much later than five o’clock, hanging a large parcel on his
hand. He took a bottle of whiskey, ham and cheese, and others out of
the parcel, and placed himself heavily beside a oblong box-shaped
brazier, the naga’hibachi[*124]. He retained nothing of the stout youth
that he was. He wore a gray plaid jacket and dark green trousers,
giving him an impression of a mechanic of this period, indeed.
“You’re beautiful as ever.”
“Well, thanks. But, obsolete already.”
“Not like that. You’re more attractive than my wife.”
“Your wife is probably young, isn’t she?”
“She’s young, but a hick.”
Kin pulled a cigarette out from Tabe’s cigarette case, and had him
light it. Her housemaid brought a pair of whiskey glasses and a plate
of cheese and ham.
“A good girl, isn’t she?” Tabe said sneeringly.
“Right, but she’s a mute.”
Tabe a little surprisingly stared at the way she moved. The maid,
lowering her head, greeted him politely with gentle eyes. The maid’s
youth, which had never bothered Kin so far, suddenly became
offensive to her.
“You get on very well together, don’t you?”
Tabe puffed out a smoke, with a look showing feigned ignorance,
and said.
“A baby is born very soon, next month.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Kin took the bottle and poured whiskey in his glass. Tabe drank it at
a gulp deliciously, and then, poured in Kin’s glass.
“You have a good life.”
“Oh, why?”
“A storm is roaring furiously outside, however, you only remain the
same, never change. …… You are amazing. A woman like you must
have a good patron, I guess. I’m envious of women.”
“You are being sarcastic, aren’t you? I didn’t give you, in particular,
so much trouble as to be thought like that, did I?”
 “Are you getting angry? Don’t get my words twisted. I didn’t mean it.
I said, indeed, that you are a happy person. Men’s works are hard, so I
have said that way carelessly. In this period, we cannot live easily
without a definite aim. This is a dog-eat-dog situation. My life is
something like doing gambling everyday.”
“But, business conditions are good, aren’t they?”
“No good! …… It’s like a risky tightrope walk, indeed. I spend money
painfully to the extent that there is a constant buzzing in my ear.”
Kin silently sipped the whiskey. It was cryptically gloomy that a
cricket was chirping somewhere near the wall. Tabe drank up the
second glass of whiskey, and then, grasped Kin’s hand in violent haste
over the brazier, hibachi. Her hand without any ring was forlornly soft
like a silk handkerchief. Kin kept her hand feebly motionless as far as
her finger-tips, holding her breath. Her infirm hand was so cold and
softly plump. Various things of the past closed up like a turbulence to
Tabe’s tipsy eyes. The woman was sitting with her beauty of the old
days as she had been. He felt it incredible. In general, experiences
accumulate little by little along with years constantly flowing away,
and the flow moves leaping up and falling down. His ex-she, however,
sit unchanged boldly in front of him. Tabe steadily watched Kin’s eyes.
Fine wrinkles around her eye also were the same as before. The outline
did not collapse as well.
Tabe was eager to know the circumstances of her real life.
‘Probably, the social change did not reflect any effect onto this
woman, who did not react at all to changes of the flow. She decorates
her room with a chest of drawers and the oblong brazier, the
naga’hibachi, besides, luxuriously clustered roses, and sits smiling in
front of me. She should be over 50 years old, and yet was womanly
fragrant.’ Tabe did not know Kin’s true age. Tabe, who lived in an
apartment house, recalled in mind a fluffy and fatigued figure of his
wife having just turned 25 years, as if floating in his eyelids. Kin took,
out of a drawer of the naga’hibachi, her long Japanese smoking pipe,
kiseru, a stem of which was made of thinly hammered silver. She put a
short remaining piece of cigarette in the mouthpiece and lit it.
Kin noticed that Tabe sometimes shook his knees nervously and
wondered about it. Kin supposed that he probably had some financial
trouble, and carefully examined Tabe’s facial expressions.
Her devoted love for Tabe, such as when she had visited him in
Hiroshima, had already faded away. A long blank between the two
seemed to Kin to be improper, now that Kin met him in actuality. Such
improperness was felt impatiently and sorrowfully in Kin’s feelings.
Her heart did not burn like the old days. She wondered about the fact
that she did not feel attracted to the corporeal entity of this man. ‘Is it
maybe because I knew the body of this man well?’ In the room, there
certainly was the atmosphere arousing a permissive nod to each other.
Kin’s heart to the point, however, was not roused to burning, with
which Kin felt annoyed.
“Don’t you know someone, on whom you can act as go-between, to
lend me approximately 400,000?”
“Ah, do you mean money? 400,000 yen is a huge some of money,
isn’t it?”
“Yes. I need that amount of money, right now. Do you happen to
know of someone?”
“No idea. First of all, you are asking me the impossible, because I
live on no income.”
“I doubt it. I will pay back money with high interest. How about it?”
“No! It won’t serve your purpose even if you talk about money to
me.”
Suddenly, Kin felt a chill. She began yearning for a pastoral
relationship with Itaya. Kin disappointedly took an arare[*5]-patterned
iron kettle where the water was boiling up, and served tea.
“At least, 200,000. Can’t you prepare it anyhow? I will be indebted to
you. ……”
“How strange you are! Even if you talk about money to me, you
know very well that I have scant money. …… I am the one who wants
money. You visited me not because you want to meet me, but, did you
come here for the request of money?”
“Of course, I visited you to meet you. That’s true, because I was eager
to meet you, besides, I thought that I can talk with you about
anything.”
“Why not consult your brother?”
 “About that money, I cannot talk with him.”
Kin, without reply, imagined capriciously that her youth would be
over in two or three years, at most. Now that she had come to think of
the past, she noticed that their ardent love of old days had left no
impression upon each other.
‘It was not love, maybe, but only relations of a male and a female
starving for carnal desires. Long after fragile relations between a man
and a woman like fallen leaves drifting in the wind, Tabe and I sit here
together, just as ordinary acquaintances, each other.’
Something chilly flew into Kin’s chest. Tabe grinned like a sudden
flash, and asked Kin in a low voice, while she was drinking tea.
“May I stay overnight?”
Kin, popping her eyes, replied smilingly.
“Oh, no. Don’t tease me.”
Then, she laughed, deliberately wrinkling the corners of her eyes.
Beautiful white false teeth shone.
“How merciless and unkind! I won’t talk about money anymore. I
fawned a bit on the old days Kin’san. However, …… I should have
known that this is another world. You have a strong ace. You are great,
because you never give in, no matter what happens. Young women are
really miserable, today. Do you dance?”
Kin laughed sniffingly at the back of her nose, thinking in mind,
‘What about young women? …… It’s nothing to do with me.’
“I don’t dance. Do you?”
“A little.”
“I see. You have a sweetheart, don’t you? So you need money. I hit it,
didn’t I?”
“How stupid. I don’t make enough profits to give gifts to women.”
“Well, but, your appearance is gentlemanly. You need to do a
considerably good business to wear such garments.”
“This is a bluff. I’m hard up for money. The ups and downs of life are
restless, today.”
Kin chuckled softly, looking admiringly at Tabe’s thick black hair.
The hair was sufficiently thick and hung over the edge of his forehead.
In the days of his wearing a square college cap on his head, his
freshness was as if giving off a pleasant scent, which faded away.
However, his middle-aged male cheeks looked seductive. His facial
expression lacked decency, but had something bold. Kin served tea to
Tabe, examining him as if a savage beast smelled the other from far
away.
“By the way, is it true that devaluation of our currencies is coming
soon?”
Kin asked him, jokingly.
“You must have a lot, so you worry about it, don’t you?”
“Oh, you return to it, all too soon. You have changed a lot. I just
wonder because people speak of such a rumor.”
“Such potency is low in Japan today. A person without money
doesn’t need to worry about such a matter.”
“You’re right.”
Kin, with alacrity, held out the whiskey bottle to Tabe’s glass.
“Alas, I want to go to Hakone or somewhere tranquil. I wish to sleep
soundly in such a place for a few days.”
“Are you tired?”
“Yes, due to a worry about money.”
“Isn’t a worry about money better to you? Because it’s not a worry
about women. ……”
The sight of Kin’s pretending ignorance was hateful to Tabe.
Simultaneously, he felt it funny as if he looked at a choice antique.
Tabe stared around Kin’s chin, thinking, ‘It’s like alms for the woman
that I spend overnight together with her.’ The clearly defined outline
of her chin reflected the strength of her will. The mute maid’s fresh
youthness, at whom he glanced a while ago, clearly overlapped with
Kin’s figure in his eyes. The maid was not good-looking, but young,
which was new to the man, who recently had a good eye regarding
women. Tabe thought that he would not feel hal eartedly irritated if
this was the first encounter with Kin, and saw the oldness in Kin’s face,
which looked more tired than a while ago.
Kin seemed to surmise something, stood up quickly, and went to the
next room, where she picked up a syringe from her mirror stand,
stabbed it in her arm for an injection. She, rubbing the arm skin hard
with absorbent cotton, looked into the mirror and patted powder puff
on her nose. The man and woman, who had already lost seductive
feelings to each other, drew out their dull talks this way. While
considering this, Kin became frustrated and her eyes teared wantonly.
With Itaya, she, crying, could throw herself down upon his lap. She
could play the baby to Itaya. She did not know at all whether or not
she was fond of Tabe, who sat alongside the naga’hibachi brazier.
Kin expected him to go out right away, at the same time, she felt
anxious to impress herself somehow upon his mind. After parting with
Kin, Tabe’s eyes had seen lots of women. Kin went to the toilet, and on
her way back, she took a look at the maid servant’s room. O’Kinu,
concentrated in her studies of the dressmaking, was cutting sheets of
newspaper to make patterns. She snugly put her large bottom on a
tatami mat, and stooped forward over the tatami using scissors. The
nape of her tightly rolled up hair was slick and white, with an
admirable abundance of flesh. Kin connived at it, and went back again
to the front of the naga’hibachi.
Tabe sprawled across the tatami mat. Kin turned on the radio on the
tea cupboard. Beethoven Symphony No. 9 sounded unexpectedly loud.
Tabe sat up wearily. And then, he took his whiskey glass up to his lips,
again.
“We once went together to Kawajin[*92] in Shibamata. We were
caught in a heavy downpour of rain, and ate boiled eel without cooked
rice.”
“Oh, yes! I really remember. At that time, already, food was deficient
in Japan. It was before you enlisted in the army. On the alcove, red
Japanese lilies, kanoko’yuri[*84] were decorated, and we carelessly
knocked over the flower vase, together.”
“There was such a thing, indeed …….”
Kin’s face suddenly puffed out, and her facial expression turned
youthful.
“Shall we go there someday again?”
“A good idea. But, it’s bothersome for me to go out. …… That
restaurant now serves many items, doesn’t it?”
Kin secretly pulled herself toward mutually old memories so as not
to extinguish such sentiments as wanton tearing of a little while ago.
 On the other hand, another face, different from Tabe, flickered in
her mind. Much later than her outing with Tabe to Shibamata, soon
after the end of the war, she took a man called Yamazaki to Shibamata.
Only the other day, Yamazaki died after the surgery for stomach. The
scenery of the dim room of Kawajin along the Edogawa River on a
muggy day in late summer came into her mind. Resounding strokes of
an automatic pump, raising the water, caught her ear. Kanakana-
cicada[*83] made shrill calls. On the high bank along the Edogawa
River, seen from the window, bicycles for shopping were running with
gleaming silver rings, as if competing in a race. It was the second
rendezvous with Yamazaki. Kin felt Yamazaki’s youthfulness heartily
celestial, because he was inexperienced with a woman.
There was a plenty of food. Staleness in society after the end of the
war brought on unexpected silence, as if in an entirely enclosed
vacuum space. Kin remembered that they returned at night by bus on
the broad military road as far as Shin’Koiwa[*168].
Suddenly, Tabe asked.
“Did you meet someone interesting afterwards?”
“Me?”
“Yes. ……”
“Only you are the one interesting to me. No one else.”
Kin said.
“Don’t tell a lie!”
“Ah. Why? Don’t you believe it? Who goes around with me? ……”
“I don’t believe it.”
“I see …… but, I intend to bloom from now on, for the sake of my
life.”
“Because you will live still longer, I’m sure.”
“That’s it. I will live long as far as I’m worn out decrepitly by age ……”
“Won’t you stop flirting?”
“Oh, what a person you are! You lost your old days purity. What
made you so cynical? You were so pure and good-looking in the old
days.”
Tabe picked up Kin’s silver kiseru pipe, and smoked. Harsh acrid
taste of nicotine came to his tongue. Tabe took out his own
handkerchief and spit the nicotine resin on it.
“The air hole is clogged as I don’t clean it.”
Kin, grinning, took the slender kiseru pipe back, and tapped it in a
strong and quick manner on a sheet of tissue paper. Tabe amazingly
imagined Kin’s life. Society seemed not to inflict cruelty on her, and,
so, nothing weary was traceable about her. Judging from her way of
living, she would be able to prepare two or three hundred thousand,
somehow. Tabe did not feel regret for Kin’s body, however, was eager to
tread close on the woman’s wealth of life, which she hid under her
well-off life. After coming back from the war, he started a business,
relying only upon his own mettle, however, ran out of capital given by
his brother. Besides, he had a relationship with a woman other than
his wife, and a baby was going to be born to the woman, too. He
recalled former Kin in mind, and came to see her with a hope as if the
last resort.
Her former earnesty could not be perceived, at present, in Kin, who
had learned to use discretion. Kin’s heart did not flare up in the least
despite the encounter with Tabe after a long interval. She sat neatly
with her formal facial expression, whom Tabe did not feel accessible.
Once more again, Tabe took Kin’s hand, and tried to hold it firmly. Kin
did not draw back her hand, but merely left him do as he wanted. She
did not lean forward toward Tabe over the brazier, but kept removing
the nicotine resin from the air hole with the other hand.
They had been exposed to hardships for many years, and their
complex sentiments retreated into their own innermost feelings, and
then, at some later time, their feelings to each other lapsed after a
long period of time. Their former yearnings for each other won’t come
back anymore, to that extent, they grew old separately and in parallel.
Both in silence compared the present situations of each other. They
were falling into the circle of disillusionment. They sat face to face in a
complicated sense of fatigue and letdown. No fictitious coincidence
slipped into this reality, as was the case with novels. Probably novels
were far more tolerant of the course of events. The truth of subtle life.
They met here merely in order to reject each other. Tabe’s own urgent
needs deluded him into killing Kin. He, however, felt it ridiculous that
if he killed even such a woman, it would be a crime. He thought,
‘What’s the matter with it whether I would kill one or two of such
women whom nobody cares about?’ But, he reflected, on the
aftermath of murder, that becoming a criminal would not pay.
‘She is merely an old woman no better than a worm.’ He thought.
‘This woman lives here unperturbed about nothing. A pair of drawers
of her chest are full of kimono garments which she had tailored in her
50 years. Years ago, she showed me a bracelet which she was given by
some Frenchman called Michel. She must have more of such jewelry.
I’m sure that she holds this house as her own. Nothing will leak out
even if I kill one single woman in the house where a mute housemaid
dwells.’ Tabe’s imagination stretched boldly. At the same time, his
memory back to his university student days was vividly given off and
stifled him. He had thought persistently about Kin and continued to
secretly meet her, despite the midst of war. Maybe because he was
temporarily affected by the drinks, the visible trace of Kin, who sat in
front of Tabe, strangely enough, penetrated numbly into his skin. He
had no intention of touching her, but, the past with Kin bore down on
him like a massive shadow.
Kin stood up suddenly, approaching her chest of drawers, and
groped in the drawer to pick up a photo.
“Wow, you have an odd thing.”
“I found this at Sumiko’s, and got it. This is the photo before your
meeting me. You looked like a prince, those days. Your dark blue
kimono garment with white splash patterns suits you, doesn’t it? Take
this photo with you. You can show it to your wife. How good-looking
you are! You didn’t look like a man who says such odious things”
“Was there such a time once with me as well?”
“Sure! If you grew up soundly as you were, Tabe’san would have
become a great person, don’t you think?”
“Do you mean that I didn’t grow up soundly?”
“Of course, you didn’t.”
“You are to be blamed, and the war.”
“Those are not pertinent, naturally. Such things won’t work as the
cause. You have become coarse, too much ……”.
“Oh, coarse. This is what the human beings are.”
 “How do you like my naivety about that I always kept your photo
with me wherever I might go.”
“I am in your memory custody, perhaps. Didn’t you give me yours?”
“My photo?”
“Yes.”
“I feel fear in taking photos. I sent you my photo of geisha days while
you were in the battle field, didn’t I?”
“I wonder if I dropped your photo somewhere. ……”
“You see! I am much more naïve than you.”
The naga’hibachi brazier was like a fortress rising between them,
which seemed not to fall easily.
Tabe was quite drunk. Whiskey still remained more than half the
first glass in front of Kin. Tabe drank a cup of cold tea in one gulp, and
put away his own photo on a sideboard indifferently.
“Won’t you miss the last train?”
“Impossible to go back. Do you want to drive a drunk out, right
away?”
“Sure, I’ll drive you out with a slap. This is a woman’s house, and my
neighbors are curious and talkative.”
“Your neighbors? I don’t think that you mind such things.”
“I do.”
“Is your patron coming, tonight?”
“Oh, how odious you are, Tabe’san! You make me shudder. I hate
you! Because you say such a thing.”
“It’s quite all right with me. I cannot go back two or three days
anyway if I won’t get money. Maybe I shall stay here …… .”
Kin, resting her chin on her hands, watched Tabe’s pale lips alertly
with her eyes wide open. The love of a hundred years cooled down in
the end. She was silent, looking at him carefully. They lost color once
dazzling their hearts to each other. There was no sense of shame in
Tabe, although he had it in his youth. She rather wanted to give him a
gift of money to make him go away. Kin, however, felt it absolutely
disgustful to give even a bit of money to such a person who was
sluggishly drunk in front of her eyes. She rather preferred giving a
naïve man her money. A man with no self-esteem disgusted her, above
all. Kin had many experiences with naïve men who were crazy about
her. Kin was attracted to their ingenuous simplicity, which she
regarded as refinement. She was only interested in choosing an ideal
partner.
Kin felt contempt for Tabe, who had fallen to the level of a worthless
man. He was not killed in action, but returned back safely to Japan, so
he was a man of good luck, where Kin felt the fate. Kin went chasing
him as far as Hiroshima. After hardships, at that time, she should have
ended the relationship with this man.
“Why are you staring at my face?”
“Oh, it’s you, you have been staring at me for quite a while, fancying
something self-indulgent, aren’t you?”
“Not that. I saw your face, thinking in mind that Kin is always
beautiful, and fascinates me whenever I look at you.”
“Me, too. I thought that Tabe’san got on in life praiseworthily …… .”
“What a paradox!”
He subdued uttering that he fancied to murder her, which almost
went out of his mouth, and fled aside with the word ‘paradox.’
“You are a virile man, still now on, in bloom. So, you look forward to
things to come, don’t you?”
“Aren’t you still in bloom?”
“Me? I don’t match for it anymore. I’m going to wither this way. I
want to withdraw to the countryside after a few years.”
“Don’t you remember that you said to outlive as far as you are finally
worn out?”
“Don’t be kidding. I have never said such a thing. I am a woman who
live in memories. That’ all. Let’s be good friends, shall we?”
“Don’t slip away. You should not talk like a schoolgirl. I don’t give a
damn to memories.”
“I doubt it …… because it’s you that began talking about our outing
to Shibamata.”
Tabe impatiently shook his knees shudderingly, again. He was
repeating in his mind, ‘I want money. Money. I need to borrow at least
50,000 yen from her, by all means.’
“I wonder whether you really cannot raise the money for me.
Doesn’t it work that I offer you my firm as a security?”
 “You are talking about money, again? I can’t, even if you insist the
same thing. I am quite penniless. Besides, I don’t have a rich
acquaintance. Money is something like seemingly abundant while
scanty. It’s me that want to borrow money from you …… .”
“Of course, I will bring you a lot, if I do well. Because you are the
one that I cannot forget …… .”
“It’s enough, forget such flattery …… Didn’t you tell me, a little while
ago, that you won’t speak of money anymore?”
As if a watery gale of the autumn night swept along blusteringly all
around, Tabe stealthily held a pair of charcoal handling metal
chopsticks, which were placed in the ashes in the oblong brazier.
Suddenly, a furious anger crept around his eyebrow. He held the metal
chopsticks firmly on her shadow, by which he was enigmatically
attracted. He was throbbing like the roar of thunder, which stimulated
him even more. Kin uneasily stared at Tabe’s hand. It was a moment of
déjà vu. She felt as if she was seeing the double exposure of a scene
which had occurred before at some near time ago.
“You are drunk. Stay overnight here ……”
Tabe, hearing what Kin said, loosened his grasp and released the
metal chopsticks. He went, with the faltering steps of a drunkard, to
the toilet. Kin, looking at Tabe’s back view, perceived something
foreshadowed. She, snorting through her nose, disdained him
sneeringly in mind. In this war, innermost settings of everyone’s mind
changed thoroughly. Kin took pills of ‘Philopon[*147]’ out of her tea
shelf, and gulped them down quickly. Whiskey still remained one
third of the bottle.
‘I will have Tabe drink it all, and have him sleep like a log.
Tomorrow, I will put him out. I, myself, won’t be asleep tonight.’
Kin put his photo on blue flames of the well burning oblong brazier.
Smoke went up in clouds, and the room was filled with a burning
smell as far as four corners. The housemaid, O’Kinu, peeked quietly
from the next room through a slight opening of a sliding paper panel
door, the fusuma. Kin, with a smile, ordered her by a hand gesture to
prepare the futon beddings in the guest room. Then, Kin put a slice of
cheese in the fire so as to hide the smell of paper burning.
 “Wow! What are you burning!?”
Tabe, who came back from the toilet, looked into the room through
the fusuma, placing his hand on the housemaid’s plump wide
shoulder.
“I picked up a slice of cheese with metal chopsticks, and it slipped
down into the fire.”
Black smoke went straight up into white clouds of the smoke. The
round glass shade of the electric light looked like the moon floating on
clouds. The burning oily smell was offensive to the nose.
Kin was stifled with the smoke, stood up, and, walking, boisterously
opened the paper lattice windows of wooden frame, the shōji, and the
fusuma, all around in the room.

-End-
DOWNTOWN
Hayashi Fumiko, Shita’machi, April 1949
Mei Yumi’s Postwar Japanese Literature

Downtown
Characters

Liyo --- A green tea peddler, and a married woman, whose husband
was detained in Siberia as a prisoner of war, even after the end of the
war.
Lyūji --- Liyo’s husband, and was detained in Siberia for 4 years during
the war, and 2 years even after the end of the war. The last major
group of 1,025 Japanese POWs was released on 23 December 1956.
Tsuruishi Yoshio --- A man in a humble dwelling, who was interned to
work in a labor camp in Sahaliyan ula in Kuomintang China, and came
back to Japan at the end of the war.
Tomekichi --- Liyo’s five-year-old son.

Downtown
A bleak wind was blowing. Liyo walked down the street, choosing the
sunny side as much as possible. Besides, for her, smaller houses were
better to aim at. It was around noon, she tried to find a house where
she could get a cup of hot tea. She walked alongside under the eaves,
and turned around a board fence, such as setup around a construction
site, and looked far beyond a heap of rusted iron materials like frames
and scrap. Within the reach of her sight, there was a humble dwelling,
and inside its glass window, a fire crackled.
A man caught up with Liyo by bicycle from behind, put his foot on
the ground and asked.
“Where is the Katsushika Ward Office?”
Liyo did not know, so, she replied to him.
“I don’t know as I’m just a passerby.”
The man by bicycle went to the dwelling, and called out in a loud
voice.
“Where is the Katsushika Ward Office, might you know?”
The glass window was opened from inside, and a craftsman-like
man, wearing a hachimaki[*50] around his head, put his head out of the
window, and told him the route.
“Go to the Yotsugi[*221] street. Walk along the new street straight
toward the railway station, and you will find very soon the Ward
Office.”
The man wearing the hachimaki around his head seemed to Liyo to
be a person of good character. So, Liyo, getting past the bicycle, warily
approached him, and asked him in a low voice.
“Would you care to buy Shizuoka tea[*173]?”
In the dark earthen floor, firewood was burning in a portable clay
brazier, shichirin, and a large kettle was put on iron prongs placed
upon the brazier.
“Tea?”
“Yes, the Shizuoka tea ……”
Liyo, with a smile, tried to take her rucksack down. The man with
hachimaki silently went back to his stool on the earthen floor. Liyo
wanted to warm up by the fire burning vigorously, even for a little
while, so, she timidly asked him.
 “I walked for a long time, and feel very cold …… May I warm up for a
little while?”
“Sure. Close the door first, and take time to warm yourself.”
The man sat upon a small stool with his knees apart. Then, however,
he pushed his stool to Liyo, and moved to a shaky wooden packing box
and sat down on it.
Liyo put her rucksack in a corner of the earthen floor, then,
reservedly croached near the fire and warmed her hands.
“Have a seat.”
The man said, with his chin up pointing out the stool, and looked at
Liyo who was warming on the other side of the fire. She seemed not to
care about her appearance, but unexpectedly, had good looks. He
asked.
“Do you walk peddling?”
The kettle began whistling as the water was heated to a boil.
Close to the soot-stained ceiling, a surprisingly large Shintō altar, the
kami’dana, was built in, where green branches of sakaki[*158] was
decorated as offerings to Shintō gods. A blackboard was attached
below the window. Against the wall, a pair of rubber boots, full of
holes, was put.
“Someone talked to me that this area is good for vending green tea. I
came around here early in the morning, but I did business at only one
house. I am about to go back now, after taking lunch somewhere, and
so, I am just looking for a place to open my lunch box[*106] …… .”
“Take your lunch, here. …… Business depends on a luck of the day. If
you peddle on streets where many houses are built closely, maybe you
would do surprisingly good business.”
The man picked up a package wrapped in yellowish greasy
newspapers from a distorted bookshelf, and took salmon slices out of
the papers. Then, he removed the kettle from the brazier, and put the
salmon slices on iron prongs, instead. Salmon slices while being
roasted smelled good.
“Why not take your seat there? Feel at home and eat your lunch. ……”
Liyo stood up, and went to pick up her lunch box in a wrapping
cloth, furoshiki from her rucksack placed in the corner. She sat on the
stool this time.
“Every work is not easy. How much does your Shizuoka green tea
cost by 100 mom[*119]?”
The man turned over the salmon slices using his fingers.
“The price[*122] is 120 or 130 yen for 100 mom, but, tea leaves becomes
waste at a certain rate. If the price is set high, tea leaves won’t sell. ……”
“Let me see, the family with the aged people will buy tea leaves, but,
sales might be hard with young families.”
Liyo opened her lunch box, where two dried sardines, hō’zashi[*67],
and miso’zuke[*115] pickles were arranged on the dark barley rice.
“By the way, where do you live?”
“Inari’chō[*71] in Shitaya[*172]. I have just come to Tokyo, and still
cannot tell west from east.”
“Oho, do you live in a rental room?”
“No. I temporarily rely on my relatives. ……”
The man took a wool-knitted dirty bag away from a large alumite
lunch box, and removed the lid off the box. The box was crammed full
of sweet potato rice. He grabbed burnt slices of salmon with his
fingers, and put them on the lid. Then he put the kettle back onto the
shichirin brazier, and added woodchips to the fire. Liyo, placed her
half-eaten lunch box on the stool, and pulled out a green tea package
for sale from her rucksack, and put a small amount of green tea leaves
onto a tissue paper, and asked the man.
“Would you mind my putting tea leaves into the kettle?”
The man obligedly waved his hand and said, smiling.
“Is it all right with you? It must be expensive.”
His large white teeth made him look young. Liyo picked up the lid of
the kettle, and released tea leaves in the steam adroitly.
The tea boiled up shakily. The man went to the shelf, came back
with a teacup and a dirty tumbler, and placed them on a new packing
case which was located near the wall.
“What does your husband do?”
The man, asking her, plucked a half of the salmon slice by hand, and
reached out his hand to put the slice on Liyo’s rice. Liyo, a little
hesitantly, thanked him and took the half cut of salmon slice.
 “My husband is in Siberia[*179], not yet come back. So, peddling is the
only way to get food, for the time being.”
The man astonishedly looked up and asked.
“I see. Where in Siberia is your husband interned?”

Liyo once got a letter from Sūchin in Baikal, thereafter, the autumn
passed, and she barely got through this winter again. Liyo got
accustomed to feel depressed every morning soon after she awoke. She
also got used to be numb with the unrealistic distance between Japan
and Baikal, now. Liyo, hearing that a song entitled “Foreign Hill[*39] –
Ikokuno’oka” was popular and that POW soldiers also sang in Siberia,
asked Tomekichi to sing the trendy popular song. She felt lonesome
very soon, listening to the song. Liyo thought that the war mood still
lingered only around her. While the mist of memories were dissipating
away from everywhere, only her place seemed to be left behind from
the peaceful shade. ‘Nowhere, no gods’ was Liyo’s habitual phrase to
pronounce.
During the hot season, she felt unbearable because it was frustrating
for her to wait everyday anxiously for her husband’s return. The season
of summer heat was gradually fading, and then, the coming of winter
was a fierce solitude as if she was accused. ‘People’s patience also is
close to its limit,’ Liyo got angry alone. Lyūji had to spend the fourth
winter in Siberia, whose appearance became gradually thinner like a
ghost in her memory.
Liyo had not enjoyed any lighthearted felicity for 6 years since Lyūji
went to war. Liyo got no inspiration from months and years, which
flew in constant velocity only outside her daily life. No one
remembered to talk about the war anymore. Even if Liyo said to
someone, ‘My husband is still in Siberia,’ he/she did not have more
than a casual sympathy with her as if her husband did not come back
from an errand yet. Liyo was not knowledgeable about Siberia, but the
only thing that she could imagine was the vast snow desert.
“I was told that he is in Sūchin near Baikal, but he cannot come
back yet. ……”
 “I’m also a repatriate from Siberia. I was interned for two years to log
the woodland in Muluchi near Sahaliyan ula in Kuomintang China.
…… People depend upon luck or not in everything. No doubt, your
husband is going through unbearable situations. Besides, I can
imagine how painful it is for you to keep waiting. ……”
He took his hachimaki out of his head, and rubbed the teacup and
tumbler lightly using his hachimaki as a dishcloth. Then, he poured
the boiled tea into the teacup and tumbler.
“Oh! You too are a repatriate? How nice that you came back in good
health to Japan!”
“Anyhow, I did not die, and could come back to Japan ……”
Liyo, while putting away her lunch box, stared thoroughly at his face.
He seemed to be ordinary, so she could talk with him easily and felt
comfortable being with him.
“Do you have a child?”
“Yes. An 8-year-old boy. I need to complete various paper works,
such as procedures for my child’s school transference to this school
district. Besides, our ration is delayed, so I have to renew our ration
passbook, first. My child is not admitted to school as yet. Indeed, I’m
busy with peddling, despite that, I have to go to our ward office for the
required procedures, day by day. I am worn out.”
The man kept his tumbler in his hand, and was drinking the hot
green tea.
“Tea tastes good.”
“Does it? I have other tea of better quality. This is the second crop,
and the cost price is 800 yen for one kan, 8.25 pound in weight. ……
But, my customers say that this tea tastes surprisingly good.”
Liyo took her teacup in hand, and drank tea blowing lightly its hot
surface.
Before they knew, the wind changed in direction. The strong west
wind blew and made the tin roofs sound creaky. Liyo felt too forlorn to
go out, and felt like staying by the fire as long as possible.
“I will buy 200 mom, 27.45 oz. ……”
The man, saying, pulled 300 yen out of his pocket of work clothes.
“Ah! You don’t have to buy, I will give you 200 mom of tea leaves if
it’s all that you need!”
 Liyo quickly took out a couple of 100-mom packages, and put them
on the packing case.
“Don’t worry. Business is business. I cannot take it free. …… Drop in
here again, when you come around here.”
“Thanks. Of course, I will. …… You don’t live here, do you?
 Liyo looked around the humble hut. The man put away his lunch
box, then, split a fine piece of wood from the wooden packing case.
He, using it as a toothpick, talked.
“I live here. I work as a guard and freight clerk of iron materials
here. My elder sister lives nearby and brings me food every day. ……”
The man opened a door beneath the built-in Shintō alter. Inside was
a closet-like space, where a bed was furnished. A postcard pinup of an
actress, Yamada Isuzu[*219], was fastened with push pins on the board
wall.
“How practical, isn’t it? You are carefree, I’m sure ……”
Liyo wondered how old this man was.
From that day, Liyo began to come peddling to Yotsugi, and stopped
at the hut in the storage yard of iron materials. She got to know that
his name was Tsuruishi Yoshio. Liyo’s visit pleased Tsuruishi, who
sometimes bought sweets waiting for her visit. On the part of Liyo,
too, it was fun to visit his hut, and also, gradually she gained regular
customers who bought tea leaves from her, which made her peddling
easier in this neighborhood.
On the fifth day, Liyo took her son, Tomekichi, with her to Tsuruishi’s
dwelling in Yotsugi. Seeing the boy, Tsuruishi was delighted very
much. He went away with Tomekichi somewhere, and after a while,
came back with Tomekichi, who had a pair of still hot and large sugary
toffee, karumeyaki[*87], in his hand. He patted the head of Tomekichi,
and put the boy on the stool, talking to him.
“You spun out the karumeyaki, yourself, didn’t you?”
Liyo began to wonder if Tsuruishi had a wife. Not so much seriously,
but such an idea happened to come into Liyo’s mind, when she saw
Tsuruishi caring tenderly for Tomekichi. Liyo had never thought of
other men than her own husband so far until the day that she turned
30 years old. Liyo felt that her own feelings toward Tsuruishi changed
differently, little by little, when she began to know his agreeable and
leisurely characteristics. These days, Liyo began to mind her own
appearance, and did her job seriously. She asked relatives in Shizuoka
to send her dried flakes of mackerel pilchard along with tea leaves. She
peddled tea leaves and those dried flakes, which sometimes sold better
than expected.
It was seven or eight days later than Liyo’s first visit to Tsuruishi’s
hut. Tsuruishi offered Liyo and Tomekichi to guide through Asakusa[*7]
on his off day, because Liyo said that they had never been to Asakusa.
Besides, he suggested to take a walk, if they had time, in Ueno Park
which was famous for cherry blossoms, sakura, although the season
was still earlier than the sakura to bloom. On the appointed day, as
told by Tsuruishi, Liyo waited for him standing with Tomekichi in front
of the tourist information office inside Ueno station. The weather was
half fine and half cloudy. An overcast day was rather calm unless it
rained. In approximately ten minutes, Tsuruishi, in gray timeworn
suits with too short sleeves and too narrow shoulders, came into sight.
Liyo wore a one piece, which was remade from the kimono of blue
wave pattern, and put on a light brown cotton jacket. She also dressed
up somehow and held the hand of Tomekichi. She looked younger
than usual. When she walked side by side with a very tall Tsuruishi,
Liyo seemed to be small like a school girl, maybe because of her
western style clothes.
”I hope it won’t rain ……”
Tsuruishi walked in the crowd holding up Tomekichi lightheartedly.
Liyo had a large shopping bag, in which breads, nori’maki[*136], and
summer mandarin oranges were placed. They took a subway train as
far as the terminal station, Asakusa. By way of Matsuya department
store, they walked toward the Nitenmon gate, through which they
walked on to the Nakamise’dōri street.
To Liyo, Asakusa was unexpectedly disappointing. She was
disappointed at the famous Asakusa Mercy Goddess, quwannon,
which was only the vermilion-lacquered small-sized shrine. Tsuruishi
explained to Liyo that the quwannon was temple-sized, large enough
to look up at. Liyo, however, could not imagine that the quwannon was
once larger. A large crowd of people came in droves. People pressed
together closely around the periphery of the vermilion-lacquered
shrine. Melancholy sounds of the saxophone and the trumpet could be
heard from afar as if inducing past memories or appealing to people
for guilty feelings to war invalids. Trees among burnt debris in a
square park struggled for breath in the hard wind, squeaking branches
with buds put forth.
They passed through the gate of the used clothing market, and the
eating places in the barracks were lined up along the edge of the pond.
Four sides were stuffy with smell of burnt oil and steam from large
pots of kanto’daki[*86]. Tomekichi was walking and licking a yellow
cotton candy, watagashi, stuck on the top of a chopstick, which
Tsuruishi bought for him at a street stall. …… This was merely a casual
meeting, however, Liyo felt having been with Tsuruishi for a decade,
and felt being safely supported by him. She did not get tired at all. The
street was lined with movie theaters and review houses. The three
strolled leisurely through the valley of large buildings, where all the
picture signboards were American taste as if they were hunched over
them growling.
“It began to rain.”
Tsuruishi held up his hand, which led Liyo to look up at the sky.
Large rain drops were falling. Thinking that the sightseeing, which
they were looking forward to, is becoming in a mess, they entered a
small coffee shop, in front of which a glass lantern was lit showing the
shop name, Mary. Surprisingly enough, the room was hung with
artificial cherry blossoms from the ceiling, which showed the room
quite desolate. Liyo ordered tea. She took out bread and nori’maki
from her shopping back, and then, offered Tsuruishi and Tomekichi to
eat. Tsuruishi did not smoke, so their lunch finished very soon. It
became a heavy rain. Before they knew, the coffee shop was filled with
people who took shelter in any place nearby.
“What shall we do from now? The rain is falling a lot. …… It’s not
likely to stop raining.”
“Let’s wait here for a while, and I will send you back when the rain
lets up.”
Liyo was uncertain about his word, wondering whether he meant to
send back to her house in Inari’chō. Even if he sent her back and her
son, Liyo could not let Tsuruishi in the house. Liyo lived with her son
temporarily in the house of an acquaintance from her hometown, with
favor, until Liyo found a rented room. The house did not have any
extra room, so the entrance of two tatami mat wide was the only space
for them to sleep. Liyo rather wanted to go to Tsuruishi’s dwelling in
Yotsugi, although they could not relax comfortably there without even
a proper chair.
Liyo checked her purse, as was not known to Tsuruishi, that, in her
shopping bag, she was sure that she had 700 yen. She thought to stay
at an inn at that price to take shelter from the rain, and asked
Tsuruishi.
“Is there any place like an inn around here?”
Tsuruishi looked perplexed to hear Liyo pronouncing an inn. Liyo
was not reserved, but frankly talked about her circumstances.
“So, I don’t want just going back as it is. I wish to watch the movie,
take rest in a small inn, if there is such an inn, where we can order
soba[*180]. After enjoying this, we will separate happily. …… This is
what I want now, however, is this too luxurious?”
Tsuruishi seemingly was thinking the same thing, and took off his
own jacket to put it on Tomekichi’s head. Then, he went out of the
coffee shop into the rain with Liyo, and ran under the eaves of a movie
theater nearby. ― There was not a single seat available in the theater,
so they had to keep standing while watching the movie. They got
exhausted by standing in close confinement and atmosphere in the
crowded theater. During the screening, Tomekichi fell fast asleep on
Tsuruishi’s back. In an hour, they left the theater earlier before it
ended, and walked around in the drenching rain to look for an inn as
soon as possible. The downpour of rain kept falling noisily on every
side as if hitting leaves of the bashō[*12]. At last, they found a small inn
near Tawara’machi street in Asakusa.
A narrow room at the end of the squeaky corridor full of knotholes
were assigned to them. Sticky soft tatami mats in the room were
disgusting.
Liyo took off her wet socks. Tomekichi flopped down in front of a
built-in recessed alcove, the tokonoma. Tsuruishi folded in half a dirty
floor cushion, zabuton, and put it like a pillow under the head of
Tomekichi. Maybe even a gutter was not furnished at the eaves to carry
off rainwater, therefore, splashing sounds of swollen water overflowed
to cause a heavy cascade from the eaves. Tsuruishi took out his yellowy
worn-out handkerchief and wiped Liyo’s hair. His behavior was so
natural that Liyo accepted his kindness naturally. Happy feelings ran
into Liyo’s chest as if subjected to a scrutiny in sounds of rain. Why
did she feel delighted? …… She felt the solitude of a person, who had
been confined for a longtime, similar to a lone whistle in the night.
“Does the inn like this receive our order for a soup kitchen outside?”
“I’m not sure, but I will go and ask them.”
Liyo went out to the corridor, where she asked a woman in western
style clothes[*213] bringing tea. She replied it’s possible to order
the rāmen, so, Liyo asked her to order the rāmen twice.
Drinking tea, the two sat face to face, on each side of a box-shaped
brasier, for a while. Then, Tsurukichi lay down with legs apart,
alongside Tomekichi. Liyo was looking out at the rainy sky of twilight
through the window glass.
“How old are you, Oliyo’san[*161]?”
Tsuruishi suddenly asked. Liyo turned her face to Tsuruishi and
tittered.
“I cannot guess women’s age. Are you 26 or 27?”
“I’m a senior already. My age is 30.”
“Oh, you are one year older than I.”
“Well! You are young. I have thought that Tsuruishi’san is over 30.”
Liyo stared at the face of Tsuruishi with curiosity. Under his thick
eyebrows, corners of good-natured eyes blushed slightly, and Tsuruishi
with his bright eyes looked at the dirt marks on the feet of his
stretched legs. His socks were also removed.
The rain did not stop as well in the evening.
A couple of the rāmen came but cold already. Liyo shook Tomekichi,
woke him up, and made the drowsy boy to sip the broth. ――― They
decided to stay overnight. Tsurukichi went to the reception. It seemed
that he paid the lodging charge, because three set of beddings, futon,
were brought into the room very soon, which were unexpectedly neat.
Liyo spread beddings on the tatami. The room looked as if stuffed with
beddings. Liyo stripped Tomekichi only of his jacket, took him to the
toilet. Then, she laid the boy in the center of his beddings.
“They considered us as a couple.”
“They certainly do. What a pity for them! ……”
Liyo, maybe because she saw beddings, felt uneasy, and at the same
time, felt guilty in deference to her husband.
Although she could not predict years ahead, Liyo wanted to
interpret the situation as nothing to do otherwise, as the things went
reluctantly in this way because of the downpour of rain that made
such an excuse in mind.
At night, while dozing off pleasantly, Liyo heard the voice of
Tsuruishi calling her, “Oliyo’san, Oliyo’san.” She was astonished and
raised her head off her pillow.
“Oliyo’san, do you mind my coming over there?”
Tsuruishi spoke in a whisper. The rain sounded softly, and also the
water dropping from the eaves was sporadically heard.
“I do. ……”
“You sure?”
“You make me annoyed. ……”
Tsuruishi deeply sighed.
“Well, Tsuruishi’san, I did not ask you till now, but what has
happened with your wife?”
“I do not have a wife, now.”
“Years ago, did you?”
“Yeah.”
“Your wife, did something happen to her? ……”
“When I returned from the war and came back home, she has lived
with another man.”
“You got angry, didn’t you?”
“I should say, of course, I got angry. …… I had no choice, though.
The person who has gone is gone. ……”
“Right, but I wonder how you could give up your wife.”
Tsuruishi became silent again for a while.
“Shall we talk about something else?”
“Well, I don’t have anything to talk about. …… That rāmen tasted
flat.”
 “…… Yes, indeed. A hundred yen a bowl of rāmen, not reasonable.”
“I hope that you have a room ……”
“I hope so, as well. Is there any room near your dwelling, maybe? ……
I want to move close to you. ……”
“There won’t be. If there is, I will let you know. …… Oliyo’san is
marvelous.”
“Ah, why?”
“Marvelous. I’m impressed now that women are not always
dissolute.”
Liyo kept her tongue. She felt like embracing together with him.
And ……. Liyo sighed painfully, as if tore off to pieces and thrown away
little by little, so as not to be noticed by Tsuruishi. Her armpit became
hot.
The inn shook every time when trucks came and went running on
the street.
“The war made every person a wormlike creature. We did seriously
and unconcernedly all the insane things. I finished my military service
as a private of the lowest military rank, and I was beaten very often. I
don’t want to enter a military service any more. ……”
“Tsuruishi’san, what are your father and mother doing?”
“They live in the countryside.”
“Where is your hometown?”
“Fukuoka.”
“What is your elder sister doing?”
“She is single and bringing up two children alone, in the same way as
Oliyo’san. She works her one single sewing machine by foot to a living
by dressmaking. Her husband died early in battle in China ……”
Tsuruishi seemed to pull himself together and relax, his talking voice
also calmed down.
Liyo felt it pity that the day like this was ending. She felt sorry for
Tsuruishi, who seemed to give up his desires. If he was a man
altogether unknown to her from the beginning, a sexual act might had
been nothing to her. Tsuruishi dared not to ask her of her husband.
“Ah, my eyes become wide awake, and I can’t sleep. ……
I should not have meddled in an unaccustomed thing.”
“Well, have you never taken pleasure outside?”
 “Oh, I have, I also am a man. Yes, I have. With women no better
than whores, always.”
“I envy men. ……”
Liyo inadvertently pronounced that she envied men, no sooner she
said than Tsuruishi quickly rose up to come over. He weighed heavily
on beside Liyo. He laid on her, however, from over her coverlet, the
futon, so Liyo gave herself to Tsuruishi’s passion and bare under the
weight pressed by all his strength. Liyo in silent kept staring wide-eyed
in the dark. Tsuruishi’s black hair hurt Liyo’s cheek. Suddenly, a light
was reflected like a prismatic color of rainbow on the back of her
eyelids. Tsuruishi’s hot lips touched Liyo’s nose clumsily.
“You don’t want to ……”
Liyo held out her legs under the coverlet, the futon. The tinnitus
sounded in her ears.
“Please, don’t. …… A vision of Siberia comes to mind.”
Liyo was startled by her own involuntary words, and felt sorry for
him for her wrong choice of words. Tsuruishi suddenly stuck in an odd
posture, with his weight still on her coverlet. He drooped his head
down, which was a quiet posture as if prostrated himself at a god. Liyo
felt remorse for a moment. After a while, she hugged Tsuruishi’s hot
neck with all her strength.
Two days later, Liyo took Tomekichi with eagerness to Tsuruishi’s
dwelling at Yotsugi. Around at the time, always, Tsuruishi, wearing his
hachimaki on his head, stood beside the glass window of his cabine,
waiting for her to come. But, he was not seen this day. Liyo felt
something unusual and told Tomekichi to run ahead.
“Someone unknown is inside!”
Tomekichi ran back crying out. Liyo felt a slight beating at her heart.
She approached the entrance, looked into the cabin, and saw two
young men putting Tsuruishi’s bed away from the closet-like space.
“May I help you, ma’am? ……”
A man with small eyes turned head and asked.
“Is Tsuruishi’san here?”
“Tsuruishi’san died last night!”
“Oh!”
Liyo cried once, and afterwards, her voice was frozen.
 Liyo, at first glance, felt it strange that a candle was lit on the
smoke-stained Shintō alter, the kami’dana, however, did not think
indeed that Tsuruishi died.
Tsuruishi was in the front passenger seat on a truck loaded with iron
materials. On the way back from Ōmiya[*144], while crossing a bridge,
the name of which was unknown yet, the truck fell headlong into the
river, and both, he and the driver, died. The two men told Liyo this
way.
“Today, the company staff and Tsuruishi’s elder sister went to Ōmiya,
where Tsuruishi’s remains are cremated, and they will come back
tomorrow morning.”
Liyo was speechless. It was an extreme shock to her sense, and so,
she did nothing more than looked at their cleaning up of the room.
She noticed two tea packages put alongside the shelf, which Tsuruishi
bought on the first day of Liyo’s visit. One of the two packages was
folded in half.
“Auntie, are you an acquaintance of Tsuru’san?”
“Yes, I know him a little. ……”
“He was a good person. …… He did not need to go as far as Ōmiya. A
driver lightheartedly told him to go together, and they went out
afternoon. He was demobilized, and returned back with much effort
to Japan, and …… it’s absurd.”
The stout man removed the pin from the bromide postcard of
Yamada Isuzu, and blew the dust from the postcard. Liyo was still in
shock. His portable clay brazier, shichirin, his kettle, and his rubber
boots remained there in the same way, and four sides of the room did
not change at all. Loyo’s eyes halted at the blackboard, where poorly
handwritten red-chalk characters read: ‘Liyo’dono[*30], I waited for you
until two o’clock.’
Liyo grasped Tomekichi’s hand, and heaved heavily her own rucksack
on to her back. When she turned around the corner of the board
fence, hot tears suddenly spilled, which made the back of her nose
numb.
“Has Uncle died?”
“Yes ……”
 “I wonder where he died ……”
“They said that he drowned in the river ……”
Liyo walked and shedded tears. She cried and tears spilled so much
that her eyes hurt.
It was two o’clock around that Liyo with Tomekichi arrived at
Asakusa. She went to the side which commanded a view of bridges of
Komagata and Umaya across the Sumida’gawa River, and walked on
the riverside toward Shirahige[*171]. Liyo walked looking at the sea-like
blue water, thinking this was the Sumida’gawa River. ――― She said
to Tsuruishi that she did not know what to do if she became pregnant
by some possibility. Tsuruishi told her not to get worried as he would
take responsibility. During that morning, when they separated,
Tsuruishi offered Liyo his financial support at least as much as 2,000
yen a month. He wrote down Liyo’s address of Inari’chō in his notepad
by licking his pencil. Tsuruishi bought Tomekichi a baseball cap that
was embroidered with a team’s name, at a clothing store in the town of
Tawara’machi[*20]. After the rain, walking on a muddy train road, they
found at last a milk hall, where the three ordered and drank a bottle of
milk each.
Liyo walked on the riverside and remembered the near past while
blowing in the wind. Around Shirahige, waterfowls flying about in
flock looked like a pale shade. A variety of barges and freighters were
coming and going on the dark blue stream. From Liyo’s memory, a
glimpse of Tsuruishi floated clearly, more than her husband in Siberia.
“Mommy, buy me a comic book.”
“Let’s buy it later.”
“We passed through the front of a shop full of books, didn’t we? ……”
“Is that so?”
“Didn’t you notice?”
Liyo headed back the way, again. She did not know which way to go.
Liyo thought that she would never meet such a man as Tsuruishi
again.
“Mommy, I want to eat something.”
Tomekichi’s constant begging suddenly grated on Liyo’s nerves. The
embroidered name in red on his white baseball cap looked cute. She
had nowhere to go. Liyo looked at dwelling barracks in the riverside
town, and felt envious of people who had homes. Beddings, the futon,
dried out to the sunshine on the second floor caught her eyes. Liyo
opened a lattice door of the house.
“The tea of Shizuoka brand we have. How about fragrant tea?”
She called out in an amiable voice. No reply. Liyo called out again,
and the reply came from the top of the ladder in front.
“We don’t need!”
A gruff voice of a young woman it was.
Liyo opened again the glass door of her neighbor.
“The tea of Shizuoka brand ……”
“No thanks.”
The next refusal was a male voice from a room next to the entrance.
Liyo went peddling from door to door patiently. Not a single house
asked her to unload her goods. Tomekichi was cranky but followed
Liyo. Even if no one would purchase her tea leaves, Liyo enjoyed
herself at standing in front of a door, one after another, to change her
sorrow. She thought it better than being a beggar. Her rucksack
weighed 16.53 pounds, which burdened quite painfully her shoulder.
Liyo placed a washcloth, the tenugui, on each side of her shoulder to
protect her skin from abrasion caused by rucksack belts.
The next day, Liyo left Tomekichi in the house, and went alone to
Yotsugi. She, who did not bring her child, was free to think about
Tsuruishi quietly alone. Turning around the board fence, she
unexpectedly found the fire roaring in the cabin. Liyo felt wistful
yearning for the first day. She, swinging up her rucksack on her back,
approached the glass door. An aged man in happi[*53] burnt firewoods
in the shichirin brazier. Dense smoke was offensively emitted from the
small window.
“What’s the matter?”
The man, while being choked on smoke and coughing, looked back
at her.
“I’m a peddler, and came here to sell my tea leaves. ……”
“Well. I do not need, there are still lots of high quality tea leaves.
……”
 Liyo drew back her hand off the glass door, and quietly went away
from the cabin. There was nothing to do inside even if she entered the
cabin. It did not mean that she did not think to ask the aged man of
Tsuruishi’s sister’s address to visit her house and offer an incense at
the family Buddhist alter one last time for Tsuruishi. However, Liyo
gave it up too. There was no point in doing such a thing. Nothing
would change. She got tired of everything now, and felt languidness.
From what association of ideas, Liyo began to feel that she could live
no more if she became pregnant with Trusuishi. Her husband would
come back from Siberia on some day in future, on such an occasion,
she had no other choice as to die as she had an inappropriate affair.
She was down at that moment. ――― However, the sun was shining
unusually bright all around. On both banks rising up from the dried
up river bottom, fiery green grasses got in her eyes. Liyo’s conscience
did not hurt, so as previously anticipated. It was not bad at all to be
acquainted with Tsuruishi.
She began peddling with the intention to go back to Shimizu any
time when the tea didn’t sell in peddling. Tokyo, however, pleased Liyo
despite whether the business paid or not. Tokyo was better now even if
she was to die by a roadside.
Liyo sat down on the green grasses on the bank. Immediately under
her eyes, near a piece of concrete debris, a carcass of a kitty was
thrown away, facing toward the other side. Liyo soon stood up and
swung her load on to her shoulder upward, and then, walked to the
station. She sometimes walked into a side alley for peddling. Now she
called out at a poor-looking house, on a lattice glass entrance door of
which a plate was fastened with a nail.
“Shizuoka tea?”
“Well, how much? Is the price high?”
When Liyo opened the lattice door, two or three women turned their
faces toward her. They seemed to do their household sideline sewing
cotton buckram on the soles of tabi[*187].
“Wait a minute. I will try to find an empty tin.”
Her petite figure disappeared to the next room.
‘Women, like me, are busily sewing soles of tabi.’
Needles shined at times like a flash in their fingers.

- End -

FLOATING CLOUDS
Hayashi Fumiko, Uki’gumo,
November 1949 ― April 1951
Mei Yumi’s Postwar Japanese Literature
Floating Clouds

Characters

Kōda Yukiko --- A main character of the novel. She worked as a typist
in Vietnam during Great East Asia War.
Tomioka Kengo --- A journalist who had a romantic relationship with
Yukiko
Kuniko --- Tomioka Kengo’s wife
Iba Sugio --- Yukiko’s ex-lover who lived in Tokyo. A younger brother of
Yukiko’s elder sister’s husband Iba Kyōtarō.
Masako --- Sugio’s wife.
Mogi --- an engineer sent by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
to Hai Phong in Vietnam
Shinoi Haruko --- A typist working in Saigon.
Nakawatari --- A man working for the military press bureau
Engineers Mogi and Kuroi, an old man of a mine squad Seya --- staff
members to be deployed to Da Lat
Mr. Makita Kizō --- The chief of Regional Forest Office in Da Lat.
Niu --- A Vietnamese maid for an accommodation facility of Regional
Forest Office in Da Lat.
Half-breed Mary --- A Vietnamese secretary of Regional Forest Office
in Da Lat.
Kano Hisajirō --- A forester
Prof. Yasunaga --- A professor of College of Agriculture and Forestry.
Tadokoro --- A lumber marchant, and Tomioka’s business partner.
Koizumi --- Tomioka Kuniko’s ex-husband.
Mr. Marcon --- A French director of the Agriculture and Forestry
Research Institute in Saigon.
Joe --- An american soldier whom Yukiko met in Shinjuku.
Mr. Harold --- A researcher of the Agriculture and Forestry Research
Institute in Saigon.
Tani Seiko --- Osei, a not-married wife of a bar master Sēkichi in Ikaho.
Mukai Sēkichi, --- Osei’s not-married husband at the age of 48.
Ōtsu Shimo --- A woman in her 40s, hospitalized in obstetrics.
Makita’san --- A nurse in obstetrics
Narimune Senzō --- The founder of the religious sect, the Ōhinata’kyō.
Hika --- A friendly young doctor in Kagoshima.
Tatsuke and Noborito --- The staff of the local forestry office in
Yakushima Island.
Tsuwai Nobu --- A war widow and the home helper to take care of
Yukiko.

Floating Clouds

If the most wretched misfortune is to throw away the reason and

hate the reason, provided that the reason is the basis of all things
 and all the things are the reason itself …… .
Lev Isaakovich Shestov[*104]

.. * 1

A train to arrive late at night was far preferable. Therefore, she

intentionally hung around all day long in the town of Tsuruga[*207]
after that she was released from a three-day stay in a detention camp.
She said good-bye and separated from more than 60 other women at
the detention camp. She found an inn located near to the customs
warehouse, and seemingly used both as a household goods store and
as a resting place, where she stayed alone. Yukiko, after a long time,
could throw herself on tatami mats at her homeland, Japan.
The inn’s staffs treated her with hospitality and boiled the bath for
her. They seemed not to bother themselves to replace the used water
with fresh water for a small number of lodgers a day. The water was
turbid, however, Yukiko, who had traveled a long way by ship, felt
comfortable at the temperature of the hot water clouded with dirt of
human skins. Watery sleet precipitating on the window of the sooty
dim bathroom also moved deeply Yukiko’s solitary innermost
thoughts. The wind was blowing. She opened the dirty glass window
and looked up at the rainy leaden sky. This was the poor sky of
homeland, which she looked at for the first time in a long time. She
held her breath admiring the scenery. She placed both hands on the
rim of the oval bathtub, and shuddered seeing a comparatively large
raised scar of a sword cut on her left arm. Despite that, Yukiko, while
pouring softly the hot water on the scar, mediated many fond
memories in remembrance, and gave in to a suffocating life to be
continued from today beyond her control. It was boring. After missing
a high tide, things turned tedious. Yukiko, always meditating, washed
her body slowly with a dirty washcloth in the narrow sooty bathroom,
which seemed to her something misleading of reality. The cold wind
blew in from a chink in the window and pierced her skin. Yukiko felt a
splash of the season, who had forgotten a touch of cold wind like this
for a long time. After the bath, she went back to her room, where her
bed was ready on a rusty tatami mat, and charcoals were burning in a
poorly made wooden box type brazier, beside which a small bowl with
full of rakkyō[*152] pickles was placed on a tray. She took a kettle from
which the boiling water was overflowing, and poured the boiling water
in to the tea pot. Yukiko put a piece of rakkyō in her mouth. Two or
three female voices were coming noisily in a crowd on the corridor,
passing outside a white paper lattice door, the shōji[*176], of her room,
and then Yukiko sensed their entering the next room. She pricked up
her ears. Familiar voices in the next room separated only by sliding
paper panels, the fusuma[*42] reminded her of some geishas who
shared the same boat with her as far as Tsuruga.
“After all, it’s quite good that we returned back. Since we arrived in
Japan, our bodies are ours. Isn’t it so? ……”
“I feel very cold, and helpless. …… I don’t have any winter clothes.
It’s hard to prepare outfits, first of all.”
Despite their grumbling, their voice sounded cheerful, and they
giggled all the time for something that nobody knew what was funny.
Yukiko, having nothing to do, lay in bed, and remained
absentminded for a while. She felt depressed and could not rid herself
of wretched feelings. Besides, the noisy disturbance lasted incessantly
for a long time. Throwing out the hot body on a sticky old bed was
comfortable, on the other hand, she felt forlorn to go on her long train
journey again the next day. A visit to the immediate family was not
attractive any more to her. Yukiko reflected on going to Tokyo directly
and visit Tomioka. Tomioka fortunately had left Haiphong of Vietnam
in May. He promised Yukiko to arrange all required procedures and
wait for her. When she arrived at Japan and was blown in the cold
wind of reality, however, she realized that his promise was like a
promise between Urashima Tarō and prince Otohime[*209], the truth of
which would not be confirmed until after she met face-to-face with
him. As soon as the boat arrived in Tsuruga port, she sent him a
telegram. Repatriates were supposed to spend three days in the
detention camp, and soon after the investigation finished, they left in
the direction of their own way for their hometown. During three days,
she did not get a reply at all from Tomioka. If she was in his position,
she also would not be ardent to send a reply back to her wartime lover.
Yukiko somehow gave up her hopes already. She had a temporal sleep,
but the time did not pass so much. The shōji looked dark, across
which, in the next room, the light was lit. It seemed that women in the
neighbor room were taking supper. Yukiko also felt hungry. She pulled
her rucksack from her bedside toward her, from which she took a
lunch box supplied on the ship. A package of 4 pieces of cigarette of
Camel brand[*16], a supply of tissues, a pack of hard biscuit, packed
powder soup, a tinned pork and potatoes and others were tidily
packed in a small brown box, from among which Yukiko picked up a
chocolate bar and nibbled on it lying on her belly. The chocolate was
not sweet at all. ― The yellow red color of the sea seen from the Do
Son Bay[*31] appeared wistfully on her eyelids. Yukiko, on the deck of
the ship, stared intently at the scenery so as to print it in her mind,
thinking that she would never see again a white lighthouse over the
Do Son Bay and the green of thick woods on Hon Do Island, in her life
anymore. The scenery as such of the foreign land almost faded away,
and she felt it wearisome even to remember the views. Women in the
next room probably scheduled to go on a night train. After supper, she
heard that they paid their bill to the madam of the inn. Yukiko put the
powder soup into her teacup, poured the boiled water in it, and drank
her soup, hearing noises in the next room. She also ate the remaining
rakkyō. Before long, each of them, saying, ‘thank you for all your help,’
went lively away following the madam along the hallway. While
hearing voices of women, Yukiko thought that they were also going to
go back to their home countries, and felt like being induced to go away
together. Yukiko had talked with the geishas while being aboard the
ship, and got the news that they worked at restaurants in Phnom Penh
in Cambodia in a two-year contract. Although they were ostensibly the
geishas, they were actually recruited by the military to work as
comfort women, ianfu[*68], in other words, certified whores. ― Among
women who got together to the detention camp in Hai Phong, there
were nurses, typist, secretaries and clerks. The great part of women,
however, were crowds of the ianfu. The ianfu were gathering one after
another in Hai Phong from cities they worked. It was a surprise to
Yukiko to know that so many Japanese women had been in the
overseas. ― Kōda Yukiko had worked as a typist at a cinchona garden
cultivation laboratory in Institut Pasteur[*72], which was located
between Da Lat and Turon[*208]. She arrived at Da Lat in autumn of
1943, 18 Shōwa. The city is located 1,600 m (5,249 ft) above sea on the
Lang Biang[*103] Plateau, the high and low temperatures were 25
Celsius (78.8 Fahrenheit) and 5 °C (41°F), respectively. Da Lat was very
comfortable to live in, maybe because of its location in the Central
Highlands region. A number of French people ran tea plantations
there, and it was quite new for Yukiko to hear sweet sounds of French
language under the clear sky on highlands.
An idea to write a letter to Tomioka came up suddenly to Yukiko’s
mind. Although she did not know what to write, her thoughts would
come together while writing a letter. Discouraging and skeptical
feelings she had in the detention camp in Hai Phong might bounce
back little by little, while recalling that she had reached the same
ground as Tomioka. Yukiko asked an errand boy of a canteen to go buy
a package of letter papers and envelopes.

.. * 2

Yukiko changed her mind. Another different idea occurred to Yukiko

that she should go directly to Tokyo and visit Iba. If his house had not
burnt down, it might be good for her to stay first at his house until
meeting Tomioka. Iba’s memory in her mind was only loathsome, but,
she had no choice. She did not send any message to Shizuoka, so, he
would not wait for her. ― She took a train of an early morning
departure from Tsuruga. At the dark station before dawn, she
recognized faces of two men who had been on the same boat as she,
however, she intentionally kept away from them and boarded the car
behind.
The train was surprisingly crowded, and all passengers climbed into
the train cars through windows. Yukiko also could barely get into the
car through a window. Everybody felt like Shunkan[*178] in awkward
situations. Passengers around looked curiously at Yukiko wearing
summer clothes in winter. It was clear to everyone that she returned
from tropical Asia. Yukiko, who was standing and was jostled by the
crowd, also glanced, around herself, their indeed war losers’
appearances. Their complexions were spiritless and pale, supposedly
because it was still dark outside. Faces lacking defiance overlapped in
cramped train cars. She felt it to be like a slave cargo train. It also
reflected a malaise little by little into Yukiko’s innermost feelings. How
has Japan changed ……? The beaming faces of erstwhile soldiers, once
sent by waves of the rising-sun flags, were nowhere to be seen.
Hideous looks, with traces of fatigue, of dark mountains and rivers
extended in heaps out of train windows.
The train arrived at Tokyo next evening. It was raining. She got off
the train at Shinagawa station. Immediately opposite the Ministry
Lines, Shō’sen[*177] were rear windows of a dance hall. From the
windows, heads of some dancing partners swirled and turbulence
under dark lights appeared. Melancholy melodies of jazz flew while
drizzling like flickering gleams of light. Yukiko shivering in the cold
looked up at the windows of the dance hall on the ridge. A couple of
tall Military Police with glittering white caps on their heads stood at
the end of the platform. The platform was crowded with grimy people.
While listening to sounds of jazz, her taut nerves loosened, and her
feelings became slovenly. Despite that, her innermost feelings
remained empty, wondering in a fear whether she could survive from
tomorrow. A great part of the crowd on the platform carried their
rucksacks on the back. From time to time, Yukiko found surprisingly a
woman with red lips and a foreigner, arm-in-arm descending stairs,
and stared at the woman in showy clothes as if she watched steadily
something rare. The way of life in prewar days in Tokyo had uprooted
altogether and transformed.
 It was the last train that Yukiko got off at Sagino’miya[*156] station of
Seibu Line. She crossed the railroad crossing, and went on to the
familiar power plant. She walked on the broad street, in rain, and
three young women coming from behind passed briskly by the side of
Yukiko. All the three women covered their head and cheeks with
showy clothes, and put up the collar of their coats.
“Today, I sent him off to Yokohama. I’m sure that he has a wife over
there, you know. …… It was an affair of an instant. In the same way as
a momentary glimpse of human life. It might be good, I have to say.
…… He presented his friend to me. Don’t you think it ridiculous that
he pressed a different man to his ex-girlfriend? The Japanese don’t
understand such an idea at all. ……”
“Take it easy. Not bad. Because, once you separate from him, you
cannot meet him anymore. Change your mind. In my case as well, you
see, he will go back very soon. ……. Besides, it takes me quite a time to
visit him as far as Atsugi, so I’m thinking to find the next one before
long. ……”
Yukiko walked quickly behind in the same direction as the lively
women. Hearing their loud voice talking, she felt strange that Japan
had changed that way.
Finally, at the mailpost, the women turned to the right into an alley.
Yukiko was dripping wet and was exhausted. Around here, this section
of the town did not change at all since she had left for tropical Asia.
Turning to the left at the signboard of midwife Hosokawa, away from
the second house around the corner, she saw Iba’s house at the end of
narrow passageway. ‘Everyone must be surprised at seeing my
miserable appearance.’ Standing in front of the stone gate, she made
herself the neat under a dark street light. The hair and shoulders were
soaking wet. She thought how she was reduced to want. While ringing
the bell, she felt like a lie that she had been in French Indochina. A
light dimly shone through the glass door at the entrance, and soon, a
large shadow came down to the dirt floor. Yukiko’s heart beated
strongly. The shadow was a male, but different from Iba.
“Who is it?”
“Yukiko ……”
 “Yukiko? Which Yukiko?”
“I have been in French Indochina. I’m Kōda Yukiko.”
“Ah. …… Whom do you visit?”
“Isn’t Iba Sugio at home?”
“Did you come to meet Iba’san? He has not yet come back from his
evacuation place.”
The shadow of the male seemed averse to opening the lock, but
finally opened it in a dilatory. The man in night clothes surprisingly
looked at Yukiko, a young woman without a coat, carrying a rucksack
on her back, and was soaking wet.
“I’m Iba’s relative, and just returned to Japan today, so ……”
“Well, come in. Iba’san was evacuated to Shizuoka three years ago,
though.”
“Do you mean that Iba thoroughly moved from here?”
“Uh, things are not like that, indeed. We have entered the house in
place of Iba’san. But, the luggage boxes of Iba’san have been already
delivered here.”
Hearing voices between Yukiko and the man, seemingly the man’s
wife holding a baby in her arms appeared in the doorway. Yukiko
spoke to his wife about circumstances that she repatriated from
French Indochina. Between Iba and this man, there seemed to be a
certain disagreement on the right of residence in this house. The wife
was kind enough to say, “It is cold, here. Please come in to the room,”
although she seemed not very pleased about it.
A package of rice balls for her lunch was a special service offered by
the inn in Tsuruga, and then, after a long distance railway traveling
without eating and drinking, she felt as if her body was floating in the
air. She went walking, and clumsily bumped the sewing machine on
the corridor on her way to the room. In the six-tatami-mat-size room,
which Iba’s family always used as their bedroom, so many packed
pieces of luggage were accumulated as the tatami bent in a curve
downward. Hearing that Yukiko returned from French Indochina, the
wife seemed to commiserate with her, and served tea and slices of
dried sweet potato. The man was in his 40s, bulky in figure, ex-soldier,
and unrefined. The wife was petite with white skin and a freckled face.
A smile amiably dimpled her cheeks.
 For the night, Yukiko borrowed a bedding set, futon, and could stay
overnight in a narrow space among stacked luggage of Iba’s. Yukiko
took two field rations, inclusions of dried foods and cigarettes, out of
her rucksack, and offered them as a gift to the wife.
She entered the futon, lay on her back, and then tried to put her
fingers into luggage for groping the contents. Packages of luggage were
fastened solidly with thick wooden frames, so she could not guess at
all what was inside. The wife talked that they had to vacate at least
two rooms for Iba’s family, who were to come to Tokyo by the end of
the year. Which rooms to vacate was a problem for her six-member
family, she grumbled. They strived hard to protect the house during
the period of air raids, and there was nowhere for them to go even if
they were suddenly required to leave. Such requirement was inhuman,
the wife added. On the part of Iba’s family, they probably got irritated
as they could not live anymore in a countryside. Yukiko could guess
the irritation of Iba’s family who sent their luggage much earlier than
their scheduled to Tokyo. She was also informed that all of Iba’s family
lived well, which was disappointingly an anticlimax to Yukiko.

.. * 3

Kōda Yukiko arrived in French Indochina late October in 1943[*132], 18

Shōwa. Four typists reached Hai Phong first, accompanied by a party
of the engineer Mogi sent by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
―The engineer Mori was ordered by the Army forestry investigations
in French Indochina, and his additional duty was to recruit typists
who worked in the same Ministry, and allocate one typist for each
quarter of the Institute locations. There were five applicants. Kōda
Yukiko also applied for the work overseas, and eventually joined the
party. ―　
They boarded a hospital ship as far as Hai Phong, from there, went
to Hanoi by a military vehicle, where workplaces were decided soon
for three typists. Kōda Yukiko was assigned to Da Lat in highlands, and
another typist, Shinoi Haruko got her assignment in Saigon. It was
Kōda Yukiko who drew the shortest stick. She was plain-looking and
not noticeable in personality, maybe because of which she was
relegated to a post in a remote place like Da Lat. She had slit eyes, and
her forehead was wide. Her skin was white, but she was not amiable.
Her lonely facial feature was far from eye-catching. Her military ID
photo gave an older impression than 22 years of her age. The clothes
with white collar suited her, but that was all. She was such a woman
that other people saw her always wearing the same clothes despite
that she changes clothes. Shinoi Haruko, who was appointed to Saigon,
was the most beautiful of all five women, and resembled the beautiful
actress Li Kōran[*105]. On the other hand, no one paid attention to
Kōda Yukiko. ― The party left Hai Phong on two vehicles, passing
through Tanh Hoa, Hu Qui, and made an overnight stop at Vinh for
the first night. It was 218 miles by vehicle from Hai Phong to Vinh in
Southern Indochina, where they stayed at the Grand Hotel. On the
way to Vinh, wildfire smoldered on hills and fields. Otherwise, in
some places, forests and fields were burning and giving out yellow
smoke. A great part of the region was afforestation areas, where tung-
oil trees (Vernicia cordata) and pine trees were mainly planted. Maybe
because they went on woodland after woodland, Shinoi Haluko heaved
many sighs, and in this way, intentionally showed her disappointment.
Yukiko was not unaccustomed to a long journey, and felt clapped-out.
After leaving Thanh Hoa, the cars proceeded pretty fast on a long road
of twilight. When the cars approached Vinh, large moths flew around
four sides in the dark, and white moths flew together in a swarm, as if
pieces of paper were scattered, toward the road brightly lit up by
headlights of cars.
On the left side of the hotel possibly was a canal, where Vietnamese
boatmen’s voices echoed in water. Edible frogs were croaking loudly.
After parking cars in a shrub under betel trees (Areca catechu) and
lebbek trees (Albizia lebbeck) in the hotel, members of the party were
guided to each room. Shinoi Haruko and Kōda Yukiko were taken in a
tidy room downstairs with a view of the canal.
 Haruko opened a window. The sound of water flowing in the canal
came in. Under a table with an orange light being lit, poor looking
trunks of the two women were placed side by side. Wallpaper with
printed flower patterns in pink and a double bed covered with soft
blanket in light blue were clearly the taste of French people. The room
was pleasingly decorated and kept in clean condition. This was like a
fairy tale for two Japanese women who had lived hard for a long time
under wartime shortages in Japan. After washing their face, they went
to a restaurant for a late supper. A soldier wearing a white cloth of the
military police around the arm deliberately approached women to
check identification papers. The young soldier fondly remembered
Japanese women, who were unusual around here. ― Yukiko and
Haruko could not easily fall asleep that night. It was a cold weather
when they left Japan. However, while they advanced southward from
Hai Phong through Hanoi to Thanh Hoa, season reverted quickly to
summer. They lay down on the soft and elastic bed, however, could
not sleep. Croaks of edible frogs were always heard like rain drops in
the ear as if listening to the sound of music in playing the
shamisen[*166] of futozao.
Different memories before leaving Tokyo were recalled in her mind
while being half asleep, such as happenings in Iba’s house, send-off
meetings with friends, hectic days of many inoculations with vaccine
at the Army Ministry of Japan. Yukiko felt her own destiny strange
because she had never dreamed of coming as far as French Indochina.
Iba Sugio was a younger brother of Iba Kyōtarō of the family her elder
sister married into. Sugio had a wife and a child. Yukiko did not have
any other relatives who owned a house in Tokyo. Soon after graduation
from a girls’ high school in Shizuoka, Yukiko began lodging in Iba
Sugio’s house to go to a typing school in Kanda. Sugio worked at a
personnel section of an insurance company, and had a reputation of
being an honest man. Exactly one week after Yukiko’s lodging, one
night, Yukiko was raped by Sugio. Yukiko lay in a housemaid room of
three tatami mat. That night, somehow, she could not fall asleep. She
drowsily heard Sugio go to the kitchen and drink water. Then, a
latticed paper panel, shōji, of the housemaid room slid calmly and
opened. Yukiko drowsily heard it, too, and then, sounds of the shōji
calmly closing and footsteps creaking the tatami. When her bosom
was pressed heavily by a male weight, Yukiko was startled and opened
her eyes in the dark. Smells of leather wafted, and Sugio murmured
something. Yukiko could not get what he said. Male legs of rough skin
entered the futon, it was not until then that Yukiko came to her sense
and thought to cry out. And yet, somehow, Yukiko felt that she should
not shout. So, she, making her body stiff, kept silent.
After the affair of that night, Yukiko thought that she could not look
at Sugio’s wife straight in the face. When night came, however, she
slightly anticipated Sugio’s coming. Every time that he came, Sugio
shoved his handkerchief into Yukiko’s mouth. Yukiko wondered why
Sugio showed his intense affection to a mediocre woman like her,
beyond his beautiful and witty wife, Masako. ― Yukiko had lived in
Iba’s house for three years. She had already graduated the typing
school, and worked in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Masako seemed not to notice at all the liaison between Sugio and
Yukiko. Sometimes, when Masako took her child to stay at her birth
home in Yokohama, Sugio went to bed earlier and invited Yukiko to
the couple’s bed. Yukiko had no alternative, but obeyed him without
any word. Between them was no talk about their future, but Sugio
dealt with Yukiko as if he behaved toward a whore. ― Yukiko
determined to go to French Indochina because she wanted to split the
adultery into pieces. She did not speak her plan to the Iba couple, her
mother in Shizuoka, her elder sister or younger brother, but held her
tongue firmly until after her application passed. When her
appointment to French Indochina was finally decided, she informed
her blood relatives of her post overseas, and told it to the Iba couple as
well. Hearing the news, Sugio’s complexion did not change.
Yukiko, stealing a glance at Sugio who kept surprisingly frosty look,
felt insult as if blew up in mind. She, however, also felt gloatingly that
her leaving Iba’s house served him rightly like knocking a big nail in
his mind. To Masako, Yukiko felt rather spitefulness. Maybe because of
Yukiko’s sullen manner or not, Masako, from time to time, said.
“These days, Yuki’san get sulky very soon and easily. We have to
marry you off quickly.”
 Masako’s mention was indistinguishable whether an irony or a joke.
Hearing that Yukiko would leave for French Indochina in a few days,
Sugio purchased for her medicine, a handbag, female underwear and
others before coming back home. Yukiko was mortified at Sugio’s
doing unasked-for kindness. Masako, on her part, was perplexed at
Sugio’s thoughtful behavior for Yukiko, and felt repulsion against her
own husband. 　

.. * 4

Early morning, Yukiko saw Sugio in her dream. She strangely yearned
for warmth of a human body, felt so lonely as if she had fallen into an
abyss, maybe because she was in the course of a distant journey.
Despite that she came up here at last, she was eager to go back to
Japan. She could not get out of her mind the brisk breathing of Sugio
shoving his handkerchief into her mouth. Yukiko kept recalling love
affairs with Sugio although she wondered why she suddenly yearned
for him while her traveling a long way from Japan, despite her
longtime disgust against Sugio. She was sure that he missed her
dreadfully. He was reticent, so said nothing complicated. Their liaison
continued until the very day of her departure for French Indochina.
She wondered why she had not gotten pregnant …… . On the contrary,
however, during three years, Masako gave birth to a son.
Yukiko got up to discontinue her tangled memories interminably
coming up. She approached with silent steps the window facing the
veranda, and open it. The canal brightly shone under her eyes. Tall
lebbek trees were planted in rows along the canal, and birds were
chirping in voices that she had never heard before. Vietnamese were
fishing together, rowing many small boats on the faintly hazy canal.
Yukiko leaned out the stone-built veranda, and felt indescribably
pleasant in the morning breeze. While listening to the birds’ chirping
and gazing blankly at the surface of the canal, Yukiko thought that
there was such a dream world like this on the earth. Swallows also
were flying in flocks. The turbid sea in Haiphong was a boundary for
her, after which everything disappeared into the distant void. Yukiko
could not predict what life was waiting for her, hereafter.
Soon after the early breakfast, they got on cars and started traveling
to the town of Hue. On the avenue, beyond the road side trees of
dicotyledonous flowering plants, casuarinaceae, smokes of cooking
were rising leisurely from hovels with thatched roof along the canal. A
yellow-body Citroen zinged down the broad plantation road, leaving
the sounds sticking to the asphalt surface.
Vinh was a fairly important town in northern Vietnam, so men were
talking among themselves about Vinh. Before long, the plantation
road separated at the branch point to two different directions, one to
Laos in the plateau and another to Hue. From time to time, smoke was
blown from bush fire in the forest along the right side of the road.
They drove quite a long distance on the plantation road aiming at Hue
in large woodlands, and at last, rays of the morning sun traced
landscapes whereabouts. The bright day broke. The air nicely dried in
the sparkling sunshine. A cool and refreshing sky-high summer
scenery opened out.
The second night stay was in Hue. In the Grand Hotel again, the
party rested after a day’s travel. A considerable number of Japanese
troops were stationed. The broad Hue River was flowing in front of the
hotel, and the Clemenceau Bridge was near. Yukiko could not believe
that so many Japanese troops had been stationed in distant areas like
these. She felt that Japanese troops surged forcibly ahead. It was too
lucky as it was, she thought. For all that, Yukiko did not have time
even to consider whether Japanese troops could maintain this treasure
for a long time in this condition. She had no choice but yielded herself
to the cars running and irresponsibly left the decision to others, as
such, she went on traveling only with simple feelings. To her eyes,
Japanese soldiers looked wretched here in this scenery. They wore
clothes, which did not fit their bodies closely, and put a field cap on
their big heads. As a whole, they looked like indigenous soldiers who
came out from somewhere uncivilized. Vietnamese walking about
streets or the French passing by chance through the town were much
more suitable figures for the town as a background. An overseas
Chinese town also was cultural. Camphor trees of verdure were lined
vividly along streets in the middle of the town. In the glare of the
morning sunlight, shoots of camphor sprouted like gold powder in
color. In the areas within the walls of the red brick palace of the
Nguyen dynasty, young Vietnamese school girls, with multicolored
striped socks, played football. Such a sight was rare for Yukiko to see.
Along a riverside promenade, bright orange-red flowers of flame trees
(Butea monosperma) and red and yellow canna lilies were in full
bloom. The river was turbid yellow and an abundance of water flowed.
Fishy smell river wind was blowing to the morning town.
Maybe traveling far away from home, they seemed to enjoy freedom
as if unleashed. Seya, an old man of a mine squad, always got into the
car with two women since they had left Hanoi, and took a seat beside
Shinoi Haruko. He, without caring his own sticky sweat, pressed, on
purpose, his body to Haruko’s shoulder or kneecaps, and was
impudently talking indecent stories. ―　Yukiko was envious of Shinoi
Haruko, hearing that Saigon was the city resembling Paris enough to
be referred to as Little Paris. She wanted to be appointed to such a
post. No choice now that their workplaces were decided. Yukiko,
however, knew very well that, in case of women, their lineaments
exerted influence on personnel affairs and orders to be issued. She felt
her fate miserable as she got a mediocre post to work at such a place
deep in the highland as nobody knew, Da Lat. For a young woman,
nothing was more painful than being mediocre. She felt it the burden
of mind that she had to work there for one year by all means.
When she was about to leave Tokyo, Sugio told a joke.
“When French Indochina is the good place, invite us there. I want to
be released, at the very least, from the wartime social conditions of
Japan.”
Yukiko fancied that Sugio should quit the insurance company, and
apply for work in French Indochina.
The party stayed overnight at Hue, and then, from Turon station
seaside, transferred to Saigon by train. Train cars were narrow and
dainty, but, the second-class car was equipped with surprisingly
gorgeous facilities. There were sofas and tables, and small vent fans
were rotating restlessly to produce a flow of air inside the train car.
There was a shower room next to the passenger room. As a whole, it
was far more comfortable than a motor trip. She ordered coffee, then a
Vietnamese boy brought her coffee in a deep cup like a flower vase.
Here, for the first time, Yukiko could share one room with Shinoi
Haruko. The train car jolted terribly, so, Yukiko understood that the
flower-vase-like gadget of a coffee cup was designed so as not to splash
and spill coffee while jolting and bouncing. The women were
embarrassed, in the same way as during the motor trip, by dust storm
blown into the room from somewhere. Even if the facilities were
luxurious, the train was filthy as yellow dust was blowing in. Haruko
wore silk stockings with stylish rubber soles on feet. Yukiko wondered
when and how she got those goods before nobody knew. Besides,
Haruko exuded sweet scent of perfume, which Yukiko had noticed
since that they got on the train. Yukiko felt miserably defeated, and
found the fact hateful that she wore trousers made over from her serge
school uniform, and on her feet, she wore soiled black shoes with
bulging toes. After a long distance journey, her dark blue trousers
became quite dirty. Yukiko jealously saw Haruko’s makeup becoming
thicker and thicker, and said.
“Shinoi’san is happy to settle down in Saigon.”
“Ugh, we shall see when we arrive whether Saigon is a good place or
a bad place. It’s you, Kōda’san, it’s great that you go to the Institut
Pasteur cinchona tree garden, isn’t it? Because you are a hard worker,
you will master French and Vietnamese very soon. Isn’t Da Lat the
best place to go? I really think so. I’ve heard that it is a cool and nice
place. ……”
Yukiko clearly knew that Haruko, having no equal, leniently soothed
her.
“But, a scarcely inhabited place is lonesome. Above all, I feel lonely,
because I have to part from you and other members so far traveling
together and sharing troubles, and go into the mountains where I have
no acquaintances. Besides, my workplace there must be boredom ……”
The train went on, and on, terribly jolting and bouncing, as if it was
waving along fields and mountains.
At night, the train arrived at Saigon.
.. * 5

Yukiko was not accustomed to the weary journey like this, and was
awfully exhausted. She tended to have an unexplained fever at times in
a day. They were to spend five days in Saigon, where procedures to
military took much more time than expected. So, Yukiko could not
spare time even to go out into the city sightseeing.
In Saigon, they were assigned rooms at a military designation inn.
For the first time since they left Haiphong, they settled at a poor inn
appropriate to their social status. On the fourth day, a man named
Nakawatari, working for the military press bureau, came to pick up
Shinoi Haruko, who moved to a dormitory of her workplace. The inn
for Yukiko and other members seemed to be a residence of the
overseas Chinese. In vast and cavernous rooms without decoration, a
folding bed only was furnished. Two Vietnamese women were cleaning
rooms around in a languid manner. The engineer Mogi, the engineer
Kuroi, and Seya were deployed to Da Lat in the same staff with Yukiko,
therefore, in a dining room, only these members always got together
in the corner. On a plastered finished blue wall, a large coarse map was
placed. Three tall rosewood tables were placed, and everyone took
meals here who stayed for their own businesses. Faces of those who
came to the dining room changed always like a flowing river. ―――
Despite incessant meetings and partings in the dining room, a face
anytime unchangeable remained at a cool place, beside the widow.
Unintentionally, this man attracted Yukiko’s attention. During a meal,
he always read a book or newspapers. It seemed that he had no one to
accompany him. He sat down exactly at the same time and at the
same place without a single exception. His skin was dark, and his hair
full. His features were oval-faced, and his profile while concentrating
on reading was torpid like the dead. At night, he came back to the
empty restaurant from somewhere, and drank whiskey with the bottle
put in front of him. He wore a short-sleeved sharkskin shirt and brown
trousers, which looked like a Vietnamese to Yukiko. Yukiko had a fever,
and from time to time, went to the dining room to get ice. The man
was drinking whiskey sitting rudely with his knee in an upright
position on his chair, always. Even if Yukiko entered the dining room,
he did not pay attention to her, but drank just like enjoying his
solitude leisurely, which gave him an impression difficult to grasp.
Around the inn, the overseas Chinese restaurants and shops aligned,
noisily playing the music on gramophones and radios. Depending on
the wind direction, a Japanese song, “You were strong, Father -
Chichi’yo anata’wa tsuyokatta[*223],” was subtly flowing into the dining
room from far away. While taking medicine in the corner of the dining
room, Yukiko was inadvertently attracted by this music. Nothing in
particular, but, adventurous feelings came up to her, and felt like
talking with the man drinking there. Her three-year experience
predisposed Yukiko to believe that all men had the same disposition as
Sugio, besides, she was on the journey, therefore, nothing would
hinder her from speaking to the man without anyone’s introduction.
She unhurriedly began reading Japanese newspapers scattered around.
The man boldly did not care about anything, just read his book
drinking sake. His skin turned red while drinking sake, and his
healthily grown bare arms under white short-sleeves caught Yukiko’s
eyes. She guessed at his age either 34 or 35 years. The more she
thought that he was such a man for her to part without knowing his
name and occupation, the more the man’s whimsical images clung to
her eyelids even after she lay down in her narrow bed to sleep alone.
On the fifth day, getting a notice of a truck service available to Da
Lat, Yukiko prepared again for the next journey to join the engineer
Mogi’s squad. ― A long time ago, Saigon was called by the Khmer
name, Prei Nokor[*150], which meant the dense and tall forest that once
existed around the city. While looking from the truck bed, large trees
were lined along the main street of Saigon, extending high in the air,
under which cycle rickshaws, xích lô, were constantly running, like
insects, on the slippery asphalt road. On the Quang Trung Chinh
street in downtown, a French child wearing light blue clothes was
playing under the roadside trees of Tamarind (Tamarindus indica), the
sight of which looked like a painting. Tamarind fruit like pears grew in
heaps on the trees, which gave an impression of a rural district. Not a
single waste or a leaf was scattered on the street, where the
Vietnamese and overseas Chinese were walking leisurely. Surprisingly
enough, their garments looked much better in quality and more
stylish to Yukiko’s eyes which were used to seeing poor clothes in
Japan. She, suddenly, became envious of Shinoi Haruko. The fact itself
that she could stay in such a beautiful town like this was the object of
her envious feeling. Under thick trees along the roadside, Japanese
soldiers were walking. They were walking in group, and looked lonely
with nowhere to rely on, no where they scented their homeland,
Japan, or even their military backgrounds. Soldiers were walking, but
it might be better to say that they looked like being suddenly dropped
there. Every face also of her squad on the truck bed was greasy and
poor-looking, certainly due to the fatigue of the long journey. Yukiko
thought that she was one of them and looked the same as them, and
then, misery flashed across her heart as if she became a daughter of a
day laborer lacking honor and pride. Yukiko was eager to go back to
the inner lands, ‘naichi[*126].’ Da Lat was not worth bothering about
anymore. She would long for other people. So, she would not be able
to live alone in such a place as Da Lat plateau. An old man of a mine
squad, Seya, changed his attitude completely after Shinoi Haruko
parted, and turned his smiling face to Yukiko.
“You look so depressed. Cheer up! We have Japanese soldiers
everywhere we may go. Nothing to worry about. Besides, you, as the
only Japanese woman, have great responsibilities. You need to work
together with the Japanese Imperial Army, don’t you? You see that.　
……”
.. * 6

It was another 16 km to Da Lat from Prenn village, from which the

road ran winding, and the driveway meandered towards Lang Biang
plateau. The truck went climbing up snarling. It was from sunset to
nightfall, from time to time, a white peacock flew away from a
shadowy roadside woods, which made the squad members surprised.
In wisps of evening haze across a plateau, the truck passed
sometimes lined trees of higan’zakura[*57]. In forests on horizontal flat
terraces in a sloping ground, gorgeous villas were found here and
there. In a villa, flowers of bougainvillea of magenta color were in full
bloom. In another villa, mimosa trees were planted around a tennis
court. Mimosa trees with golden blossoms were giving off faint scents
around as far as their truck passing by. Yukiko felt as if she were in a
dream. In the spaciousness of the plateau, she felt something
incomparable to the city of forest, Saigon. A Vietnamese female farmer
with a conical hat, Non La, carrying a shoulder pole with loads on
each end, stepped aside to give way to the truck.
The town of Da Lat in the plateau seemed to Yukiko to be like a
mirage reflected in the sky. With Lang Biang Mountain in the
background, and the lake in front, Da Lat, the town of terraces,
uprooted Yukiko’s anxiety and illusions. The truck entered the white
establishment which was previously used as a military resident office.
A Rising Sun was put up high in the middle of the garden. A new
signboard indicating Regional Forest Office was fastened with a nail
on the stone gate, under which a plate with small characters of
Vietnamese and French written in Indian ink was also nailed. In a
reception room with a view of the lake, the squad met the chief of the
office, Mr. Makita. Yukiko were assigned to work here for the time
being. Only Yukiko went out of the office, being guided by a
Vietnamese housemaid, to a room which was given to her. The room
was at the end of the second floor, no sight of the lake or the town,
however, Lang Biang Mountain was seen as if loomed on the northern
window. In the garden, bougainvillea was in full bloom and a white
hairy dog was frolicking on the lawn.
Yukiko settled down into her room, at the end of the long distance
journey. No rug covering even a part of teakwood floor, it seemed to be
rather cool, though. A shabby bed, a high desk and a chair, probably
carried from somewhere else. A narrow wardrobe painted in white
broke the harmony of the dark room. Birds were chirping noisily
looking for their roosts in the evening twilight. The engineer Mogi and
the mine squad’s Seya went away by car driven by Mr. Makita to Lang
Biang Hotel, the first class hotel in Da Lat. Mr. Makino, a short fat
man in his 40s, began with working for the Forest Service Office in
Tottori Prefecture[*204], then entered the Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry[*114]. Afterwards, he was appointed to a new post as a civilian
employee in Viet Nam in the spring in 1942, 17 Shōwa. His subordinate
personnel were 4 people, all of whom seemed to go out surveying the
mountain areas. Two Vietnamese interpreters, a forester, and a half-
breed female clerk were in the office as usual. ―　Yukiko was
extremely exhausted. She felt bad and did not feel like going out when
an invitation for dinner in Lang Biang Hotel reached her. She lay down
over a blanket on her bed, feeling continuous jolting of the truck as
before, and discomfort in her ears as if a plug inserted into each ear.
She wanted to sleep soundly. With her eyes closed, rustling sound
from the forest was lingering in her ears like chirping cicada, which
never did extinguish from the bottom of her ears. The smell of paint of
the wardrobe was disgusting to her.
That night, she ate Japanese foods alone in a wide dining room,
which a Vietnamese maid cooked for her. In the center of the room, a
fireplace, cheminée in French, was placed like a rock, and a piano was
shining near the door. She placed her hand on a well-starched white
tablecloth, where her yellow hand looking dirtier than the hand of the
Vietnamese maid. In a glass fingerbowl, a flower of bougainvillea
floated. A red-black fish paste kamaboko[*81] and a miso soup with
pieces of tofu looked unique to Yukiko. The maid seemed to be over 30
years of age, a woman of beautiful eyes. Her forehead became wide,
and her facial skin was as dark as cinnamon-like kaki’shibu color[*80].
She did the makeup on her flat face to be powdery-chalky. She wore
earrings of blue glass marbles on her ears. She spoke a little broken
Japanese. White moths flocked around on wide windows with screen
panel shutters. When she almost finished supper, suddenly, a car
engine loudly sounded at the yard. She thought, at first, that the
director Makita came back again very soon, and then, thought another
way, ‘For his return, it’s awfully quick.’ She pricked up her ears. The
maid ran out, and cried in a sweet voice, “Bonsoir.” Before long, a male
voice with noisy footsteps came closer, and an abrupt intruder pushed
himself into the dining room. It was the man who drew Yukiko’s
attention at the inn in Saigon. The tall man’s footfall was rhythmical.
As soon as entering the dining room, he seemingly was slightly
surprised at the sight of Yukiko. He nodded lightly greeting her, and
went out quickly to the corridor.
The maid did not come back soon to the dining room, even after
Yukiko finished supper. Yukiko, while greeting back to the man, felt a
flush rising to her own cheeks, and was impatient of no sign of his
coming to the dining room after having gone away. Her feelings, so far
fatigued and near to death, was filled with longing, as if blown from
the fire. She tiptoed quickly back to her room. Yukiko applied lipstick
deeply before the wardrobe mirror, combed her hair, and powdered
her face, and then, went back in a hurry to the dining room below.
Deep silence reigned the wide dining room, despite restless sound
that the white moths were patting with their wings the screen panel
shutters. After a while, the maid brought her a coffee, put it on the
table, and went away. Yukiko waited for a long time, but the man did
not appear in the dining room, after all. Yukiko felt discouraged, and
went up the stairs to her room in a low spirit. Someone was coming up
the broad staircase. She, trying to calm down her violent throbbing,
pressed her ear on the door. After the noise went out, Yukiko
descended to the dining room, again. Having nothing to do, she
opened the lid of the piano, touched one hand to the keys, playing
sporadically ‘Song of the beach - Hamabe’no Uta[*182],’ which she had
often played in her high school days. On the wall, a forest statistics in
the glass frame was hung. While following her eyes the specimens
such as cassia pine, Merkus pine, willow, oak, beech, and others,
Yukiko severely became aware of how far she had come. No one
seemed to come to the dining room, so, Yukiko went out to the
garden. An enormous number of stars were twinkling clearly in the
night sky. The transparent wind, as if rasping rubber balloons, blew up
Yukiko’s heavy silk poplin skirt. The scent of fragrant flowers were
floating from somewhere. “Bonsoir,” a greeting female voice was heard
far from a narrow path. Light clouds were passing by stars. The lake
was not visible. Yukiko went back to her room and leaned toward the
window. After a while, a phone bell rang loudly somewhere
downstairs. Soon after that, the director Makita’s car sounded like it
was coming back. A sudden clamor downstairs, and three or four
men’s laughter was heard.

.. * 7

A mountain breeze at dawn, and Yukiko heard a breeze blown through

pine trees. While waking from sleep in the morning, she had a dream
playing tennis on a wide lawn with that man, and felt the longing. She
tried to remember the dream, which, however, was not consistent.
‘Probably, he will leave here very soon again ……’ Yukiko was filled with
joy thinking an amazing coincidence of two people who were blown
toward under the same roof twice.
She did her makeup carefully, and wore, shabby fabrics though, a
white silk one-piece. She went downstairs to the morning dining
room, where Mr. Makita and that man were drinking coffee near a
wide windowsill put away the screen shutters. Mr. Makita, with a
ruddy complexion, greeted her with a wide smile, but that man did
not take any notice of Yukiko. He sat rudely turning his leg toward the
window, looking at the hazy lake in the mist. Showing such a style in
an unfriendly manner was a kind of his pose, which seemed, to Yukiko,
like a stubbornness inherent in a junior high school boy.
 “Why not come over here, Kōda’san? You must have been tired from
the long journey. In Saigon, your accommodation was the same with
Tomioka’kun, wasn’t it?”
As Yukiko watched the man anxiously, Mr. Makita spoke to him in a
low voice.
“Kōda’kun is a typist and is going to work here, for a time being. In
half a year, she will be transferred to Institut Pasteur, I’m sure. ……”
The man, for the first time, turned his body towards Kōda Yukiko.
Remaining seated, he greeted Yukiko.
“I am Tomioka.”
“Is this your first meeting with her? I thought you had already been
introduced. This is Tomioka Kengo’kun. He also came from the
Ministry. Three months ago, he was transferred here from Borneo. ―
Japanese women are rare around here, so, probably, men’s excessive
favor is embarrassing you. …… We have Kōda’san only, here. ……”
Yukiko took her seat, far away from them, on a leather sofa. Mr.
Makita recalled what Seya said about Yukiko last evening at the lobby
in the hotel, ‘She is a plain woman, so, much better for work. A woman
called Shinoi that we left in Saigon is fairly a beauty, so I am worried
that she might cause a problem.’ Seeing an extended pictorial view of
Kōda’ Yukiko from afar, he thought, she did not look so plain as Seya
had said. Rarely enough, she did not apply a permanent wave to her
hair, which pleased him. First of all, she was
humble. Her bare legs, which she aligned properly, were buxom, which
resembled Japanese Nerima’daikon[*130]; thinking in mind, he smiled.
He felt a nostalgia for her gently sloping shoulders and the nape of her
neck, the skin of which was so white as to look clear blue, in the same
way as a nostalgia for a straw-mat, tatami, and a sliding door of white
paper pasted wooden frame, shōji. He felt affinity of the same tribe to
her, and was tempted to put together palms of his hands in prayer to
her like a Shintō goddess[*170]. Her slightly high forehead looked to
advantage than his maid Niu. He liked that Yukiko did not wear
hexagon glasses such as a half-breed Mary’s. A young Japanese woman
came all the way to this plateau, which was like a dream to Mr. Makita.
He could not have a good impression to women who went abroad,
however, Kōda’ Yukiko’s impression was unexpectedly good to Mr.
Makita. She also was good at makeup, better than he expected. Yukiko
was not such a woman as Seya referred to, which made Makita happy.
Canna lilies were arranged on the large table.
Mr. Makita, in a good mood, had a professional talk with Tomioka.
Yukiko’s face, in raptures, was toward bright windows, but her
innermost feelings flew aimlessly far away. Tomioka, whiffing a
cigarette, crossed his arms at the back top of his chair, and leaned his
back head against his own arms. On his left wrist, the red second hand
moved on a black dial of his watch. He wore well-pressed heat-proof
brown clothes, and fastened a cool-looking narrow belt like a plastic
glass around his waist. His fresh-shaven nape looked all blue. Soon
after, the bell rang in the dining room. Mr. Makita at the top, Yukiko
followed Tomioka in a row into the dining room. On a white table
cloth, white and purple flowers, which Yukiko saw for the first time,
were arranged in a glass container, and red bowls of miso soup of tōfu
were placed. Dishes of fried eggs, salted and fermented shrimp-like
mysidacea called ami’no shiokara in Japanese, and other dishes were
carried one after another. Yukiko sat down next to Tomioka, face-to-
face with Mr. Makita. Mogi, Seya, and Kuroi, who stayed in the hotel,
had not come to the office yet. Electric fans installed on the ceiling
rotated, making strident noises. Mr. Makita slurping his miso soup,
spoke to Yukiko.
“I have heard that our inner lands, Japan, become harder and harder
to live. You have come here, and are aware that Indochina is like
paradise, I’m sure.”
He likened this town to paradise, however, Yukiko had never lived
such a rich life as this, and so, felt somewhat uneasy in mind because
it was more than paradise over here. Anxiety and emptiness casted a
shadow on her mind, as if she entered a millionaire’s mansion while
the owner was absent.
From time to time, Tomioka talked about Agriculture and Forestry
Research Institute in Saigon, or blamed Japanese rough attitudes
against a bureau director Frenchman in the Forest station. Mr. Makita,
listening, gave responses to him in a low voice.
 “First of all, it is not for poor-looking Japanese to be arrogant in the
Continental Hotel.” He continued. “It might raise the antipathy to use
such a sumptuous hotel as the military logistics lodging, where
soldiers are meddling, about which I’m worried from the stand point
of the occupation policy.”
“We are lucky. Away from the military purpose, we have only to
protect forests according to our duties. I merely appreciate it, as we
are fortunate enough to work here. ……”
Tomioka had lived in Saigon for ten days, and made some research
over charcoal for producing gas at Agriculture and Forestry Research
Institute on Liu Song street there. Tomioka ate bread for breakfast.
Yukiko’s hand caught his attention, when it suddenly reached a butter
dish to pass it for Tomioka. He curiously looked at the nice plump
Japanese female hand.
He admired the beautiful gentle hand.
Fluffy hair grew.
“I’m planning to go to Lenfant in four or five days, to observe studies
of bamboo reinforced concrete. Kano’kun distributed to us his detailed
report in reference to an interim work of firewood forests, did you see
it? We cannot ignore charcoal cars, as well, can we?
They say, charcoal cars are quickly replacing gasoline cars in Japan,
but, charcoal cars have been used here long before. …… Would you
please read once the report Kano’kun has described. I want to go to the
Trang Bom laboratory also to meet Kamo’kun. ……”
He talked of things of his choice in whispered tone. Then, he left the
table earlier than anyone, and went back to the parlor.
“How whimsical he is!”
About Tomioka who went out abruptly, Yukiko commented this way
to Mr. Makita, without even thinking.
“Whimsical, indeed. Even so, he is really a kindhearted man. He
writes to his wife constantly every three days ……. I cannot imitate his
style at all. He is a man of strong sense of responsibility, once he
underwrites something, he never fails to carry it out …….”
Yukiko did not know why, but the fact that he wrote to his wife every
three days caused her pain.
.. * 8

In the evening on the second day, Mr. Makita was due to go on a

business trip for ten days to Phnom Penh via Saigon. He started by
truck with the old Seya, who was just about to go back to Saigon. Mogi
and Kuroi went to visit the districts in their charge, under a
Vietnamese interpreter’s guidance. Tomioka and Yukiko were left alone
behind. Tomioka occupied the best room on the east side in the center
of the second floor. The best room it was, but like a clean hospital
room.
Yukiko assumed being aloof from Tomioka who wrote to his wife
every three days. When they met in the dining room, Tomioka merely
said to her “Ohayō” or “Hi,” and seemed to pass out his typing works
to Mary. The typist, Mary, went to the dining room to play the piano,
at any time when she fed up with work. She had a good touch in tones,
owing to a location of Da Lat as the highlands. Yukiko did not know
the name of the music, by which she was enruptured from time to
time. Tomioka, as wel, seemed to be fond of music, absentmindedly
listening to her piano music on his desk. Mary was at least 25 years of
age, but looked older because of her glasses. She had a good
upbringing. She had antelope-like slender legs, and always wore
navyblue socks with white shoes. Her waist was clear-cut outline, and
her figure, seen from behind, was a graceful beauty. Light golden
brown was her hair color, and she had her bobbed hair loosely
permed, which lay on her shoulder abundantly. Yukiko was acutely
aware of her own racially scanty faculty every time when she heard
Mary’s piano. Mary was fluent in English, French, and Vietnamese,
and managed work promptly. Yukiko sometimes thought that such an
incompetent woman like herself didn’t have to come as far as the
highlands in far-off Indochina. Yukiko’s duty was to write on a
Japanese typewriter. She spent idle hours, soothing herself thinking
that she was probably needed to make confidential documents.
 Mr. Makita’s hasty departure postphoned Tomioka’s trip to Lenfant.
One day after five days had passed, Kano Hisajirō, without a previous
notice, came back suddenly from Trang Bom to Da Lat with a
Vietnamese assistant.
Immediately when he entered the office, Kano astonishingly saw
Yukiko, and blushed. Tomioka introduced Yukiko to Kano, who greeted
each other. Kano, a single-mindedly young man who would strive for
his duty to the limit of his strength, moved a chair close to Tomioka,
and quickly began talking about their work.
“Can you stay here a little longer?”
“Likely. I have not felt well recently, and had loose bowels. Besides, I
have yearned for a civilization in Da Lat. I did not imagine that
Tomioka’san has returned.”
After a long discussion about their work, they began talking
familiarly and asked a maid to bring them coffee. They seemed to be
truly familiar peers. Kano looked younger than Tomioka. He was too
white for a man, small-sized, and athlete-like dapper, wearing an
open-neck shirt and a white knee-length pants. Contrary to his
physical impression, his eyes always looked timid, and was too shy to
look straight at the face of the other person.
For the first time after a long time, dinner in the dining room
bustlingly began. Aperitif was a bottle of white wine which Tomioka
purchased in Saigon. White wine was poured in Yukiko’s glass, too.
“Kōda’kun, did you come from Chiba[*18]?”
Tomioka, usually reserved in speech, suddenly asked to Yukiko,
probably as he drank.
“Oh, not from Chiba, don’t be insolent! ……”
“Is it so? I’ve thought that you are a woman of the Chiba type. Then,
from where did you come?”
“I’m from Tokyo ……”
“Tokyo? Don’t be silly. Tokyo-born people are not like Kōda’kun. If
any thing it is the people in Katsushika or Yotsugi[*91].”
“Ah, you’re terrible!”
She felt like being insulted, and was disgruntled.
Kano could not stand any more, and said.
 “Toimioka’san is unrivaled for his sharp tongue. So, you need not to
mind. This is his disease. ……”
“Is it so, from Tokyo ……. But, you talk in a provincial accent unlike
Tokyoite, the edokko[*33]. Kōda’kun, how old are you?”
“Any age as you like ……”
“24 or 5, I suppose ……”
“Well, I’m 22 years old, despite my appearance. Tomioka’san is really
a terrible person. ……”
“Oh, really. 22, are you? A woman looks like 24 or 5, which means
that she is smart. It’s stupid if you want to be seen younger.”
Tomioka, this time, brought a bottle of Cointreau and opened it.
Kano graduated from College of Agriculture and Forestry, as did
Tomioka. He was appointed to the Forestry studies in French
Indochina with recommendations from Prof. Yasunaga and Tomioka.
The favorite of Tomioka and Kano was literature. Tomioka was a
Tolstoy fan, and Kano was Sōseki[*184] fanatic and idolized
Mushanokōji Saneatsu[*123].
“Cheers to Ms. Kōda for her coming all the way to Da Lat in
Indochina!”
Kano gave a toast and held out his glass toward Yukiko. Yukiko was
moved to tears, feeling somewhat defiant. Tomioka’s drunk eyes
sighted Yukiko’s look glittering with tears. The color of her eyes
contained a strange magic in it. He remembered the same light
glittering, from time to time, in his wife’s eyes. He, bewildered, tossed
off his Cointreau. Yukiko could not endure this situation, silently
putting her chair aside, and went out of the room. Outdoors was a too
beautiful night to go back to her room upstairs. Yukiko strayed from
the broad road glowing with dew, and rambled without purpose.
“She did care, and went away …… .”
Kano went up stairs from the floor below to catch up with her, and
knocked the door of Yukiko’s room. No reply from inside. He turned
the knob of the unlocked door. On the bed, in the bright room in
light, a school girl’s black pants were thrown off. Kano stood there for
a while.
 Even after going back to the dining room, the black pants flickered
on his eyelids, in Kano’s memory.
“What a prim and proper woman she is!”
Tomioka said spittingly. Kano, thinking about Yukiko who probably
went outside, was eager to look for her.
“Doesn’t she resemble the actress, Miyake Kuniko[*117]?”
Kano said.
“I don’t know that actress. I hate young women coming to a place
during the war like this.”
“You are unexpectedly obsolete. …… Da Lat suddenly has become
my favorite place.”
“Kōda Yukiko does not suit you.”
Kano drank and poured Cointreau into his own glass, looking
intently up at white propellers of still fan on the ceiling. Tomioka,
wearily indeed, putting his feet on the metal frame of a screen
window, sat leaning his head on the back of the chair.
“I wonder how long a life like this will last. ……”
Tomioka said with a sigh.
“I don’t think we will win.”
Kano turned a questioning look to Tomioka.
“I have thought this way while I was in Saigon. Hey, I cannot say in a
loud voice, but a turning point must be the next spring, mustn’t it?”
“I was not informed of anything while I spent, for a long time, deep
in the mountain. Is there any marked change in deployment? Any
news?”
“We cannot win, absolutely. That’s all.”
“I don’t believe. I’m assured that we will win. What is the Japanese
navy going to do?”
“They have their tactics, I hope. …… Tactical situations and military
gains are reported everyday in newspapers.”
Kano, who could not rid his vision of her black pants, stood up
impatiently and went to switch on a vent fan. Screws of the fan started
creaking, immediately, white propellers started with a clatter, and
rotated with buzzing sounds. Flowers on the table fiercely swayed.
.. * 9

Kōda Yukiko did not come back for a long time. Tomioka, leaning his
head on the back of the chair always as before, was sleeping in the
breeze of the ceiling fan.
Kano turned off the ceiling fan, and silently went out of the dining
room to outside. He thought to look for Yukiko. A night crow crowed
in the dark around a thick row of early-flowering cherry trees, Prunus
subhirtella higan’zakura. The sky seemed to get so wet and suddenly
stop its movement. Subtle lights were flickering among trees. An
overly ornate villa-style establishment of the overseas chinese was
seen below from the forestry office. No inhabitants there for a long
time, and a desolate landscape in the garden. A faint voice was singing
inside the hedge of southern ocean roses in bloom like snowflakes. A
Japanese song. ‘Ah! Yukiko is there, inside the garden!’ Kano rounded
the hedge into the lawn. Insects were incessantly chirping. On a broad
wood bench with a curved back, Yukiko sat singing.
Yukiko noticed Kano’s coming, stopped singing, and stood up as if
looking through the dark garden.
“What’s happened with you? Did you get angry?”
“Nothing ……”
“Shall we go back? The night dew is not good for your health. At a
place like this, you shan’t be bit by mosquitos, which will make you
sick. ……”
“Later, I will be back alone. ……”
“He is a good fellow, a sharp tongue though. One reason might be a
nervous breakdown. ……”
 Kano put his hand on Yukiko’s shoulder, through a thin silk cloth, an
unexpectedly soft female flesh heated his whole body. He had gotten
drunk, and thus, was not able to control himself easily. Kano gripped
Yukiko’s soft flesh of shoulder, two or three times. Yukiko passed
around through his hand, but, she also, slightly suffocated, felt herself
uncontrollable. Instinctively, she felt like resisting Tomioka’s insulting
word, and had a desire to torment him. A man of white flesh like Kano
did not interest her. Yukiko silently stood still. Kano, once again,
clumsily approached Yukiko. In the distance, a faint noise of a hotel
vehicle engine was coming and going.
Such a doubt flashed momentarily in his mind that his feelings in
being attracted to Yukiko possibly were caused merely by a sexual
appetite, because he had just come back from a woodland of Trang
Bom. Only this opportunity, however, afforded him to get her, and
there probably was no other chance, he thought. He, once more, tried
to stay attached closer to Yukiko, who gazed at him with fiercely
glittering eyes. A smell of thick tussoks of growing grasses and flowers
muffled the night air. From time to time, small chirping sounds came
from grass straws.
“Kano’san, I had no choice for getting the better of my things in
Japan, so I voluntarily applied for this service and came here. ……
Kano’san, you will understand that, won’t you? Under the wartime
circumstances, in Japan, how can a young woman live everyday,
bearing in mind the hundred million honorable death, ‘Ichioku
Gyokusai[*73]’ ? I have not come whimsically to a remote country like
this. …… I was eager to drift away to somewhere else. ……
Notwithstanding, Tomioka’san told me such nasty remarks. …… Why
was it bearable in my mind? We all three are Japanese. …… Even if it
would be either Katsushika or Yotsugi, it’s not his concern. I have felt
pain to live, and at last, drifted here. Despite that, he’s impudent
sneering at me. ……”
Suddenly, Yukiko began talking at a high pitch. Kano, suspending his
own lust in the air, was looking into Yukiko’s eyes glittering like a
beast. She said that she had felt a pain to live, which visualized
wartime circumstances in Japan lying over at Yukiko’s background.
 “Tomioka is drunk. ……”
Kano, saying, boldly gripped Yukiko’s upper arms again with his
strong hands.
“Hated! Kano’san also is drunk. I’m not like that ……”
Yukiko saying stiffened. Closed her eyes, but did not shake herself off
from his grip. The instant Kamo’s hot lips touched her cheek, Yukiko
turned her face away. Kano’s lips stroked Yukiko’s cheek and parted
from it disappointedly.
“Yoo-hoo! Kano’kun!”
Tomioka was calling out from the road. Kano said in a low voice to
Yukiko.
“Come afterward, you too.”
Kano quickly walked through the grasses, and obediently went back
to the road. Tomioka suddenly felt somehow uncomfortable with Kano
who came out of the grasses. Kano did not have anything excuses, but
silently walked apace with Tomioka to the office, while he was always
exposed to the unpleasant feelings reflected from Tomioka. The night
air was cool, and their shoes seemed to slip on the asphalt.
“It’s going to snow in Japan.”
Tomioka, after a slight yawn, said in a low tone.
“Ah, I want to go back home, at least just for once, I want to go back
home to Japan …… .”
Kano did not reply, recalling Yukiko’s feverish words, which were
caught on his chest, that she had felt a pain to live and at last drifted
here.
“Is Kōda Yukiko pretty upset?”
Tomioka calmly pulled out a cigarette, and asked while tapping a
lighter with a long strap at his fingertip.
“Yeah, she’s upset.”
“Aha ……”
“She is a good girl.”
“Ohoo …… A good girl? Is she a virgin? ……”
“A virgin. I was forced back.”
Kano confessed honestly, thinking it much convenient to admit the
state of affairs openly now. Tomioka, smoking a cigarette, walked in
silence.
 “Didn’t you have some loved one in Japan?”
“No not anyone. ……”
“Hmmm ……”
While going around the corner, Kano looked back, but Yukiko did
not appear in the down slope of the road.
“Well, tomorrow, shall we go fishing by car to Phương?”
Tomioka’s pastime was fishing. With four waterfalls in the vicinity,
Phương was Tomioka’s favorite fishing site. Kano did not have any
intention to go fishing. He was not in such a laid-back mood. He came
back from the deep mountains after a long time. He wanted to see
people. Loneliness swirling in his mind brought him back to the office
here. He was very much pleased to meet Tomioka, on the other hand,
however, a chance encounter with Yukiko bursted like a wildfire in his
mind. At present, Kano could not deal well with his own feeling such
that his feet were cramped when he saw her black pants. Kano, with
no reply, emitted a sound with his mouth like whistling for a dog. In
the distant, from the direction of a garage, a dog barked faintly.
“Mr. Makino got a good chance. Saigon and Phnom Penh are oasis
for him after a long time. ……”
“Yeah.”
“Tomioka’san, did you enjoy in Saigon?”
“Not, really.”
“I doubt it. …… You did, didn’t you?”
“You also should go to Saigon once to get refreshed, before going
back to Trang Bom.”
“Saigon …… . I’ve not visited there for a long time. ……”
Kano was not interested in Saigon at all. He could not forget Yukiko’s
glittering eyes like a beast that he saw tonight in the starlight. He
wanted to talk with her, anyway. And, he wanted to comfort her
loneliness. A night breeze seemingly appeased violent beatings of his
heart after a little while. He began regretting his impatient
boisterousness. She cried out tearfully that she was not whimsically
drifted toward here. He admitted in his mind that his own feelings
also were somewhat similar to hers. He thought it better to be a
forester than being taken as a soldier. Her words were painfully
touching his old wounds which he had already rid himself of. He was
once convened to Corps of Engineers situated in Akabane[*1], and then,
went to the Battle of Nanging in 1937[*13]. Memories of that
melancholic war rubbed his brain lightly in passing. A shadow-like
vision came forth to his eyelids; a lake, the name of which was already
vague in his memories, and a boat, where he concealed a woman from
sight to make out with great haste.

.. * 10

Tomioka felt nothing amusing. Saying ‘good night,’ he parted from

Kano in front of the dining room, and went up stairs. Tomioka saw a
luminous watch, which showed the time largely past eleven o’clock.
The maid, Niu, was arranging Tomioka’s laundered clothes on a shelf.
So slow-moving, Tomioka felt unbearably lonesome while seeing her
work, and went down the back stairway to a specimen room. He lit the
specimen room and sat on a wooden stool. He, while looking over
dried-up specimen stored on display cases, began being at a loss and
wondered, for what he sat in the place like this, having nothing to do.
He thought to write to his wife after a long time when he got back to
his room. For ten days after he went travelling to Saigon, he had not
sent a letter to his hometown. He thought that he could express his
keen loneliness to his wife only. The sight of his wife, who faced always
alone indescribable hardships in Japan lacking in all sorts of supplies,
came to his mind. He wanted also to write, in addition, to Kuniko, his
wife, that he would send for her soon, by suitable freight, lipstick and
face powder of the Michael brand which he bought for her in Saigon.
His throat dried, so, Tomioka went out of the specimen room to the
dining room, where Kano was alone still sipping the remainder of
Cointreau.
“Has Ms. Kōda come back?”
“Yeah, she came back and retreated to her room.”
Tomioka drank water, and slowly went upstairs again. Niu was not in
his room anymore. Tomioka, locked the door, lay back down on his
bed. Hearing creakingly bending springs, he gazed at a frosted glass
bulb on the ceiling light. Nothing recurred to his mind. Only the
watery loneliness, like a wet towel, weighed silently on his forehead.
Once he lay down in the back, writing to his wife became very
annoying. Before long, he changed into yellow pajamas. Heartily
laundered and pressed pajamas with no wrinkle …… . Niu’s mercy was
pathetic.
Kicking aside a blanket, he effortlessly lay down on the bedsheet. ―
The door creaked at the dining room downstairs, and Kano’s footsteps
came up stairs slowly. Tomioka absently murmured in mind, “Kano
such a man, Kamo such a man.” Kōda Yukiko’s healthy body resembled
somewhere his wife Kuniko. First of all, a surprising discovery that she
understood his verbal nuance at once was resonant to Tomioka’s heart.
Kōda Yukiko, who appeared alone here, showed mutual affinity in
language and a way of life, which was comprehensible only to men
and women of the same tribe. ― Tomioka slightly smiled fancying
that Kano would not be able to sleep tonight. Kano’s irritation, pulling
up a chair and opening a closet furiously, was heard from the next
room very soon, indeed.
Tomioka could not sleep. He felt like having forgotten turning off the
light in the specimen room, rolled out and went to the corridor.
Downstairs, Niu in light blue loungewear stood at the entrance of the
specimen room.
“I didn’t switch off the light, so I came down.”
Tomioka whispered in Vietnamese.
“I also came down to switch it off.”
Niu, saying, pinched the front hem of her long loungewear and
stretched out to the wall switch to turn it off. The female body, in
passing, heavily pressed Tomioka, who held it in a tight embrace. As
Niu seemed to say something, Tomioka abruptly kissed her lips. After
a long kiss, he left her there, as if leaning her small body against the
wall, and went up stairs. He felt like hearing a slight laugh of Niu in
the back, like a chirping sound. While going up the stairs, Tomioka
glared like a Kabuki actor, Danjūrō[*25], and entered his own room
slowly.
 The night was tranquile.
Always, on a windy day, pine trees roaring sounded like a mountain
rumbling. Tonight, however, no roaring of pine trees. Tomioka drew a
landscape of pine tree forests in his mind. Long leaves’ vulnerability
like the babishō[*9]’s tassels, the Merkus pines’ broom-like appearance,
and a light color of caccia trees. Branches desperately growing like
small flags. Images of various pine trees came and went one after
another in his mind’s eye. ― A memory of a field research of the
Merkus pines in mountain forests in South Borneo in Indonesia came
in to his mind’s eye again. He longingly recalled that he saw, among
many soldiers, a comfort drama performance of an actress Satsuki
Nobuko[*163] in the city of Banjarmasin in south Kalimantan. He
wondered whether the theatrical program was “An opportune moment
of a Shintō god ― Toki’no Ujigami,” or some other drama …… .
Tomioka was surprised seeing a horde of aquatic plants like
hyacinthus orientalis growing over the breadth of the yellowish turbid
river, immense as an ocean. Was this, and that also, already behind
him like a transient dream? …… Plants, which were not native to the
land, would not grow well. Actually, as a ground for belief, Japanese
cedar, which was planted in the garden of this Forest Office in Da Lat,
did not grow well. Tomioka thought, applying it in difference in races,
that human beings might be the same as plants. He began assuming
strangely, ‘Plants are native to the indigenous people’s land and have
firmly rooted there.’ ― A distribution map of the merkus pines in Da
Lat showed him the entire area of 86.485 acres, he thought, ‘How a
less competent Japanese forester like me can interpret numeric figures
of other people’s land?’ …… ‘Forms of trunks and arrangements of
fibers in wood are truly beautifu; however, where in the world the
merkus pains in huge timberlands shall be exported? …… ‘Aren’t we
are only aliens, who suddenly came to rummage in other people’s land
for their properties which have been increasing over the years?’ ……
‘How on earth we Japanese are going to process all these magnificent
timberlands?’ …… Human beings’ minds are free. Tomioka was
drowsily remembering his infant days. He could not fall asleep at all.
Tomioka put off the light.
 At the same time, in the next room, Kano opened the door, and
walked slowly down the stairs with noisy footsteps, again. ……
Perhaps? …… Tomioka, denying a suspicion, pricked up his ears.
― After a while, with musical scales like water drops dripping
into a deep well, the piano sounded bit by bit in the dining room.
Tomioka kept pricking up his ears, thinking that his self-restraint
life while roaming in mountains for a longtime drove Kano to
distraction. Tomioka calmly sank his head deep in his pillow. A
while ago, he secretly kissed Niu. Suddenly, his own indecency
disgusted himself. ‘Kano, as well as I, love what in actuality is not a
love.’ Both men had lost sharp esprit which they lively had in their
spirits while they were in Japan. The Japanese would begin
withering like ciders which were transplanted from Japan to the
plateau of Da Lat. A low tone came out of Tomioka’s throat.
“Are we Japanese in the southern dementia?”

.. * 11

“Bonjours!” Mary’s soft greeting was heard at a landing, downstairs.

Tomioka looked at his wrist watch, which indicated 9 o’clock. ‘That
time already,’ he got up slowly and smoked a cigarette on the bed. His
head ached. He did not know what to do, his body never did want to
move. Everything was vague. Birds were charmingly chirping. He
slowly opened the window. Cool and refreshing outside. The sky of
plateau brightly glaring down and the green on the ground seemed as
if reflecting, from above and from below, each other. Niu, was standing
in a flower bed in the corner of the wide garden, wearing clothes, the
persimmon tannin color of which gave a bright and cool impression.
Tomioka somehow hated an inexhaustible healthiness of women. After
a long kiss, Niu had laughed like an insect’s chirping, whose innermost
mentality perplexed him. Tomioka stretched himself to his heart’s
content, and again, sat slowly on the bed. He felt the act itself
meaningless even if he moved his body.
 Tomioka went out to a washroom, in passing, knocked the door of
Kano’s room. No answer. Gripping the knob to push it, the door calmly
opened with a varnish smell. The windows were left open, Kano was
sleeping in bed, only wearing an underpants of brown multiple stripes.
With his face down, exposing his smooth bluish skin like an egg just
finished peeling. With his mouth open, snoring like raindrops pooling
to a gutter at the eaves on the roof. Tomioka shook Kano’s cold
shoulder to wake him up. Kano opened his blunt eyes. Bloodshot eyes
and unstable glance. Because of a foolish passion of last night,
presumably.
Tomioka, as it was, went on to the washroom and took a cold shower.
‘It’s morning, nothing happened. ……’ Spectral apparitions caused by
fervor last night had disappeared into air. He, wrapping up in a large
towel, was so cheered up as to go up the stairs quickly. He put on a
well pressed white half-sleeve shirt and long brown trousers of
gabardin, awkwardly began shaving in front of a mirror. Aroma of
coffee came lingering up to the second floor. At a church, bells began
ringing.
Tomioka, tidily in appearance, went down to the dining room, where
Kōda Yukiko was eating breakfast alone.
“Morning …… .”
To Tomioka’s greeting, Yukiko, with red-rimmed eyes from weeping,
only smiled. Yukiko’s gentle facial expression embarrassed Tomioka.
He, as if angry, went to his seat, and quickly ate breakfast. Niu,
preparing meals, looked quite another person. She, with an
expressionless face like a Buddhist statue, carried him a coffee and
toast. Mary’s typing sounded busy in the office.
After breakfast, Tomioka, as free as wind, felt like going to Mankin at
a distance of 2.48 miles away. He went out alone to a forest patrol
station near a royal tomb of the dynastic Vietnam. Compared with
going to fishing, it was much comfier to ask and answer himself, as
was a dialogue with forests, when feelings succumbed to gloominess.
― Various lumbermills existed in villages in Da Lat. Squeaky screams
while tearing trees as if deafened Tomioka, who silently walked along a
tortuous motorway. The roadsides were lush forestal surroundings of
huge castanopsis, oplicast, nageia nagi of a family of pudocarpaceae
and commonly called as Asian bayberry, and caccia trees. Evergreen
broad leaved trees, crossing branches and touching leaves like kissing,
thus, closely compacted together to block the morning sun. The sky
was flowing like a blue river through opened forests. A sign of
someone coming startled Tomioka, who looked back quickly, and saw,
unexpectedly, a brisk walk of Kōda Yukiko, fluttering her white skirt.
Tomioka thought he saw wrongly, but paused. Yukiko breathlessly
came near to him.
“What happened?”
“What work shall I do, today?”
“Work?”
“Yes ……”
“Why not ask to Kano’kun?”
“He’s sleeping soundly.”
A Vietnamese forester must have been in the office, but Yukiko, who
had just come, did not know the Vietnamese.
“Hasn’t Makita’san told you what to do?”
“No. He didn’t say anything to me.”
The two people naturally started walking toward Mankin. Tomioka
walked without word. Yukiko, also in silence, followed him. From time
to time, military trucks and vehicles passed by. Every soldier driver
caught a sight of a Japanese woman, and drove away with a startled
look. Yukiko walked, intentionally away from him.
As Tomioka did not say anything at all times, Yukiko asked once
again in a low voice.
“What shall I do?”
Tomioka slowly looked back and commented angrily.
“There is a royal tomb of the dynastic Vietnam. Why not take it in?”
Tomioka was walking with long steps. Yukiko did not understand
him at all, whether he was kind or not. Yukiko thought that his
appearance from behind was vulgar. Tomioka hung swinging his
helmet in his hand. His soundless shoes with rubber sole seemed to
be comfortable. Yukiko also bought cheap white shoes somehow in
Saigon, wearing them even at this time.
The road branched off into two. Entering a narrow road, they
proceeded for a while. Before she knew it, Tomioka paced and walked
side by side with Yukiko, who, at last, understood Tomioka’s
carefulness that he strode, a while ago, along the motor way where
military vehicles were passing.
“I heard you were angry, last night.”
“Aah, about what? ……”
“Kano said that you were angry very much with me. ……”
“Indeed. It was unbearable to me.”
Tomioka wore the helmet, took out an afforestation map from his
map bag attached around his waist, and began walking with the map
open. In the woods, a turtledove began chirping close by. The white
map reflected the light onto Tomioka’s face, and he recalled his light
red sunglasses, took out and wore them on his high nose. The map
suddenly was dyed light red. Through a narrow opening in the sky,
harsh sunshine of the plateau glared at the road. Tomioka looked
somehow reluctant to walk with a Japanese woman, deeming it
inappropriate toward four corners around. Even coming to the distant
land, Japanese customs and habits affected Tomioka’s Japanese spirit
threateningly.

.. * 12

Walking together this way seemed to be a sudden whim. Anyway,

huge evergreen broad-reaved trees grew thick and dense all around.
Surroundings, being filled with signs such as sweet and sticky
pollen rolled in, were too stifling for them to keep walking in silence.
An unseen aircraft roaring flew away over forests. In the vicinity of the
royal tomb, primeval forests spread out dark, where caccia trees
and nageia nagis loftily grew together. Passing through the primeval
forests, 5-acre caccia tree afforestation area by artificial seeding
opened out in front. Kilns for producing charcoals were seen in local
people’s houses around here.
Yukiko was tired of walking. She could not sleep well last night,
probably because of that, she felt a back pain, while walking, as if
being out of breath. From time to time, she, inhaled deeply, and felt
refreshed. Her lungs puffed up with cool air. Despite that, Yukiko did
not have even a slight interest in timberland. She was merely attracted
still more to Tomioka’s long back figure. She wanted to become more
acquainted with him, such longing loneliness kept her walking.
Fantastic feelings adorned Yukiko to be lonely, on purpose …… .
Yukiko wore a melancholy veil patiently which would effectively
create the loneliness of a woman on a journey, whenever Tomioka
might look back at her. Behind the veil, Yukiko got excited herself and
sighed downheartedly.
Tomioka looked back at her.
“You must be tired. ……”
“Yes.”
“I can easily walk 7.4 miles a day. In the woods, surprisingly, I don’t
get tired even if I walk a long way. Besides, I can sleep well.”
“By the way, does Kano’san stay here for a long time?”
“Probably, he will stay here for the time being.”
“I feel him discomfort.”
“Why? Because he is rough? ……”
“Last night, he was terribly drunk. I’m scared.”
Tomioka walked slowly in silence. He, suddenly, felt it related to the
reason that he also could not sleep well last night. He recalled Kano
with a kind of hatred ―. Tomioka stopped in order to keep step with
Yukiko, who, naturally, approached him. He unconsciously gripped her
shoulder and hugged her strongly in the faintly darkness under the
large tree of nageia nagi. Yukiko also was unexpectedly natural. Yukiko,
breathing fast, leaned on him with her face on his chest. It was too
easy. Tomioka moved her face away from his chest and watched her
plump lips. He found her lips far different from Niw’s kiss of last night,
and felt grateful for a value of woman closely akin who understood
every fragment of words that he uttered. No need to be attentive,
Tomioka felt easy, and absentmindedly gazed at Yukiko’s face showing
a flash of excitement. Yukiko’s face, with her eyes closed, repressed her
own rough breathing, seemed to Tomioka to resemble his wife very
well. His paralyzed mind aimlessly flew a thousand miles away,
although he held Yukiko’s head heavily in reality. Tomioka, while being
bewildered over another desire for her, could not measure a
positioning appropriate and accessible also to him in reference to
Yukiko. His pure love for a woman seemed to have blurred after
coming to the South. An empty heart, like a lion, who, having freely
chosen his lovers in forests, was now captured and impatiently chasing
a female given to him in a narrow cage, was obstructive, which
Tomioka could not rid of himself while kissing Yukiko. Tomioka was
kissing Yukiko for a long time, incessantly. She, completely flushed,
put her nails irritatingly on his shoulder. Tomioka’s emotions cooled
down little by little, and, contrary to Yukiko’s irritation, his passion for
acting further had already faded away. A wild white peacock rustlingly
flew out of the woods and went away.
The two people walked around, for a while, in the forest, the village,
and wide plantations, and then, went back to the office much later
than noon. Tomioka quickly went to pick up a towel in his room, and
took a shower in the washroom. Yukiko casually looked into the office.
Kano was writing, all alone, leaning over a large desk near the window.
The electric fan was off, so the room was muggy. With a pen writing
fluently, Kano did not look back at Yukiko. Mary probably had left the
office after work. Her typewriter was covered with a cloth. Yukiko went
out of the office as it was, went up stairs to her room. The door was
left open, and so, she felt unpleasant. Yukiko stood still on the lookout
for her bed, her desk, and others in sequence, feeling someone
entered her room to look around. She found an indention on her bed
as if someone had been sitting there for a while, and could not help
feeling somehow uneasy. She locked the door and tried calmly lying
down on the bed with her shoes on. She still felt anxiety. Only the
blue sky was seen outside the open window. ‘What on earth did I
come here to do?’ She felt like a pang of remorse. Situations in the
Mainland Japan, where people were restlessly pursued by wars day to
day, appeared and disappeared meaninglessly, like floating bubbles, in
Yukiko’s head. There was no such restlessness in the reality here;
however, heavy loneliness and solitude like a stone were grown inward
toward the core of the body. Meanwhile, Yukiko sometimes smiled.
She was self-confident of having won a man’s heart, and felt fertile,
although it was not a deep promise. She did not care anymore about
Iba whom she had left afar off in Japan. Tomioka as a whole was so
attractive as if spouting over. Yukiko thought that she could fill her
lifetime, shedding tears like a flowing river, with her love for Tomioka.
He feigned indifference, however, was clearly far from indifference, in
evidence, he came to her easily. It gratified Yukiko absolutely that she
could hold meekly, as her own, a man of cynicism, invective, and also
earnest attachment to his wife. She felt having overcome Tomioka’s
cold-heartness. Her tenacity, that she did not drown easily in Kano’s
passion last night, certainly graced her with today’s happiness. Yukiko
contently fell asleep before she knew it.

Tomioka, after taking a shower, changed into a set of clean clothes,

and went to the dining room downstairs. Kano vacantmindedly sat on
a wooden chair facing to the veranda. Tomioka sat down on a wooden
chair beside Kano. He was holding two heavy books in his arms. The
mount Lang Biang was seen in front, and, below, a lake was brightly
white with reflected light. No one was in the back room, a vent fan
rotating with a clatter. Niu, given an order, brought a cold bottle of
beer with cold duck meat on a platter.
“How about a beer!”
Tomioka said to Kano, who picked up wistfully a glass of beer. Birds
were chirping noisily everywhere. While they, drinking beer, looked at
the landscape, tinges of the mountain changed, little by little, with the
condition of the sunlight. Kano drank calmly, which was fortunate to
Tomioka. These mountains, lakes, and also the sky were foreign to the
Japanese and the French, equally. Despite that, Tomioka could not
digest freely enough this land likewise. He was impatient at this
reality. In this land, there was an immense repulsion which would
reject narrow-mindedness and biased visions of Japan. All Japanese,
including Tomioka, despite generously behaving, were only trifling
alien substances in this land. Tomioka, a man of no talent who was
made to sit in this place, realized being helpless, especially these days.
No more than using a poor magic, which would get caught out sooner
or later …… . The scenery of the lake in front, however, had a haunting
beauty, forever. Japanese, like ants, moved around quickly and toiled in
other people’s land, where no one took notice of the Japanese.
Japanese, with practical outlook, extremely cleverly came drifting, up
to here, so far. Caccia trees supposedly had the age of 50 to 60 years.
But, trees were cut into logs recklessly without any preparation only
for reporting the number of log trees to the military. Numerical figures
grinned mockingly. The Moi[*118], indigenous people in Indochina,
were employed to flow logs in the Da Nhim River. Tomioka observed,
however, that logs were not freely transferred at all. Logs built up in
the freight cars. Huge trees, such as caccia trees, oplicast, nageia nagi,
and others, were left lying, as they were, on the riverside of the Da
Nhim. Only the numerical figures, glibly showing the amount of
logged trees, were passing through from desk to desk. The Moi were
naïve and awkward laborers. The Japanese army made them work busy
improperly like bond servants. ― Tomioka, drinking a beer, began
reading the review of the applied botany and colonial agriculture. The
French had come and lived in this land for many decades. To Tomioka,
the Indochina product review and the review of the applied botany
were worth reading. These were described by French, Chevalier[*17]
and Creveau having carried out their field works staying in this land
for many years. Chevalier’s book was the everlasting greatest work,
being practical for forestry in Indochina.
Kano also became somewhat drunk, which erased the bad humor of
a little while ago from his face, and talked loud, as if suddenly
remembered.
“Is Ms. Kōda sleeping?”
“Aah ……, I don’t know what she is doing.”
“A while ago, you took Kōda’kun to Mankin, didn’t you?”
“No. She came later, so, I joined her to go sightseeing. ……”
“I love her. Don’t forget it, please.”
“Aha ……”
 “I don’t mean to be persistent, but, Corps of engineers’ officer came
here a while ago, and asked me who that Japanese woman was, with
whom Tomioka’san was walking intimately. So, I have thought you
were quick in attracting her.”
“You awfully persist. …… I merely walked with her. Isn’t it the second
lieutenent of the Vehicle section, who said that? ……”
“So, I also went as far as Mankin, very soon. I looked for you, with
much effort, for a long time, but, I could not find you. ……”
Tomioka, secretly, transferred the line of sight toward the lake. He
was thrilled, thinking what Kano would do when he knew that
Tomioka intentionally turned aside to a path into forests.
“Everyone has quick eyes for women. ……”
Tomioka, in a casual air, commented.
“Uh-oh, I’m surprised at your quickness. It’s not approving that you
took Kōda’kun to Mankin while i was sleeping. A woman acts on a
temporary mood. From that standpoint, you are not deserving of
confidence, however ironical you are.”
“I said to you that she came later, following me. The director has left
for travel without giving her any work to do, and you were sleeping.
She said that she came to ask me what to do, therefore, I advised her
to go sightseeing, and went together guiding her. That’s all. No
advance promise of going out. ……”
“It’s OK, now. I fell in love with her, so, no other way than make a
move onto her, anyhow.”
Smiling shyly as if saying ‘don’t disturb,’ Kano poured beer in two
glasses.
Tomioka lit a cigarette. Emitting puffs of smoke slowly, he spoke
alone in mind that it was too late. But, he thought, in another way,
that nothing might be too late. On that occasion, he withstood and
abandoned Yukiko’s feelings halfway. He also was aware that his own
fatigue was not as usual. Until the very day that he had left for Saigon,
his nightly affair with Niu saved him from falling in to physical
ferocity, as was the case with Kano. An intimacy with Niu was also
temporary. A spiritual love had not germinated in Tomioka with any
other women than his wife. The director Mr. Makino seemed to be
vaguely aware of Tomioka’s liaison with Niu. Mr. Makino, however, was
not such a person as to complain about his staff’s misdeeds. Only if
they took responsibility for themselves. Tomioka fully appreciated Mr.
Makita’s tolerance, as such.
Before no one knew, the sun, hemmed in orange, was setting behind
Mt. Lang Biang. Waves rippled finely, like scattering golden needles,
on the surface of the lake. An oily smell came floating from the back of
the dining room. A beautifulness in the dusk induced deep reflections
in both men.
“It is peaceful, here, as you see. But, I suppose circumstances in the
inner lands Japan may be unpleasantly severe. Devoting to a love
might be luxury. ……”
Kano talked.
“Do you think we will win in this war?”
“Clearly, we will win. It’s too late to lose the war. We have so for
carried out operations as far as here. Losing will prove disastrous to
the East Asia. …… I have never thought of losing. Mr. Makita and you
are obsessed on delusional anxiety. If we lose by any chance, I would
slit my stomach on the spot. ……”
“You cannot slit your stomach so easily. I don’t want to think that we
might lose, but, apparently, we cannot dispel a possibility of losing. I
don’t want to say that, if possible, but, it is not always good news, by
hearsay. The locals are most sensitive. The Japanese army strives to
advance at a breath, keep it up, and never back down, as is the
Japanese style of doing things. Japan, however, is scarce in pieces on
the Generals’ Board Game, Shōgi. No Gold General, no Silver General,
no flying chariot! Japanese style symbols are somewhat decreasing
their influential presence in this region. We, before having not yet
matured, poke around in a quandary. ……　A variety of measures to
justify the war is surely being devised, but, capabilities are not
adequate to go forward. It’s like a sword before a monkey, if I might
give an example. ……”
“Don’t talk too scarily. Of course, there might be contradictions, but,
just try doing it for better or worse, and we shall see. After all, in the
worst case, we will be defeated honorably to death. It would be good if
we die. We shall die. ……”
“How irresponsible!”
 Tomioka said as spitting, and went to toilet. Soon after Tomioka went
out of the dining room, in exchange, Kōda Yukiko, with a well-slept
look, came in. She was fully dressed up, wearing a one-piece of
gingham red check pattern. Her hair was tied up with a blue thin
ribbon. Kano was startled, and turned back at last, looking at her.
“You must be hungry, as you did not eat lunch, did you?”
Kano said, offering her a chair. Yukiko mildly sat down on the chair
next to Kano, crossing her bare legs. Golden sunrays reflected on
Yukiko’s face, which looked clearly raised above the background plane
as a sculpture in relief. Her lips shone red like having sucked blood.
He smelled the very scent of Japan. Kano felt nostalgic, and sniffed,
wondering what the scent was. Soon he realized it the scent of
camellia oil. Yukiko’s hair shone lustrously. Kano took a bulky western-
style envelope out of his pocket, and put it on Yukiko’s lap.
“Please read it later.”
Yukiko, in a fluster, wrapped it into her handkerchief. Tomioka
stolidly came back from the toilet. He, intentionally, did not give her
even a glance, but stared dazzlingly into the golden sun. Kano went to
the kitchen, came back with a glass and a beer. He poured the beer
into the glass, and handed it to Yukiko.
A clumsy silence lasted for a while. Then, Tomioka, holding
Chevalier’s books heavily, left his chair silently and went away from
the dining room. Kano, undoubtedly, thought it decent of Tomioka to
leave.

.. * 13

A heavy downpour of rain began.

Rain fell down noisily through gutters like a roaring waterfall.
Yukiko suddenly was brought back to reality. She, being out of sorts,
could not get to sleep. Gorgeous memories in Indochina were floating
up and down in her mind like a revolving lantern. Getting noticeably
colder as night grew, too cold to sleep in a one single set of bedding,
futon. She was so exhausted, and yet, uncomfortable as in a soldier’s
camp. Yukiko was irresistibly lonely with no one to support her, and,
with her eyes open in the dark, was listening intently to violent
downpour of rain. It was lucky that Iba was absent from this house. No
dredging up the past affair, however, Yukiko felt thankful for a blank
period of four years between Iba and herself. She was lying down in a
place without any acquaintance. Yukiko had been accustomed to such
a situation in Indochina. She did not come across with Shinoi Haruko
in the detention camp in Hai Phong, nor had any opportunity to meet
with women who might have known something about Haruko.
Nothing was heard about Kano, who had been taken to the military
police station, gendarmeries, Kempeitai, in Saigon before the end of
the war. Tomioka, who was the last to leave, was fortunately
repatriated to Japan by ship in May, earlier than Yukiko. She could not
imagine how Tomioka had changed mentally during the period from
May to now. Yukiko, however, was confident of their relationship,
which would be reinstalled as before, only if they meet. She was
confident, because, with which she felt easy in her mind.
The next morning, the rain had stopped. Nice clear sky in early
winter blew off the moistness after raining. A kaki[*79] tree in the
narrow deserted garden wore many small fruit of mouth-puckering-
astringent persimmons, the skin of which partly looked like white
frost. Seeing the tree, Yukiko nodded. The kaki tree’s growth explicitly
showed four elapsed years. Iba’s housemate’s wife invited Yukiko for
their breakfast table, saying, “Please eat, if you don’t mind pitch-black
barley. White rice is in short-supply and is still too expensive for us to
buy.” Her husband seemed to have left home early. The wife talked
that he went to Shinshū, Nagano Prefecture, for purchasing apples.
Their hometown was Shinshū, so her husband recently began being a
broker of apples. Sooner or later, apples would be excluded from a list
of controlled fruit, as the news said. So, in their plan, he went to
Shizuoka first to purchase salt, then, took the salt to Shinshū, and sell
salt there to purchase fermented salty soybean-paste, miso, in
exchange.
 “If we got along well with Iba’san, we could purchase salt in his care.
My husband, however, does not have good feelings for Iba’san. Might
you know somewhere who would sell us salt?”
Yukiko did not know such a place at all. A 8-year-old boy the oldest,
a girl of 7 years, a boy of 3 years, and a baby were sitting around the
table. Still another housemate, her husband’s youngest brother living
with the family, went together with her husband to purchase apples.
Yukiko did not intend not to work, but wanted to put it off until after
she met Tomioka, to arrange a new direction of her way of life.
The wife offered Yukiko to stay, for a time being, in the room, if she
did not mind with Iba family’s goods which were stored there. Yukiko
felt relieved and appreciated her kindness. ― It was not clear whether
or not the previous workplace would admit her. More properly, the
previous workplace was not attractive anymore for Yukiko to work
again. After breakfast, Yukiko went, along a way told by the wife, to a
liquor supply station nearby, where she asked to use a phone. She
called Tomioka’s desk at the ministry of agriculture and forestry, and a
female voice replied that he had resigned. She daringly determined to
visit him in Kamiōsaki[*82], relying on Tomioka’s address, and went on.
She got off at Meguro station, and began walking, from time to time
asking passersby a route, under the opencut, on the road along the
Japanese Government railways line. Passing in front of the residence of
the Fushimi’no’miya, the oldest of four branches of the Imperial Family
of Japan, the shinnōke, and then, through noble residential quarters
which remained unburnt in air raids. She kept walking relying upon
house numbers. Almost all the scenery she saw from train windows
were burnt-out ruins, and she felt that nothing had retained its past
image. She found the concerned house number at last. While seeing
Tomioka’s business card pasted at the door before her eyes, she felt
awfully hesitant, and lost her mental readiness. Two other business
cards were also pasted to the side suggested her that the house was
shared with other housemates. The house was desolated, every
window glass was patched up with thin tape. A clump of Japanese
arrow bamboo yadake, Pseudosasa japonica, cleansed in the rain last
night, were leaning against a broken board fence, like a broom. Yukiko
did not want to meet his wife, however, no reply from him to her
telegram urged her to visit him. Yukiko darely opened a glass-fitted-in
lattice door, and called out that she came on an errand for the
ministry of agriculture and forestry. A decent old lady around fifties of
age came out and quickly went back to inside. Unexpectedly, tall
Tomioka in kimono appeared stolidly at the entrance. Tomioka,
seemingly not surprised, came out in clogs and began walking silently.
Yukiko followed him. After turning at unknown alleys many times, on
a lonesome street with debris of a fire as far as the eye could reach, he
finally looked back at her, saying.
“You look cheerful.”
“Did you read my telegram?”
“Ahuh.”
“Why didn’t you send me a reply?”
“I thought that you would come to Tokyo, anyway.”
“You have quit your work, haven’t you?”
“I quit it in July.”
“What are you doing, now?”
“I help my father with his work …… .”
“The lady showed a little while ago, is she your mother?”
“Yeah.”
“So I guessed, because she resembles you very much.”
“Where do you live, now?”
“I’m staying in the house of my relatives in Saginomiya, Nakano
Ward in Tokyo.”
“Will you wait for me here for a while?”
“Sure, I’m waiting.”
Tomioka went back alone the way they came, saying that he would
come back soon after changing his clothes. While gazing after him in
the dark-blue kimono with a white splash pattern, Yukiko had odd
feelings as if Tomioka had changed in personality. Yukiko sat down on
a collapsed stone wall among burnt down debris, blown in the cold
wind for a while. Her own appearance, wearing a worn-out blue jacket
borrowed from the housemate’s wife and black trousers of serge with a
pattern of diagonal parallel ribs, especially matched the desolate
landscape. Her face was flushed at this moment, realizing it was a
dangerous visit.
After waiting for 30 minutes, Tomioka appeared in a suit. Old days
features remained to some extent, however, his youth that she had
known about in Da Lat was gone, and he looked drab somehow,
affected by the worn-out winter suits, probably. Besides, he had looked
haggard after losing weight. Tomioka felt no excitement, while gazing
afar at Yukiko sitting on the collapsed stone wall. In this debris as if
the stage had completely transformed from the former scene, Tomioka
had no intention to revive the dream of Da Lat. Tomioka, repressing
his irritation, approached Yukiko, only with his final decision in mind
to end their relationship. He said once more, like a parrot. “You look
cheerful.”
“Of course, I came back only for the desire to meet you, so why not
be cheerful?”
Yukiko, as if assuring herself that she really met Tomioka, looked
keenly up at Tomioka like a dazzling creature, from under. Tomioka,
with a smile on his lips, did not even reply. His determination of
ending their relationship, lying between them, probably was invisible
to Yukiko who had just repatriated after 4 years abroad. Receiving her
telegram, itself, was really unpleasant to him. Despite that, he had
been thinking that he had to fulfill his responsibility to her, before
being regarded as a spiteful bastard. Meeting Yukiko in person now,
however, he thought such a consideration was unnecessary anymore,
and restored his decisive power to break up with her, one night,
tonight.
“Where shall we go?”
He asked Yukiko, who did not know any place, of course. Tomioka
remembered, as someone mentioned to him, that a ‘cozy’ inn opened
in Ikebukuro, near the center of Tokyo city area, and so, went to
Ikebukuro. Many inns like barracks thin as Japanese rice crakers,
senbei, built with unseasoned wood, stood side by side, and still more
were on going to be built. Houses stood incoherently in disorder.
Markets and eating houses were crowded together in confined spaces.
Such rapid congestion rather made Ikebukuro a convenient town for a
man to hide with a woman. Only the signboard was conspicuous,
Tomioka opened a glass door, and entered the small wooden inn. A
woman with a pale face and untidily disheveled hair, was wearing
shoes clackingly chewing gum, and went out bumping the door,
without tying her shoelaces properly. Yukiko felt chill in mind. ―
They were led to a 4.5 tatami-mat room upstairs, from which a market
was seen below. The tatami mats were dirty, and spotted with cigarette
burns. No alcove. Many scratches on the green wall. A pair of dirty
beddings, futon, of red plain fabric were overlaid in the corner of the
room. Two pillows made of chintz, glazed calico textiles, were placed
on the top of the futon, without cover, and stickily shone with grease.
Tomioka paid first for ordering two bowls of wantan-dumpling
noodle soup with sake. The room was empty, no table, no brazier,
hibachi, where they sat down awkwardly. Tomioka leaned against the
wall, holding his long legs at the knees in his hands. Yukiko, with her
one elbow on the top of the beddings, sat with her legs flung sideways.
With her other hand, she tapped on her jacket chest, and scrached her
own large round breasts.
“I did not know that the world has changed so much.”
“We were defeated. Something is wrong if nothing has changed. ……”
“I agree. …… Ah, say, I was eager to see you. You are awfully cold.
Have you already lost your sympathy to a repatriated woman?”
“Don’t be silly. Me, too. I’m repatriated, you know. It’s not only you.
There are many other people like us.”
Yukiko’s rudeness, talking of herself pretentiously and self-
importantly as a repatriat, as if she only was great, was unpleasant to
Tomioka. Tomioka was not accustomed to Yukiko’s overfamiliar
manner, such as her suddenly lying down in the mud and never
budged. Yukiko, by nature, had a man’s passionate attitude. Yukiko did
not understand the mentality of Tomioka, who was assuming the same
cool air as he had been at their first enounter, although nobody was
watching them, in this room with only two people inside.
She wondered whether their agreement for only two people in Da Lat
was so transient after an interval of few months. …… She did not
waste time being particular about a trifle, as she had become strong-
minded after being buffeted in splashes of high waves. Yukiko boldly
sidled up to Tomioka and placed her chin on his kneecaps.
 “Why do you ignore me?”
“Ignore?”
“Maybe, you hate me, don’t you?”
“Don’t talk tediously. Women are easygoing. ……”
“I’m not easygoing. I would not come back like this, if you got rid of
me. I would have come back with Kano’san. …… Now, I found your
thoughts, Tomioka’san.”
“Don’t be silly. Kano has Kano’s fate. It’s your crime. You induced him
to behave like that. You always feel like wagging your tail to anyone.
Over there, such a place is the Greatest heaven for women. …… It
must be joyful for women to be loved by every man. ……”
“Oh …… . Now, you’re starting to talk like that. Disgusting! You want
to tease me by speaking suddenly like that. You don’t love me
anymore! …… OK, I’ll become a woman like that we saw a while ago at
the entrance. I’ll not hesitate anymore to fall down to a muddy abyss.
……”
“You don’t have to be so hysterical. On my part as well, I cannot live
an irresponsible life in Japan, as I was in Da Lat. I simply wanted to say
that we cannot be asking the impossible such as extending our life in
Da Lat. I will be glad to suport you. I surely am responsible to that
degree.”
“So, what is your responsibility?”

.. * 14

Probably getting drunk on sake, Tomioka began feeling better little by

little. While being liberated from obscure resentment, by and by, he
was encouraged to be right back where he was, to the dangerous
relationship. Tomioka became filled with fancies apart from such trifle
reality as his home problems or affairs with Kōda Yukiko. Nevertheless,
due to human loneliness inside his body, after all, getting rid of his
thoughts, he felt like taking to his arms the woman who lay down
shedding tears, there, before his eyes. Soon after he returned back to
Japan, he rejected his own longing for Yukiko, and his memories were
fading away little by little. Tomioka was being calmly unphased. Kōda
Yukiko, however, emerged suddenly in front of his eyes. He felt that he
was shown a sectional view of his own destiny. Now, Tomioka sidled
closer toward Yukiko to fill a space until being shoulder to shoulder
with her.
“I remember many things …… . During that time, me, and you, are
like insane people. For going out to inspect reserved forests in
Zhangpu, Makita’san with a lieutenant commander who came from
Japan, and you, were just going into a vehicle. Suddenly, you said,
‘Why not come with us, you, too, Kōda’san!’ The lieutenant
commander also said, ‘Yeah, let’s take Ms. Kōda, too!’ And we, four,
went together to Zhangpu. Do you remember? What was that inn’s
name? We stayed at that inn in Vietnam, and took supper together
under a lamp. We all drank liquor, and slept drunk. I had kept in mind
that your room was at the farthest end of the corridor, and walked
barefoot at night toward your room, didn’t I? In front of aligned rooms
was a swamp, eerie cries of birds in forests. I turned the knob of the
unlocked door, and, surprisingly enough, out of the window, I saw a
Vietnamese guard standing in the garden. …… Was that time the first
with you?”
Yukiko talked, taking Tomioka’s hand and tangling her fingers with
his. Tomioka recalled it and said, “Oh, that happened.” His insane daily
life at that time, playing with women while soldiers were dying
bloodily, came back in mind like an empty dream to Tomioka. In the
room was shabby, like a stable, with single-leaf weeden screens to
partition rooms, and so, any sound leaked and was overheard. With
his eyes closed, many memories shared only by two people came
running up very soon into his mind. On the caccia tree forest floor,
such plants as chigaya-Imperata cylindrica and karukaya-Miscanthus
sinensis were growing forming dense clumps. Furthermore, mountain
peony, botan-Paenonia suffruticosa, and mountain peach, yamamomo-
morella/myrica rubra, chōji-Eugenia aromatica were also visible.
Forests in Zhangpu were a land of nostalgies to Tomioka as well.
Coolies in pair cut down trees, and did crosscut - pruned, by saw,
branches and roots to produce same-size logs. ‘The processing
capacity was four standing timbers a day, at most.’ Tomioka recalled in
mind those days that he had worked in Zhangpu as a forester after
transferring there as a forester. Moï tribe people and Vietnamese were
employed as woodcutters. Everyone was afrait of being infected with
malaria, so, applicants were not many even if a recruitment was
announced. Tomioka took the initiative to recruit coolies, with whom
he went to Zhangpu for many days. In the mountains, he built a
sawmill for manual grainding, where timbers were pruned in small-
sized squared timber and boards, and then, were dispatched by
military trucks as far as Dalat. Coolies were worked hard at extremely
low piastres daily. Coolies took to Tomioka, and worked hard even
before the end of the war, despite that they thought in the back of
their mind that Japan would be defeated.
“Say, we won’t have an opportunity anymore to go far up on the
mountain in French Indochina. We were saying that we felt like living
there, as coolies, cutting down trees throughout our life.”
“Right …… .”
“You began speaking first of such a thing.”
“We cannot go there anymore.”
“I know. We cannot go there anymore. If Kano’san had not caused
the incident, you and I might have been able to run away together to
Zhangpu at the end of the war. Human beings can’t freely live
anywhere we want, can we? Why can’t we live happily while human
beings and the nature are frolicking together?”
Tomioka, himself as well, did not intend to work hard with no rest,
after Japan had lost the war. A call of the wild always came and went
in his mind. Tomioka, from time to time, was induced by a nostalgiea,
like a love, for great forests there, which truly was the home of his
soul, he admitted, as was Nazareth being Jesus’ original homeland.
It was evening before they knew it.
The market, below their windows, was extremely bustling with
customers and commodities, where the lights began lively shining.
Yukiko went out alone from the room to purchase sushi in a pack and
a full-beer bottle of cheap distilled beverage, kasutori [*89]. Yukiko,
nowhere to go or return, wanted to keep talking with Tomioka as long
as possible. They got drunk more and more, while drinking shōchū,
and their worries were dissipating even if drowned muddily in love ―
Tomioka naturally touched Yukiko. They, with no feelings, lay close
together on the beddings which had been kept open out from the
daytime, and, like copulation of cricket, indulged in a temporary
dream as they did in the old days. The setting sun in front. Tomioka
decided to entrust his tragic struggle in his mind in deep anguish,
such as Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane[*46], to another himself as
his alter-ego who was thrown there in reality. ‘If God is for us, who is
against us?,’ - Romans 8:31. Tomioka also fancied that he should go
with this woman. ‘Parents and the home are but a temporary fence,’ a
voice came from somewhere to Tomioka who got drunk, ‘I have to get
over the fence once more and live my life together with this woman.’
Yukiko also was drunk and was caught up to an illusion that she had
to deliver such an oration that the germination period of Japanese had
already passed away! Tomioka clasped tightly Yukiko in his arms. The
two drunk people joined lips keenly for the first time after a long time.
As night grew, the inn became noisier and noisier inside, and,
sometimes, an insensitive lady of the night, opened, by mistake, the
sliding panel door, fusuma, of the room of Yukiko. They unabashedly
kept embracing each other. Probably in the wind, torrential roarings of
the government railways trains reached their ears. Their trousers were
thrown off messily on the futon, which looked more sensuous than
real people.
Yukiko, while being warmed by Tomioka’s body, was irritated, with
her own ruffled spirit, and strove to gain something more passionate
from him. She thought this act was a makeshift schemed by a man.
Yukiko remembered the same feelings she had felt during her three
secret years with Iba. Yukiko impatiently desired something more
intense, and was eager to pull something exact out of Tomioka. On the
part of Tomioka, as well, he felt loneliness as if he reduced to ashes.
He, from time to time, stretched his arm to the beer bottle, poured the
kasutori in his small grass, and drank it in one gulp. Yukiko also
sometimes took rest and picked up a piece of sushi. Feeling that there
was still a lot of time on this night, Yukiko, chewing noisily the sushi
on her tougue, threw her hot legs out on the tatami-mat. They had
shared extremely numerous memories of only two people,
nevertheless, in reality, the more desperate they became, the more idle
their conflicting feelings turned round on. They did not talk about
their future, forgetting any expressions, but were striving solely to
ignite their passion of the past days again. Occasionally, two people
felt loneliness as if losing their strength, for which they blamed the
poor environment, touching their noses softly, and felt unbearable
sniffing the other person’s stinking breath.
“You lost weight very much.”
“Because I don’t eat delicious cuisine.”
“I also became skinny, didn’t I?”
“No, not so much ……”
“Why? You should have noticed that my weight decreased more than
before, when you held me. Who is fatter, your wife or me?”
Tomioka stretched his arm again, and, by a sudden rush, poured the
sake of his glass into his mouth, gulping down.
Tomioka thought that their eruption had already extinguished. They
both were estimating wrongly. Substantially, two people were sinking
into the bottom of the defeat of the war, and lost their fire for
eruption. They simply had forgotten the reality.
“Well, I think I did a bad deed toward Kano’san. You treated me with
excessively affectionate partiality, so, I teased Kano’san. ― Kano’san,
however, would have died willingly with me. He was the very person
that did not know to suspect. …… As for the war, who on the earth
believed more firmly than Kano’san that Japan would win? He was a
good person. A perfect person as a companion for two of us.”
“You are a terrinle woman.”
“I doubt that. …… Every woman has such an inclination, doesn’t
she?”
Tomioka did not want to remember Kano as much as possible.
Yukiko sometimes referred to Kano. It could not be said that she had
no bad taste, in her moral, as to always availing Kano as a companion
to ignite the two people’s passion of older days. Tomioka became tired.
Yukiko was not, at all, and was eating sushi. She unabashedly was
talking, while eating a slice of already blackened raw tuna. Tomioka
hated her primitive strength who would never meet her downfall. Her
lustrous face as if just washed showed out of the red futon. Tomioka
felt her face vulgar.
“What are you thinking?”
“Nothing.”
“You are thinking about your wife, aren’t you?”
“Silly!”
“I’m silly. Almost all women are silly. All men are always great, aren’t
they? I feel sorry to have heard your words that you will support a silly
woman like me, and that you surely are responsible to that degree.
Without thinking anything about the future, I am clinging to you
being here before me, which is nothing but stupid. You know. …… I
have come back all the way, and, I am very much pleased to meet you.
That’s all. …… But, I felt bad, in Hai Phong, while imaging that you
meet your wife. …… What is your wife like? She must be beautiful.
Well-educated, good-looking, and ……”
Yukiko vaguely tried to delineate Tomioka’s wife in front of her eyes.
An impeccable beauty’s graceful figure emerged before her eyes.
Tomioka was drowsy, hearing Yukiko’s talk.
“You said, ‘By the time that you come back to Japan, I will have
cleared the problem and will have separated from my wife,’ but it was
a lie. Men are liars. You wheedled me at the top your lips, and yet,
keep safely your own boundary. You are so terrible that you took me to
such a place like this, and took time leisurely until I realize what you
mean. You have told me, ‘When I return back to Japan, I will liquidate
whatever relating to my life so far, and live together with you. I will do
work even as a day-laborer’ ……”
Yukiko closed her tear-filled eyes, caressing Tomioka. She touched
his lumpy waist bone. The man’s rough skin was pathetic, a while ago
he said that he had not eaten delicious cuisine. Yukiko touched her
own belly skin, and felt mysteriously the smoothness of her skin,
wondering why a living woman’s skin was so soft and smooth, and that
women’s skin were unchanged even if the country was defeated. ……
She once more softly touched Tomioka’s belly.
“Tomorrow, we will separate in different directions, to right and left,
and, afterwords, we will meet in a place like this again, and you fall
asleep drunk. …… Even if I came back from afar, you make nothing of
me. Don’t you think it a miracle that I came back all the way from
afar? I want you to worry lot about me, be affectionate to me! Say,
wake up! You’re so terrible lying asleep while I talk to you. Don’t
sleep!”
Yukiko pinched tightly Tomioka’s skin.
Dormant Tomioka opened his drunk eyes. He looked around as if he
were in a strange place. But, he could hardly stay awake. He deeply
closed his sunken eyes again, and said.
“Noisy. Sleep a bit, you, too, now. You also are tired. It’s of no use
forever thinking the past.”
“Surprised! You’re awfully heartless. The past is indispensable to you
and me. If we lost our past, you and I would be in no place! Listen, in
the next room, they are indulging in their amatory act. …… Wake up,
throw away such an old-timer’s fatigue! ― If you won’t wake up, I will
go tell your wife, tomorrow. All right with you?”

.. * 15

It was the early afternoon of the next day that Yukiko came back to
Iba’s house in Saginomiya. Yukiko was persuaded by Tomioka, that
they would need enough time to work things out, say, to get married,
which was not a positive promise, though. Yukiko agreed.
Tomioka told Yukiko to find a place for her to settle down, anyway,
before long, and that he would prepare a certain amount of money for
her promptly. Yukiko suspected Tomioka’s quibbling. In such a
pressing encounter, however, she had no other choice than to trust his
words.
The two people separated at Ikebukuro station, and Tomioka quickly
merged into the crowd. Yukiko felt helpless, leaning against a pole on
the platform, staring at the coming and going waves of passengers.
Faces of malnutrition, having engaged in labor for a long time during
the war, were passing by everywhere, jostling around Yukiko.
 Yukiko had no purpose. Even if she went back directly to
Saginomiya, there was no one waiting for her. She wondered, ‘Shall I
go back to Shizuoka as it is?’ but, was attracted to Tomioka too
strongly to leave Tokyo. Her persistance in Tomioka transformed after
she met him for the first time after a long time. Yukiko, however, was
pleased, for the time being, to have been able to meet him. Yukiko was
aware of her being a heavier burden to Tomioka if she proceeded in
the same way as it was. She thought that she had to make her way into
the crowd and look for her workplace. The dancehall, to which she
had looked up from the platform of Shinagawa station, suddenly came
into mind. Quite accidentally, she fancied being a dancer.
She imagined her own figure beautified with makeup, in a florid
stream of music. Considering her own real figure, however, she
perceived impossibility of such work for herself.
Tomioka had given her some pocket money, with which Yukiko
went to Shinjuku. In the noisy surroundings, Shinjuku always
continue to be the crowd itself. No familiar faces. Yukiko felt like
walking in an exotic world. Vehicles running along city streets were
of new models. The thickly clad people walked shivering on cold
sidewalks. Yukiko, passing by the front of a huge building without
window glasses, stood still looking up wonderingly at it, and noticed
that here was Mitsukoshi[*116]. Walking along the building, she turned
to the righ. In many alleys, street stall markets were lined up tightly
side by side, spreading their goods also on the ground. A vender
took sardines out of a used petroleum can and displayed them in a
fish stall. In small glass boxes were candies. Cold firm mandarins,
Citrus unshiu, on sale were stacked like a pyramid. Rubber boots
sellers. Another fish stall with frozen cuttlefish at 5 yen a plate.
Every alley was flooded with many such stalls. On a desolate debris
of burnt bricks, dirty children, all flocked together, smoking
cigarettes.
Yukiko bought citrus unshiu of 20 yen a plate, then, climbed up to
the debris, and sat down there to peel a mandarin. Obsolete and
cumbersome things were all demolished, and as was in a sort of
aftermath of revolution, a cool and refreshing air comforted her
loneliness. She felt more comfortable being there than at any other
places, spitting inner skins of mandarine oranges around her.
She wondered whether the revolution in the form of war had
reformed her mentaly. Faces in the crowd walking like streams looked
familiar to Yukiko like kin relatives.
She felt it funny to imagine how Tomioka, returning to that house,
would give excuses to his wife for staying over somewhere else last
night. Yukiko was sure that he would behave as if nothing happened,
as was the usual case with Tomioka. His family would never feel
anxiety. Yukiko was envious of such day-to-day family ties. Yukiko felt
humiliated for her own wishful fantasies that she would be able to
move to a new house together with Tomioka immediately after her
arrival on Japan.
Afternoon, Yukiko went back to Saginomiya. She gave the last two
mandarines to the children, and entered the room full of Iba’s goods.
The room without anyone was cold and lonesome.
A sudden idea flash into her mind. Yukiko, seeing Iba’s goods, felt
like hunting for something valuable and to sell it off. She thought she
would be able to get revenge on Iba by doing so. It would not be wrong
to sell off things valuable and add to her living cost, for the time being.
Besides, even if she untied the packages, the people of this house
would not be suspicious of her deeds if she said that she was looking
for her own properties entrusted to Iba. Moreover, Iba would not be
able to accuse Yukiko of whatever she did, even if he knew some of his
goods were arbitrarily gone.
In the evening, the family gave Yukiko sweet potatoes, and she asked
them to steam her share together in their pot.
Yukiko, eating sweet potatoes, was looking out through a glass of a
nekomashōji[*129], and found a skinny small tricolor cat, mikeneko[*113],
intently gazing at something, in a dirty shrub of azaleas. She
remembered that peony-color[*146] flowers of azalea had been
blooming early in the spring. The past affair seemed as if it had
happened yesterday. The cat, after a while later, went away languitly
through under a loquat tree, Eriobotrya japonica, near the hedge.
 Yukiko, sliding open the lattice window, shōji, stepped out to the
engawa[*34] porch, and called the cat back. The kitten did not come
back.

.. * 16

Tomioka kept thinking about Yukiko for a few days, and then, almost
forgot not only solving an anticipated annoyance within his family in
order to reassure Yukiko, but also preparing money for her. Tomioka
wished, in this way, to break off negotiations with Yukiko at an earlier
date. The encounter with Yukiko had been such a strain as he would
suffocate. So he eagerly prayed that Yukiko would pass on freely ahead
to her own direction.
Tomioka, these days, started a timber brokerage in mountains,
working jointly with his acquaintance of lumber merchant. He
scheduled a business trip to the countryside in the North Shinshū[*169]
to purchase ceder timbers. But his acquaintance’s financing was likely
to be bogged down. Besides, outgoing freight of timber rafts from the
mountains by flowing on a river stream was considerably difficult. So,
his schedule was postponed daily. If it went well, Tomioka would get
some money, moreover, he was full of willingness to venture his
fortune, as it was such an era that timbers sold well like flapjacks at
higher prices in black markets. After coming back to Japan, Tomioka
utterly got tired of his public employee life, therefore, desired to
transform his life on this occasion.
Today as well, he went out to give a phone call to Tadokoro, the
lumber merchant, and disappointedly came back hearing that it would
take four or five more days for financing. As soon as Tomioka came
back home, his wife Kuniko said to him that a woman had come
visiting him. His wife said, the woman left a message asking him to
come to Hotei[*65] Partnership in Ikebukuro on the next day. Hearing
this, Tomioka guessed it was Yukiko.
 Yukiko had suggested the inn’s name Hotei by telling his wife a false
name as Hotei Partnership. Tomioka felt displeased, and his face
turned glum.
Kuniko seemed not to notice anything, and asked.
“She asked me whether I’m your wife. What’s the matter? Does she
have some business relationship with Tadokoro’san?”
“No, she does not have any relationship with Tadokoro. As far as I
know, she is a wife of Hotei Partnership, a firm which I got to know
through work lately. ……”
“I see. Even so, she has not so much a nice personality. After the end
of the war, people have changed in various ways. She is not likable, I
mean, a woman of that type is not my favorite. She asked me a lot of
questions, such as where you went out, when you come back, and
other questions, over-familiarly, which was so offensive, though.”
Tomioka feared secretly in mind, thinking that female intuitions
must have immediately reflected each other.
Kuniko must have felt, intuitionally, a certain physical feeling of skin.
Tomioka felt pain. He suffered from thinking that he should confess to
his wife the affair with Yukiko before it’s too late. Simultaneously,
though, Tomioka felt too sorry for his wife to tell his own love affairs
overseas, who spread cloths for sewing over the lap of her mompe[*121]
to repair the winter beddings. It was absolutely unbearable for
Tomioka to make a confession, which would inflict a deep wound on
his innocent wife. Kuniko, caring of Tomioka’s parents in their house,
had to put up with a hard life of wartime shortages, waiting for her
husband.

The next afternoon, Tomioka went to Hotel Hotei. Yukiko had

already checked in, waiting for him. She was leaning against the
brasier, hibachi. Surprisingly enough, her appearance was so flashy
that he almost mistook her for another. She wore a maroon colored
coat with her bangs combed forward as long as possible so as to form
a longer fringe over her forehead.
“I visited your house, yesterday. ……”
“I know. ……”
 “Your wife looked very calm.”
“You are awfully dressed up, today.”
“Of course. I bought this coat. Does it suit me?”
“How could you buy it?”
“I sold my relatives’ goods without their permission, and bought this.
Because I felt extremely cold and lonely. ……”
“Do you think it good for you to have done such a deed?”
“Not good, but I cannot help it.”
Tomioka keenly gazed at Yukiko’s showy appearance. He vaguely felt
pity for Yukiko’s change in her weary and depressed appearance. A
frenzy of Miyuki, who lamented holding a stake in the Ōigawa
river[*142] in a scene of ‘Diary of Morning Glory’ - ‘Asagao Nikki’[*6],
that he saw long time ago in the kabuki[*77] theater, appeared in his
memory. He could foresee that his blunt refusal would plunge her into
depravity, at an instant. He also felt anxiety about what would happen
if she abandoned herself to despair.
“What are you thinking?”
“Nothing, I don’t think anything, and yet, it will be tough, from here
on, for both of us. ……”
“Well. You are surely at a loss how to settle our relationship, aren’t
you? On my part, I am resigned completely. Seeing your wife, I became
awfully sorrowful, and, while walking, I brooded over closing our
relationship. A wife free from anxiety about her husband looks pure
and beautiful, doesn’t she? I’m scared to make a good person unhappy.
……”
Tomimoka doubtfully stared at Yukiko, wondering whether she was
serious. Yukiko’s figure loitering around the front of his house came to
his mind. Yukiko, pulling a handkerchief out of a pocket of her coat,
wiped her eyes with it. Surprisingly enough, the handkerchief was the
one that Tomioka had used in Da Lat.
“You want to get rid of me, don’t you? I really think you do. You must
have lost your concern about me. I, myself, have become your source
of pain. Once abandoned by you, I would fall into hell. I would only be
blown off in ashes. I cannot keep myself alive seeing only your shadow,
can I? You love your wife, and a leftover love to me like a beggars
outstretched hands for offerings. I detest such a love. ……”
“Why do you say that? Silly. You are strange to bring up the matter of
love at this time. I don’t think it’s so much that. I am striving for a
better solution. If I don’t devise a good way, you will be pushed into a
corner, so I thought, and thus, I came here, today as well, although I’m
busy.”
“Detest! Don’t condescend me so much …… . You don’t understand
my feelings well although I talk seriously to you. Why won’t you let me
selfishly indulge in your affection? Right now, as well, you are thinking
a different thing. ― Listen, I do not say what cannot be done, however,
please find anyhow a place for me to live in, and meet me from time to
time …… . I want to begin working sooner than later. I, by nature,
cannot become your wife, can I?”
Tomioka, sipping the cold green tea, was shaking his knees
unconsciously, as he felt cold, while listening to Yukiko’s hysterically
wayward talk. Yukiko was lonely as she had been left alone for three
days, and so, wanted to talk everything soon after she saw Tomioka’s
face.
“Are you looking for a place to live for me?”
“Sure, I am. You may think it easy to find one single room, but,
people were burnt out in Tokyo, you know, and rooms are demanding.
Even if a room is found, it needs to pay more than several tens of
thousands of key money. I hope you kindly wait a little more …… .”
“You live in your own house, so you can remain calm somehow. But,
I’m homeless. I now stay in the house where I cannot demand as a
right to live. …… I want a place to live in, where I can be myself. My
relative has evacuated, and unknown people now live in their house,
where I live temporarily, in the promise of only a few days. It’s painful
and uncomfortable. ……”
“I will find somewhere for you to live in. I don’t mean that I’m
dawdling. A house to live in is insufficient, at present. By the way, I
wonder whether this inn doesn’t provide us with something heating
the room? Extremely cold, here. ……”
“That’s true. Shall I borrow a bottle at the inn and go buy the
kasutori in it as before?”
 Yukiko seemed to have changed her mood. She drew her bag near,
and began fumbling in it for a purse. She found her purse at last, and
quickly stood up.
“Buy it only a little. I don’t want to drink a lot. ……”
“Will you go back early, today?”
“No, I don’t mean that …… .”
“Don’t you stay overnight? I have money.”
“I cannot stay tonight.”
“Boring. Why? Were you scolded, the other day?”
“No kidding! I’m not a child. No one scolds me. I wont’t stay, tonight,
that’s all. ……”
Yukiko, without persisting, went out of the room. The room was
different from the other day, and awfully cold here. Besides, filthiness
of coarse tatami mats looked gloomy.
Tomioka pulled out a cigarette, and remembered, while puffing the
smoke, that Kuniko commented on Yukiko as the most disgustful
woman.
Compared to a tryst with his secret woman in a room of such a
desolate inn, it seemed to him to be much pleasant being with Kuniko
in his living room, reading newspaper near her, while hearing the
sound of water boiling in a kettle. He conjured up a horrible desire
that it would have been better that Yukiko had died in Vietnam.
Tomioka recalled in mind that he had read somewhere else such an
epigram that two opposing desires coexist always in people’s mind,
one is the mental inclination approaching Satan.
Tomioka’s eyes, following the cigarette smoke, happened to stop at
the sight of Yukiko’s swelled-out bag. He reached out his hand, and
drew the bag near. Her dirty felt bag contained something solid like
drapery fabrics wrapped with a purple wrapping cloth, furoshiki[*41].
Cosmetics, a Parker brand fountain pen with a blue diamond company
logo which Tomioka had bought in Saigon, a Peace brand cigarette
package, a tenugui[*197], a soap, and others, were untidily shoved in. A
couple of letters addressed to her family in Shizuoka were also in her
bag. A while later, Tomioka pushed the bag back toward the place
where it had previously been, and then, stack his cigarette butt into
the hard ash. He began feeling terribly sorry for Yukiko, who was likely
to almost spill out of her own mind. On the other hand, he recalled in
mind a calm appearance of Kuniko, as a virture hemisphere. Making
Kuniko a sacrifice, Tomioka rambled around and got entangled in
Yukiko, and, tried to remove himself from the loneliness of his present
life, by way of Yukiko, by relying on a secret affair. All these self-
interest ran down through his spine like cold sweat.
Tomioka recalled his past deed, in his mind, that he carried off a
married woman, Kuniko, and took her as his wife. He did a wicked
deed over another, and thus, overlapped new sins, in the same way,
again. Now, he felt his own selfish inconstancy even as his fate.
His maid Niu, whom he had left in Vietnam, became pregnant with
Tomioka, and went back home to a countryside. He had given Niu a
certain amount of money and had thought his duty was over. He,
however, felt sorrow for Niu, and saw her in his dream from time to
time. Niu must have already given a birth to a child. Tomioka thought
that Niu might feel ashamed for her child of mixed blood, and
reminisced about his life in Vietnam.
After a while, Yukiko came back with her face reddened with cold
wind.
Yukiko showed the bottle to Tomioka, holding it up against the
window. Yukiko threw away leftover cold tea wildly to the corner of the
brazier, and poured sake in the teacup.
“At first, I taste sake for poison.”
She, saying, pressed her lips to the edge of the teacup, and drank half
of it in one gulp.
“Oh, how savory! My chest and belly are scorching.”
She poured sake for Tomioka, who also gulped sake down without
taking a breath. Yukiko again poured sake in both teacups.
“Say, stay overnight, tonight. …… Don’t you want to? This time, only,
and, I won’t ask you anymore, afterwards. If you don’t like this inn, we
can move anywhere else. If you don’t have enough money, I have
something good in my bag, so, we can stay at the more pleasant place.”
Suddenly, something hot welled up in him. Tomioka held Yukiko’s
hands. A wild personality of Yukiko, who could not keep in her mind
whatever feelings she had, was so lovable. He was released from the
depressed mood caused by his oppressive environment bearing his
family life. Tomioka, due to the force of liquor, bit Yukiko’s fingers in
his lips.
“Bite harder, much harder.”
Tomioka bit her fingers lightly and quickly. Yukiko probably could
not bear anymore. She lay down her face on Tomioka’s shaking lap,
convulsively sobbing.
“I have become such a woman as this, and lost myself. Please, do
whatever you like. Whatever you like. ……”
Yukiko spoke sobbingly, caressing Tomioka’s lap with her both
hands. Inside the room began getting dark. Lively cries and shouts
coming from the market with winds were clearly heard. Tomioka
touched his lips to Yukiko’s hair, while thinking that his own behavior
was theatrical, frivorously spending time.
The wild sentiment of the woman was clearly reflected on him, only
when Tomioka drank sake, as if his face was exposed to a sudden flash
of light.
“I should not have seen your wife. She is a good person. But,
thinking that she is your wife, I hate her face. After my visiting your
house, your wife’s face constantly flickers into my mind like a stab to
my chest. …… Your wife certainly senses me. She talked about me,
didn’t she?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Don’t tell a lie. I, with a fierce expression, was glaring at her. She
looked at me curiously
Your wife looked at me from the tip of my toe to the top of my head,
giggled disgustingly. It was an ill-concealed, creepy giggling.
Her gold tooth glittered, at that time …… . Why did she have a gold
artificial tooth implanted into her front tooth? ……”
Yukiko raised her face and said, grinning. From her tearful face, her
makeup was removed off as if washed, and looked more natural. Her
hair in bangs became untidy on her forehead, which made her looks
seductive as if he encountered her for the first time. The scenery of the
room became out of perspective, and, Yukiko’s face swayed, like a
velocity of a movie, in front of his tipsy eyes, and looked changeably
darker or lighter.
 “Besides, she is much older than I. ……”
“You awfully pick up a quarrel with me, don’t you?”
“I do. She is not fair to have you only to herself. I feel an aversion to a
man who kisses a woman with a gold tooth in front of her lips. ……”
Tomioka was displeased hearing that his wife’s shortcomings were
outspokenly mentioned. From cotton filled coverlets, futons, piled up
at the corner, Tomioka drew one piece of futon, and covered his lap
with it. It wass a filthy and sticky cold futon.
“It seems like a kotatsu[*99]. May I put my legs into the futon from
this side?”
Yukiko was drunk.
“You said that you work. What work are you going to do?”
Tomioka, after drinking three or four more teacups of sake, asked.
Yukiko, with a slightly serious face, replied.
“I want to become a dancer. Don’t you think that it’s a good idea?
……”
She said with seductive looks, the bottom of her eyes glittering. It
was her choice, Tomioka thought, but, refrained from uttering
whether it was good or not.

Meanwhile, it became near 10 o’clock.

“Well, I’m going ……”
Tomioka spoke in a low tone, pulling folded bank notes out of an
inside pocket of his coat, and placed them on Yukiko’s lap, and he said
to her.
“Here you are, 1,000 yen[*199] in total. While you have the money,
look for your working place, anywhere. I will let you know as soon as I
find a room for you. I will leave for Shinshū, tomorrow evening, so, we
cannnot meet for ten days or so. Give some money to the family, and
ask them to let you stay a little more until I find your room. ……”
Yukiko felt being pushed away with money with the amount of 1,000
yen.
“I don’t need money. Say, can’t you stay overnight? It’s so sad to
separate now. Oh, no. I don’t want to. You are going to Shinshū, for ten
days! You want to escape from me. I’m sure. Absolutely, sure. ― Tell
me honestly your intention. ……”
Tomioka gulped the remaining sake with one gulp, and started
shaking his knees irritably again as if he remembered doing so.
“No, not that. I feel apology to you. Well, to be honest, we have been
dreaming since that we lived in such a beautiful place. You may blame
me of what I would say, but, seeing the completely different world
when I came back to Japan, I thought that it is too cruel to torment
my family anymore. Everyone has harshly suffered from wartime
hardships, and yet, has endured somehow, getting the better of the
wartime shortages. In this reality, I cannot cruelly chase off people
who were waiting for me. Resultantly, I have broken a promise with
you, however, I will do my best for you until you become happy. I will
sincerely think what I can do for you …… .
I like you, and yet, can never marry you, I am vulnerable to that point.
Tonight, as well, it’s not impossible for me to stay overnight, however, I
thought it false to continue deceiving you any longer. I have been
trying to persuade myself, for quite a while, that I should go back
home soon. I truly travel for Shinshū. I was thinking to tell you my
feelings after coming back from travel, but, suddenly, I felt like
revealing my inner most thoughts, right now. If the decision is that I
separate from you, I will surely feel pity for you. Notwithstanding, it is
really impossible that I alone get out of my home at present. All my
family depend upon only me for living. ……”
Briskly shaking her head, Yukiko held her ears by both hands.
Glaring at around Tomioka’s lips with her eyes. ― Tomioka, calmly
gathering aside the futon, put his both hands on Yukiko’s lap, and
moaned.
“No other choice than we separate.”
“I hate it! Do you mean, that, on your part only, everyone will
become happy, sacrificing me? I don’t want such money! I don’t feel
happy even if I get money from you. I cannot be obedient according to
your convenience. Me, too, I have a right to remark what I want to
remark, from that standpoint, your wife and I am on the same ground
level. You may think that you can cope with me in any way that you
like in order to make your wife happy. …… Why didn’t you say so first,
when I visited you for the first time?”
Yukiko was overwhelmed by drunkenness. She did not know
anymore what she herself was talking about, but was surely averse to
Tomioka’s selfish quibble.
The man, who relaxed and behaved freely in Indochina, suddenly
dispirited after coming back to Japan, and felt familial constraints in
his house. His weakness displeased Yukiko. She held both hands of
Tomioka and swayed them as hard as she could. Then, she rolled up
her left sleeve to show a lengthwise long wound like a welt.
“You remember this, don’t you? You are to be blamed for my wound.
Your fault was that you had told lies to Kano’san. I also know that you
had an intimate relationship with Niu. You regard other people’s
serious feelings as the insane, don’t you? Everyone trust a person like
you soon, but not Kano’san or I, who would be accepted as not
normal. ― At that time, however, you did not look like a fake, when I
saw you. If you ask me to separate from you, I can do nothing other
than. But I wonder if it is righteous. …… You keep a sprendid
appearance of your home, give delight to your family, and, resultantly,
you may feel refreshing. But, it means that you have victimized a
certain number of other people for your happiness. It’s terrible that
you pretend not to have been aware of things like that. If your home
and wife are so important to you, you should have become like a stone
from the beginning. ― I particularly don’t think to send off your wife,
however, I might have fancied, too much, something better. I will stay
overnight here, so, you, freely go back home! ……”
Her eyes went glassy. Yukiko released Tomioka’s hands, and, covering
her head with the futon. She tossed around on the tatami mats in the
room. Tomioka was soundlessly sitting there, seeing Yukiko writhing
in desperation.

.. * 17
Four days later, suddenly, Iba came to Tokyo.
Yukiko just went out, and while passing on the alley, was aware of
Iba who was trudging along, from the other side, towards her. Yukiko
first mistook him for Iba’s elder brother. Iba also seemed to be
astonished.
“Oh! Aren’t you Yuki’chan?”
Yukiko blushed in a sudden encounter with him.
“When did you return back? Why didn’t you come at first to
Shizuoka? Either way, you are really Yuki’chan. ……”
Iba got old utterly, and his looks also changed while she hasn’t met
him for four years.
“How did you know that I came here?”
Iba, putting up his coat’s collar, turned backward and said.
“We cannot have our private talk in the house. Shall we take rest
somewhere else, and talk across a tea-table? ……”
He walked on to the main street which was entirely dried, and a cold
wind was blowing. Yukiko, curiously looking at a weary appearance of
Iba’s back, followed him, with no word. Passing across a railroad
crossing, Iba did not proceed to the station, but went straight along
the main street. Then, he moved apart a fabric room dividers,
noren[*135], entered a buckwheat noodle soba restaurant which showed
diagonally from the station. No heat in the somber house. Tables on a
concrete floor, every surface of which looked white with dust. The two
took seat on the table at the corner. It was so cold that the two drew
their knees and feet up apart from the floor. A fine lattice frame was
set outside the glass window, which made their corner particularly
colder.
“Can you prepare the soba, here?”
Iba asked. A girl who had a hair in momoware and covered her
mouth with a gauze mask, replied that they could not make the soba
as they were still under the strict regulations. Then, Iba asked what
they could serve. She stated only three items, tea, sweet red-bean
soup, shiruko, and soda water. Iba, murmuring who could drink a soda
water in this cold, ordered two bowls of shiruko, anyway. The soba
restaurant looked indeed like an old-fashioned lunch room at a post
town. Iba took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one. He
took a puff, putting the Hikari brand pack back in his pocket, when
Yukiko shivering her shoulders asked him.
“Let me smoke a cigarette.”
“Do you smoke?”
“It’s so cold that I want to try one. A cigarette smoke seems to warm
my body. ……”
Yukiko having a cigarette in her mouth let him light it. He began to
ask her annoyingly about various things. After a while, two bowls of
the shiruko, thick with gelatin, were placed before them. Removing
the lid, the back surface of which had moisture, in the bowl, however,
it was the watery shiruko of light brown in color. Two small pieces of
steamed rice dumpling, dango, floated on the surface.
“You opened our luggage, didn’t you?”
Iba said, with his face down, picking up a piece of dango. Yukiko was
silent. She put a dango in her mouth in the same way as Iba, and
thought that someone in the house had tattled.
“It can be seen by checking our luggage in the house, but, why did
you do such a thing your own way? If you need money, say so, and I
will do something for you. Rather than that, I wonder why you did not
write to Shizuoka although you had returned back to Tokyo. ……
Someone apprised us in a letter of your selling our goods like a
disposal. Is that right?”
Iba lit the almost gone out cigarette again, and, said, smoking
strongly. Yukiko did not have any emotion toward Iba, anymore.
“It was so cold that I opened your luggage, my brother-in-law, and
borrowed two or three items.”
“Did you sell them?”
“Ah, yes. I should not have done such a thing, but, I thought that my
deed would be allowed because there are so many people who have
been burnt out. I have believed you would permit that much, and
bought this with that money.”
“Why did not you come back first to Shizuoka?”
“I did not want to. Besides, I returned back with my friends, and,
moreover, had to look for somewhere to work afterwards. I have
planned to go back when I would settle down. ……”
 Yukiko, saying, took out of her bag a couple of letters addressed to
her hometown, and showed him. The letters were that she had written
four or five days ago and forgotten to post.
“What goods have you sold?”
“I have sold two pieces of kimono made of gauze crêpe, ro’chirimen,
and piece goods of fabrics which remained unused.”
“Weren’t you seized with compunction for doing such extreme
deeds? You changed after having been over there.”
Yukiko kept silent.
“After that I quit my work in the bank, I did farmer’s work in the
countryside, but, people who have lived for a long time in the
metropolis cannot settle down in a rural area. So, we have sent our
luggage beforehand, intending to move again to Tokyo. Valuable goods
sell well recently, so we intended to sell our goods to make up for a
shortage while starting our business. If I remember rightly, you left
your coat at your home in Shizuoka, didn’t you?”
“You are right. So, you can sell my coat instead. I intended to get
married, therefore, I came to Tokyo first, this time.”
“Aha. When do you marry?”
“It did not go well. The person has his wife and his parents, so,
everything broke off after having returned to Japan.”
“What is his occupation?”
“He works for Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in the same way
as I. We worked together over there. He said that he is going to
conduct lumber dealer business.”
“How old is he?”
“He is much younger than you.”
“You have been deceived. ……”
“Oh, no. He did not mean to deceive me, however, we broke off,
eventually. ……”
It was a surprise to Iba that Yukiko changed completely in
personality although she once had been obedient and of few words.
She became utterly an adult, and expressed clearly what she thought.
It was so cold that she wore a purple square wrapping cloth, furoshiki,
around her head and face. The purple color reflected like a shadow on
her white skin, and suited her very well.
 “Are you going to stay here from now on, for a long time?”
“I will stay here for three or four days to visit my friends here and
there in Tokyo, and observe business ambiences before going back.
You can go back with me.”
“Don’t you have any baggage?”
“I entrusted my baggage to a midwife who lives at the corner. The
midwife informed me of you.”
“I see. ……”
The two people left the soba restaurant. However, Iba and Yukiko,
with no place to go, stood talking in front of a broken telephone box.
“Now, I am going to Shinjuku[*167], so, please check your luggage
until your heart’s content.”
Yukiko pronounced this way, with calm composure.
Iba looked cold, standing at the corner where the wind did not blow
against his back, and then, said.
“I will come with you.”
He walked side by side with Yukiko to the station, where he bought
two tickets.
They got on the train for Shinjuku. Yukiko’s decisive behavior kept
Iba uneasy. He did not have the slightest idea about what she was
thinking. The weather was soft sunshine with an extremely strong
wind. In every train, almost all window glasses were broken, and
passenger cars were awfully cold as if icehouses were running.
“Seriously damaged everywhere.”
From a station to a station, desolate burnt ruins overspread all
directions as far as eyes could reach. Iba was looking outside the
windows curiously.
“Say, I want to become a dancer. I wonder if I can.”
On a sudden, Yukiko said casually. Iba seemed to be startled at her
stunningly surprising plan, and did not reply quickly.
“Don’t you like a typist’s work?”
“I have gotten tired of such a job already. Besides, the salary is not
good. I heard that the occupation army’s private hall dancers gain
extremely good incomes in many ways.”
 “It might be. I wonder, however, if you can continue the work for a
long time. ……”
The two got off at Shinjuku, and were aimlessly walking for a while.
They entered a movie theater named Musashino’kan to watch a film
being shown, “Madame Curie.” Yukiko felt like watching a western film
for the first time in a long time. They sat side by side on tattered
chairs. It was terribly cold even in the theater. In the desolate movie
theater with no vestige of the old days’ prosperity, she felt strangely
the western movie, which she watched for the first time, far removed
from a reality.
No one knew what idea Iba had, but he held Yukiko’s hand in the
dark. His hand was hot. Yukiko felt repugnant but endured, and left
him holding her hand. Lights on the silver screen was reflected on
Iba’s face which looked like the dead when seen from the side.
Yukiko recalled parting with Tomioka of a little while ago, and thought
that Tomioka was to be blamed for her feeling of loneliness. Sorrowful
emotions thronged on her mind. Her eyes were brimful with tears at
this moment.
It was the twilight when they left the theater.
Street stalls disappeared completely, and everywhere in the town was
as if deserted with no soul. Street lights were dimly lit at every corner
of the ruins, which affected passersby deeply the misery of defeat.
Cold wind blew freezing. The two showed on the railway street.
Barrack-type stores were lining up like huts in the street, but already
had closed. Recently, towns were infested with burglars and robbers.
That was why every store began closing quickly at dusk.
Yukiko led Iba to a barrack-type ramen noodle shop which opened at
Tsunohazu[*206] on the railway street and she had come twice to the
shop. When night fell, Yukiko was eager to drink strong liquor. If not
pouring strong liquor in her utterly ravaged innermost of mind, a state
of misery was unbearable to her. They ordered a couple of bowls of
soba with bamboo shoots relish.
They sat down close to the burning fire of a stove, which was very rare
these days. She tried to touch a glowing blue tin chimny by light
strokes with her finger, wondering how many years had passed since
the last time that she saw the fire burning fierily in a stove.
“I don’t agree to your becoming a dancer.”
Iba said, smoking a cigarette. Yukiko did not reply, because Iba’s
barefaced audacity of holding Yukiko’s hand a while ago was
disgusting. Iba went on talking, staring at Yukiko’s madeup face as if it
was a rarity.
“I have been worried about you all the time. Whether you can come
back well was my concern. Japan is still in an extremely tough
situation. The top ranking people were all arrested. It seems as if the
whole society capsized. People who formerly assumed an air of
importance have fallen into straitened circumstances. Japan has
mercilessly transformed.”
Iba talked pensively of such a thing.
“Everyone was besotted awfully in wartime. No war anymore from
now on, with the very thought of it, I feel relieved. By the way, how did
you pass through a callup notice for active military service?”
“That’s it. I was worrying it. I worked for an arsenal in Hamamatsu
in Shizuoka Prefecture in order to avoid a military service. If I think of
it now, it was like a dream. …… Hamamatsu also was raided.
Thereafter, I was working as a farmer, but, was not called up at all. I
feel it strange, though. After the end of the war, I have been worrying
about you, but, I did not imagine that you would return back without
any incident. ……”
The hot soba came, and they ate as if holding a bowl in arms.
Bamboo shoots dyed in red was a rarity.
“How good it tastes! ……”
“The taste of soba in this shop is praised. The third nationals run
this shop. A very large quantity with good taste, and cheap.”
Yukiko suddenly recalled in mind the scene of the Hotei Hotel in
Ikebukuro, and felt disgusted to go straight back and lie closely side by
side with Iba in the narrow room in his house in Saginomiya. She
could not get anything that she sought. Only such things that she did
not seek clung to her as if by destiny. She felt as if her mind was drying
up.
“Do you stay tonight at your house?”
 “Sure.”
“No room anymore.”
“In which room, do you sleep?”
“In the living room. Stuffed with your luggage.”
“Don’t mind. We can sleep together.”
“Besides, there is no food.”
“I brought rice with me as much as 3 shō[*175], approx. 11.94lb. Don’t
worry. It’s my house. We can freely cook our food in my kitchen. You
don’t need to hesitate. I have sent a set of better beddings, the futon. I
will unpack my luggage when we return home.”
“Well, then, I will go to Ikebukuro, where I have a place to stay
overnight.”
“You are awfully wary.”
“No, not like that. I have a work meeting with my friend which I
cannot fail to attend. It’s reluctant go out all the way again tomorrow.
……”
“We have met tonight for the first time aftr a long time. We still have
a lot to talk about. You must go back home together with me. I don’t
know how many kimono you sold, but I will not blame you for what
you have done.”
“It does not matter how much I would be scolded for that. ……
I want to visit my friend in the matter of work.”
She was appalled even at the image of lying with Iba side by side.

.. * 18

Tomioka’s business trip to Shinshū was put off to an unknown time, as

Tadokoro’s business still got nowhere with nothing in view.
The world would change quickly if not taken quickly. A rumour said
that the monetary value would change, so, he was eager to reserve
timbers galore before it’s too late. He also heard that the price of paper
in the black market was volatile recently, and thus, also wanted to deal
with paper. However, Tomioka had to realize his own inability when he
was tossed out alone in the world, this way. Everyone looked
trustworthy and talked together in a confidential tone of voice, and
yet, calculate in mind his own benefits. …… Despite having lost the
war, everyone seemed to decide not to give it any more thought.
People avoided feeling anxiety. In this confusion, everyon tended to
think easily what were somehow dependable lying around only him.
…… This revolutionary and thrilling period was much more favorable
to everyone than the wartime. Human beings were such creatures that
got easily bored. Any modifications were acceptable, a time of rapid
change of changeable generations rotating was stimulating
Tomioka did not have any idea than began with selling his house to
make money. At first, if he could prepare 500,000 to 600,000 yen by
cash, he felt like being able to advance on the basis of that money
continuously afterwards. It was unbearable for him to get past this
period as it was, and he could not afford a standstill.

One morning, during a breakfast, Kuniko said suddenly.

“Say, a woman of Hotei Partnership who visited us the other day, I
met her near the house last night. I wonder whether she has an
acquaintance nearby. ……”
Tomioka recalled on his memory of Yukiko, whom he had tried to
forget. While he sipped the miso-soup silently, an irritated look of
Yukiko, who might be hanging around the neighborhood, oppressed
his mind.
“She asked me when your husband will come back from Shinshū. I
did not know what to say to her, and I thought I should not say a word
carelessly without knowing details. Besides, it’s possible that she came
across with you on her way back. So, I simply said that you came back
yesterday, …… and told her to leave a message if she had something to
tell you. Then, she said that she came to the neighborhood, and asked
me to tell you to pay her a visit in the evening as she always lives at
Hotei Partnership. …… She added that you will understand what she
meant if I give you her message, ‘please, give me back my temporary
payment on your husband’s behalf.’ And then, she walked away
quickly. She wears terribly thick and showy makeup, doesn’t she?”
 Tomioka groomily heard about Yukiko’s latest news. He thought that
she, with nowhere to live in, might settle down in the hotel. At that
time, she, refusing to accept money, pushed 1,000 yen back to him at
the Ikebukuro station. Yukiko, spilling tears, said that he was going to
abandon her only for the sake of himself to become happy, which still
echoed in his ears clearly.
Tomioka had gained Yukiko at the expense of his co-worker, Kano
the pure, who earnestly loved Yukiko, and finally became like the
insane. As the result, Yukiko was hurt by Kano. Tomioka, at that time,
thought casually that they could marry, and that both had prepared
their minds for marriage. Tomioka put his chopsticks down,
abstaining from the breakfast which suddenly became tasteless. He
felt sorry for Yukiko for her unhappy appearance. He reflected on his
own irresponsibility during his travel overseas. He imagined that he
had to give money to his wife and his parents, respectively, if he would
sell this house, and that he himself should wind up broke to marry
Yukiko. Such a thought, however, did not give him comfort at all.
“Did you borrow money from the company?”
Kuniko without even subtle madeup appearance asked anxiously.
“Around what time last night?”
“Around seven. It was when I came back from shopping. As you
came back late, I caressly forgot to tell you.
This morning, I remembered while hearing the name Hotei on the
radio program of the missing persons. What kind of business is the
Hotei Partnership engaged in? ……”
Tomioka did not reply to his wife. His breakfast was always late in
the morning, so his father and mother had already retreated to their
room. Kuniko, folding the newspapers, said.
“Can’t I go there for you?”
Tomioka, as if he was possessed, stared at the slender face of Kuniko.
He wanted awfully to confide all his secrets to his wife. He felt dead
tired. He wanted his wife to penetrate into his secrets. Tomioka knew
very well about himself that he was not brave enough to bear this
anxiety continuously for a long time, however, was too selfish to be
compassionate for Yukiko’s sufferings. Everything was what he had
done himself. After he returned back to Japan, his personality seemed
to have been transformed. He was like wearing a hard shell mask so as
not to show his own feelings outward. Kuniko felt impatiently that her
husband was somewhat aloof from her, and thought that an
inexplicable link to that woman of flashy makeup was not irrelevant to
her husband’s attitude. Kuniko, with her keen and quick insight,
sensed something dark and uneasy.
These days, Tomioka lost his composure as shown in his eyes. While
holding and caressing Kuniko in his arms, he suddenly quelled his
movement and sighed deeply. Before burning out his intense force as
was in years ago, as if he gave up on it, Tomioka ended at an early stage
and pushed Kuniko away coldly.
“You have awfully changed after you came back from Indochina. ……”
Kuniko once said wonderingly very soon after Tomioka had
returned back to Japan. Tomioka himself also realized his own
change. Every morning when he shaved his beard, seeing his own
face in a mirror, he could not help feeling odiousness of Stavrogin in
himself. Tomioka was not good-looking as painted in a portrait, his
lips were not like red coral, his complexion was not white nor gentle.
This oriental man of a blue spongelike swollen body was quite
different from Stavrogin, but Tomioka unpleasantly felt that his
features somehow resembled the repulsive traits of Nikolai
Vsevolodovich Stavrogin, the central character of Fyodor
Dostoyevsky’s 1872 novel ‘Demons.’
Tadokoro strangely assumed a cool air toward Tomioka these days,
and Tomioka imagined that it was maybe because Tadokoro had seen
into his heart. He had given Tadokoro much trouble when marrying
Kuniko. Despite that, Tadokoro, who had seen much of life, gave a
helping hand and offered a joint work, without showing an annoying
look, to lonely Tomioka on his arrival from Indochina. So, Tomioka
could not merely blame Tadokoro.
“I dislike that woman walking around our house. Don’t you have
something with her? …… You look completely different from years
ago.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I have not changed at all.”
“Then, can’t I go there for you to repay your debt?”
“Don’t worry. You should not interfere in men’s work.”
 “Somehow, however, I am not quite clear in this matter. ……”
“Why not trust what I said as I myself said to you not to worry.”
“You may say so. I think that you might have been indebted to that
woman for something. You suddenly become irritable anytime when
our talk touches her.”
“I get irritable because you doubt me about trivial matters. As for
work, I’m annoyed with an uncertainty how the joint work with
Tadokoro will turn out. You should refrain from uttering your
unnecessary anxiety.”
Tomioka eagerly felt like going to the forests in Indochina once
again. He thought that any enterprises other than forestry were not
suitable for him, and everything, such as his parents, his wife, and his
house seemed to be burdensome. He, comparing with his present life,
thought it much happier to live all his life as a coolie working in the
great forests there.
Suddenly, a landscape of red mangrove woodlands, growing in the
intricate mesh of roots anchoring in muddy swamps, appeared vividly
out of his innermost memories. Red mangroves with oily leaves
shining glaringly in the intense sunlight, and octopus-like branches
and roots supporting trunks, were lined up like walls at the entrances
of saline coasts in Haiphong and Saigon. Woodlands like velvet belts
were unforgettable to Tomioka by all means. ‘Once more, I wish I
could go to the South.’
Tomioka thought that he, cooling down the wartime insane
sentiments, could concentrate on his research in silence, now this of
all times. Thoughts like this exhausted his mind and body in vain.
Even if he mused over memories of the past many times, he could not
move as if he was bound.
If he could not cross the ocean, he wanted to go even by swimming
as far as there. Family affairs were not Tomioka’s concern anymore. If
he could disappear, he wanted to, passing through this suppressive
life, and going on board in even a smugglers’ boat for the South.
Kuniko, who was staring at the cold face of her husmand who
sullenly fell silent, suddenly shed tears.
“Why do you weep?”
 “I’m suffering. Very suffering. I think recently that I was rightly
served. It’s a punishment on me.”
“Did you recall Koizumi’kun?”
“Buh, no, such a man. …… I think, these days, that you probably
want to separate from me, and I feel like being punished in many
ways.”
“Our life of poverty might have caused you irritation. I don’t have a
slightest idea to separate from you. ……”
Tomioka hardly bears himself who was telling a lie. A lump of his
own lies seemed to sneer at him with a wide-split mouth like a
pomegranate.

.. * 19

Yukiko became easily moved to tears, these days. She wondered

whether she had begun to be insane. While shedding tears, she could
conceive of her future ahead from now, which appeared on her eyelids
in the form of disconcerted black clouds. She judged that her quick
insight would be inevitably realized. Her judgement had never failed.
She had no pillar which to be a powerful support on her background,
therefore, she had to keep living while being kicked by someone else
like a pebble.
Her love for Tomioka, after all, was such as Tomioka thought at
present, to which Yukiko herself inclined to assimilating now. She felt
that their rendevous was fading to be such undue levity as being
blamed by someone. They made every effort to meet, and hauled
distant memories common of the two people only onto themselves.
They were eagerly drunk by their memories, the scent and color of
which were fading away, though. Their sentiments as such were hard
to be dealt with. …… Just it. However, Yukiko was eager to meet
Tomioka once, twice, three times and furthermore. Even if they met,
they were reminded that their memories were fading in color, as
always. In the reality of losing the war, distant memories in their
minds never did flare up at all. When they had been in Dalat, Tomioka
had told that the regret would be left forever if they did not marry
immediately on the spot once they loved. Now, at last, Yukiko
understood what Tomioka had said came out as the true answer in the
reality.
She spent all her money to pay the inn in Ikebukuro. After that,
Yukiko went back to Iba’s house in Saginomiya. Iba had been back to
Shizuoka, however, in two or three days, he would withdraw from
Shizuoka to come back finally to Tokyo with his family. The 6-tatami-
mat living room and the 4.5-tatami-mat drawing room had been
emptied for them. The drawing room they called, only the roof of
which was covered with red tiles, and so-called monk tatami with no
clothing edge were laid inside in the room with neither a closet nor an
alcove.
Yukiko stayed overnight in the drawing room. Iba had left a letter to
Yukiko. He wrote, ‘I checked our luggage. I don’t mean that I blame
you. I will not claim back our goods that you have sold. However, do
not trouble me any further. Our house and rooms are narrow, so I
won’t let you stay here after we get back to our house. Please go out to
anywhere else. If there is nowhere to go, you should go back to your
home country and ask your family and relatives to talk about your
future. Remember that I have a plan ready if you touch our luggage
again.’
Every luggage was fastened extremely tightly and was sealed with a
sheet of paper. Yukiko felt it unbearably funny. She awfully wanted to
cut the thin ropes binding the luggage with the scissors.
Yukiko thought that all the men inclined always to back away, and
felt the worldly-minded man utterly offensive. If he had a plan ready, it
also would be amusing to watch his readiness. Yukiko stayed
overnight. On the next day, she ordered a mover in the neighborhood
to carry a set of beddings, futon, which was of course Iba’s belongings,
to Hotel Hotei. Caretakers did not interrupt her. They were not good
terms with Iba. So, they kept neutral and stayed out of Yukiko’s
behavior. Rather, in their look, they expressed in silence their abettal
to her boldness.
 In the inn in Ikebukuro, Yukiko untied the package of beddings,
where Iba’s cotton-stuffed thick winter coat of arm length in kimono
style, dotera, a pretty old Inverness cape outercoat, and a package of
red beans, azuki (Vigna angularis (Willd.) var. nipponensis) were
wrapped inside. The azuki beans amounted to approximately 5 shō,
that was 9 litres. The beddings included two thin cotton mattresses,
one blanket, one comforter made of gas-meisen[*43] silk cloth. Yukiko
felt her chest warm, and quickly went to the market near the station
and sold off the Inverness coat and azuki beans. She thought the
stealing was quite thrilling. It was nothing serious even if these goods
disappeared from Iba’s luggage. ‘I have been raped by that man for
three years!’ A sudden outburst of wrath assaulted her finally at this
moment. She thought that she should have stolen more, even the
whole of his properties.
The next day, by a care of the master of the hotel Hotei, she could
rent an old shed of the household goods store in the neighborhood.
The store had their new house built next to their former one.
The shed was 110 sq.ft, 3 tsubo, wide. A roll of new tin plate was
stocked in the room, where was only one skylight with no electricity
or water supplies. The store staff laid a couple of old tatami for her on
the shed floor, which was enough for a woman to live alone.
When she prepared a room to live alone, Yukiko suddently became
eager again to meet Tomioka. Yukiko got Hotel Hotei to buy one of two
matresses, and with sales proceeds, she bought a pot and a charcoal
grill made of ceramic, the shichirin, then went to a black market for
the first time in her life to procure the trafficking rice by 1.8 litres, 1
shō, and a few pieces of charcoal. She boiled rice in a neew metal-
smell aluminum pot, and put a rest of charcoals in a brazier, kotatsu.
She felt deeply thankful for self-catering while eating the hot cooked
rice with a raw egg on the rice. After having fully eaten white rice, she
warmed herself at leisure in the kotatsu. While enjoying time passing
agreeably, however, a lonely feeling, which was not satisfied with the
appetite, began falling like rain on her. Yukiko tried to count seams of
the futon, or stared at the rough-planed wooden wall. A candle light
flickered in the draft coming throught the board wall, and from time
to time, was likely to go out. Yukiko helplessly felt lost and wondered
whether she could endure a single person life this way. A bucket full of
water was placed at the corner of the room, which also looked bleak.
Thinking with surprise that a person could live even in merger
surroundings like this, she felt small happiness, although such
happiness was so undependable that she could not foresee what
tomorrow would bring.
The next day was rainy.
Yukiko got up late. She went out to post a letter for Tomioka, then,
walked to a public bathhouse. On her way back from the bath, she
bought a newspaper at the station. She checked the vacancy columns.
Her eyes were caught only by recruitments of typists. She wanted to
begin working soon from the next day, however, wasted time drowsily
all day long in the dim shed, as if she did not care for anything any
more. She felt her body and heart became empty. Four or five days had
passed while her feeling did not get better. Tomioka, however, did not
come, although he should have already returned back from Nagano.
Judging from that, she thought that it was possible that Tomioka had
not yet received her letter.
Yukiko, with no purpose, went to Shinjuku. It was late in the
afternoon and a cold wild was blowing. Shinjuku, where almost all
street stalls had already closed, was somewhat like a desolate desert.
She walked as if she had an errand, but her mind was not satisfactory
at all. It was not likely that she would not go back to Shizuoka. Yukiko,
walking, thought it probably nice that her new life would begin there
at the shed which she finally had rented for herself. Suddenly, she was
stopped by a tall foreigner in the side of the Isatan department store.
He asked her where she was going. She did not expect such an
occasion, so, she only stood smiling. Soon, Yukiko became so bold as
to walk together side by side with him. The foreigner was talking fast
to her, but she was only walking very close to him, without a word.
She felt her fate likely started going forward to somewhere else. An
impulse of each other brought their minds a certain kind of lively
spirits.
The foreigner from time to time bent over touching her chin with his
hand and talked fast to her. Yukiko suddenly was reminded of her life
in Da Lat where she spoke with Vietnamese in a mix language of
broken French and English. She began talking little by little,
imperfectly.
“I am walking with no reason.”
“It suits me. I also am walking with no reason.”
Before they knew, they were walking arm in arm. Yukiko always
made a loud laughter as drunk to nothing amusing.
Yukiko went to the Shinjuku station arm in arm with the foreigner,
who took her on an unusual foreigner-only passenger vehicle of the
Japanese government railways. Yukiko with an honored feeling humbly
sat down close to her companion.
She remembered Saigon, and felt like going back to her old days. ―
Yukiko came back to her shabby shed with the foreigner. The
foreigner, who was tall enough to reach to the ceiling, sat clumsily
putting his long legs into the cold kotatsu-brazier without the fire,
looking around with curiosity. In a pale light of a candle, Yukiko began
burning charcoals in the grill, shichirin. Smoke rose like a cloudy
whirlpool from burning charcoal, filled the shed. Yukiko, pointing to
the ceiling, asked the foreigner.
“Window get up.”
The foreigner light-heartedly stood up and opened the ceiling
window. Smoke was bundling smoke off to the ceiling window, which
spouted smoke out quickly.

.. * 20

The next day, the foreigner visited her again in the afternoon.
He, with a green Boston bag, came into the low-ceiling shed. He,
talking quickly, opened his bag and took out gifts one by one. He laid
a large pillow, a heavy small box, rations, and confectionary. The heavy
small box was a radio containing battery. When the foreigner turned
on the swich, a sweet dance music came flowing out. Yukiko pressed
her ear on the small radio and showed her joy. She felt intense
vicissitudes of history, and thought a detached fate was flowing out
with the sound of music. Their language communication was not good
enough, however, each other’s humanness was confirmed by their own
bodies. Owing to hominess as such, Yukiko got the confidence to step
ahead to her fearless life. She wondered what the large pillow signified
for the two people. …… Yukiko was moved to tears, while looking at
the cleanliness of a pure white pillow cover.
To the one who was lonely and starved, the large pillow seemed to
try recovering Yukiko’s life with a special significance. Yukiko did not
feel at all shameful. To her, the man’s feeling seemed to be worthy of
praise. ― ‘ …… Let’s write a song for us / And sing until we’re old and
grey / Forget me not my dear, my darling / Forget me not my love / I’m
coming home real soon / Please leave a light on for me / Tell me that
you’ll always be true …….’ ― The foreigner called himself Joe. He,
singing alone in a low voice ‘Foget Me Not Lyrics’ [*40] to the radio,
scribed the lyrics in English on a piece of paper. Then, he handed the
sheet to Yukiko and told her to memorize the song until next time
when he would come. Yukiko, pointing at the spelling of words one by
one, sang aloud by learning pronunciation from him. His fertile
characteristic like the nature of a continent affected her deeply. Yukiko
felt brightness in his national trait, which enabled him to behave
freely wherever he was. The brightness as such was not pertinent to
Tomioka. She did not feel painful loneliness stinging her chest every
time she felt when meeting Tomioka. Her feeling was not disturbed by
such ambiguity as she had been blurred out off focus. She could
behave freely in every thing, probably because there was no need to
pry into each other’s mind. The radio sounding by itself was an
unusual toy to her. In the late afternoon, after that Joe went back, she
went to the bathhouse with a soap given by Joe. The brand name of
Savon Palmolive, soap of which she also had bought in Saigon,
painfully pierced to her mind. Yukiko was confident to live alone in
this way even if Tomioka would not come again. A life pursuing
pleasure as right now seemed to be much more enjoyable to her than
the life longingly waiting for the man who always rummaged in her
mind. She, however, was also aware that a joy as such was fragile like
light snowfall.
After 10 days or so had passed, since her moving in the shed, late in
the afternoon, Tomioka visited her. Yukiko thought that Joe came, and
quickly went to the door to welcome him. There, she unexpectedly
found Tomioka standing in the cold. Yukiko in surprise cried loudly.
“Oh, it’s you!”
Tomioka, also on his part, was surprised. Yukiko, as if she had
completely transformed in personality, glamorously beautified her
face. Her hair was heavily greased and was worn up high on the top of
her head. Eyebrows were thinly shaved, and eye lined with dark
shadow. Her ears were adorned with earrings of imitation diamonds.
Her bare feet, however, wore sandals with no ankle-high Japanese
socks, tabi, in this cold weather.
“You have moved to a ridiculous place.”
“Do you think so? But, this is a palace to me.”
The wall was covered with white paper, where a flower basket was
hung on a nail stuck out of the wall. Crysanthemum were arranged in
the basket. On a small short-legged table, chabudai, a candle was
flickering, and from the small box, the voice of the radio was heard. In
a colorful chocolate box, aluminum foil package papers of chocolates
were scatterd shining in the candle light. Tomioka, without sitting
down, looked around and understood the changes in her present
situation.
“You have many hi-collar[*56] stuffs.”
“Do you think so?”
Dance music was heard from the radio. Yukiko looked at Tomioka
who still kept standing, and giggled like a child, an ill-concealed
mischief of whom was disclosed, while putting her knees into the
brazier, kotatsu.
“When did you come back from Shinshū?”
“Two days ago or so ……”
“I see, did you read my letter?”
“I read the letter, so I came.”
“Why not come here to the kotatsu?”
 Tomioka slightly slanted his hat, and stuck his knees into the
kotatsu. The white large pillow was oddly conspicuous, which kept the
place where Joe always sat. Tomioka keenly stared at the pillow.
“You look happy, don’t you?”
“Do I look like that? I have not starved to death, that’s all. ……”
Tomioka, as if he was stubbed with a nail, held his tongue and
looked at Yukiko’s face. Yukiko’s face illuminated in candle light
resembled Niu’s vestige. Strength of the personality of the woman
seemed to have its roots fastened deep. Tomioka felt envy and jealousy
toward the woman’s unique way of life which did not undergo any
affects, and looked with a fixed gaze at Yukiko’s great change in
appearance. Compared to her earning power and vitality with which
women are naturally blessed with, Tomioka felt his present miserable
status helplessly in his heart. Gazing, in wonder, at a free way of life of
the woman who absolutely had a feature of a dichotomy, he could not
afford not to think that there was such a way of life. Although the
woman was a nuisance to him till right now, he forgot his own
cowardly feeling. Tomioka rather felt a voracious appetite for an
escaping fish.
“I am envious of you. ……”
Such words came out of his mouth.
“Oh! What did you say? How envious are you? Where in my life like
this are you envious? Are you a person whose words change each
time?”
“Well, sorry if it hurts you. I just thought so. When nothing go well,
envious feelings towards others’ life arose.”
“Don’t make a fool of me. All the men are like you. Japanese men are
selfish from the bottom of their stomach. You are always thinking
about things only for your convenience. ……”
Yukiko became irritated. Tomioka, fidgetting his knees under the
kotatsu, took the small box of radio by hand, and turned the dial many
times. Yukiko left. Near the station, she was standing for a while to say
to Joe, when he came, that she did not have time today. But, even after
30 minutes, Joe did not appear. She gave up waiting and went back to
the shed after purchasing a beer bottle of illegally brewed cheap
liquor, kasutori, at a market. Tomioka was dozing off lying his face
downward over the kotatsu. Seeing him from behind, a male
sturdiness as while living in Da Lat was gone, and his presence hardly
made itself felt.
“I bought sake. Shall we drink?”
“Ah, yes. You give me feast, don’t you?
She replaced the burnt-out candle with a new one that she also
bought. Pouring sake into cups to the brim, Yukiko also put her lips to
her cup to drink.
“Does your work go well?”
“Not so much as was expected. I finally managed to be going to sell
my house. I will try, win or lose.”
“How does your family live?”
“My aunt lives in Urawa in Saitama Prefecture, so, we all will move
there to her house. I will try …… . I cannot count someone else’s
pocket anymore.”
“It must be tough. ……”
“You assume a cool air to me, don’t you? Surprisingly enough, you
are doing very well with calm. I admire you. ……”
“You are sarcastic about my way, aren’t you?”
Yukiko, stimulated by sake, became so bolder as not to care whether
Joe would come. These days, not a single day was stable or reliable.
Nobody knew what to do or what might happen the day after, so, a
tendency to live in a makeshift became her real life. Yukiko boldly
stared at Tomioka’s face. A dusty body odor of the man smelled rather
miserably. Yukiko understood a wonder of flows of people’s life which
fluctuated depending on the surrounding environment. With no
sorrowful feeling, she became, little by little, a connoisseur as such.
Yukiko, with her pride, stood in a high place, looking down on
Tomioka.
Tomioka had prepared some money for her. He groped in his inner
pocket, and took a sulfate paper enverope. He threw it on the table.
“A little, though. I thought that you are needy. ……”
Yukiko, who glanced at the package wrapped by the sulfate paper,
seemed to be impervious to the money.
“After I came back to Japan, I have gradually become to know many
different things. I really understand that Japan has lost the war. When
I realized that this is the reality, I did not feel like bearing a grudge
against Tomioka’san, these days. ……”
Yukiko said, while adding charcoal to the ceramic grill, shichirin, and
baking a dried cuttlefish, surume. Tearing the baked cuttlefish,
surume, finely by fingers onto a dish, she felt brilliantly easygoing
happiness on her finger tips. Yukiko was giggling in her mind as if the
smell of surume contained some short-term happiness such as the life
worked itself out somehow. She felt like this, ‘I am living well, and
what on earth about you? …… You are spouting bubbles like a pond
loach, dojō, aren’t you?’
The train rode off with a roaring sound on the Japanese government
railway. Yukiko went in a hurry to lock the door. As they were drunk,
they felt pathetically sadness and were depressed.
“We talked to stay in Da Lat and live there, didn’t we?”
Tomioka said suddenly, inspired.
“Yes, we did. But, isn’t it also good that we returned like this? After
all, I am glad to have been back. Even if we had lived in Dalat, we, both
you and me, would not have been happy. We could not have lived a life
of luxury as before. We, as the defeated country’s people, could not
have borne the life, flat broke. After all, it is proper that we all become
miserable together, this way. ……”
‘Is it true?’ …… Wondering whether she herself was saying the truth,
Yukiko pondered her own words which recurred to her mind, and felt
something sly in her own words.
She felt it likely that people’s words were always lack in accuracy.
Only the behavior to gloss over well what is convenient to themselves
is the answer of people’s thoughts. While cramming fine slices of
baked cuttlefish, surume, into her mouth, in the air around full of the
smell of surume, Yukiko was thinking insipidly about her own
braveness since her return to Japan.
Tomioka drew the radio close to himself and turned it on. A crisp
voice of an announcer reading news was heard. The news, however,
was gruesome.
Tomioka seemed not to endure hearing the news, turned the radio
off, and said as inspired.
“It seems that Kano returned back.”
 “Oh, …… really? When?”
“The other day, when I met with my friend in my days of Forestry
Agency after a long time, he referred to Kano.”
“Ah! Is that so? …… Is he well?”
“Do you want to meet him?”
“Sure, I want to meet him. He was a honest and good person, not
like you.”
“I agree. ……”
Hearing that Kano has come back, Yukiko recalled yearning
Indochina, which she saw in her memory. To the extent that such
memories of her youth would not recur any more in her life, a person
like Kano was an inevitable character between Tomioka and her.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. She no sooner stood up than
went out. Joe was there. Yukiko, pushing him back, said that her
relatives from home country visited her today, and asked him to come
again the next day. She sent off Joe to the station. Tomioka, hearing a
foreign language they talked outside the door, felt oppressed as if he
had something heavy on his shoulders. He wanted to know what
chance Yukiko had to get acquainted with such a foreigner. Seeing the
large pillow, Tomioka thought that Yukiko would separate from him
this way. In an hour or so, Yukiko came back alone.
“Did I disturb you?”
“Don’t mind. He went away. ……”
“How did you meet him?”
“It’s not your business, is it? He is also lonely. His mind is the same
that you doted upon Niu. ……”
“Don’t say a strange thing. ……”
“I also am going to change from now on, amn’t I? ……”
“Might be. It won’t be bad. I don’t have right to comment on you.”
“He is young and kind so as to teach me a song.”
“I see. ……”
“He is a very good person. But, he said he will go back home in about
two months.”
“You can find another.”
“Oh! You talk nastily. …… He is the person that I came across in my
life-or-death moment. You look down on women, don’t you? You do
nothing satisfactorily, and how can you make me fool?　― You always
consult only your own convenience. To that degree, with your poor
mind, you think that you can manipulate womens’ feelings. With your
ambiguous intention as such, don’t interfere with my thoughts.”
The candle light extinguished. The ceiling window looked
extraordinarily bright. Yukiko groped for a candle and struck a match
on the side of its box.
“You intend to be off with me, don’t you? That’s why you said such a
thing a while ago.”
Yukiko seemingly got angry. Tomioka gulped down the remaining
kasutori liquor in his cup. He took off his hat and put it on the tatami.
He did not want to go back. The drunkness was but a makeshift. The
power, however, came out in him enough to break off all of his
customs and habits, and to jump into an abyss of adventure. The
drunkness with no purpose was comfortable. Once he was drunk, he
acquired gaiety as if he was surrounded with many friends. He felt as if
he became stout.
Indulgence changed at a moments notice. Having the woman sit in
front, Tomioka was eager to test his own indecency in relation to the
moments to come. In the momentum of the kasutori liquor, the
woman’s glittering eyes like a Japanese marten, ten, began sparkling
her former ether. After repatriating to Japan, their hearts waned so as
not to bear sunlight. Despite that, the voice of moment coming to call
them from the drunkness had their bodies filled with power which
would not be discouraged for sort of pains.
“Do you mind my staying overnight, tonight?”
“Didn’t you come with the intention to stay?”
“I have intended to stay. ……”
“Don’t tell a lie. You suddenly became tempted to stay, didn’t you? I
know. I got one more wisdom. After all, you are such a person. You
may think that you perfectly fooled me by talking big. After all, you
are a Japanese man. Stay here overnight. I am up overnight with you
and bully you. ……”
“No, I did not say with such intention. If I cannot stay, I won’t stay.
― My feeling is in confusion. I cannot control it at all. ……”
 Yukiko turned on the radio. Tomioka suddenly said as if he shuffled
it off.
“Ajust it to the foreign station. Is there any dance music on air? A
Japanese radio program hurts my heart. I cannot bear listening. Please,
stop it.”
The radio news about war criminals tried at the Tokyo War Crimes
Tribunal was broadcasted. Yukiko placed the radio nastily on the
kotatsu. Tomioka suddenly flew into a rage, turned it off, and violently
threw the radio to the floor.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t want to hear.”
“You should hear it well. Not about someone else. The issue is
related to us. You are so spoiled. You are unrealistic. ……”
Yukiko, however, did not pick up the small radio box, but, touching
her lips on the cup, kept an eye on Tomioka. Wartime frenzies and
swells had completely subsided, the servile flatness with no one single
ripple looked like a comedy to Yukiko. The two comedians were sitting
face to face in this small hovel. Tomioka took off his badly smelling
socks, lay down with his overcoat on. Conniving at the pure white
plump large pillow, he put his head on his arm pillow. Yukiko as well
assumed an indifference to the pillow. Tomioka saw there the
courageousness of this woman.
“After all, you are no way able to do anything alone. As you cannot
live with me, I live my life alone. Don’t forget.”
“I don’t disturb you. No disturbance, but do you mind my visiting
you from time to time?”
“No! Even tonight, you disturb me.”
“Business interference?”
“Oh! It is your real thought, isn’t it? You cunningly try being a good
person at any time to ridicule my weak point, don’t you? Kano’san and
I was caught with your snare as such.”
“Then, do you say that you were deceived by me?”
Yukiko held her tongue. She did not think that they were
emotionally in an even relationship. Rather, she might have had an
ardent love toward Tomioka. On her palm, Yukiko spitted out the
baked surume while chewing in her mouth, and cried out.
 “It’s me. I have loved you. Isn’t it so? You mean that I’m bad anyway,
don’t you?”
She said, and spit her surume into the grill, shichirin. In the blue
flame, the surume burned with a smell of smoke.
Late at night, Tomioka did not stay but went back. He left her like a
separation after a quarrel. Yukiko, holding her breath, remained still
hearing Tomiokas steps going away. But, she suddenly felt painful
longing for him. Pushing the door, she went outside.
Star dusts spread out all over the sky. The road was frozen cold. Yukiko
ran, passing through the back of the darkened market, to the station.
Tomioka could not be seen.
Tears burst suddenly. Not bearable, no where to let out her feelings,
Yukiko crying went back to her shed. In the room without anyone, the
third candle was burnt flickering almost close to the end. She
regretted her own aggressive talking. Thorns of harsh words gushed
out one after another, which were not at all to reproach merely
Tomioka. Tomioka, however, said.
 “My mind to stay overnight has already gone away, as you knocked
me over so fiercely.”
He slowly wore his socks and stood up. Yukiko, with a startle, looked
up at Tomioka’s face, but could not hold back words gushing out.
Yukiko was eager to have him stay. She wanted him to stay over and
share her loneliness together.
Yukiko blew out the candle light. She creeped into the kotatu, and
cried violently writhing like a beast.

.. * 21

Tomioka came back home late. An unpleasant parting from Yukiko did
not leave his mind. It seemed that Kuniko was working to pack their
belongings still, late at night. At the last moment that he was about to
sell this house where they had been living for a long time,
such an idea happened to him that it might have been much better
that the house was burnt out during the air raid.
All that surrounded him was going to disappear. When to start
living in the subjunctive mood ‘if’ from now on, Tomioka felt stuffy as
if he had a difficulty in breathing, as this large family was like a solid
stone into which he was squeezed. He was prone to envy Yukiko’s way
of life. Despite that, he thought Yukiko’s audacious life was miserable.
He felt irritated as to his own lacking power to protect this woman. He
had to meet her soon again. He would be the loser in this state if not
confirm his mind with bunglingly rough fluff and make an final
farewell to Yukiko. If he loosely keep meeting her in this state, no
conclusion would arose between him and this woman. Tomioka,
however, wondering what the conclusion would mean, fell into a self-
contradiction. He reflected carefully on the reason why Yukiko’s and
his own feelings had become involved in difficulty like this. He felt like
that he saw the delicate feelings of this woman for the first time, after
his return to Japan. Besides, Tomioka could not help but felt
disillusioned secretly with transience of his inconstancy. Human
spirits were transitory, which could transform variously with
environmental cultures of the times. He drooped his head, facing
himself in mind. He thought himself possibly not to mind even if
millions of words of the oath or a purity which certainly was pinned
firmly were mudded. …… He felt like caring nothing even if this would
be their final parting. On the other hand, simultaneously, his own
selfish feeling was blinking in colored patterns in his mind, such as
‘No, it is not too late to say goodbye until after I would meet her once
more to confirm each other’s feelings.’

At dawn, Yukiko had a dream of the official residence in Da Lat. The

dream was strangely fishy smelling and painful such as she sat on a
porch, hugging with Kano.
Even after she awakened, one fine day in Ontre tea plantation
floated in her mind. It was the day when she was with Kano and
Tomioka visiting Arupru Ploy tea plantation. On the New Year, people
of the upper class in Vietnam showed white silk trousers under their
black jackets prayed to the church located on the hill in the center of
Ontre. Ontre village surrounded by massive forests was beautiful like
an oil painting scenery.
1,750 yard above sea level, temperatures up to 77 degrees Fahrenheit,
a minimum of 42.8 degrees F., and Basaltic red soil zone. Tomioka
explained to her that the ideal terrain for growing tea plants, Camellia
sinensis, more than offset the unfavorable climatic conditions. He said
that tea plants were not dry resistive, maybe because of which tea
plants grew spreading scraggily out on the plateau in low humidity,
and Yukiko in her white one-piece bordered with lace, leant on
Tomioka’s arm while walking on a path in the tea plantation, where tea
plants were planted in a grid pattern on the extent land. Kano
stopped, from time to time, with his face unpleasant. Finally, he said.
“I feel stifled, almost have a bloddy nose.”
As he began talking strangely, Tomioka and Yukiko stopped, and
looked at Kano.
“What’s wrong? Do you feel sick?”
 “Yukiko’san, you are awful. Do you get me away to such a place like
this to make me the laughing stock?
“Oh, why? I did not, particularly ……”
Yukiko blushed, and was going to say something, but Kano said with
a strange smile.
“I want you not to link your arm through Tomioka’s.”
Tomioka thought that Kano became mentally deranged. Yukiko in a
hurry released her arm from Tomioka’s.
Tomioka suddenly laughed, ha! ha! ha! A Vietnamese guide looked
uneasy, thinking that he had done something wrong.
The three people began walking again, apart from each other
separately.
“18 month old strong seedlings are planted. We weed the field
sporadically, and intertillage five to six times a year. The standard
annual fertilization per 100 acres is 60 pounds of Nitrogen, 88 pounds
of Phosphoric acid, and 110 pounds of Potassium, which we fertilize
every other year. We can pick leaves when two years has passed after
planting the seedlings. In six to seven years, a harvest of the tea makes
up the management cost. In ten years, tea plants attain their full-
grown period. ……”
While hearing the explanation of the guide, Yukiko began to be
frightened at French people’s continental soul as they put their heart
in the tea plantations for such a long time patiently. Although she did
not understand precisely the explanation and theory, she could never
have imagined that the tea plantations had such a long history of
cultivating tea plants. She felt awfully ashamed of the Japanese way of
thinking to do things for a time and their scheme even to handle these
extensive tea plantations arbitrarily in a short period of time. She
repented after a stray cat’s vulgarity of the narrow-minded Japanese
who were nastily walking on the other people’s land full of sweat of
their constant labor. Yukiko’s mind strangely got caught in Kano’s
pleading to release their arms while walking. The guide still continued
his long explanation. Yukiko, however, could not believe that the
Japanese would inhabit this land in Indochina for a long time as many
as decades years ahead. She felt like horrified that vengeance might
assault Japan in one way or another.
 “Even if Japanese soldiers surged forth in a massive quantity here,
Japanese would not be capable to take over these extensive tea
plantations and quina chinchona business in a day. It would be all that
we steal and spit in need nastily around there. ……”
Tomioka said like giving a brush-off. Kano, without saying anything,
torn off an ivory official medal from the Vietnamese chest and hung it
on his chest. Yukiko saw him in disgust. That night, Yukiko’s arm was
injured by the drunk Kano.
It all became memories. And, Japanese who had scatterd around like
trush on that beautiful land were repelled to Japan.
“It’s natural.”
Yukiko with her clear eyes wide open, stared steadily at the
threatening sky over the ceiling window at daybreak.
The plump pillow only seriously comforted Yukiko. The fact that
Tomioka visited this shed last night also seemed like a dream.
Yukiko took the radio by hand, and switched it on. At the same time,
suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. Yukiko, with no idea of a
person to give her a visit early in the morning, thought that some one
possibly came from Hotel Hotei. She casually stood up and opened the
door. Unexpectedly, Iba stood there with a scarly face. A maid of Hotel
Hotei accompanied behind him, who went back on the alley with no
word.
“I knew how it would be.”
Iba, taking off his shoes, rudely entered the room. Yukiko could not
say even a word, quaking with the sight of him.
“You did not expect that I would come looking for you as far as here,
did you? Your personality has changed a lot. ……”
“Don’t speak in a loud voice.”
“None of your cheek!”
“What are you angry with?”
“Naurally, I am angry! I scored trucking companies for the mover
that you hired. You committed robbery, besides, sold my beddings to
the hotel. Is it not enough to be a reason to be angry? I have heard
that you do a whore business. ……”
Yukiko in furious anger could not speak. Iba’s ferocious attitude was
offensive. She felt ready to disappear, if possible.
 “I have no other resource to live. What about your beddings?”
“Can’t you make money if not beddings?”
“Then, what should I do? What’s wrong with my taking away your
beddings? You deprived me by force even three years. How can you
accuse me now of trifles? If you want it, take it.”
“Beddings become filthy, but I’ll take those back, which can be used
after washing. Beddings are valuable, you know.”
Iba, railing at her, had a cigarette in his mouth. While groping for a
box of matches, he smiled a cynical smile seeing the radio and the
large pillow in the room. Yukiko saw Iba’s countenance, and felt a rage
flaring up in her chest. He could think whatever he wanted to think.
She did not want him to stay there anymore even for a minute. Iba
said, inspired.
“You look prosperous. Did you get into a profitable venture? If you
let me take part in it, it’s quite all right with me to lend you my
beddings for a time being.”
Yukiko kept silent. She felt sorrowfulness that she, in her girlhood,
had been deprived freely by a man like him. She wondered why men
around her had fallen on hard times and debased vulgarly in character.
“Is there, by any chance, any good connection? Aren’t you given
cigarettes, clothes, or some other things?”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Go out with your beddings! I don’t need
anything. ……”
Yukiko shed tears disregarding her appearance. Painfully, she felt
displeased even to see Iba’s face. Iba reached the radio by hand and
switched it on. The shamisen’s melody tone flew out refreshingly.
“Aha, this works with a battery. How practical ……”
Removing a cover from the back of the small box, many vacuum
tubes were aligned like small toys. Yukiko stood looking down at what
Iba was doing. She, as if it suddenly occurred to her mind, drew in
force the wooden table frame of brazier from underneath the futon,
and began folding the futon with a whizzing sound like cutting
through air.
“You don’t need to fold the futon so quickly. ……”
This small radio seemed to curse since last night, thus Yukiko
became lonely in the tone of the shamisen.
 “By the way, I brought dried sweet potatoes 56 or 64 pounds. Don’t
you know any market for these goods?”
He said placing the cover back to the radio. Yukiko did not reply
thinking in mind who knew that.
“This radio might be expensive.”
“It’s not mine.”
“I wonder if it is possible in Japan to copy this and apply for the
registration for a utility model. …… It’s well made, indeed. ……”
Iba was impressed by the radio, which he held in his hand listening
to the tone of the shamisen.

.. * 22

Tomioka intended to meet Yukiko once more again and sent her a
letter. But, he did not want to go there to the shed. Tomioka, so as not
to be sitting frightened in the shed, planned to meet her at
Yotsuya’mitsuke station[*222], and wrote the meeting time and date in
his letter.
Unfortunately, it was a rainy day. Christmas had past, and days were
progressing toward the end of the year, so, all the busyness was
confined to the town, maybe because of which, no one minded the
raining. After all, it was such a rainy day as forgotten by people and
seemed dejected.
Tomioka waited about 10 minutes at the station.
The number of passengers getting on and off was not a lot, despite
that, people of a wide variety of social classes busily went in and out
the ticket barrier across Tomioka’s field of vision. Tomioka had a
desperate feeling without any reason. He had felt the same despair
with anxiety from time to time in Indochina. He was bogged down by
his thoughts that he could not do anything anymore, which began,
like a slasher, filling Tomioka’s chest.
Tomioka, shaking the top of his shoes nervously, looked up at the
sloping road. On the slope of a bright lead color, a mongrel dog which
got soaked to the skin, walked staggering as if it was looking for
someone.
Looking at the watch, Tomioka thought that Yukiko would not come.
He determined to wait a little more, then go back. He would
understand even if she would not come. While thinking, he whistled
to the staggering dog. The dog glanced back at the direction of the
whistle, and looked intently at Tomioka. A piteous look on its face, as
if it thought in mind that this person was not the one it was looking
for. The dog walked quickly away into the shrub of fatsia japonica.
“Did you wait a long time?”
Yukiko hit her shoulder against Tomioka who was standing under
the eaves of the station.
“I was late more than 30 minutes, and thought to turn back home,
because you might have already gone away. I am sorry. ……”
Yukiko,wearing a red scarf on her head, the ends of which was tied
under her chin tightly, looked up with a lively look at the face of tall
Tomioka. Tomioka was displeased with Yukiko’s words that she was
late more than 30 minutes and thought to turn back home. He felt
being treated trivially by this woman. The woman’s calm and
composed mentality was unpleasant to Tomioka. He thought that time
had come to break up.
Tomioka began to walk, and Yukiko followed him out to the
rainwater on the road. ― Tomioka felt unbearably lonely. While
walking quickly alone, he saw in mind the facial expression of Yukiko
who came behind him splashing her way on the watery road. He
wanted Yukiko to be a companion of his loneliness. Nevertheless, he
somehow felt like remaining with a sense of guilt while walking with
Yukiko.
While considering his own solitude thoroughly, Tomioka felt
frightened as if he was trembling at the solitude. Even at this time, the
solitude was so lonely that Tomioka could not keep bearing the
lineliness, the state of owning nothing. If he did not own even his
innermost gods to comfort himself, empty desperation distinctively
began to move up and thrust into his chest.
He wanted to commit suicide in his present feelings with Yukiko. ―
Tomioka remembered the incident when a Japanese young man ran
away with a foreign woman. They, in revolt against pursuers,
swallowed poison at a suburban station.
It seemed to him that sorrow of human beings consisted in
transiency like a floating cloud. He did not have any conficence in his
own spirits to keep living. The two people, going nowhere, strolled as
far as a tramcar station.
“Say, I feel cold. …… Shall we enter somewhere to drink tea?”
“Sure.”
“Awfully gloomy you are. ……”
“Gloomy?”
“Yes.”
“Your speak simply is what I hate. ……”
“You see. I live alone, and so, have learnt many vocabularies. …… I
myself am scared to be dissipated from now on.”
“I see …… . I wonder if you really think so. You look effortlessly
happy.”
“Oh, no. Do you think me like that? My life might look effortless but
it is an effort. ― It’s annoyance if you see me gaining in my life
effortlessly. …… You also have totally changed from those days. ……
Say, oh, I don’t know anymore what happens to us from now on. ……”
Tomioka stood in the rain, looking toward the crown prince’s palace
with the beautiful line of trees. He did not know how the palace was
used at present. Over the iron fence, however, the grayish white palace
in the rain showed dimly, with the dark mass of lined trees, looking
fresh like in a foreign picture.
While staring at the palace, he was seized again by the sense of
emptiness and elusive despair.
Tomioka began walking on the road along the palace. Yukiko in
silence walked as well side by side with Tomioka.
“We were happy in Indochina, weren’t we? ……”
“Ah, do you think so, too? …… Me, too. I am thinking right now
about Indochina. How I miss it! …… Such a place is like a dream. We
had a good dream. Yes, it was a dream. …… We were in a dream. ―
Even if it was a dream, it’s a wonder that I could meet you. ……”
“We just recall, from time to time, that there was also such a thing.
……”
 “At that time, you and I also were good people. We made a full
expose of the natural character of human beings. ……”
“Yes, however, it might have not been a true happiness. Was it so?
Right now, while looking at the palace, I thought suddenly that I am
happier at present than. ― Losers’ patheticness is beautiful. Don’t you
think so? Although I don’t know for what this building is used at
present, it was the palace years ago. The legacy remains here and
there, which touches me deeply, somehow.”
Yukiko looked up blankly at the wattle and daub wall fence. The
scent of the wattle and daub wall slightly smelled. Tomioka became
sentimental, although Yukiko could not follow his mental feeling that
much. Yukiko, of course, could feel a pensive mood, though.
Maybe because it was rainy and cold, the scenery around was so
impressive. On the broad street beside the palace, a stylish vehicle of
cobalt color was driving away with high speed.
Tomioka felt like biting his own loneliness. He wanted this woman,
without forcing, to be in the company of going naturally to their
death.
He had lived to this day, and lost everything simultaneously as the
nation lost the war. Considering this, he felt a chill down his spine,
and felt a sorrow like this winter rain. ‘In this lonely country, everyone
was as if fastened with nails on there,’ he thought, ‘Any war evokes
affections and pities only when defeated. The defeated losers’ soul has
something inward to call back on the fantasies of old days, and the
fantasies from time to time press them for a reflection.’ ― Tomioka
was envious of her fight for the life of a simple woman who seemed to
think nothing, however, felt dissatisfaction to her quick change of
mentality. He thought that this woman herself was lacking nothing,
and suddenly, looked down to Yukiko who walked snuggling him.
Horribly enough, he discovered that not only this woman but also
every other woman did not bear any traces that they had passed
through sufferings of the long war.
“Where are we going to?”
“Are you tired?”
“It is unbearable to walk in the rain. I will catch a cold. ……”
 “How about walking as far as Akasaka. Then, we get on a street car
to Shibuya.”
“Okay. ― By the way, what do you want to talk about?”
“What I want to talk about is …… . Nothing particular.”
“You are egocentric. ……”
“Am I? I wrote to you beause I wanted to meet you.”
“What a lie! Don’t tell me a lie. It is the first time that I heard such
affectionate words from you that you wanted to meet me, isn’t it?”
“Do women want to hear affectionate words so much?”
“Of course, we do. ……”
Tomioka satiated the communication concept like that. No harvest,
even if he met her this way. And yet, the defeated losers’ mental
disturbances and drudgeries to make a bare living, as black clouds,
weighed on the people’s soul. He was aware that he was he. Tomioka
himself, however, could not render the meaning of his own shallow
desire to seek favor of others, who knew nothing, to be his companion,
by dragging them into his egocentricity. He thought himself deceitful,
because he was merely such a person as lived only in his own illusion
that there was a harvest

.. * 23

In Shibuya, the two entered a Chinese food shop in the underpass.

They sat face to face on chairs beside a briquette stove. Blue flames
were rising from holes of the lotus-like briquette. Around the corner
of the shop without any other customers, three serving women in
shabby white jacket were standing.
Yukiko held up her hands to the stove, while placing her muffler wet
with rain upon a wire mesh.
A serving woman came to take an order from Tomioka, who ordered
pan-fried noodles, yakisoba. He added.
“And one bottle of sake.”
 Yukiko, grinning, took a foreign cigarette pack out of her green bag
of plastic, and held it out to Tomioka, who picked up a cigarette.
“It seems that we have nowhere to go. ……”
“Ah ……”
Smoking a cigarette with relish, Tomioka felt terribly tired after a
long stroll in the rain. He had sent her a letter by special delivery post,
but, forgot his reason that he had to talk with her at this moment.
“When are you going to move?”
“My family members have already moved. I will spend New Year days
of this year in my deserted house. ……”
“Oh, you alone?”
“My wife will stay. ……”
“I see. You boast of your wife. ……”
Yukiko showed her disappointment like a child. Before long, a
serving woman brought them sake.
“I have found Kano’s address. Will you meet him?”
“Ah, did you get his address? Where does he live?”
Tomioka took out his notepad, and flipped through the pages
looking for Kano’s address. He wrote it down in pencil on the back of
his visiting card, and handed it to Yukiko.
“Oh, he lives in Odawara[*141].”
“He lives with his mother. He seems to be still single.”
Yukiko glared at him with her glitteringly shining eyes to express her
repulsiveness against Tomioka’s nastiness. Despite that, at the
innermost of her chest, her longing for Kano flared up. Yukiko had
heard nothing of him since their separation in Indochina.
Sake penetrated into the belly and warmed up his chilled body.
Yukiko also drank two or three cups of sake.
“Only two or three days left.”
“For what?”
“The New Year will come. ……”
“Well, I have never thought of the New Year.”
“Shall we go out now, as it is, either to Ikaho[*69] or to Nikkō[*131]?”
“Oh, I have not been to Ikano, but, it sounds nice ……. I want to
slosh my body in hot water. Can we go, really?”
 “I can afford to take you there for one night or two. Do you want to
go there?”
‘As we are floating in the eternal sea, it would be better to do things
self-indulgently depending on our emotional preference.’ Tomioka felt
like dying with Yukiko, when it came, in obscurity in a mountain of
dead trees.
‘You are smiling radiantly without noticing that you will be killed
tactfully by me. ……’ Tomioka thought in mind, while looking at Yukiko
who was eating hungrily the fried noodle, yakisoba. On her small
earlobes, gold-plated earrings were swinging. Her black hair was cut
short around her neck.
“Isn’t Ikaho cold?”
“Whether cold or not, it doesn’t matter.”
“Right.”
Yukiko, with a cheerful look as if a newly-married couple were
discussing travel plan, put Kano’s visiting card in her handbag, and in
exchange, took out her compact and opened the mirror in front of her
nose.
Tomioka fancied a scene murdering a woman. Like a silent drama,
Yukiko’s bloody figure was moving in a slow motion in a scenery of his
imagination. A dangerous feeling it was, however, a boldness that he
could enter such the dangerous feeling was even exhilarating him. ‘I
will kill her.’ And ‘I myself will die bending over on her. That’s it. Not a
person would complain against us.’ Tomioka, thinking in mind, kept
staring blankly at Yukiko’s flat face. She, powdering her face, ordered
the second sake. He felt strange that foreigners were fond of this face.
A lowly face. A flat face with a jaw like swelled gills was mediocre with
nothing to recommend. Taking a close look, however, her face was
closely akin to a primitive caveman. Otherwise, her forehead,
eyebrows, and her eyes looked like a buddha statue.
“No problem even if you leave your house vacant?”
“I locked the door. Even someone comes, he will think no one
inside.”
“Iba came to pick up the futon beddings, didn’t he?”
“Oh, did my letter reach you? Yes, he came. So, I have only one single
blanket to lie with at night.”
 Yukiko, who seemed not to worry anything, took up a ceramic bottle
of sake, tokkuri, to pour sake into Tomioka’s ceramic cup, hai. Tomioka
sipped sake picking up, as a relish, pieces of leftover green onion and
bamboo shoot scattered on the dish of yakisoba. How shitty and
pitiful everyday life was! It seemed to Tomioka that everything that he
was doing was like a comedy. Everyone seriously had believed that
tragedies repeated on people. Tomioka, however, began doubting that
nothing had been tragic from the old days of thousands of years,
although the tragedy should have added a great value to the hearts of
mankind. ‘All that people have done are repetition of comedies. People
timidly live a furtive life in comedy. Brandishing justice also is comedy.
People’s good and evil is nothing more than comedy. People, feeling so
funny as to shed tears, are living on a pretext most suitable for
themselves. On the eve of death, people probably feel relieved for the
first time, and may truly sigh with relief.’

Tomioka took his fling to travel to Ikaho together with Yukiko. They
arrived at Ikaho late at night. A local guide took them to the inn
named ‘Kin’dayū.’ Ikaho was a spa town full of slopes, which were
narrow like alleys. Sulphur, called as a ‘flower of hot spring,’ yuno’hana,
smelled offensively. Yukiko, while walking, looked curiously at houses
on both sides of the slope. Ikaho, which was famous with a novel
‘Lesser Cuckoo, Hototogisu[*66],’ was unexpectedly rustic and really
romantic. Maybe because they arrived late at night, the sounds of
flowing water from a stream and the sharp winds of mountains
freezingly pierced theirr skin. They entered a secluded room of the
inn, where a large heating device, kotatsu, was prepared. A large panel
was placed on the kotatsu. Yukiko put her cold knees into a cotton
filled coverlet, futon. It was so warm and comfortable.
“Such a nice place, isn’t it? Why do you know such a place like this?
Have you ever been here?”
Yukiko asked leniently.
“I came here during my school days. ……”
“It’s so nice place. Such as Da Lat. I wish we could live at a place like
this leisurely, if we had money. ……”
 “Indeed, but, a long stay will make us bored. Two days at the most.
……”
“So, staying for few days may fit us. ……”
The room was narrow, however, beneath the window a mountain
stream distinguishably sounded. A maid with a red face came into the
room bringing dried persimmon and tea. On the alcove, a small
chrysanthemum was arranged in a basket-shaped flower tube, and a
scroll of a landscape lithograph was hung. The room appeared
ordinary, but, they were on travel, besides, were content that they
came to the spa town, so they took off lightly the loneliness which was
felt this morning. Even if you despaire of something or another, the
mood in front of you would change quickly when you know how to
change your mood, and you feel delighted and a temporary makeshift
can be achieved. Tomioka felt mellow. He thought mental waves
strange, which struck him as curious. He troubled himself to look for a
theatrical stage to die with a woman. An incident as such was only a
tiny bubble in a vast universe. Tomioka with his overcoat on, flopped
down on the kotatsu and stared at the sooty ceiling with his head on
his arm.
“Please, change int0 the dotera[*32].”
The maid brought a pair of dotera of male and female size, each.
Yukiko quickly changed clothes in the anteroom, and asked the maid
to give her a washing cloth, tenugui. Tomioka felt even taking a bath
wearisome. Moving his body was unbearably irksome as well. He
wished to disappear blankly underground into the abyss.
“Hei don’t you change clothes?”
“Yeah ……”
“Well, when you change into the dotera, let’s ask them to prepare
our supper quickly. I am very hungry.”
“You are talkative. Leave me to relax. Why not go bathing at the hot
spring?”
Yukiko left her clothes, which were taken off messily, at the corner of
the room, and came to the kotatsu. She smelled her sleeve of the
dotera and said irritably.
“Uhh, it’s the offensive smell of other customer, offensive smell ……”
.. * 24

Tomioka was quite drunk. He felt his heart had been lightly lifted for
the first time in a long time, and was singing a Vietnamese song,
leaning against the alcove post.

Your love, and my love, only on the first day,

was true. Those eyes were sincere.
My eyes also, on that day, at that time, were sincere. Now,
You, and I, have a suspicious look ……

The popular song in Vietnam had such a meaning. Yukiko also was
very drunk and sang a lyrics of faint memory together with him. She
missed the life in Da Lat dreadfully.
It was of no use to recall it now, however, they indulged in nostalgia
for dreams of distant past. Yukiko stretched her leg groping for his leg.
Her sole touched his hot leg.
“Tomioka’san, I wish you good health forever. Please call Yukiko
when sometimes you may remember Da Lat. …… I have given up. It
will be nice if you meet me this way, from time to time. It may be
better. ― I understood that our relationship is like the song we sang a
while ago. ……”
Tomioka, with his eyes shut, was singing calmly the Vietnamese
song. Yukiko stood up and came nearer to him, and then, slid into the
kotatsu side by side with Tomioka. Despite that, Tomioka did not open
his eyes, and just kept singing.
“Why are you lost in thought? Please, divide your thoughts to me!
Say, give me a half of it. ……”
Tomioka opened his eyes suddenly at the moment that he was asked
to give her a half of his thoughts.
Yukiko was his sweetheart. A spontaneous utterance of the woman,
like a momentary rainbow, allured Tomioka, who took Yukiko’s finger
to his lips.
“I am lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely ……”
Yukiko clinging to his chest cried, in a low voice, “lonely, lonely.”
Tomioka while keenly gazing at her insaneness could not be moved at
all by Yukiko’s insaneness as such. He could think no more than that
her emotions were flowing just for the moment, in the same way as
the water flowed in the stream beneath their window. ― Tomioka was
only ruminating how to die.
He wondered whether or not he could put an end to her life with a
resolute attitude. Tomioka tried to determine by calculation like
mathematics wondering if he could kill the woman first, thereafter,
kill himself without fail. After their death, no one would know that
they died but not in love. …… ‘Even so, I do not mind,’ he thought.
In this case, Tomioka needed the ‘death’ itself. But, ‘how should I
interpret his dying with the woman? This is just a tool of death.
What a selfish fellow! I am such a kind of person. ……’ Tomioka, asking
himself in mind, held firmly Yukiko’s fingers from time to time. ‘Other
people might freely name his death as scary, pretentious, or odious
taste, which are their way of thinking though. As a possibility, people
who are going to die may feel like playing a tragedy.’
The electric light reflected in a large red board on the kotatsu, where
messy leftovers remained. The board was painted red, and a tiny pine
was illustrated in gold. ‘This also is the last sight, now. ……’ Tomioka
looked around everywhere in the room. ‘The two will walk into a
mountain and die very soon.’ He said these words secretly in mind.
As he thought that it was the last moment of his life, everything
seemed lonely and beautiful to him. Whatever he saw was
affectionately beautiful. A light yellow tint of the whitish
chrysanthemum …… . The wind blowing up from the landscape drawn
on the dirty scroll. The rain in the prince’s palace which he saw this
morning in Tokyo grazed his heart.
In Ikaho, the rain had let up.
“How well is your business going?”
“My business?”
“Yes, your timber dealer business.”
“Oh, how is my business going? It may work itself out somehow. ……”
 “Is your house still unsold?”
“The house sold, and I got half of the payment.We will register the
record matters early in the new year, and render the house late in
January ……”
“Hou much was your house sold for?”
“None of your business.”
“Well, so …… . But, why can’t I ask?”
Yukiko, while getting away her temporary insaneness, lay the staring
eyes on Tomioka. She felt funny wondering why she was attracted to
the man like this. They were just like a passing chance couple on the
spot. Yukiko stood up, and, taking her tenugui by hand, went to the
hot spring again.
She went down the narrow stairs toward the midnight bathroom,
where two young women, dishevelling long permanent hair, were
talking noisily.
Turbid red hot water was overflowing to the tile’s edge.
Yukiko with no word put her leg in front of the two women in the
bathtub. She was drunk, and so, stumbled and fell into the water as if
she jumped in there with enormous splashes. The two women jumped
backward quickly frowning their displeasure.
The women, really nasty facial expressions, clicked their tongue and
stood up with a rushing sound.
“I am sorry ……”
Yukiko apologized. The two women did not smile even a slight
smile, which vexed Yukiko. She stretched out her legs at ease in the
red hot water. The two were absolutely urban women, but, had stout
waists like large-boned peasant women.
Yukiko was proud of her slender body and her belly as flat as a
pancake, and was swayed by impulse to stand side by side with the
two women. The women sat down on the tile floor, and began
continuing their previous conversation.
“At parting, Tami’chan said, ‘come again.’ She knew nothing to say
other than ‘come again.’ Then, her man, imitating to swim, said, ‘stop
swimming among men and work in an office.’　― Nevertheless, soon
after that as well, she is swimming around among men. She doesn’t
care for any advice. …… She hates to see Japanese men, even a glance.
She said so.”
The two women bursted into laughter.
Yukiko could guess the women’s a social class as such, and at the
same time, recalled her own shed in Ikebukuro. Joe might visit her
about this time, knocking her door. The two women used a fragrant
savon, and arranged their hair each other with a large plastic comb.
To Yukiko’s drunk eyes, their attitude seemed provocative. They
showed off their stylish large bottles of water cream and extra-large-
size towels as if they wanted to say that they were different in race
from her. On the other hand, Yukiko used a fishy smelling soap and a
dirty Japanese tenugui as if boiled in a brown soup stock, which she
borrowed from the maid of this inn.
“Say, tomorrow, when we get back, I am going to a tailor shop. Will
you come with me? …… I ordered a bright red suit with gold buttons.”
“Marvellous. Did your darling let you order clothes?”
“Of course. He is very free with his money.”
Yukiko giggled. The woman with red lips casted a glance at Yukiko
who was giggling. The woman angrily said.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Oh, I laugh at my affair that I recalled. Don’t pick a fight with me.”
“Drat, do you mock us. You drunkard splashed badly hot water over
us!”
“I apologized, didn’t I?”
Another bony woman advised her mate.
“Don’t get involved with the drunkards.”
The two women quickly went to the dressing room in a threatening
air like splashing.
“That woman wearing earrings uses the dirty tenugui. What’s that? I
wonder what that is? ……”
“You know. ……”
A snickering laugh of the two women was heard. Yukiko soaking
splashingly in a hot water began to sing loudly.

Your love, and

 my love,
only on the first day,
was true. ……

She sang in Vietnamese. Unexpectedly sensuous and in a sweet

voice. The snickering laugh stopped.

Those eyes
were sincere.
My eyes also,
on that day,
at that time,
were sincere.
Now, You, and I,
have a suspicious look ……

Yukiko, while singing, felt herself dissolute as if it was the result of a

prodigal life.

.. * 25

Tomioka and Yukiko meaninglessly spent two days in Ikaho. It still

rained on the second day. The large inn was quietly scanty of
customers, as was expected, on the New Year’s eve.
Tomioka was incapable of grasping anything concretely during two
days. He strived to think seriously about situations, on which he could
notconcentrate, though.
He was trapped by self-contradiction. He did not know how to deal
with himself. He thought that every person who had come back from
afar after the war might lack confidence in his own ability more or less
in the same way as he.
 Some people were aware of their own losing heart, and others were
not. In any case, the Japanese race was nailed to this narrow world,
and each one would have no other choice than moving apart in
different directions alone.
It was an extremely difficult and vain ideal to pursue the overall
truth in the narrow land of a defeated country like this. There also
could be obstacles, which would unexpectedly reject, at every instant,
a possibility to live a life. …… Tomioka was tired in the restricted
narrowness of the world, and also exhausted himself supporting his
family peacefully with his skill.
Everyone became fastidious. Each family member separately shut in
each one’s solitude in reality.
“Don’t you have a cigarette?”
“No.”
“What are you thinking about? You must be irritated. ― Shall we
spend the New Year days here? If money is not sufficient, it’s quite all
right with me to leave my overcoat here, or this watch of mine, to add
to the payment for the accommodation fee. If you think it undignified,
I will go to town to sell my watch. ……”
Yukiko, saying, picked up a cigarette end from the ashtray, sticked it
to her pipe, and lit.
Tomioka lay on his stomach in the kotatsu reading again newspapers
of the day before. He suddenly turned over resting his elbow on the
tatami and looked up at Yukiko’s face from underneath.
“Hey …… .”
“What?”
“Aah, nothing particular. However, I thoroughly got tired of the
world. ……”
“What do you mean?”
When he was asked what he meant, he felt his own cheeks numb.
He opened his dry eyes blankly, looking at Yukiko’s worn-out madeup
face. He said cold-heartedly as if he abandoned her.
“It’s tedious to keep living, isn’t it? ……”
Yukiko did not understand what his words signified. Tomioka
continued his words pulling by fingers a button almost coming off
Yukiko’s breast of her clothes.
 “I meant that we cannot do anything anymore.”
“We can do something else. …… Your state of mind was bogged
down, wasn’t it? ……”
“Hmm, your witty remark. …… That’s right. ― Then, you are not
bogged down, are you? Maybe you have a fun. I bet you are full of fun
in the world. ……”
“What do you mean by fun?”
“A prevailing tendency in the world like now. ……”
Yukiko began understanding little by little what Tomioka had in
mind. Sweet tears were full to the brim of her throat.
“May I tell you what you think?”
“No. You don’t have to. ……”
“A talk about breaking up?”
“That’s wrong!”
The button came off. Tomioka holding the button by hand laid down
in the heatless kotatsu as if he stooped his body.
“May I go to sell my watch? ― Say, I want to spend the New Year
days here. ……”
White turbid rain water passed in across the window pane. Birds
flew swiftly through, under the eaves. Yukiko went to open the
window. The mountains and the sky in front of her looked milky
cloudy as in smoke, which reminded Yukiko of the landscape in
Indochina, where mountains were cloudy like smoke in rain. Tomioka
fingering the button put it on the tatami, and flipped it with his finger
like playing tiddlywinks.
“The New Year days will be rainy. ……”
Yukiko closed the window, and entered the kotatasu again. Tomioka
sat up abruptly, and put the button on the kotatsu. Then, he
murmured whether to Yukiko or to himself.
“I want to die. ……”
Ignoring his word, Yukiko picked up her button and tried to put it on
her breast, then irritatingly pulled out waste thread of her clothes
from where the button came off. She said simply.
“I also want to die.”
“You cannot die so soon. You should be active from now and enjoy
your life greatly. ……”
 “Oh! What should I be active in? Don’t utter your ridiculous idea.”
“Well, then, have you ever thought seriously to die? If you have never
thought impartially and in earnest to die, don’t say easily that you
want to die.”
“Oh, yes. I have seriously thought to die. I always thought about it. I
intended to die in Haiphong as well. Also, in Da Lat, I thought it when
Kano’san caused an incident. ― So, I am not afraid to die at all.”
“Hmm …… . In your mental situation as such, you cannot die yet.
While you boast of your being not afraid of death, you are still
optimistic about death. Death is something scary, indeed. ― You will
not be able to die unless you wait until your fury is unleashed so that
you may be vacuum. What kind of means do you take if you die?”
“Potassium cyanide is the easiest, isn’t it?”
“What do you do if you become vacuum when potassium cyanide is
not available?”
“I don’t know until I come face to face with such a situation, do I?
When you are in a vacuum state, you surely cannot think about a style
you will die with, can you?”
“Then, suppose that those who love are going to die together. If
either one does not attain a vacuum state, their mood will not fit
themselves for dying together, will it?”
“It seems wrong. It should be like this; beyond unleashing their fury,
their innermost hearts become rather cold, and the two people calmly
go to die. …… If they are afraid to die, they must be afraid even to
choose the means of death. Therefore, in case of the death of the two
people, they have to firmly make a plan for dying. ……”
“I have had a fancy of climbing Mount Haruna[*54] with you to die
together. ……”
“What a coincidence! I also thought a thing like that, the other day.”
In exchanges of their minds, the consciousness of death framed a
dim shadow little by little, which cast on the innermost part of the
eyeball. Tomioka realized the utter nonsense, but the lonely feelings
assailed his nose when he remembered the reality again after his
return to Tokyo. He had stocked a power possible to live while he was
suffering from hardships and agonies, which disappeared at present
like smoke drawing a flimsy stream.

.. * 26

Tomioka, while lighting a cigarette, felt something cast on his mind.

‘Even if I died together with this woman, no change in the world
would happen yesterday and tomorrow. I often say that I am
disappointed in the world. I might explain my cause for death
distorting the fact. The world, however, does not care of my death.
That is all, after all. For the reason of austerities of living while being
tossed in the world, a human who travels from one place to another in
search of his/her own place of death is also quite a strange existance.’
Tomioka, laying on his stomach in bed, blankly stared at a fire of his
cigarette glowing in the darkness.
After all, when it came to a tradeoff of dying either in an intense
pleasure or in despair, the despair seemed to Tomioka to be
pretentious toward the world. Even if someone chose to die by some
chance, he/she would die with no idea of despair. Tomioka smiled a
sour smile. This deep darkness would not last forever. All travellers’
traces of journey, however, wriggled rustling along in darkness in the
room after turning off the lights.
In this room was surely a man who pledged his love to a woman.
Tomioka felt the futon as if pushed onto him. Yukiko, who slept in the
next futon, was groaning terribly in a dream of anguish. Tomioka was
listening for a while to her groans. When he could not stand it
anymore, he felt about with his hand to rub his cigarette in an ashtray,
and turned on a bedside lamp of a paper lantern shape stand.
Suddenly four corners became bright, and the deep darkness
dissipated.
“Hey, hey, what’s happened?”
Tomioka pulled Yukiko’s pillow. Yukiko, who slept on the other
direction, awakened, and rolled over toward the stand.
 “Aah, I saw a hideous dream. A strange and scary dream it was. ……”
“You were groaning terribly. ……”
“Yes, it was a hideous dream. I was being chased by a bloody skinned
horse. However far I fled, it caught up with me very soon. …… On the
horseback was a human with no face in blue clothes. I was suffocated,
and could not utter a sound although I said ‘Help!’ ……”
Tomioka stretched his legs into the kotatsu, where warmth emitted
from buried charcoals were nicely felt. Yukiko dazzlingly looked at the
stand light, and said.
“It’s New Year’s Day, today. ……”
They felt as if they were living in this inn for a long time in this way.
Despite only three night stay, they felt as if they had been living here
from old days. Tomioka felt a deep affinity. If not the war, he would
not have met this woman, or did not need to go to the far-off place
like French Indochina. By now, he surely would have lived a life as an
honest official.
This war helped Japanese to visit colorful worlds. ― Tomioka while
looking up at the sooty ceiling found a smear like a map, which
suddenly reminded him of Hue. Along the street from a station to the
center of the town, shoots of camphor trees looked gold like springing
up. On an esplanade along the banks of the Hue River, otherwise
called the Perfume River, flowers such as canna and clematis florida
gorgeously bloomed like yūzen[*226]. Palm trees, betel palm trees
(Areca catechu), and Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulata) grew
abundant everywhere. Tomioka remembered that the Moi native men
in red loincloth were selling two or three parakeets in a cage on the
esplanade.
He felt nostalgic about the time of living in Da Lat, which was
printed in his memory as one single pattern of sparkling white water,
kasuri[*88], on fabrics. Mr. Marcon, the chief of the forestry bureau in
Hue, probably returned back to Hue by now and was leisurely
smoking a cigar on the terrace. The Japanese army must have given
him an unpleasant memory, whose good-natured old face remained to
be a good old memory of Tomioka. Mr. Marcon came by sea over to
French Indochina as a forester in 1930. He graduated the French
National School of Forestry, École Nationale du Génie Rural, des Eaux
et des Forêts, ENGREF, established in Nancy in 1824. The chief Marcon
behaved in an honorable manner when he yielded his ‘palace’ to
impolite and unsophisticated rude Japanese foresters including
Tomioka, about whom he must have felt in his mind something
ridiculous, though. Mr. Marcon especially favored Tomioka, and told
him in detail about forestry in French Indochina.
Mr. Marcon, while advising Tomioka of a mental attitude of work
there, often compared working in forests in Indochina to tackling a
tiger. Japanese foresters with no preliminary information expedited in
military orders. Seeing a map, they simply imagined an open forest
such as pine woods on a plain land.
When he was invited to Mr. Marcon’s private residence, Tomioka was
asked if he could recite all the names of garden trees, and could not
guess even a name of betel palm. Pointing at plants one by one, Mr.
Marcon taught him the plant’s producing areas, growth and
characteristics, such as a medicine tree ‘Senna siamea,’ a tree with
spiky-shaped cluster of blossoms ‘simplex,’ a persimmon-like fruit tree
‘sawo’ (Manilkara Kauki Dub), a light purple canna-like flower tree
‘banran,’ ‘lim,’ ‘kyenkyen,’ a ‘willow,’ ‘benben,’ and others.
“It rains a lot in the mountainous forest areas in French Indochina,
thus the forests are enormous. I have been here for a long time, but
researches and studies over mountainous forests are still on the first
step. Please, do not log forests randomly, but look into materials of
trees before logging.” He desired. “Especially, indigenous people in
mountains use a slash-and-burn method of agriculture, which
considerably has encroached on the state of virgin forests. So, please,
take it into consideration as well.” Mr. Marcon advised Tomioka
furthermore. “I heard that Thanh Hoa and Vinh in North Vietnam in
particular are overdevelopped by the Japanese military. In the middle
of Vietnam, foothills immediately falls into sea, and terrains are steep
in lack of rivers suitable for raft transportation. Even if trees are
logged, it was far from the development, because there was not any
accessible rivers for transporting logs on rafts. Terrains in the North
and South are gentle so the use of rafts seems to be convenient,
however, the transportation of rafts only should be reconsidered.” Mr.
Marcon added anxiously. “Afforestation business, in a sense, is
separate from the war.”

“Hey, do you remember? We went to pray in the Japanese cemetery

in Turon, didn’t we?”
Tomioka felt as if he was taken back from wandering over the
memory, and looked away from the soot of the ceiling to looked at
Yukiko’s face.
“Do you remember the name of the town? ……”
“Do you mean the town called Fai-Fo[*35]?”
“You are right. The town called Fai-Fo. Kano’san, you and me, we
three went to the town in Fai-Fo. I think it was a three-day journey.
Kano’san was irritating, and kept his watch always over us, didn’t he?
We turned aside from his eye of surveillence, and met at night. We
two were like crazy people. Do you remember?”
“Sure, I remember.”
“Street trees were Garcinia subelliptica, weren’t they?” While we
stopped the car to take rest under the dense old tree, children came
close to us, saying ‘tombo japonais.’ - dragonfly japanese. At that time,
I, while looking at my face on my compact mirror, felt sorry that I was
not born beautiful. Because children were not interested in a woman,
but were talking earnestly to you only. …… On the road leading the
cemetery, a huge cactus grew, which I remember still now very well. I
thought that the journey must have been much more amusing if I
were as beautiful as the actress Yamada Isuzu.”
Yukiko said a strange thing.

.. * 27

In the town of Fai Fo, three hundreds and fifty or sixty years ago, many
Japanese lived. They frequently came and went on armed ships with
red-sealed letter patents, shuin’sen[*174] to transport red sandalwood,
ebony, agarwood, cinnamon, among others, from Southeast Asian
ports to Japan. Thereafter, Japanese who could not come back to Japan
because of Japan’s seclusion policy, sakoku, seemed to assimilate
themselves to this land. On the surface of tombstones, Japanese
names were engraved such as the tomb of Tanaka Tarobē.
Like a floating coconut, Japanese in the old days were continuously
drifting away everywhere. Yukiko was aware of their brave passion.
When she found the female name Hanako on a grave mound, Yukiko
felt it pitiful and touching.
“Fai Fo was a pleasant town. Roads were so narrow, on the width of
which only one car carried somehow. Houses with white coated walls
which looked like a pair of match boxes piled up were lined along the
streets. Hey, there was a small bridge with a roof, called
Nippon’bashi[*133], where Kano’san took photographs. We could not
bring the photos as well. We lived in luxury, those days. We will need
enormous amount of money to make a luxurious travel as such, now.
……”
“We were punished for it.”
“Well, you are right. Thinking that way must be the best of all. ― I
wonder what time it is, now.”
Yukiko lay on her stomach to take her watch from a small desk at
her bedside, and looked at the time. It was a little past 4. Yukiko did
not have anything to think about death whilst two people had talked
earnestly about the death last night. She felt it foolish to die at such a
place as this. It seemed to her that Tomioka did not mean what he had
said. Today, she wanted to sell her watch to pay for the room charge
and travelling expenses to go back to her shed in Ikebukuro. Their
memory of French Indochina was only a link to recall their hearts and
minds. It was possible for the two people who slept here to be
dreaming, unexpectedly, of different directions.
Yukiko was disturbed by the payment for the accommodation fee,
thus, her feelings remained far-off to romantic mood even if they
would stay long in Ikaho. She wanted to express her feelings well to
Tomioka, who seemed to be depressed and did not mention checkout
from the inn.
“Today is the New Year’s Day.”
 “Yeah.”
“Shall we leave, today?”
“You wanted to stay for three or four days here. Did you change your
mind?”
“I did not mean that I changed my mind. Somehow I thing that our
talk about French Indochina seemed to be exhausted, and that you got
tired of me. ……”
“It’s you that got tired of me, isn’t it?”
“Don’t say that silly ……”
Yukiko said in a loud voice so as to show that she did not get tired of
him, although she surely missed Ikebukuro. Yukiko felt like groping for
an answer to her own doubt whether she was a caprice and a fickle
woman. The sound of water flowing from a ravine sounded deeply in
her ears.
“Without suffering more, we cannot gain headway away from this
life. It would mean nothing to you, though. …… Although we meet
and long for the old days, years have already rolled by. Having such a
conversation of the end of time is a bad habit. Such an old tale will not
send our relationship back to ardency as in the past anymore. ……
Nonetheless, I do not have the same affection as before toward my
wife as well. The war got us to have a terrible dream. …… As a result,
we have become futile and soulless people. …… We became mediocre,
and have fallen so unsound and indecisive in characteristic as human
beings. …… Say, we have become mediocre and indecisive people. As
time goes by, the old tales also will fade. Life is but the same as this.
Craving feelings only intensify. On the other hand, people, on the sly,
dare not tackle this reality. We are in an era that many Urashima Tarōs
overflow into everywhere. If we cannot sharply sense the reality, we
have no place to go. We should not have made a strange distant travel.
……”
“Might be so. I understand. As far as we live a life, however, we
cannot remain fallen on our buttocks like Urashima Tarō. After all, we
have to close the lid of the Tamate’bako jewery box lid, and start
walking ahead from there. No one feeds us. …… Well, don’t you think
it strange that we would want to see each other suddenly if we don’t
meet for two or three days after our parting? At the time as such, I am
always thinking of you, either hatred or attraction. …… As human
beings, my feelings are unbearable. I think that I will feel much easier
when a little more time will have passed. ……”
The two people began dozing off again. Trusting to luck, they might
have nothing to do but get past a lapse of time.
Since they fell fast asleep, considerable time had passed until they
woke up.
A sound of a Japanese hand drum, tsuzumi, was heard afar, which
got Yukiko to wake up. Tomioka was not in his futon-beddings. The
sound of the tsuzumi was a music on radio. Yukiko got up and saw her
watch, while folding in front her cotton wool lined kimono-like
garment, dotera. It was a little after ten o’clock. The maid entered the
room to add charcoals to the brazier, hibachi. She said, “Your husband
is taking a bath.” Yukiko went to the bathroom, holding in her hand
the wash cloth, tenugui, which she borrowed from the inn last night.
Tomioka bathed in the smaller bathroom. Yukiko slided a glass door
a little open and looked into the bath, and asked.
“May I come in?”
“Yeah.”
Yukiko took off her dotera, and roughly opened the glass door into
such a coldness that goose bumps appeared. She came down to the
bath. Red hot water overflowed to the brim of a cypress bathtub. The
narrow bathroom was filled with hot vapors.
“A happy new year, Omedetō’gozaimasu! ……”
Yukiko greeted smiling. Tomioka also greeted, “Omedetō.” Affinity
immersed faintly two people’s bare skin. It was New Year’s Day during
their trip, but they were not such visitors as staying for the hot spring
cure with more than enough money. While exchanging greetings
saying “Omedetō” to each other, in the innermost of their hearts,
lonely and modest feelings moved unsteadily. Yukiko entered the hot
water, which flowed over onto the tile floor.
“Ah, this hot water is comfortable! ……”
“We are only visitors here, they said.”
Tomioka, saying, got out of the bathtub with a rushing sound. His
skin was red. It was bright in the bathtub. Yukiko took her eyes away
from his bare body to the surface of red clay which showed very
closely to the window
“Say ……”
“What?”
“We have somehow settled into this inn. The maid, however, must
have regarded us as a strange man and woman. We don’t go out. We
are not likely to have money, and yet, spend time leisurely, but not
unpreasantly spiritless. …… This inn, however, is extremely friendly
with us. ……”
“That’s true. ……”
“That’s true? What are you thinking? To die? I want to keep you alive
longer.”
“No, I don’t think anything. After taking bath, when we feel
refreshed, let’s drink sake. Then, we shall go back tonight. ……”
He said and then began washing his body with soap.
“Is that so? Did you cancel your plan to climb to Mount Haruna and
jump into the lake?”
“Well, I cannot die with you. I need a ‘beauty’ to die with. ……”
“Oh, I hate you. It suits me, I don’t mind.”
Yukiko laughed skittishly, and made a gesture to swim gripping by
both hands the brim of the bathtub. Her arms somewhat fatted and
her skin became smooth. Yukiko stared at her own rosy arms with
content, thinking that a life of doing nothing more than eating and
sleeping had such an immediate effect on her body.
A while later, they left the hot spring, and sat down to the brazier,
kotatsu, upon which their breakfast was prepared. It was almost at
noon, though. Unlike the feelings which they had while taking a bath,
their thoughts returned to the break state as previous, which irritated
their minds, each other. A couple of ceramic bottles of sake, tokkuri,
were ready also on the kotatsu. But, they did not feel like drinking
sake this time. A larger bowl contained the zōni[*229], which had
already cooled off. They did not have an appetite for the zōni as well.
After breakfast, Tomioka went out alone to the town, leaving Yukiko
in the room. He was about to sell his watch. It was an old Omega,
repaired once before. He supposed, if he sold his watch only, it would
be enough for their payment to the inn. Therefore, he did not have
Yukiko’s watch with him, and went out, simply wearing the dotera. A
fine snow was falling lightly outside.

.. * 28

Tomioka went down the stone stairs toward a narrow downtown,

where air-gun shooting huts, coffee bars, and the like stood in row on
each side of the street. A woman in fur coat was browsing in the
souvenir shop. Tomioka only in dotera felt cold, but patiently looked
for a watch shop. He found a bar near a bus terminal, and a woman
with rouged cheeks called out to him. “Hey, Brother, drop in on us.”
Tomioka quickly approached her while thinking that it might be
advisable to ask such a woman, and entered the narrow bar after the
woman. The bar was a painted barrack[*11], which seemed like a hen
house inside. Tomioka felt cold, so he ordered sake. The woman came
out from the back, holding a pottery brazier, hibachi. She advised
Tomioka to warm himself by sitting on the stool with his knees apart
and bringing the hibachi close to his crotch.
“Say, are you a native of this town?”
“My hometown is close to Ikaho. ……”
“I thought that Ikaho is an old town, but unexpectedly it’s a new
town. ……”
“I heard there was a big fire. After that, Ikaho became a town like
this, didn’t it? Ikaho was good in old days, they say. ……”
 Crows were crying awfully. Tomioka poured the hot sake into a glass,
drank it in one gulp. Paying for the sake, Tomioka asked the woman if
any watch shop was around here. The woman was about to retreat to
the back room, saying “I will go and ask.” Tomioka took his watch off
and handed it to her. “Take this and ask.” A little later, a bald small-
sized man, seemingly a master of the bar, came out from the back.
“Mister, how much to part with your watch? ……”
As the master himself came out, Tomioka embarrassedly told him
that a few days ago he took a woman to Ikaho, which pleased them.
“We intended to stay overnight, but heedlessly stayed longer until
today. Consequently, we ran short of money, and decided to sell the
watch.”
“To tell you the truth, I do not want to sell my watch. ……
I wonder if someone keeps a watch to a debt until after I come back to
pay the debt and get it back. ……”
“it’s a good watch.”
“Certainly. I bought it in the south. ……”
“Aha …… The south. Where in the south did you go?”
“I was assigned to the French Indochina. ……”
“Is that so? I was in the navy. I also have been in Banjarmasin in
Kalimantan Selatan, Borneo Island. I repatriated last year. ……”
“Aha. Kalimantan Selatan. …… That was very tough. Did the navy
control that region?”
“Right. …… A lonesome region it was. But, the disposition of local
people was pleasant. I have once seen this type of watch there. So, I
thought it was a good watch. ―　At what price on the earth do you
intend to part with this watch?”
“Do you have any shop in mind to sell the watch?”
“Instead, I want it. I wanted to have such a watch once in my life. I
thought either Cyma or Elgin would also suit me. I have never had
such a watch. The other day, I had a chance to see Vulcain. An old
type, and I was not pleased with it. ― It was not smart like this one. If
we agree on the terms of price, I would like you to sell it to me.”
“If you really want it, I have nothing to oppose to hand it over to you.
Please, offer the price from your part. I’m not good at pricing. ……”
“Well, I’m not a merchant as well. …… How about one finger?”
 “One finger? You mean 10,000 yen?[*196]”
“Right, how about it? Even if you take it to a watch shop, I think,
they will take an unfair advantage of a person in need, and offer 5,000
yen or so. ……”
Tomioka thought that the master’s view might be right. Anyway,
Tomioka had been doubtful whether he could get 5,000 yen or even
less if he took the watch to a unknown shop around here. The master
told the woman to bring sake. Then he came near to Tomioka’s stool
and turned on a light. He wore the watch around his wrist, scrutinized
it for a long time, and took the watch to his ear hearing a slight sound
of the watch for a while.
“Good sound. Firm and good clicking sound.”
“It will look better if you change the leather strap of the watch.”
“Not yet, it still looks good, and I am pleased with the strap. A strap,
if made in Japan, will not be finished so softly and nicely.”
The woman came carrying sake. The master went to the backroom,
and did not show up for a while. Then, he came back dragging
wooden clogs. He said with a smile.
“Here is my entire fortune. I have scraped up together all my money.”
He began making a cross shape with 10 sets of 10 banknotes of 100
yen on the table.
“I have heard that Indochina is a good place, unlike Borneo. Are you
a soldier?”
“Aah, no. I went there as a government official. I worked for the
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. ……”
“I see. A government official.”
The master laughed, saying that he thought at first that the Omega
was a stolen good when the maid brought it to him, and that he,
therefore, peeked Tomioka from the pay desk to evaluate his
personality.
“I meet many people due to my business, so, my judgement is
accurate, in all likelihood. …… I thought that you are a painter,
though. I did not think you as an official. ……”
The master also drank a bit of sake. The shed-like house shook
whenever buses arrived and departed. Tomioka put away a bundle of
banknotes in an inside pocket of his dotera, and took off his visiting
card. He handed it to the master.
“Oh ho, you deal with timber.”
“I resigned from the ministry, and work jointly for my friend’s
business. The business, however, gets stalled now because of funds
and goods control. We cannot do anything at the moment.”
“Indeed, control, and control, besides, tax, and tax. Under these
situations, somehow, our business cannot slide out well ahead. We
miss good generous customers from under our own very nose, because
we cannot serve even a dish of rice with curry ― Snitchers are
unwieldy everywhere. It is so risky that we cannot get out of a
stalemate. Officials are the same as the magistrate, daikan[*24], indeed,
and act in the same way as the cock of the flock of children. …… They
bully us willingly by preventing us from doing our business. As the
result, black markets grow like weeds. …… How is the inn where you
stay, do they have rice?”
“We are told that the inn cannot accept any visitors without rice.
Thus, it seems that my wife procured 1.8 litres of rice from somewhere,
before leaving on a trip. ……”
“I see. Things are like that. In black markets, the rice are sold in lots.
Inns behave as if they woud drive back visitors who take bother to
come as far as Ikaho. No favorable advertisement. Truly, merchants
want customers to come, however, trite controls overly concerned with
minute details. A terrible recession seems to be coming.”
“I guess the times of the money, not of the thing, will come.”
“Mister, do you stay always in Tokyo?”
“Yes. My house was not burnt fortunately. But, I sold it as I had no
other way to do.”
“I lived in Honjo’Narihira[*62] from my parents’ generation. On the
firebombing of Tokyo[*15] on March 9, my house was burnt down and
one of my childred died. After that I came back to Japan, I divorced my
wife. Afterwards, I came here to Ikaho with my present wife. I wanted
eagerly to return to Tokyo. A fishmonger was my profession. …… But
my present wife hates working as a fishmonger. So I began this
business. ……”
 “Your present wife. Do you mean the one who came a while ago?”
“Right. Shamefully enough, she is young like my daughter. I regard
everything as my fate, and also our marriage as a result from our
previous life. ― we have to cherish our encounter. There is no way
that we would go against our encounters. My belief is not to defy my
fate. ……”
Tomioka felt it ridiculous that the woman who overly rouged her
cheeks was his wife. His remark that we have to treat our encounters
as cherished hit Tomioka to the chest. He thought his relationship
with Yukiko also no less than the encounter.
“When we arrived at Ōtake Port[*145] in Hiroshima, I saw a Camel
package deserted on the pier, and thought that the package collar was
so beautiful. Simultaneously, seeing that tobacco package, I realized
defeat. The defeat in the war also is the encounter.”
“You bought my watch, which may be also an encounter.”
Tomioka was drunk, so, he felt free from anxiety. Cracking jokes,
Tomioka lit a cigarette given by the owner. Crows were noisily crying.
The owner, while chewing peanuts with buckteeth, feddled with the
zipper of his jacket, and said, “The tendency of everything in the world
has been decided beforehand. If Japan won in the war, we woud suffer
much more. ― It is splendid just to have known that wars are stupid.
…… I myself as well went to the south end, as far as Borneo, so, I
cannot but believe that this also is the fate.”

.. * 29

Tomioka went back to the inn. Yukiko was polishing her nails with her
handkerchief in the kotatsu. Seeing her from behind, Tomioka
suddenly felt it a pathetic sight. Tomioka heard, a while ago, the bar
owner saying that everything was an encounter. The word ‘encounter’
hit him acutely to the chest. He had imagined, till the day before, to
die with this woman, which seemed absurd. He also felt it impossible
to die readily. He parted with his watch, which also was the fate.
Simultaneously, his gloomy feelings like a stray dog till the day before
gained slightly liveliness owing to the alchool.
“Oh, are you drunk?”
“I drank a little sake. ……”
Yukiko worriedly stared at Tomioka into his eyes, as if she sought an
answer to her question in mind, ‘Are you sure?’ So far, they incessantly
disguised their intentions to each other, just that much, Yukiko felt
something good was bestowed upon Tomioka who just returned, as hie
eyes looked soft in color. She aksed.
“Did it sell?”
“Sold. The watch sold for 10,000 yen. ……”
Tomioka spoke about the details how his watch sold. Yukiko with
tears in her eyes sighed.
“The encounter. He said a good thing.”
The two people were pushed out by the owner’s remarks, because
they pretended to eath other that their passion was not fake, in spite
of their withered passion. Yukiko looked heartily at a bunch of
banknotes amounting to 10,000 yen, which Tomioka placed upon the
kotatsu.
“There is a way out. ……”
Yukiko said, who had seen a lot of heartless people with no soul after
she repatriated to Japan.
“The man is so brave that he returned from the south and got a
young wife. You are useless, and always fancy dying.”
Tomioka did not discard all his dreams of death. He remembered
Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin’s readiness and preparations for
death in the Russian novel “Demons[*27],” which he had once read in
Indochina. Tomioka could feel Stavrogin’s hateful cool-headness in a
phrase that Stavrogin was so attentive as to calmly cover a strong silk
rope thickly with soap paste beforehand in order not to feel ache and
pain when he would hang himself to death. Tomioka felt an aversion
to Stavrogin at that time. But his impression changed in a different
way at present. The thick soap paste of a silk rope was most practical
to evade pain while dying. Tomioka, himself as well, desired to devise
an easy way to meet his death. After traveling everywhere abroad,
Stavrogin, without getting mental food, returned home only to behave
aggressively in town, which reflected his insanity. On the other hand,
Tomioka, who repatriated from distant Indochina, intended to kill
himself as a person who cooled down in life. For Tomioka, this world
was not amusing nor interesting.
“He said to me that we should not stay in an inn but check out
quickly, and come to stay at his house for two or three days if we like.
What do you think of his offer?”
Tomioka took out a foreign cigarette given by the bar owner and
puffed it while speaking. Yukiko also took a cigarette, lit it, and puffed
it with curiosity.
“Well, it sounds interesting. I want to meet such a man.”
“He is affable. He is a so-called a good person, like Kano, whom you
are likely to treat with scorn. ……”
“You talk nastily. ……”
In the evening, they checked out the inn and stopped by the bar
before going back to Tokyo. In the bar, the two driver-like customers
were drinking sake. The master took Tomioka and Yukiko upstairs to a
narrow room and said to make themselves at home. A woman
different from the one Tomioka saw this afternoon brought the tea for
them upstairs. The room was furnished with a hori’gotatsu[*63]. Ladies
overcoats and kimonos were hung on the wall. Before long, the same
redden-cheek woman as appeared this afternoon came upstairs. She
looked like still 18 or 19 years old, larger than Yukiko, and was quiet as
sleeping. She had a habit to sometimes stare wide-eyes, and at such
time, her eyes looked extremely large and glittering. Not beautiful,
however, her young and fresh body line, by some chance or other,
looked like showingly reflecting light and spreading through all four
corners.
It was the New Year Day, today, and thus, customers downstairs left
soon. Finally, the woman who worked in a commute to the bar also
went back home saying goodbye. The master got his wife to close the
bar, and came upstairs with a bottle of whiskey.
The short stout master in his 50s took out apples one after another
from his jacket onto the kotatsu, and said to Yukiko to eat them. The
men had a long talk earnestly about the Southern lands while
drinking whiskey.
In the six-tatami mat room with a suspended paper ceiling, a world
map was pasted on the wall. The woman placed her hands to warm on
a rid of a Dharma-shape brazier, the dharma hibachi[*23], and seemed
to think of something else expressionlessly. She took her seat next to
Tomioka, and he from time to time saw her face from the side. Yukiko
peeled an apple. She, while munching it, intruded on their
conversation, and spoke lively.
Outside the window, she felt fine snow falling. The wind blew
roaring loudly like the rumblings of mountains. The woman rested her
left elbow on the hibachi and her chin in her hand. She was sitting
with legs flung sideways, and her right hand set in the kotatsu.
Tomioka, who was sitting cross-legged, tried casually to press his toe
hard to her knee. The woman, with an unconcerned air, pretended not
to notice it. Tomioka touched his left hand to the woman’s hand in the
futon. And then, he looked at her face calmly from the side, and
gripped her hand firmly. Suddenly, countless sparks scattered in his
chest. The woman drooped her head quietly and closed her eyes.
However, her hand was sticky, and reacted many times to his hand.
Tomioka was surprised at such a beastly wild power of this rustic
woman with redden cheeks. He lost his head, gripped his glass with
one hand, and drank the whole glass of whisky in one gulp. Yukiko
began to peel another apple.
Tomioka from time to time gave a wary look to Yukiko who turned
up her poisonous red color lips while munching on the apple. She
talked with the master of the bar, whom Tomioka had described as the
good person like Kano. The master wore the watch around his wrist.
The gold watch with pride shone dully on his short wrist.
In the kotatsu, hands of the two people still did not separate. The
woman also boldly pushed her knee on to his toe. Tomioka decisively
separated from the woman’s hand, and began talking with an excitedly
unsteady voice.
“Oh, this also is an encounter. There is no such a memorable New
Year Day as this. A beautiful night. Mister, let’s empty this bottle of
whiskey. Tonight’s feast is my treat. ……”
Tomioka, while talking, poured whiskey in the master’s glass. And
then, he streched out Yukiko’s glass aimfully to her lips saying, “You,
too. Drink it.” On the other hand, while coldly thinking ‘People’s
feelings easily change,’ Tomioka got Yukiko to have her glass many
times. Yukiko became quite drunk. She had not eaten supper, which
made her drun quickly. Yukiko thought the woman a stupid country
woman, who rested her chin in her hand and drooped her head with
her eyes closed like sleeping. She also looked pitifully at the woman of
clumsily large body who lived with a man of unimposing stature in the
countryside without any springtime of life. The reason for being,
raison d’être, of the woman immediately in this place was ambiguous
as she remained silent all the time. Yukiko while getting drunk began
confessing humorously her story of ardent love with Tomioka in the
southern country.
Tomioka was not drunk. Three people drank till the bottle emptied.
― Suddenly, Tomioka stood up saying he was going bathing to the
hot spring. The master with eyes dimmed with drink said to the
woman.
“Ho, Osei, you guide the mister, take the master to the bath of the
rice shop. Ma’am, how about going together with him?”
“Enough already. I took a bath twice this morning at the Kindayū.
…… Besides, I am drunk and feel dizzy. ……”
Yukiko picked up a slice of ham from a dish of relish for sake, and
took her whishky glass again to her mouth crammed with ham.
Tomioka said that he wanted to borrow a washing cloth, tenugui. The
woman took her pink towel off the wall and went down the staircase
after Tomioka.
The downstairs was dark and cold. Tomioka waited under the stairs
for the woman who came down. Under tables with chairs put on the
top, mice moved quickly like flickering on the floor.
The woman reached the floor. The two people stood closely face to
face. They stared at each other with their radiant eyes as if had
starved.
.. * 30

Under the stairs, two people were standing on the dim floor like a
valley which was shut up in the mountain walls. Tomioka suddenly
hugged Osei. She, holding her breath, leaned toward Tomioka, and let
him do as he wanted. Passionately kissing. Yukiko’s loud laughter was
heard from the second floor, and then, Tomioka quickly released from
Osei. Osei said nothing, and went out of the back door. Then she said
to Tomioka, “Watch your step. It’s dark.”
Tomioka, half drunk, felt that his instinct was suddenly awakened by
her words ‘Watch your step.’ He held strongly the waist of Osei, who
shook his hand loose and descended the narrow stone stairs. It was
dark all around, and a small light was lit at a utility pole set beside the
stairs. Steam was rising densely in the air around at the light. Near the
pole was seen a bright glass door. Osei slided it open, and waited at
the open door for his coming down. Tomioka approached the door,
and saw a young woman inside the glass door. She wore a kimono of
showy flower patters and a shiny obi sash around her waist, and was
about to put on her wooden clogs.
“Quite cold.”
The woman said this not to anyone in particular. She spread her
white shawl lightly and put it on her shoulder in kimono without
wearing a haori[*52] coat. Then, she left in a hurry, saying “Good-bye,
Sayōnara.” Tomioka got past her, and entered the dooway, where Osei
said, “She is a geisha[*44].”
Tomioka closed the door, and walked down a winding cold hallway,
which turned many times downwards. At the end of the hallway, he
faced with a large bathroom, seemingly a mixed bathing. In a dressing
room, male and female clothing were thrown off in round baskets. A
middle aged woman, who was putting her kimono on in front of a
mirror, said, “Osei’san, please remember me kindly to your husband,
as I did not go for the New Year’s greetings. Tell him that I will visit
tomorrow. ……”
Tomioka began to take off his clothes. Osei spread out a square
wrapping cotton cloth, furoshiki before he knew that she had such a
thing, in which she put his clothes one by one.
Tomioka, while undressing, saw many baskets arbitrarily placed
around on the floor, and noticed two or three baskets with wrapped
clothes in. He felt funny that travelers’ clothes were wrapped in
furoshiki as a precaution against theft.
Osei also began undressing.
Tomioka quickly walked in the bathroom full of steam. Six or seven
people bathed together irrespective of age or sex in a tiled large
bathtub, in a gaiety of which he felt easy. Osei also entered the
bathroom. Near the door, she went down on her knees on the floor,
and poured hot water over herself.
Tomioka jumped into the bathtub. The hot water struck through his
skin, and then, wrapped over his cold body. Osei was talking with
someone in the steam. A little later, she entered the bathtub, and
slowly approached Tomioka. Her thick shoulder with white skin
looked like it was floating in the hot water of red clay color. Osei came
beside and grinned to him. Tomioka stretched his leg in the water and
touched her thigh by his foot. Osei touched his knee as if she was
groping around blindly for her washcloth in the hot water. No one
noticed their amourous toying under the red clay color hot water,
where only their heads appeared on the surface. Tomioka with a
bizarre smile looked at Osei’s eyes, but she did not smile at all. As if
her beast-like instinct fell down from her head onto the bottom of the
bathtub, Osei’s head, keeping a constant distance away from Tomioka’s
head, was floating simply like a watermelon in the hot water. Tomioka
had the impression that this reality had been played sometime,
somewhere in the past, although he could not decipher his already
known feelings. He soaked himself up to his chin and stayed still in
the hot water. Only his smiling face floated on the surface. Two men
noisily came into the bathroom. Tomioka indulged in an extremely
primitive fancy about his object in front. Someone began singing
‘Song of Apples,’ Ringo’no Uta[*154], in the bathtub.
While hearing someone unintentionally singing Ringo’no Uta, the
theme song featured in a love romance film, ‘Soft Breeze,’ Soyokaze,
Tomioka perceived intuitively a mental state of the master who moved
to this hot spring town, Ikaho, to live together with the young Osei.
She went away in a swimming like movement to the other side, and
quickly got out of the bathtub. Tomioka appreciated a splendid
appearance of har large back figure as if it were the nude of a beautiful
woman he had never seen. He was impatiently longing for Osei’s
naked body. He also swam quickly toward Osei, and got up to where
she was. The rough night mountain wind blew down roaringly
through the eaves of the bathhouse.
“Shall I wash your back?” Osei said.
The large body sat on the floor tile, with her fat thighs closed firmly,
which reminded him of the naked body of Niu in bathing. Her feature
flashed suddenly into his mind. He yearned for Niu’s dark stout body
and the cinnamon breath of Niu who always chewed it. His life in
Indochina provoked sourly his memories after all this time, with no
foreshadowing. ― Níu sometimes brought a cup of hot cinnamon
drink to Tomioka who felt tired and languidly took rest in bed, saying
that cinnamon was used from a long time ago, habitually, for its
medicinal virtues to rejuvenate males. She herself rapsed cassia bark
and poured the hot water in a cup with powdery pieces of cinnamon.
Among species of cinnamon, elixirs of rejuvenation, cinnamomum
verum, also referred to as cassia, is highly valued as true cinnamon
and King Cinnamon. Tomioka and his fellow workers conducted a field
research to look for the King Cinnamon, as far as Son in Nghe An
province, Xuan, Quy, Chau, and other places in uninhabited
mountains. King Cinnamon was called quế in Vietnam, and grew
exceptionally in mountains in North Vietnam. Cinnamon is arbor,
large evergreen shrubs, and was formerly used for the Palace in
Vietnam, and thus unofficial logging was prohibited. The chief of the
mountaneous indigenous people, the Muong[*118], therefore, got a
logging permit from the authorities to collect the cinnamon from
older days. The French forest director Mr. Marcon had said to
Tomioka, “They believed a discovery of cinnamon trees depends
especially upon the divine protection, so, grand religious rites are
carried out before they enter deep the mountains.” Once the Muong
went out to explore the mountains, it was not uncommon that they
did not come back for two or three years. Besides, it was only a veteran
of the Muong that could find the cinnamon. They searched the
mountains for the fragrance of the cinnamon. Once they found
cinnamon shrubs, they had to report their discovry first to the
authorities. Then, they peeled the highly aromatic inner bark of the
logged cinnamon arbors, and applied for a govermental seal and
stamps on the barks. In mountains in Thanh Hoa, Tomioka smelled
the aromatic fragrance of cinnamon from time to time.
While the bare Osei washing his back, Tomioka recalled cinnamon
aroma in his memory. His child, whom Niu gave birth to, probably
began toddling and understood words by now. He wondered about
how Niu made her living with a child born out of wedlock. Tomioka
imagined the life of his former mistress whom he would never meet
again and his child.
The light in the bathroom flickered dimly from time to time.
Tomioka asked.
“How long have you been in Ikaho?”
“For two years or more. Say, I want to go to Tokyo. I am already bored
of such a lonesome place like this. …… First of all, business is slow.
And, no customers in the coldest period in winter. ……”
“Don’t customers come?”
“All up with our business. He often says to me that we cannot live on
this, so, go to Tokyo, and begin his former business. But, I hate the fish
shop. …… I want to go alone to Tokyo, and become a dancer. Do you
remember the geisha with whom we met at the doorway? I take
dancing lessons from her. …… She says, ‘You can live on dancing in
Tokyo.’ I want to try it. …… Business doesn’t pay here if it is not
summertime.”
“A dance. It may be not bad. Even if you dance, however, it won’t
make you enough money to live. After all, you may live on your body.
……”
 “Even if you say so, I want to go to Tokyo. He is terribly particular
about me, and I cannot go to Tokyo easily. ……”
After pouring hot water on his back, she went back into the bathtub
noisily.
When the two people left the bathhouse and went back upstairs,
Yukiko was talking to the master who was still drinking sake. A funny
story of her memories in French Indochina.
“Oh. You two took your time leisurely. …… I thought you ran away
together.”
Yukiko was joking, but Tomioka was horrified by Yukiko’s intuition.
Osei was not affected at all. She hung the cold wash clothes on wall
nails, and then, entered the kotatsu.
He thought that Osei rouged her cheeks, but it was not. Her cheeks
were red by nature, and so, she looked like a rustic woman in
mountains, indeed.
Osei’s naturally-made face looked bright and sleek. Tomioka looked,
with his empty eyes of which the soul was gone out, at her large and
heavy-looking chest. He did not feel like clinging to Yukiko to find
solace in her any more. Seeing Osei’s stout and plump body, he began
thinking about his life from tomorrow. He had no intention of dying.
No apology from Yukiko for his betrayal. Osei, from time to time, saw
Tomioka with her glowing eyes, as if she touched him lightly in
passing. Tomioka felt, in his feelings, such an adolescent wantonness
sprouting as while traveling in Indochina. He suspended a sense of
ethics, just in case, from his forehead. He, deep in his chest, however,
despised Osei’s husband and Yukiko. He expected Osei’s seduction to
revive himself, and felt even a kind of scorching excitement. ― He
was eager to erase her husband and Yukiko out of his sight who were
in front of his eyes at present. If not for the two people, Tomioka could
have advanced freely his second life with Osei. He was confident of
cutting off flatly the ties of his immediate family. He imagined to be
jailed together with Osei for murdering the two people in front of his
eyes. ― The master and Yukiko were quite drunk. He was sleeping
drunk in the kotatsu. Yukiko lift her eyes dimmed with drink. Osei
brought a bottle of japanese distilled beverage, shōchū, poured it in
Yukiko’s glass and mixed it with water. Yukiko was thirsty and gulped
tastily down the water from her glass while speaking senseless words.
Osei dragged her husband to the next room, their bedroom. Tomioka
did not care Yukiko, on the contrary, poured shōchū gurglingly in
Yukiko’s glass. Yukiko blew out her laughs and sprayed the water from
her glass everywhere around, and drank the water mixed with shōchū
in her glass. Her face was red like a burning fire.
“Coconut water tastes good. Well, say, it was so cool and smelled
something crude. …… I want to drink coconut water.”
“Here you are, the coconut water. ……”
Tomioka poured shōchū in her glass again. All of her body was
numbed, and her consciousness faded. Tomioka lit a cigarette and
listened to the wind blowing outside. Osei warmed her hands over the
brazier, the daruma-hibachi, and suddenly gripped Tomioka’s foot
creeping close to her knee. She stared wide-eyed at him as if the blue
ether spilled glittering from her wide-opened eyes. Tomioka moved
close to the hibachi, and drew Osei’s neck near his own face.
“No!”
“She is drunk and not notice anything.”
“I don’t want to. Your wife is still saying something.”
Tomioka with revenging eyes gazed hatefully at ugly Yukiko, drunk
and her make-up rubbed off. He felt like the stage curtain fell alrealy
and ended his relationship with this woman. Tomioka disregarded
Yukiko who layed down while still talking, drew Osei’s shoulder close,
and pressed his lips intensely on her lips. Yukiko sang laughing. She
sang that song, “Your love, and my love, only on the first day, was true.
Those eyes were sincere.” ‘Silly woman,’ he thought, and removed the
hibachi which Osei’s knees held fast.
Yukiko woke up from time to time, but it was dark in the room. She
heard hoarse sounds of a male snoring close to her ears. With the
sound of snoring, she also heard another sound, through a window
curtain on which reflected by the streetlamp a man and woman
snuggled and speaking in a whisper on the street. Yukiko felt a scorch
on her throat. She wanted to crawl toward where coconut water
gushed. The room shook like a hammock. Her shoulder and waist lost
power to hold her body. She was dying to drink water, but her dry
throat was firmly stuck and she could not utter a voice. She forcibly
turned over and could crawl at last. Suddenly someone stepped over
her pillow and approached the sliding paper panels, fusuma. She
casually opened her heavy eyes in a daze. A tall figure of a woman
slided the fusuma to open, through which she was about to pass to the
next room. Yukiko called out the figure.
“Give me water.”
The fusuma was closed. No response. Yukiko got angry, and cried out
again.
“I want a drink of water.”
No one woke up. Yukiko crawled groping around the kotatsu.

.. * 31

For three days, Tomioka and Yukiko stayed on the second floor of the
bar.
Yukiko began preparing impatiently for their return to Tokyo.
Yukiko, with a woman’s sensitivity to love rivals, somehow felt aversion
against Osei. On the eve of leaving from Ikaho, they held a farewell
feast, where the master, incited by Osei, again treated them with sake.
Yukiko did not drink much. Heavy drinking at the first night affected
her badly, her headache lasted all the time during her stay, besides she
had a heavy stomach feeling. Osei often poured sake in Yuiko’s glass,
who secretly drew near an ashtray and poured sake into it.
Nevertheless, she pretended to be drunk. Tomioka with his eyes close
sometimes sang a vietnamese song in a low voice. Yukiko granced at
Osei’s face at times. A vague figure of a woman Yukiko saw at the first
night seemed to be Osei. It was also an enigma to Yukiko why Osei was
standing near the sliding paper panels, the fusuma. The master was
comfortably drunk already, and talked with sniffles that he wanted to
go to Tokyo where he would make a name in the world.
“I want to build a pub on the ruin of the firebombing in Honjo[*61].
Calculating the present land price in Tokyo, in 20,000 yen per 35.5
square feet[*21], as we need at least 355 square feet for building our
pub, so, the price, even if simply calculated, becomes 200,000 yen. It is
a considerable amount of money. As a whole, we have to prepare, at
least, 300,000 yen including the money for the suppliers. I cannot
afford that much so easily. I heard that living in Tokyo is not easy
today. …… However, we cannot continue this way for a long time.
I put up this bar for sale inclusive with furniture and all. Aftr all, Ikaho
is a summertime resort, and we have no patience to manage to survive
till summer. I even speak with Osei to temporarily stay at the house of
my sworn brother who lives in Tsukiji[*205].”
Tomioka sometimes opened his eyes and gave him responses
smoothly, although other people’s matter was of no importance to
him. He took his small porcelain cup, sakazuki, to his lips and sipped
sake with gloomy and dull feelings. The master liked Tomioka, quiet
and modest. He felt like consulting Tomioka for everything. He said
that he and Osei got bored with their bar business.
There was no wind outside, but the night was so cold that they felt
chilled to the bone. Not usual, a blind masseur strolled passed
beneath the window while blowing a whistle.
Tomioka said, as if suddenly occurred to his mind.
“Well, I will go to take a bath.”
Osei stood up at once, and took a soap box and washcloths by hand,
and said.
“I will warm myself in the bath, too.”
“Oh, then, I will go together.”
Yukiko casually stood up behind Tomioka. Osei showed her
discontentment on her face, and said.
“I see. Then, you two only go together.”
It was like a stone sharply hit Yukiko’s forehead, which made her
upset. She looked at Osei’s roughness, and then, went down the stairs
after Tomioka.
She put on the clogs, and went out to the back door. The air was
piercingly cold.
“Osei’san is a strange woman. Does she like you? Somehow
ridiculous. ……”
 Yukiko jestingly gave him a leading question from behind, and got a
jocular response from Tomioka, “Heh. Is that so?” while going down
the stone stairs.
“That monkey is quite a flirt. ……”
“Is that so? ……”
“Is that so? You always look aloof at a woman, and yet, grab the
woman’s heart firmly …… .”
“Not particularly, I didn’t grab the monkey. Don’t be silly.”
“However, you don’t mean that you are not interested in her, do
you?”
“No, I do not. ……”
“I wonder. When I said to go together to the bath, her complexion
suddenly changed as if she got angry. She is in love with you. ― she
did a good service only for you. ……”
 “Aah, that’s news to me. Shall we stay for some more days?”
“Good idea.”
The two people giggling entered the large bathtub of the rice shop.
Seven or eight people in the bathtub were talking loudly about rates in
the black rice-market. They seemed to be tourists. Among them were
also two women, apparently the geisha, one of whom washed the back
of a tourist. The tourist who got the geisha to wash his back was
teased by other members of the tour. The bathroom was so bustling.
Tomioka casually looked at Yukiko’s naked body, and felt pity as her
body was not thickset like Osei. Near the side of two young geishas,
Yukiko’s body aging was apparent. Nevertheless, her legs were sleek
and well-proportioned with her upper body. Yukiko washed her body
freely. Washing a man’s back, like the geisha, was not her concern. ―
Yukiko got out of the bath and went into the dressing room. Tomioka’s
bathroom basket, with his clothes, should have placed side by side
with Yukiko’s basket, but, was replaced with a basket which contained
a baggage wrapped in a blue cloth, furoshiki. She thought that it was
the basket of a different person, and looked around in the room. She
felt bewildered. Then, she secretly looked in at an opening of the
furoshiki, and saw Tomioka’s clothes inside the furoshiki. Soon after,
Tomioka seemingly got out of the bathtub. Before he opened the door
to the dressing room, Yukiko quickly got dressed and went to comb
her hair in front of the mirror. Tomioka, who reflected in the mirror,
looked at the blue furoshiki in his basket, and looked puzzled for an
instant. But, he feigned ignorance and began untying the furoshiki.
Somehow, he seemed to look for something carefully. After a while, he
glanced at Yukiko, and, to her surprise, he quickly wore brand-new
white underpants. Tomioka put on his clothes in a hurry, and folded
compactly the furoshiki, which he put into his pocket. This chain of
events was a mystery for Yukiko.
“Say, it is strange. Why were your clothes wrapped in the furoshiki?”
Yukiko left the mirror while teasing him.
“It seems that someone wrapped them up. ……”
“With new underpants. Where is your old pants?”
Tomioka with no response went back quickly to the bathroom, and
squeezed his washcloth. It offended Yukiko. Tomioka came back. She
did not complain, and went out to the cold hallway ahead of him.
　　― She saw wrongly from time to time the heart of the man who,
in fact, was going to get away from her. In such a situation like this,
Yukiko tried to persuade herself definitely not to be dragged anymore
by her past memories with Tomioka. Unbearable loneliness. Yukiko,
however, decided to live alone for the time being. She tried to remind
herself in her mind, ‘Do not be dragged by the past in the overly
relaxed mentality.’
The two people went up quietly the stone stairs. Stardusts twinkled
like lights of a ship. Yukiko blew hoarsely a whistle with her lips as a
pastime. She wiped, in the sleeve of her cloak, something hot rising up
her eyelids. The thirst of her heart at the time when she came back
from Hai Phong suddenly flowed on to her cheek in the form of tears,
by now, incessantly. ‘Since we were back to Japan, what made us such
lazy and lonely people like this? ……’ Yukiko groaned and choked on
her falling tears, while mounting the stone stairs.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing ……”
“Are you suspicious of me?”
“For what?”
A vehement anger assaulted her, but, dissolved in her chest before
boiling over her mouth. Her excitement sank gradually. At the top of
the stone stairs, an alley along the house led to the main street.
“Shall we walk for a while?”
“We shall not be off. We need not catch a cold.”
Tomioka stopped and said in an indistinct voice, “You are nervous.”
Very soon, however, he spoke quickly.
“It’s not you, it’s me that is nervous. It’s me that is restless. I feel
easily like drowning. A life in solitude is unbearable. …… I can’t stand
it, so I am sinking as it is. ― I eagerly begin walking in any directions
at hand. …… Right now as well, I feel like going my own way.”
While speaking, he bore his frozen washcloth on his shoulder like a
stick.
“We will freeze. Let’s enter the house anyway, and go to bed quickly.
…… I want to leave here early tomorrow morning. ……”
 “Don’t talk like that only you will go. …… I will go with you as we
came here together. We must go back together.”
“Well, it may be so, but …… you are an annoyance. …… Now, it
doesn’t matter. Let’s stop talking. My legs are shivering with cold. ……”
Two people passsed through the back door, and mounted upstairs.
In the next room, the master was asleep with a snore. Osei was not
seen. Tomioka took a porcelain sake bottle, tokkuri, from the table,
and lightly swayed it near his ear. Seemingly the sake remained a little
in it. He poured the cold sake in his cup, and drank noisily. No
presence of Osei in the master’s bed had some effect upon Tomioka
and Yukiko who came back from hot spring. Each of two people
minded Osei’s absence, in each way. Yukiko put her extremely cold legs
in the kotatsu, and began thinking of her life after her separation from
Tomioka tomorrow in Tokyo. She felt that her one-week absence had
cleared her life in Ikebukuro once and for all.

.. * 32

They returned to Tokyo in the afternoon on January 15.

Yukiko returned to her own secure retreat, and Tomioka was together
with her. Her depression was worse than the time when she left Tokyo.
She went to the hardware store, the house owner, for greetings of her
return home, and was given back her key. The wife looked offensive.
When she saw her face, Yukiko realized that she was displeased with
her unexpectedly long absence, and opened her hut while feeling
uneasy as if she was going to enter some other person’s house. She put
on an electric light, which was installed recently on her request to the
house owner. Then, she screwed a plug of a code of an electric stove
into the other outlet of a double plug socket[*181], and switched it on.
She felt that the room was somewhat in disorder. On the top of the
kotatsu, a letter was placed, left by Iba. The letter told her that he
stayed two nights in her room and waited for her. He urged her visit
once to her hometown. Iba’s family planned to get together in his
house in Sagino’miya, on the day of seven herbs, nanakusa’no’hi[*127],
and Iba eagerly invited Yukiko to come and stay on a visit on that day.
Yukiko ripped up his letter soon and threw the pieces into the charcoal
grill, shichirin, where charcoals were ablaze. She put the burning
charcoal in the kotatsu. Then, she began brewing coffee.
Tomioka smoked with his legs in the kotatsu, and asked her while
scratching his hair with a hand.
“Don’t you have sake, here?”
Yukiko looked through two or three bottles at the corner, and said.
“No.” Tomioka became dependent on sake, and could not pass even a
single night without drinking sake. He had to stir his mind with sake,
otherwise, could not bear a solitude which he was sliding down
rapidly. He left Osei behind although she asked him to run away with
her, which Tomioka recalled like an old tale. He missed her,
simultaneously, she meant little to him. She asked his address and he
gave her a false address. He came back to Tokyo, wearing a new
underpants that Osei wholeheartedly prepared for him. He felt it was
like other people’s affair.
“Do you want to drink?”
“Sure ……”
“Well, then. I will get you dead drunk tonight. ……”
Yukiko told a joke while brewing coffee. Nevertheless, she did not
have any intention to go out for buying sake.
“Do you still mind?”
“Me? Mind what?”
“Nothing. Shall we have a feast for celebrating each other our narrow
escape from death? ……”
“We were rescued virtually by Osei’san by a hair’s breath, weren’t
we?”
“By a monkey?”
“She has a nice body, hasn’t she? Tears shone in Osei’s eyes at the bus
stop.”
“Aha.”
Yukiko poured coffee in a cup and pushed it toward him. She, while
drinking hot coffee, saw Tomioka’s face now for the first time. Tomioka
stubbed the cigarette in the ashtray, and put the cup to his lips. With
no reason, Yukiko was eager to fall asleep alone tonight. She felt like
abstaining from even a drop of sake since Ikaho. ― After drinking
coffee, Tomioka went out, saying that he was going to buy sake. Yukiko
let Tomioka do as he wanted. Tomioka’s habit of drinking sake seemed
to her to be his fate. Tokyo as well was unexpctedly cold.
Yukiko went to the back door of the house owner’s residence for
drawing water to wash rice. She wondered if Joe had come, although
she did not care about him anymore. She drew the water into her
bucket, and returned to her hut. Tomioka already came back after
shopping for a 0.5 gal bottle of sake. He poured sake into a kettle, and
put it on the electric stove.
“You wallow in sake.”
“Yes. For the time being, this is my best lover. ……”
“Tomioka’san is horrible. You indulge only in yourself, don’t you?”
Tomioka poured hot sake into his coffee cup, sipped it, and then,
glared at Yukiko.
“I indulge in myself, therefore, I have a lingering affection over my
life. Dying is a pain. A momentary pain before dying frightens me.
This is not a pain like an injury. The pain of losing a life. I cannot die
so easily. That is not because of my indulgence in myself, but because
of my lingering affection over my life. …… Why not drink?”
“I don’t want to. I will have a sore stomach if I drink.”
“Don’t say like that. Drink a cup of sake. A drink of sake will make
you feel better.”
“No thanks. I will cook rice and eat it. I can’t drink even a drop of
sake. ……”
Yukiko washed the rice in a pan and put it on the stove. Tomioka
poured sake in his cup again, and then, took a pair of small dice out of
his pocket. He shook the dice and threw them onto the flat top board
of the kotatsu. Osei gave him the dice secretly on their separation. The
upward faces showed 2 pips and 5 pips, each. ‘Oops,’ he cried out in
mind, ‘Stupid of me!’ Tomioka detested those numbers. He quickly
shook and threw the dice again. 4 and 5 pips. Tomioka with vexation
shook again the dice. He sipped the third cup of sake, while feeling
like that a somewhat somber melancholy vehicle began sliding out. He
remembered Kirillov’s words in the novel “Demon,” where Alexei
Nilych Kirillov said, »However, do you think that there is no way to die
without pain?» The first reason of a fear in suicide is the pain. The
second reason of it is the afterlife.
»A perfect freedom can be obtained for the first time, when alive or
not alive becomes the same. This is absolutely the purpose.»
Tomioka sighed, and threw again the dice with a big wave of his
hand. Strangely enough, he rolled a 2 and 5, again. The numbers were
back to square one.
“Is the rice boiled?”
“Very soon.”
“Ikaho was amusing, wasn’t it?”
“Well. Owing to the monkey girl, wasn’t it? …… .”
“Uh huh. ……”
“Do you miss her?”
“Uh huh. ……”
“You can visit her, again. ……”
“Don’t bother me. I will visit!”
“Why do you get angry? So much, you like her. ……”
“Yes, I like her. She is such a woman who expresses through her body
without saying anything. I want to see her. ……”
“You should go to meet her.”
“It’s too late. I left her completely. ……”
Yukiko began to say something, at the same time, an earth tremors
of a freight train passing through Ikebukuro station shook the hut like
an earthquake.
The sparkle of Osei’s eyes occurred to his mind. Her glittering
beautiful eyes were like a wild animal. Her white naked body was large
and heavy, which was distortingly refracted in the air. He yearned for
her hot sweaty skin. Gripping fingers each other in silence, and
breaths in the dark, which suddenly came back to his memory.
Tomioka was agreeably drunk, and so, his lust for Osei was stirred. A
touch of her stiffly permed hair was just like the horse hair. Tomioka
desperately continued shaking and throwing the pair of dice onto the
kotatsu. The freight train went far away. The earth tremors also
stopped. Tomioka brought the fourth cup of sake to his mouth. Yukiko
took down the pan. A hot coil of electric wire of the stove offered
gaiety in the cold room. Not until this time did Yukiko feel strong hate
against Osei. Tomioka’s words referring to Osei as ‘a woman who
expresses by her body without saying anything’ pierced her heart like a
needle. An obscure outline of a phantom figure, the tall figure of a
woman, which Yukiko saw with her eyes dimmed with drink, must
have been Osei, after all.
“You are horrible. ……”
Tomioka, with no reply, was shaking and throwing the dice. Just
boredom. Even so, he did not feel like going back to his wife, Kuniko.
It was annoying to see Kuniko sitting in the desolate house no better
than a nobody’s house. It did not mean, however, that he had
somewhat special affection toward Yukiko. He recently became to
know each other’s slyness that they were going to purify their
relationship in a kind of friendship. The days when he had won Yukiko
as his lover were long since past.

.. * 33

Tomioka drank almost 0.5 gal of sake, the whole bottle.

“In Da Lat, we drank sherry very often, didn’t we?”
Yukiko finished eating rice, and poured the coffee in her cup again.
Yukiko, with amazement, looked at the almost empty bottle, while
observing Tomioka who was drinking and talking alone arbitrarily.
Sake probably was something like a drug to Tomioka. Whatever
business he may be engaged in, low income will not catch up with his
consumption of sake if he drink everyday. Irritation, rather than pity
for him, rose in her mind. He indulged in sake, and, resultantly, his
power for thinking seriously or consulting other people fell out.
His oily face reflected light, his youth as shown back in Indochina had
disappeared. His face looked tired and thin.
“Why are you staring at my face? Do you intend to drive me away?
…… Because this is your residence. My existence will interfere with
your business, when your customer arrives, by any chance. ……”
“Come on! ……”
“To tell the truth, the most important is the time of separation and
that of payment. …… Once you have learned that, you will come
across no grave disaster in your life. …… Even if I say so, many a life
are hard to part. A wretched state at the time of the defeat in war
resulted from our clumsy payment. This way or the alternative of
doing upside down or the other way round. ……
After all, the ‘going my way’ has become everyone’s creed.”
“You are talkative. Stop drinking, and sleep now. How come? You are
doodling despite that you talked the importance of the time of
separation and that of payment. ……”
“Don’t get so angry. We will part left and right, tomorrow. Let’s ‘going
my way.’ Nothing suspicious in Ikaho, so, please do not sulk, ma chérie
Yuki. ……”
Tomioka was speaking garrulously with antics. He even called her
ma chérie, my darling, in French. The purple lips of Tomioka were
impressive to Yukiko. Tomioka took out a cigarette, and held it in his
mouth, while always speaking as if he licked the cigarette stickily. His
eyes were dull. His hair hung down to his forehead.
“You are hopeless. Even so, you are lucky as you reflect nicely in
other people’s eyes. Pretentious, fickle, however, timid, and you
become bold only if you drink sake, …… and a poseur.”
“Aha, a poseur. …… Any other else? My bad qualities and habits ……”
“Sure. You are totally sly, and yet conceal it from sight. You might as
well give up everything and keep yourself depressed, but you can’t. You
are a good tactician, and yet, your head doesn’t work in the field of
business, with your air of an official as a cause, isn’t it? If you overcame
this rough world skillfully, Tomioka’san would be really a great man.
……”
“Ahem, I have a future ahead of me. Don’t hold me up like a bimbo
…… . Although I’m seemingly scared, even I have a desire more than
ordinarily to get a great wealth. ……”
“Then, why did you wish your own death?”
“Have you never wished your death? I want to live, thus, I think also
to die. At the time when we went to Ikaho, my mind was ready to die.
Therefore I went. …… When I returned to Tokyo, I somehow thought
that I can manage to live if I survive. Therefore I returned. ― I drink
sake in this way, because I thought it’s lonesome to die. I found out
that I am not brave, so I gave up dying. There must be no one who
does not think of death in his or her lifetime. …… At least, even if we
want to die, we cannot easily overcome our obstructive consciences
hanging in front. People are like millet grains if seen from the heaven,
but, are equipped with full-fledged theories and have self-conceits and
vanities. …… People never have a method to become sennin[*165], the
spritually and physcally immortal. People absorb wastes which are full
of contradictions and inconsistencies, and anyhow created by
ourselves diversion in life. Among wastes of contradictions, there
certainly are business, women, politics, laws, and sports! ― Parting of
the ways for lucky and unlucky people depends upon how to absorb
wastes of contradictions. ― In Hai Phong, there certainly were odious
people at the time of embarkation, weren’t there? They wanted to
quickly return to Japan, and pushed away their associates for
boarding, even though they prevented the entrance of their coworkers.
Someone began to utter that everyone but him was a war criminal. ……
Human beings are like that. Don’t you think that we need to watch
out for people especially those who tell justice? For such people
deceiving a woman like you is easy. …… The man, Kano, however, was
a good fellow. Honest, and yet, always unlucky. But he did not think
himself unlucky. ……”
“You and I have to offer an apology to Kano’san. ― It’s us that
piqued him, fooled him, and finally let him commit a crime. …… When
he was arrested by the military police and taken to custody in Saigon,
he did not bear a grudge against us, even a little. …… I was cut and
hurt by Kano’san. It’s you, however, that gained an advantage on and
after the affair. You are sly. ……”
“I was lucky. That’s all.”
“He always said that Japan will win! Win! He must have been
surprised when he repatriated to Japan. …… At that time, I also
thought that Kano’san was stupid.”
 Tomioka became quite drunk. He layed flat on his elbow warming
himself at the kotatsu. Something like dark forests appeared in his
eyelids. Kano had completed surveys on forests in Africa and charcoal
gasification experiments, thus, had contributed to make charcoal-gas
driven automobiles widely available in Indochina. He had said that he
would study with Mr. Harold at Institute of Agriculture and Forestry
in Saigon, and give his life to research and development of the
carbonization method for gasification and interim work for planting
firewood forests. Once he concentrated on something, he could be
absorbed headlong in his work beyond any doubt. Tomioka finally
understood that Kano’s pure self-sacrificing devotion had been of
great value. In the hearsay, Kano, after coming back, began working
freely as a day laborer, contrary to his way of life so far. The reason was
unknown to anyone. Whether true or false, the story about Kano,
however, was not confirmed until after meeting him. Such a man as
Kano might have frankly done what he had in mind. Tomioka decided
to visit Kano once.
After a certain peace treaty would be concluded, and such days
would come again that everyone can go freely anywhere, Tomioka
wanted to set sail for Saigon once more, even if he would work in a
position of a mere servant.
“Are you sleepy?”
“No, not at all. I am wide awake. I think in various ways of living,
with no conclusion. From now on …… women are always women, but
men will meet many hardships.”
“A woman as well have to endure hardship. Besides, you are not
reliable. I am thinking to go back once to my hometown. What do you
think of this?”
“That’s a good idea. Go back to your hometown, and be a healthy
bride. If you enter a peaceful life, it would be the best for you.”
“Oh, you’re hateful. I will not become a bride. I said to return home,
but it’s not what you might think. I have my way of life, so, I go home
to say good-bye. ……”
“Aha, your way of life. That’s true. Anyone has his or her own way of
life. …… Even so, do not push yourself. You won’t remain single all
your life.”
 Yukiko added charcoal in the brazier under the kotatsu. While
blowing up the fire, she said angrily.
“You talk about me like other people’s affairs.”
From time to time, the ground shook when the government
railways’ trains passed. It seemed like a lie to her that they stayed in
Ikaho till yesterday. She did not have anxiety now that Tomioka lay in
front of her. After her parting from him in reality, her single life in this
hut might be lonely. She wanted, a while ago, to fall fast asleep alone,
but her mind changed at this moment. It was a comfort for her to get
together in one place with people who had known each other’s
identities.
“Any cigarettes?”
Tomioka pushed his hand to her. Yukiko took a cigarette package of
Hikari[*58] brand out of her handbag, and put it into his hand. Then,
she picked up the two dice from the kotatsu, and lost in her own
thought while shaking and throwing the dice for a while. Her problem
was what work she should do, which weighed heavily over her. She
was not competent to do office work anymore. Moreover, she could
not become a maid servant. She hated to be a wife. She would starve if
she did not work. What work should she choose? Yukiko wavered in
her thoughts while shaking the dice. She secretly imagined herself to
be a whore in the cold wind in town.

.. * 34

On the Seven Herbs’ Day, the nanakusa’no’hi[*127], Yukiko did not visit
the Iba. She shut herself up in her hut for 4 or 5 days since Tomioka
went away. She did not feel like going out or doing anything. No sign
that her mental wound would heal. She wrote to Osei in Ikaho, and to
Kano, who lived in Minosawa town in Yokohama, according to
Tomioka.
To Osei, Yukiko wrote with purpose, ‘My husband asked to be
remembered to you.’ It was a gratuitous mischief Yukiko did, looking
forward to Osei’s reaction in her possible reply. To Kano, she wrote, ‘I
would like to call on you one of these days,’ and asked a suitable date
and time for her visit. Unexpectedly enough, very soon after she sent
letters, Osei’s husband came to see Yukiko on a snowy day. He said
that Osei went away from home alone with no luggage the next
morning when Yukiko and Tomioka left for Tokyo, and had still not
returned.
Yukiko soon brought back Tomioka from her memory. He stayed
overnight in her room, and went away next morning. She suspected
him of having promised with Osei to meet somewhere else. She had
not seen their love scene, but noticed that Osei was shedding tears
when she came to see them off at the bus station. Yukiko perceived
that it was not ordinary tears of a woman. Tomioka said to have given
a false address to Osei, however, now that Osei’s husband gave her a
visit this way, it was likely that Tomioka told a lie to Yukiko. It might
be possible to suspect that there must have been a certain promise
between them. Yukiko desired to part from Tomioka always while she
was with him. Nevertheless, no sooner Tomioka went back to his wife
than Yukiko regretted that they had not committed suicide in Ikaho.
Now she thought that they had taken the death so easy. She felt that
her own secret despair took a shape of a bamboo enclosure which was
set up around herself. Yukiko told Tomioka’s address intentionally to
Osei’s husband. Around this time of the day, that man must have met
Osei somewhere else. ……
Early in the next morning, again, Osei’s husband came back to
Yukiko’s hut.
“Tomioka’san was at home. He seemed to know nothing about Osei,
and was very much surprised. …… I have no idea about any likely
places for her to drop in, so, I’m thinking to ask the police to search
for her. Tomioka’san let me stay overnight in his house. They did not
have any extra futon beddings, and so, I layed down at the kotatsu the
whole night. I gave a lot of trouble to his wife as well.”
Osei’s husband seemed to notice Yukiko’s status for the first time
while talking, and then, came into the dark hut unreservedly and with
little courtesy.
 Yukiko wondered whether Osei’s tears was merely her imagination
after all. Tomioka, however, got used to becoming very cold-blooded,
depending upon how he felt. Considering this, perhaps, it might have
been true that Tomioka, as he said, told his address to neither Osei nor
her husband. If Tomioka did not meet Osei, Tomioka’s cruelty seemed
to Yukiko to be still more ominous. Yukiko, with a woman’s intuition,
pierced an unusual relationship between Tomioka and Osei. It was
impossible that Yukiko had not perceived what signified Osei’s
assiduity to bring him a brand-new underpants in the public bath at
the hot spring. If Tomioka avoided Osei’s womanly feelings and did not
meet her, Yukiko wondered whether that was egocentric gratification
of his casual desire while he was on the road touring. …… Yukiko
thought that it was his cruelty to have renounced the relationship with
Osei half-heartedly on the spot, without any thoughts lingering of her.
An hour later, Osei’s husband forlornly went away.
Yukiko felt like having seen Tomioka’s innermost feelings. She was
somewhat in sympathy with young Osei who ran away from home
after having been trifled with Tomioka. Later on the same day, Yukiko
got a reply from Kano, who wrote; »I feel a longing to see an old
friend, although I am sick in bed in a squalid room. Please come to see
me if your intention in your letter is your true feeling.» At the end of
his letter, a postscript was added in small characters. »I would like to
meet also Tomioka’kun, so please come together with him if okay.»
Yukiko unbearably yearned for Kano, who seemed to have seen much
of life and become so affable. She was relieved, judging from his
letter’s wording, that Kano seemed not to feel ill against Tomioka and
her.

Yukiko boldly visited Kano in Minosawa town in Yokohama. She

walked looking deliberately at house numbers on dug-up roads where
bearing plants, printing houses, and the like were lined tightly in
disorder. She finally located Kano’s tenement house.
Hut-like plain barracks, nagaya[*125], were built in line along the road.
On the outskirts of the nagayas, there was the two-story house where
Angora rabbits were kept inside and Kano rented a room. In the same
way as Osei’s house in Ikaho, the house easily swayed because of its
simplistic fixture. A child downstairs told Yukiko that Kano lay on the
second floor. Yukiko without permission went upstairs. Toward a low
ceiling one single room, she passed from a doorway of a ladder,
through the place where charcoal grills, the shichirin, and charcoal
sacks were laid in a pile. She stood beside a sliding paper door, the
fusuma, where the paper was torn off everywhere. She recalled Kano’s
high-pitched voice, which spoke now again to her.
“Sorry for my squalid room, however, come in, please.”
Yukiko opened the fusuma. Kano lay on the futon, drawing a blanket
over him, and wearing a dirty washcloth, tenugui, around his head.
Over his head, a naked electric bulb with no shade was swinging
slowly, as if it were a ice bag. His face looked swollen and livid. His
appearance had changed, with no old vestige. Yukiko walked to his
bedside in a mess with no place to step on, and said, looking at Kano
into his face.
“Oh, what’s going on? Did you catch a cold?”
Kano blushed and wistfully smiled. His white teeth showed.
“I was down. I was infected with pulmonary tuberculosis, and
coughed up blood a bit again last night. ……”
He said like other peoples’ affair. He looked at a cushon like a cotton
rag near the window, and showed it to her with his eyes, while saying.
“Please, sit on it.”
The room smelled of phenol, a disinfectant.
“My body fell flat. I worked as a cargo handling laborer for a while. I
have lay on bed for more than 40 days, as a result that I had my body
cooled in the rain. I feel like a still live corpse. ― I thought that you
would come together with Tomioka’kun.”
“Oh, no. I came alone. I have not seen Tomioka’san for a long time.”
“Ahaa, aren’t you married?”
“To whom?”
“I have thought that you live happily with Tomioka’kun. ……”
“I live alone. Tomioka’san is Tomioka’san. ― Who on the earth is in
the care of Kano’san?”
“I live with my mother and younger brother. My brother works as a
typesetter at the printing plant called Bunju’dō near here. During the
war, he was a member of the airborne unit of the super stormtroopers,
the tokkōtai. He became a typesetter after the war and lived with our
mother, while the two people kept waiting for my repatriation. They
were burnt out in the air raid, and we don’t have a house anymore.
Therefore, we live together in this one single room. However, this is
like a golden palace for us.”
Through the glass window, cracks of which were repaired by pasting
pieces of paper, the afternoon sun shone in vulnerably casting stripes
of the light onto the dirty military blanket. Yukiko thought that she
saw violent changes in people’s circumstances. Kano’s face, unshaven
and pale, looked meager. A soft and round face like a child he looked
like had gotten old quickly by 10 years.
The current appearance of Kano lying down in bed hindered her from
remembering his life in the South. He lay down there with an entirely
different face. She could not imagine more than a relationship of utter
strangers as if there had been no inconvenient past between the two
people.
“You have changed. ……”
“I suppose that you are surprised.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s talk of the past, today. I was very happy when I received your
letter. …… I thought that you are not likely to give me a letter. ……”
“Why not? Tomioka’san informed me of your address, and I eagerly
wanted to meet you. ……”
“Ahh, it’s kind of you. ……”
Suddenly, awkward feelings passed through their minds, and
momentary silence prevailed in the room.

.. * 35

“Mother also went out for work, so, I cannot serve you even tea. ……
Rather, it may be better that you are free from infection with disease.”
Kano coldly flashed a brief smile while talking ironically.
 Yukiko felt a thousand thorns in his words, but kept silent. She did
not oppose him. Kano coughed hard from time to time, and shook his
head in habit.
“Don’t you need to cool off?”
“It’s good to cool the chest, but I have no patience to do so. Living so
as not to disturb my mother and brother is my very least appreciation
to them. …… I was enlightened recently not to disturb other people. I
became confident to die anytime. Nevertheless, my life as well is given
by God with much effort, so, it may be a bit better to live even a day
longer than being dead and reduced to ashes. ……”
“Don’t despair. Please get well soon. ……”
“I won’t get well, absolutely not. ……”
“Why do you despair so much? …… It depends upon how you think.
I hope you will be back to an energetic Kano’san as before.”
“The former Kano’san has died in the war, I think this way. My body
and soul were shattered in the war. I had a painful experience. Howevr,
I gave it up, as I cannot do anything about it. From time to time, I
recall my days in Indochina, and think it the most impressive days in
my life. …… How about you? Thereafter, does the wound still hurt
you? I’m sure that it was your left arm.”
Yukiko was moved to tears by Kano’s pure heart that he still
remembered her wound.
“I truly apologize for it to you.”
“Don’t say like that. I always feel sorry for my selfish behavior to you.
At that time, there was something not normal with everyone. We
comported ourselves with insanity.”
“Indeed. Everyone was in a state of insanity. I felt like you, on
purpose, leaned onto my knife. I went to Tomiokas’ room to stab him,
and I saw you there, which made me fiercely furious. Now I feel
painful regret for my wrongdoing.”
“Stop saying that story. ……”
“I am sorry. When I met you, it unintentionally was recalled in my
mind like an affair of yesterday. ……”
The smell of medicine in the air of the room overwhelmed Yukiko,
who stood to open slightly the glass window. The cool air pleasantly
flew into the room.
 “How is Tomioka’kun?”
“Yes, he seems to be fine.”
“He is a lucky person. He seems to understand other people’s ruins
and poverty, and look knowing such fates of other people, while he
sits down in a comfotable chair and does not begin to readily work. I
don’t mean to speak against him. These day, I began to recognize that
his luck consists on his characteristic attitude as I described, and that
I should have emulated him earlier.”
“However, he seems not to do very well.”
“Is that so? …… You see him in a favorable light, don’t you? His
house was not burnt out. I heard that he found a good business
partner, and everything goes well with him.”
Yukiko reconsidered that Tomioka took her to Ikaho to die together,
which he did not carry out. These circumstances were unknown to
Kano, so he talked that way.
“He seems to be very unfortunate, now. He said to me this way. He
sold his house, sent his family back to his hometown so that he could
work alone free from his family.”
“Even if he says to work, he has no intention to work as a seaside
cargo handling laborer with a 200 yen daily wage such as me, like a
truger. It would look like a comedy to him to do damage to a body like
me by shouldering the luggage of dozens of 10 pounds in weight. ……”
“You speak nonsense. Kano’san intentionally seek to talk like that. In
what state of mind did you feel like becoming a laborer?“
“To work for a living, of course. Proper jobs are hard to come and the
job available for workers is cargo handling, so I promptly began the
job, thinking it better than becoming a thief. ― It was unbearably
hard for previous office workers like me who have had no heavier
things than a pen. ……”
“I can imagine that. ……”
Yukiko opened a package of five or six apples, which she brought as a
present for Kano. She looked for a kitchen knife and peeled the apples.
She nearly reached her tearful threshold and deep from with her nose
became hot while peeling the apple. She was eager to be nice to Kano,
who seemed may not live much longer. She cut the peeled apple in
pieces and put one by one into Kano’s mouth. He devoured apples
with his teeth clattering.
“We, in fact, felt annoyances toward each other, sometimes. We have
survived, after all, and we can attend the new age. And now, we are
able to meet again, aren’t we? So, you must take in nutriment, and get
healthy.”
“Nutriment. …… That’s right. When the money is available, my life
will last for two or three years more.”
“Your mother and brother must be worried about you. ……”
“I want to say to them that I feel very sorry for them. Recently, both
my mother and brother seem to get tired of me.”
“It’s your prejudice.”
“My prejudice. ……”
Kano, in fact, thought that he could not share Tomioka’s luck in life
which he substantively headed off a crisis by the hair’s breadth. Kano
felt violent anger everytime when he thought about Tomioka. Tomioka
was always evaded by trickery and never pried into a crucial aspect
which possibly drowned himself. Kano in gloomy silence recalled the
past affairs. Yukiko was wrapping apple parings in newspapers. She
began talking about something and checked herself. Kano thought it
was mysterious that Yukiko was not passionate as in the old days, but
looked leisurely sedate. He wondered about her boldness. She talked
at his bedside about her circumstances since her repatriation that she
roamed alone in Tokyo without going back to her hometown even
once. While hearing her, the woman’s innermost feelings seemed to
him to be as cold as fish.
“Tomioka will stir again before long, such a knack he has. He knows
a clever way of doing things. He …… . When I have heard that he
shipped at Hai Phong, I thought that he is really a man of luck. By
hearsay, Tomioka assumed that intellectuals had no chance to
repatriate soon, and so, he identified himself as a civilian in military
employ assigned to a Forestry Bureau in Indochina who was used as
an errand boy to do trivial work such as serving tea and the like. When
he was investigated by many officers in front of a check station on
wharf, he acted in a style of a naive person lacking knowledge. The
officers were fluently speaking in English or in French among
themselves, but he did not look at them even at a glance. Because
people who were judged to have language skills were separated from
others and left behind. At the time when he was told to point out
Shikoku in a Japanese map, he quickly pointed to Kyūshū as if his
academic achievement was an elementary school graduation level.
How do you like his performance? He gave a good performance, didn’t
he? In this way, he successfully got through the check station. He got
on board using someone else’s name and arrived at Japan earlier than
anyone else. He is a totally heroic person. ……”
This was news to Yukiko.
She thought that Tomioka could have done such a thing. Osei’s issue
as well. He enjoyed favors bestowed by Osei simply as her goodwill to
him. Osei might have been treated as his plaything at that time. ……
“I thought that Tomioka and Yukiko’san hurried back to Japan to
marry. But you went on board a different ship, as I heard, didn’t you?”
“No. The ships were different. ……”
Kano’s crime was the crime in the midst of the war, and was the first
scandal there. Besides he was a man of a civil service. Therefore, Kano
was treated roughly by the military police in Saigon.
In an hour, Yukiko felt a gasp, and so, went out saying Goodbye to
Kano. In the open air, she was relieved as she breathed the fresh air.
She thought in mind Kano was a miserable man. Such a radical change
as this seemed pitiful for Kano, a good family’s son.
When it came to Kano, he came across Yukiko in Japan for the first
time after a long time. Her real face was almost the same as those
days. It was certain, however, that he felt strange why he had been
eager to win this woman even by fighting with Tomioka in a duel. He
accidentally had wounded the woman’s arm, and paid the penalty for
his crime. When he saw Yukiko with his eyes, he felt a self-mockery
while thinking what this woman was he attracted to and eventually
caused the bloody affair. In those days, the lives of the Japanese had
possibly come under a certain evil influence at places where they were
dispatched. It seemed to Kano that everyone had lived while getting
drunk to something like a rainbow.
When Yukiko said to return, Kano however wanted her to keep
sitting there a little more. Until after he met her, he had adored Yukiko
such as a goddess. And they met again at last. It was not sour grapes
but Kano woke from a dream in the face of reality of Yukiko.
It was the same with Yukiko, who regretted meeting Kano. She felt
like she should not have come to meet him. Kano’san should have
remained, in her memory, always unchangeable since their days of
Indochina. …… Tomioka said to Yukiko who was eager to meet Kano
that she was naively unrealistic and too much curious. Yukiko felt like
she understood, after all, innermost feelings of Tomioka who had
given a false address to Osei. The power of the man who solved
circumstances on the spur of temporary feelings became hatefully
attractive to Yukiko.
‘Those eyes, only on the first day, were true,’ Tomioka’s natural tweet
of the tropical popular song lyrics, was befalling not only to Osei but
also to Yukiko at present.
Yukiko got off the train on the cold platform of Shinbashi Station at
twilight. The cold wind blew. She began walking to a car stand.
“Hey!” A woman in a showy green overcoat shouted, and came
running to her. The woman tapped Yukiko’s shoulder.
“Ah!”
Yukiko stared wide-eyed. Shinoi Haruko with whom she went
together to Saigon ran to her. She was very nostalgic to Yukiko.
“What are you doing, now? When did you come back to Japan?”
Yukiko spoke quickly and was eager to know her news when Shinoi
repatriated.
“I wondered if it was you, and kept watching you exit the ticket gate.
－ How are you? I came back last June. We have evacuated to Urawa in
Saitama Prefecture, and so, our house was not burnt. Soon after I
repatriated, I went to learn English typewriting, and got a job in
Maruno’uchi[*110]. …… What are you doing, now?”
Shinoi Haruko was too flashily and beautifully dressed for a typist.

.. * 36
Once born as a human,
Do not preview what tomorrow will bring
While seeing people in glory
Do not be desirous becoming like them someday.
The world transits so quickly
Odonata opens transparent wings and flies, but
Not so quickly as the transition of the world

One week later, Kano sent her a letter of appreciation saying that he
was delighted with Yukiko’s visit, with a poetic description at the end
of his letter. A passage of his poetry such as ‘The world transits so
quickly’ stayed in her mind. Yukiko could not help being sympathetic
of Kano, and thought that self-sneering words he wrote in the abyss of
despair by disease were pathetic and the whole of him at present.
After that she met him in reality, however, he was not attractive to her
anymore. Did he mean that all affairs occurred in Intochina were
already ‘transience of the world, so temporary’? Yukiko did not send
him a reply.
Thereafter, Yukiko did not hear from Tomioka. Their journey to
Ikaho to die seemed to her to be deep in the past already. If she had
died at that time, she would not have today. She was alive, which she
did not care anymore. She wondered why she had become so timid
when Tomioka pleaded with her to die together.
The chance meeting with Shinoi Haruko as well did not stimulate
her feelings. She felt emptiness as if she had eaten up herself, and did
not feel like doing anything. She, however, could not hang around
without work any longer. Besides, the house owner urged her to move
out soon from this hut. Suddenly, again, she had a presentiment of
death. Tomioka’s feeling at that time might not have been a lie. She
wondered why she had not died together with him at that place. ……
She felt like death possessed her. She lay down and put a leather belt
on her neck. Her arms were too feeble to strangle her neck with the
belt. She strangled her neck, but her arm power could not go beyond a
threshold of her death. Yukiko took off her belt from her neck and
wore it around her waist. How nice it would have been if Tomioka were
here with her. She extremely missed Tomioka. She wondered what on
earth the death signified if only that she passed away from this world
…… . No one would care about her death as time went on. Tomioka
also would forget her someday. She was regretful to have missed the
opportunity to die in Ikaho. Tomioka concentrated his mind on the
death in the inn in Ikaho, in the same way as lyrics of the song of
Indochina, ‘Only on the first day, was true.’ She, now, became vexed at
her own sentiment that she could not have reacted to his feelings at
that time. Nevertheless, she had lost her self-confidence to trust men
and the world. Even if they had committed double suicide, they could
not have died just in the time when their feelings had accorded. Even
on the brink of the death, they must have kept thinking in mind
different things irrevantly to each other. Yukiko had hated that. Even if
she had not thought anything, she suspected, Tomioka might have
begun to groan, ‘Forgive me, my wife,’ with his last breath. No one
could manipulate other ones’ inner thoughts and feelings. A
remembrance of a joyous life was inevitable for the two people since
they had passed over a temporary darkness. Tomioka, with no where
to dump his feelings, might have caused Osei to shed tears. This way,
Yukiko suspiciously reflected on the occurrence in Ikaho.
A relationship with Tomioka was over for the time being. She had no
more of Tomioka, in fact, since they had come back from Ikaho. In the
real world, it might be difficult for the living people to understand
each other even if they were in a passion of intense love. It was like a
delicate rainbow which came visibly in sight and faded away
repeatedly in the innermost feelings of human beings. People are
impatient at each other’s incomprehensibleness, therefore, pass time
only with laughing and with crying. Human beings might be such
creatures. Yukiko earnestly desired to meet Tomioka. She knew her tie
with Tomioka, after all, their memories in Indochina were major
events in their lifetime. She would not forget this war for the rest of
her life. She was truly happy at that time. …… During the time when
everyone of soldiers were fighting over life and death, Yukiko only was
obsessed by a mysterious love with Tomioka.
A quirk of fate in the train of an express railway from the Tourane
Station for Saigon might have bestowed on her a luck to meet
Tomioka. In the direct train of 26 miles per hour, Yukiko thought her
own loneliness to part from other members in her group. Shinoi
Haruko was merrily singing songs. Yukiko had never imagined getting
on a train together with Tomioka afterwards. ‘Which time of the year
was it?’ Spring or summer. Seasonally monotonous transition in
Indochina caused seasons in her memory to be indistinct. In the train
car, Tomioka held her hand secretly so that no one noticed, and leaned
out of the window, while pointing out trees in woodland running off
behind. He said to her the names of trees one after another, such as
Benben, Sawo, Yau, Konrai, Bambara. The trees on woodlands had
shed their leaves. On the ground, traces of wildfire could be seen,
which spread near to the railway. She also recalled threatening forests
and fields, where thickset forestlands showed from time to time.
Hamp palm bamboos, Rhapis humilis, and the grasses beneath were
densely overgrown, which, as a whole, assumed the appearance of
jungle in some places. Around jungle, coconut trees spread palmate
leaves, which was impressive to Yukiko.
‘Ah, already, all those landscapes have disappeared in the dark past.
…… in the abyss of the world beyond from which no one can call them
back any more. The luxuries in the background of my life in Indochina
was truly magnificent to me, Japanese, who did not know more than
austerities of ordinary people in wartime.’ Yukiko indulged in nostalgia
languishingly dreaming of troubles with love which had been played
between Tomioka and herself in front of the luxurious background. A
grand theater as the war also was one of the contents of the leisurely
scenery. French people lived secretly their life of leisurely dilettantism
like a light colored ornament of lace intermingled with the scenery.
Vietnamese called out “Bonsoir!” in town at night. The sound of
“bonsoir” did not leave her ears. The nature and human beings could
not do without frolicking. The lake, the church, the voluptuous beauty
of cherry blossoms higan’zakura, the sound of firecrackers, suffocating
the odors of the highland. Yukiko, while recalling landscapes of
Indochina in mind, sobbed and shed tears due to a bittersweet longing
for yesteryear. Once more, she yearned for going back to that place.
She felt suffocation in her destitute life like this. She knew the life in
Da Lat would not come back to her anymore, and had a strong desire
for feeling Tomioka’s skin. She had understood that luxury is beautiful.
Her memory of the sounds of French people’s voices and musics,
colors, and fragrances, which were floating from their homes in Lang
Biang Heights, rubbed lightly her heart like perfume. A reek of poverty
such as Song of Apples[*183], Ringo’no Uta of 1945, or Rainy Blues,
Ame’no Brūse[*151] of 1938, did not smell anywhere in the environment
there. The racial strength of French people who leisurely settled down
in a flow of the history seemed to be deep-rooted. Yukiko knew
nothing about the war, but thought that a poor race of the uncultured
was belligerent and aggressive. The Japanese should have known that
there is such a paradise properly on the Earth. …… She remembered
the wartime slogan “Opulence is the enemy.” If luxuries are the enemy,
life would be unbearable. French people came over to towns on Lang
Biang Heights one after another to avoid the rainy season from May to
October. Their way of enjoying life, at present, after the end of war,
must have been developed more beautifully and splendidly. Lang
Biang Heights located 155 miles away from Saigon was so beautiful as
it were like oil paintings. People who could not afford for a long-term
stay in marvelous hotels or villas in Lang Biang came as well one after
another to Tam Dao in the suburbs of Hanoi, Vinh, or Nabe highland.
They were not interested in war, but enjoyed intently their own lives.
The Lang Biang mountain was a perfect hunting site for them. Yukiko
often came across French huntsmen vehicles when she was taking a
walk with Tomioka.
When she lived in the paradise like Lang Biang, Japanese seemed to
Yukiko to be a strange race due to such a gloominess of the daily life
that Japanese were trained to be looked at keenly by other people’s
sharp eyes. She intended to spend the rest of her life in Lang Biang. So,
owing to the long distance away from Japan, she felt herself seeing
Japanese as outsiders.

.. * 37
Throughout history, countless human beings were born. Politics
consist in repetitions of the same things. Wars as well are waged and
concluded at repetitions of the same things. …… Before they realilze
what’s what, human beings repeat life and death while jostling each
other within a social framework.

Time went by all too soon. It was summer.

At the end of February, Yukiko had returned once to Shizuoka and
met her immediate family, then returned to Tokyo very soon. She
moved from the shed in Ikebukuro to a rental room on the second
floor of a hardware stop’s barrack in Takadano’baba[*189], which was
introduced to her by Shinoi Haruko. She had not met with Tomioka for
a long time. The room was located near to the station, and underwent
the trains’ noisy rumbering. Nevertheless, no deposit and a room
charge of 1,000 yen pleased Yukiko. She felt like settled down in a
human life only after carrying her wicker trunks and the futon-
beddings in her room. She, however, did not have a job. She was
pregnant. She wrote to Tomioka three times, and his reply came once,
saying “I will come one of these days,” along with a money order for
5,000 yen. Yukiko paid for her living by selling off her clothes that she
brought back from her home in Shizuoka. Almost all her clothes were
sold. Her life became difficult little by little. She was in robust health,
and nausea was unexpectedly not bad. Yukiko worried every day about
whether she should give a birth to a child or not. On one hand, she
wanted a baby, on the other hand, however, felt like burying the
trouble. She shut herself in her room all day long every day and went
to nowhere except that she went out for a public bathhouse or for
shopping. She knew that her life would be financially difficult before
long. When the worst would come to the worst, she thought to put
into practice Tomioka’s idea in Ikaho, although she was not sure
whether she could really do it. Iba very often visited her, and not
blamed her anymore for her so-called unthankfulness. He seemingly
got a good job, and was nicely turned out. She did not meet Joe since
parting last year. Joe’s memory remained in a form of only one pillow.
She sold the radio gifted by Joe for purchasing a round-trip ticket to
Shizuoka.
Iba did not know of Yukiko’s pregnancy. Yukiko did not consult a
midwife, but wrapped a long white cotton cloth, sarashi, of 13 inches
wide and 7 feet long, around her belly tightly in her way. Yukiko had
never known that her own body and her way of life were so bearable
this way. She secretly felt capable of doing anything. She did not
notice her own strength. She remembered that she might have had
this patience also when her arm was injured by Kano. She thought
that a woman like herself who had such patience was obstinate. She
was at a loss for a good solution to her present circumstances, but,
knew of no way to share her feelings with someone else.
One evening after continuous rain for three days, Haruko came to
see Yukiko. She said to be working as a typist in a business center in
Marunouchi. It seemed to be just her boast. Haruko worked at a bar in
reality, according to the hardware shop’s wife. No wonder that her
clothes were too beautiful for a low wage typist. Yukiko had suspected
Haruko’s remark since the first time when she met her.
“Say, we became like scums because of this war. ……”
As soon as she sat down, she sighed while taking off her stocking.
For her, the most important item seemed to be her stocking. She took
a bamboo sheath package, saying that she bought 13 ounces of beef as
a gift. So, Yukiko felt languidness but began preparing for
sukiyaki[*185]. She even went to a market in the rain to buy long onions,
negi. As Haruko gave her money, Yukiko bought a loaf of bread and 6
ounces of sugar of the sale by measure. When she entered her room,
unexpectedly Iba was there talking with Haruko.
Iba was talking about religion with Haruko. Yukiko felt strange as
she did not expect to hear the subject of religion from Iba. He said
that every human being has a possibility of stumbling, and explained
that human beings are animals born to walk facing down, who always
try the gravity of stumbling. He began working at the accounting
office of a certain religious organization called the Great Sunny Faith,
Ōhinata’kyō, which bestowed him with a rushing flow of money.
 “People who stumble are now a dime a dozen. At first, they stumble,
and look up at the heaven for the first time, and pray to the god. Our
religion, the Ōhinata’kyō, is not long after we established it. However,
it is the God of powerful sunlight to light up people’s feet which easily
stumble. Therefore, many worshippers come to pray. I believe our
God’s influence will expand more than the Kannon in Atami[*85],
someday. ……”
“Well, then, what will happen to me? I always stumble.”
“Clearly, the God will help you to your feet and let you walk. Epistole
to the Romans, Christian love Chapter 14, v.23 tells you ‘everything
that does not come from faith is sin.’ Even Christianity says such an
obvious thing. There is no way that Japan’s Ōhinata’kyō, the Great
Sunny Faith, does not penetrate into sinful people’s souls, all the more.
Now, we are looking for a suitable site to build our main shrine
building in Den’en’chōfu[*28]. ……”
“Is that something like Jikō’son[*75]?”
“No, not like that. We do not need Celebrities’ influence. We only
worship the God of the Great Sunny Faith. Our believers are ordinary
people of the Commoner class. We intend to grandly proceed with our
religion. If we have celebrities enter our religion, they would become
unnecessarily conspicuous on the way, and obstruct our advancement.
Such advertisement using celebrities is rather obtrusive.”
“I wonder if the God exists truly. ……”
“Sure, it exists, therefore, people have many hesitation and get lost
before they attain their belief in the God. First of all, look at our
mysterious whole body. Even if the science and technology develops, it
will be impossible to produce the human body. The God exists. The
God certainly exists. ……”
The sukiyaki was ready. Iba akso shoved his chopsticks to pick up the
beef into the cauldron. Yukiko had no appetite. She ate willingly the
white slices of long onions, negi. Haruko took out a pocket-bottle of
whiskey and poured it into Iba’s glass, too. Iba, with two women in his
front, became drunk and urged them to come to pray together, while
eating the beef voraciously.
 “In the old days, every village and town had temples, which were
accessible to ordinary people. The temple was their meeting place
where people got together. These days, temples have been specialized
in funerals, and have lost its vigor. As a result, people have an
impression that Buddhism is gloom. …… Contrary to this, Christianity
undertakes wedding ceremonies as well, which is a bustling religion.
Department stores and restaurants are not the only sites which are
granted the right to carry out tens of wedding ceremonies single-
handed. Isn’t that so? We intend to go along on that line in the
Ōhinata’kyō. Cheerful and bright religion is attractive to those who
stumbled. Wedding ceremonies will be performed in the main shrine
building of the Ōhinata’kyō before long. We will decide not to accept
any requests of funeral services. ― A certain temple in Tokyo has
devised an idea that people will get rich if they go to the temple for
praying on the day of Tiger of the zodiac[*228], and then buy a pen at
the temple, and keep household accounts using the pen. Thereafter,
visitors to the temple has extremely increased. A monk who devised
the idea is merely clever. Everything must be cheerful and bright. Such
an idea like a god to pray for arranging good marriages is meagre.
Every religion that you have to pray in secret is no good. Religions
such as money making and targetting human greed seemingly become
prosperous.”
A God hid away from his talk to somewhere else, and his subject
moved to techniques for using a god and taking advantage of people.
Iba insisted that all people stumble and have an agony of despair. For
people, agony is a prolonged pain, and a joy is an instant. The instant
joy corresponds to a kind of ecstasy in five desires of human beings,
which are, in the Buddhist concept, caused by love for the five senses
of a color, voice, incense, taste, and feel. Grasp the very short space of
time of joy, and then, abet people in piety, which is the urgent
business of religion today. Iba explained. Men and women use the
money for lust. If you get a knack of using the religious ecstasy, there
is no better way than religion to make money. His lecture on clever
business continued.
Iba took Haruko’s hand and touched his ear to it.
 “Your hand is warm. The ear is sensible enough to measure the body
temperature, so we do not need a medical thermometer. Hands emit
ether of the human soul, so a warm hand like yours is genuine. A
person with cold hands store heat in the body, and has a disease
somewhere. ……”
Iba kept holding Haruko’s hand, treated it as a plaything, and did
not let go.
“However, I’m disappointed in love, and s0, am quite depressed now.
Do you practise divination?”
Hearing that she was disappointed in love, Iba took her hand to his
ear, and concentrated his mind on something as if pressing her hand
on his cheek. Haruko, while giggling, drew her hand back quickly from
his ear.
“The vows of Amida, a celestial buddha, in previous lives will save all
beings despite old, young, good, or evil. Owing to the vows of Amida,
which will rid you of your deep and grave sins, intense earthly desires,
and carnal desires, you will heal. See how well I have done it. Faith
comes from believing in your prayers. From the beginning, you make a
fool of religion, but such an attitude will not do. If you make a fool of
Ōhinata’kyō, you should once become a fool yourself, and try to
perform faith of Ōhinata’kyō. I am your opposite sex, even in a slight
degree. Exactly the part of your hand which touches the ear of the
opposite sex perceives delicate Holy Spirit. You need faith. ……”
Iba drank a half bottle of whisky, and his eyes looked drowsy.

.. * 38

The second floor was laid out with 2 rooms, the room size[*155] of
which was a 3 tatami mat room or 6 square yards, and a 4.5 tatami mat
room or 9 square yards. The 3 tatami mat room was used as a bedroom
for the hardware shop’s three children. The 4.5 tatami mat room had
only a 3 feet wide closet. A wall was coated with plaster of pressed
sawdust. The room had no kitchen. As a substitute, a charcoal grill,
shichirin, and ration charcoals were placed on a bay window for
cooking there. Ourside, on a vacant lot under the bay window, corn
grew.
Her life became financially tight at last. She thought to do a shoe
shine job, however, a daylong sitting on the ground might be hard to
her body. She sent a telegram to Tomioka twice, but nothing was heard
from him. She took a plunge and visited him to his former house in
Gotanda. A plate at the gate was changed to that of an unknown
name. A person came to answer the door said that they bought this
house in May and moved in. “Tomioka’san sent us a postcard. You can
have it if you like.” Tomioka’s new address was in Mishuku in Setagaya
Ward. Seemingly, he rented a bed-sitting room, as his address was
written as ‘care of Takase.’
She mustered up all her courage and went to look for Tomioka’s new
address despite that her body was sluggish. The house was
unexpectedly large with a car parking lot beside a stone gate. She
entered the gate and pressed a doorbell. To her surprise, Osei opened
the door, wearing a loose-fit homewear, appa’pā[*4]. Yukiko
momentarily gasped with a startle. Osei also seemed to be surprised,
as she blushed and cried out, “Ah!”
“Oh, are you in Tokyo?”
“Yes. ……”
“Why are you here?”
“This is my acquintance’s house.”
“Is Tomioka here now?”
“He is not here now. ……”
“Don’t lie. A strange woman. …… Quite a strange affair. Then, I will
wait for him in his room till he come back. ……”
Osei was silent. Yukiko felt her whole body quivering. Her words
were said but she did not even know what she herself was talking.
“He went back to his wife’s home. He went away yesterday, so he will
not come back soon. Because his wife is sick. ……”
“Is that so? Then, it’s much better. I also am sick. I will take a break
relaxing in Tomioka’s room.”
 Osei seemed to be bewildered. Yukiko looked in Osei’s back at the
entrance, where a child’s scooter and a baby carriage were placed.
Many families seem to live in this house. Osei stubbornly stood there
without moving. Yukiko also stubbornly stood there.
“At the entrance, it is quite alright with me. I will explain the
circumstances to the owner of this house and ask to let me wait at the
entrance.”
Osei seemed to lose her power to resist, and took her upstairs. The
room was at the end of a large hallway, and 8 tatami mat size, 15.6
square yards wide. A thin bordered rush mat was spread on a thin
wooden floor with no tatami. A coarse bed near the window. Two
small pillows on it. Osei’s summer daily-wear kimono of purple silk
fabric, meisen[*112], her chemises, and Tomioka’s sleepwear of
yukata[*224] were hung over the wall. A small red mirror stand was
placed on a pedestal of a bay window of diamond-cut glass with
hinged double doors. Then, a new table and a small but new tea
cabinet on the floor. Yukiko saw the whole story. Her chest was
imflamed with rage. After all, the situation was obviously as she
doubted. It was true that Tomioka was absent. What seemed to belong
to Tomioka was the man’s yukata only.
“How long have you been living with him?”
“How long? This is my room. Tomioka’san lives in the countryside.
He has no foothold in Tokyo, and so, stays overnight here when he
comes from the countryside. On such an occasion, I sleep in a room
downstairs. ……”
“Did you say a foothold? I see, the foothold. …… How is your
husband doing in Ikaho?”
“I divorced him. ……”
“Well. Then, all went well to you.”
It was evening already. Children were playing downstairs noisily.
Osei sat on the edge of the bed without saying anything. Yukiko also
sat on the floor near the bay window. Suddenly, Osei went out to the
hallway as if something came into her mind. Yukiko looked around in
the room. She wondered what opportunity Osei grabbed to be
together with Tomioka. Two tea cups on the table. A man’s umbrella in
the corner of the room. While she looked, Tomioka’s personal
belongings emerged like a playback of 3D image contents. Osei did not
return to the room for a long time. Yukiko went to the hallway and
called to a child of about 7 years of age who was playing around there.
“Is the uncle of this room working?”
“Uh huh.”
“Does he come back at night?”
“Uh huh.”
“What time does he come back?”
“He will come back soon. ……”
“Where does he work?”
“I don’t know.”
“There are many families live here, aren’t there?”
“Uh huh.”
Yukiko thought this house was a kind of a tenement house. She went
back to the room again, and checked one item after another with cold
eyes of a bailiff. A wicker trunk and luggage were squeezed into under
the bed. Two washcloths, tenugui, were hung from the plaster ceiling
in the corner of the room. On the other side of the bed, approximately
20 books of forestry were placed in a heap, on the top of which was a
brochure familiar to her. The brochure in French describing the
premeval forest land was published by the Lang Biang agriculture and
forestry directorial department. She was sure that the forester Mr.
Dabiyau had written all content. She felt nostalgia painfully enough
and took the brochure. Tears ran naturally down her cheeks while
looking at the beautiful pictures of forests in Indochina. She
remembered seeing every scenery. Her eyes fixated particularly on a
picture of villas on Lang Bian Heights surrounded by bougainvillea
and mimoza flowers. Yukiko now felt an extreme comfort in the
majestic scenery with a lake in front. When she had breathed here,
she had never thought the present misery. …… It was getting dark.
Osei did not return back. Presumably, she went to give a phone call to
Tomioka. Yukiko looked up at the oppressively hot and humid sky
which was inflamed in sunset, and wiped her tears running down her
cheeks. She thought to keep Mr. Dabiyau’s brochure as a memory and
put it in her handbag. She went into the hallway. She did not feel like
meeting Osei and Tomioka anymore.
She decided into her mind.
She bore no grudge to anyone if she thought that the two people had
died in Ikaho. She put her shoes on and walked towards the gate,
where she saw a man coming towards her.
It was Tomioka. He looked surprised for an instant. He saw Yukiko
with red-rimmed eyes standing in silence before him, and seemed to
be resigned to the present reality. He calmly asked.
“When did you come?”
“I met Osei’san. ……”
Yukiko saying passed absent-mindedly Tomioka, and went out of the
gate. Tomioka walked after her.
“Hey!”
Yukiko did not look back.
“Hey, I have something to talk to you.”
It was all the same to Yukiko. She could not do anything even if
Tomioka talked about the affair with Osei. She felt like being punished
by Kano. Kano was a man, however, those days, he also must have had
the same feelings like today’s Yukiko. Kano confessed his intense love
to her, and she indecisively let him kiss her. On the other hand, she
had secret dates with Tomioka.
After all this time she understood her own slyness. Kano with rage
raised a knife, clearly because of the similar reason to today’s her own.
“I think of you everyday. I have thought to do something for you.
Osei induced me forcibly to live together in her room, in fact. ……”
“Do not worry about me. ……”
“I worry. I was wrong. I’m prepared to take responsibility.”
“I see. ……”
Yukiko walked in the direction opposite to the Meguro station. Fine
rain insects, Prociphilus oriens, were flying off in a swarm over a dark
meadow of weeds in the ruins burnt down at air raids. It was dusk but
seemed like dawn. In the middle of the ruins was a broad street, on
the both sides of which new houses were built here and there.
“Is it October?”
“What in October?”
 “A child’s birth. ……”
“Yes, if I give birth properly. I intend to go to an obstetrics and
gynecology hispital to get an abortion, tomorrow.”
Tomioka did not say anything. Yukiko understood, after all, that
earthly desires cause a storm in mind as far as people live. Even if
Great Sunny Faith, Ōhinata’kyō, was specialized in money-making,
nevertheless, Yukiko felt like shutting in the dōjō[*29] studio, and
prostrating to pray to the God. Tomioka did not know what Osei said
to Yukiko, but, could imagine Osei’s stubborn personality must have
oppressively resisted Yukiko.
“Did you think me nasty?”
“Yes.”
Yukiko clearly said, ‘Yes.’
“Please give birth to the baby. Immediately on the birthday, I will
adopt the baby. …… I am going to confess honestly the affair with
Osei, to you.”
“Osei’san said that she has divorced her husband.”
“To tell you the truth, that room is Osei’s. I eventually entered her
room as a temporary stay, but Osei has rented the room much earlier.
This May, we ran into each other by chance at Shinjuku station. She
eagerly took me to her room, and as if it were natural, I kept myself
there. ― I have known that you wrote to me from Shizuoka, and so,
that you found another room after coming back to Tokyo. If we meet
again, both you and I could not break away from the past situation.
Therefore, I only sent you money. I sold my house, sent my family to
their hometown in the countryside, then, my wife has been
hospitalized. I finally got a job, but my feeling was devoid in those
days. So, I could not shake off Osei’s allurement. ……”
Nothing could be done with it even if she heard Tomioka’s excuses.
There was no reason that these two people could find a way out of the
situation even if they met.
On the street, there was a coffee shop in the barrack. Tomioka took
Yukiko there. A large ice-candy box painted in blue was put in the
shopfront. A women was standing with her child near the blue box
and stared at them. Yukiko sat down on a rickety chair, and felt very
tired. She was physically and mentally exhausted, and felt her legs
numb like sticks.

.. * 39

While looking steadily at Yukiko’s pale face, Tomioka took a cigarette

from his pocket and lit it. He ordered a couple of soda. Yukiko closed
her eyes wearily leaning against the board wall.
Yukiko, mentally with no leeway, despite that, stood on the diving
board of the lake. One day in Lang Biang came back to her mind.
Tomioka also, in his swimming pants, was swimming in the lake at
twilight. Loud cheers of a rugby match were heard from a studiam
nearby. Yukiko, while being still, felt the same after-swim exhaustion
as that time.
Tomioka puffed leisurely and said.
“Say, you may think a variety of things, now. We have become like
this. I will make amends to you for my conduct. I believe you will
understand.”
“In Ikaho, you had an affair with Osei’san, after all.”
Tomioka kept silence.
“You are evil, aren’t you?”
While saying that he was evil, Yukiko asked herself about how
herself. It was temporary but she had had a relationship with Joe. ……
She had been lonely, lonely enough to have an affair with Joe.
Tomioka had not blamed her. Emptiness in people’s mind at a certain
time might induce them to ask for help from other people, after all.
Her old fatal bond with Iba was also induced by a kind of emptiness.
She herself had done the same affair as Tomioka. Notwithstanding,
she had not realized the cause of her own behavior and had rode it
out.
“I don’t mean that I don’t understand, but, I was surprised at her
presence. …… I did not forget that Osei wept tears at the bus stop in
Ikaho. But I trusted in you, in your affection for me …… . I fancied
myself, didn’t I? ― But, I cannot help it. That is something that
cannot be helped. I don’t mean that I have decided to get an abortion
because I was angry with you. …… I was thinking, for some time, that
‘I shall have an abortion someday, someday.’ I made up my mind today.
I want to be strong. …… Considering that I live in enduring many
sufferings everyday, it is easier to get abortion. I want to be relieved of
the burden and begin working. …… Don’t you think it would be
unfortunate if I give birth to our child? Even if you adopt, we cannot
do anything for the baby. I also would feel worried and unable to work
at all. I was going to talk to you once, and fully discuss this matter
with you until we can get assent to abortion. ― I don’t mind even if
you are together with Osei’san …… if the life with her is convenient for
you. That woman seems to be deeply fond of you. …… What is wrong
with your wife?”
“Her chest. ……”
“Is it severe?”
“She will be cured for disease if she gets medical treatment for a long
period. ……”
“You will have to face a hardship from now on. You got a new job,
didn’t you?”
“My friend runs a soapmaking company. I was employed there. Not a
great job. He kindly looks after me, so I rely on him at present.”
He sipped red soda water in a straw, looking at her beautiful hands.
Yukiko had soft and beautiful hands. Tomioka took pity on her, and
simultaneously, pitied Osei helplessly.
“I don’t have any children so for. Therefore, I want you to give birth
to a child. The affair with Osei won’t last long. I want to move quickly
if I find a house to live in. Osei as well, she does not break completely
off her relation with her husband. That room is like Osei’s hideout. ―
Her husband does not have any news of Osei even now. It is
disagreeable also to me. In that house, neighbors look ambiguously at
me.”
“Does Osei’san do some work?”
“She is a barmaid in Shinjuku. She took off for a few days because of
toothache.”
 “And yet, Osei’san loves you very much. Unexpectedly, you are going
to live together with her throughout your life, aren’t you? A person
being together will win. There is even a proverb such as ‘out of sight,
out of mind.’ …… Say, we do not recall very often our memories of
Indochina as we did some time ago. We don’t see our memories
anymore in a dream, do we? Things are like that.”
“I sometime see in my dream. Everytime that I think of you, I
remember the life in Da Lat and feel unbearably nostalgic for the days
there. ……”
“The other day, in January, I visited Kano’san. Did I refer to it in my
letter?”
“Yes, I know. Kano also lives a life of hardship. A poor fellow. ……”
“He seemed to realize his days are numbered. He lost weight and
was cheerless. ……”
“He was an ardent patriot and steadfastly honest.”
“I agree. He was not sly like us. ……”
They went out of the coffee shop, and aimlessly strolled again. It was
completely dark. A cool night breeze was blowing. Tomioka did not
seem to go back, but came with Yukiko.
He took off his jacket, and slung it over his shoulder. He was
dragging his shoes slowly.
“You must be tired.”
“No. My feet got ringworm and aching.”
“Don’t you think that we are somewhat an immediate family when
we walk together? Your mind possibly is filled with Osei’san but not
with my affairs. I may be free to imagine you are like my immediate
family. Do you think it odd? Do you laugh at me?”
“I don’t laugh. …… I feel sorry to Osei’s husband, not to Osei. I live a
life of unease like a criminal everyday. I am a coward and yet am drawn
into Osei’s power.”
“Someday, you are going to commit a double suicide with Osei’san,
aren’t you? If something happens, that woman would gulp down the
poison. ……”
Tomioka also thought in the same way. He felt like Yukiko hit it. He
knew his life was aggravated by Osei as the days went by.
“We quarrel everyday. ……”
 “For what reason?”
“She complains that I do not follow her snugly. She is an uneducated
woman ignorant of knowledge, but her intuition is awfully sharp.
Once she determines a certain conclusion, it is hard to release her
feelings of the stress overload.”
“Well, then, you have to face a hardship tonight as well.”
“Let’s quit the story. I will visit you, maybe, this Sunday. I want you
to hold off on your decision until then. You understand my feelings in
anyway, which somehow gets me to feel easier. My mind is refreshed
now. I do not mean to be persistent in talking of Osei, but I am going
to solve this problem certainly before long.”
“You do not need to talk like a good boy suddenly. I leave all to
chance. To tell the truth, I am desperate to be busy with my private
matter. I’m not bluffing. …… You understand, don’t you?.”
The two people reached an overpass, and stood there for a while,
leaning to the parapet. The trains roared away under the bridge.

.. * 4o

Ten days had passed since her parting from Tomioka.

Yukiko decisively consulted a small obstetrician office in the
neighborhood. Abortion seemed to cost five or six thousands yen. She
had been gradually angry with Tomioka as the days went on since she
parted from him. If he wanted her to give birth to a child, he had to
support her financially, otherwise, she could not do anything at
present. Their psychology of confession, where the two people
deceived each other, was limited only to the time when they met. They
did not want to speak to each other about its internal cause, nor scoop
out its core, but wanted only to indulge in their sweet memories.
Yukiko was thinking about Tomioka’s real intentions.
The further the days continued, the more her hatred darkened. As a
result of her feelings of resentment, she decided not to give birth to a
child for such a heartless man. Yukiko told everything to Iba at last.
She absolutely intended to pay money back by working after she
would end a pregnancy. Iba listened to her confession, and said that
he would give her money if she was ready to do so, and asked her to
come to help with work at his religious community. Iba said that he
was halfway through his work, so that he wanted a reliable and
congenial secretary.
Two or three days later, Iba visited Yukiko and gave her 10,000 yen.
She was truly determined to assist him only if she could end her
pregnancy. She wished to forget Tomioka and start afresh her own life.
Yukiko was hospitalized for a week. Two or three women a day, who
had the same secrets as Yukiko, came to consult the doctor. Two
women as such shared a narrow patient’s room with her. After
the removal of the fetus by scraping the uterus, she felt like her body
fell into an abyss. She felt suffocated at a flashback of a bloody lump of
crashed flesh.
On the second day of her hospitalization, Iba came to visit her. What
he asked her was the dates that she could get about and come to help
him. Yukiko wasted away physically. Iba became a very person who
fitted in into Ōhinata’kyō. Along with the accounting work, he now
held another post such as the construction material procurement and
supply section. He boasted that the money was hailing down on his
religious community.
Women, who lay on their futon spread side by side on the tatami
floor, strained their ears for Iba’s story before noticing it.
Ōtsu Shimo, in her 40s, who lay on her futon close to the window,
said suddenly.
“Can I join Ōhinata’kyō as a believer?”
She aborted a child of a married old man, and was ready to leave
hospital next day. She did not talk of herself. According to a nurse,
Makita’san, however, she seemed to be a primary school teacher in
Chiba Prefecture.
She was a big-boned square-body woman with dark skin, of whom
probably not so many men were willing to take care of.
“Is the founder of Ōhinata’kyō a male?”
Iba said, grinning.
 “Of course, a male. He is magnificent. He trained in India in his
younger days, and fully has a judgement and lofty ideas. Until now, he
passed through a variety of hardships, and finally arrived at Japan to
light on the wilderness. ― For a long time, a reputation of his
bravery as a staff officer of the Army was well known as far as Malaysia
and Burma. If times had not changed, we could not have come near
him. Please come once to visit him. He will give you a great idea to
solve your problem.”
“Ah, then, the founder was a soldier, wasn’t he?”
“That’s right. His stories are interesting as he was a staff officer
purged after the war. A former soldier like him is good at yelling. After
all, there is nothing like taking the high hand with the undisciplined
crowd.”
Iba added in a low voice.
“Soon, I will purchase a car with my name. I am absolutely entrusted
with everything, which means that I seize the founder by the neck.
……”
“How old is he?”
“Sixty-two or three. …… He boasts of his prowess having had sex
with more than a hundred women. Plants and weeds, wherever these
may grow, extend toward the sun. Thus, he named such vital energy as
Great Sunny Faith, Ōhinata’kyō. Our believers are more than 100,000
now. This number will increase furthermore with high potential in the
future. ‘Stand out conspicuously while keeping a low profile,’ this
seems to be his philosophy.”
Yukiko felt apprehensive that Iba had completely changed in
personality and weirdly became like a fanatic. Her affair with Tomioka
seemed not to bother him. Presumably, he merely wanted to employ
his former mistress as a reliable secretary.
Ōtsu Shimo seemed to think for a while, and then, wore a haori on
her shoulder and sat straight up on her futon, and said to Iba.
“I came from Chiba Prefecture. However, I, under no circumstances
can go back to my hometown as it was. I would like to become a
believer of the Ōhinata’kyō, and have a certificate to be approved as a
missionary, once the training is complete. How much does it cost for
all of these?”
Iba pretended to be formal, while smoking a foreign cigarette, and
said gravely.
“Let me see. At the beginning, admission fee to be a regular believer
is 300 yen. A believer who wants to be a missionary needs to deposit
1,000 yen initially. In half a year, the believer will be approved as a
missionary. Offerings for spending a certain period of time at the
temple is up to the believer. We tell the believer of the fee for a
certificate conferment when the time comes. This is customary in our
religious community.”
Ōtsu Shimo asked Iba to write down the address, saying that she
certinly would come to the temple of the Ōhinata’kyō. Iba, while
speciously talking that he does not have his business card for a time
being, seemed not to have any interest in her.
“After all, a missionary is different from a regular believer, and
becoming a missionary promises a fund of life. Therefore, in fact, it
requires a considerable amount of money to be a missionary ……”
“I have a plan. A certain acquiantance would supply me with any
amount of money if I can hide myself somewhere else for around one
year. He is a man of rank, and made me a promise of supplying me
with full allowance until after I would be secure and have means for
livelihood.”
“I see. A man of rank ……”
Iba suddenly became polite.
“Social standing? If you have the support of a man of good social
standing, you will be greatly welcomed in to the Ōhinata’kyō. This
religion is absolutely not a heresy of these days. We won’t speak for
collecting people that our religion heals diseases. Besides, you know, it
is impossible to think that a religion heals physical diseases in the
world with science in rapid progress. The Ōhinata’kyō emerged in
accordance with our heart’s desire for healing people’s soul. Many
doctors heal our physical health, but rarely cure our mental diseases.
In addition, our religion treats people with art of optimism to brighten
at the end of the world, while leading people to become rich. ― If you
have the support of a person of good social standing, I will take care of
you better than ordinary believers and will intercede with the founder
on your behalf. …… The founder is not willing to meet people, so I am
entrusted with providing every service on behalf of him. ……”

.. * 41

On the day of leaving hospital, Yukiko paid the bill to the medical
office, and looked casually at news papers in the waiting room. A small
article caught her eyes very soon.

»On 12th, at 10:40 in the evening, Mukai Sēkichi, age 48, c/o Īkura,
the house no. xxx Kita’Shinagawa, Shinagawa Ward, invited his
common-law wife, Tani Seiko, age 21, to his room, and strangled her to
death with his washcloth, tenugui. He gave himselt up to the
Shinagawa’Daiba police box. Accoring to the investigation by
Shinagawa Police Station, Mukai cohabited with Seiko when he ran a
bar in Ikaho Spa Town. Seiko came up to Tokyo counting on her secret
lover, certain Tomioka. Mukai afterwards went to take her back. Seiko
rejected a reconciliation with him. Thereupon, on 12th, he threatened
Seiko on her way to a public bathhouse, and brought her to his room
to ask her again for a reconciliation. During their squabble, he became
raged and strangled her to death with his tenugui. Then, he came up
to the police station. Photos in the article are of an assailant Mukai
and a victim Seiko.»

Even if she read the article over and over again, it referred, with no
mistake, to Seiko whom she knew. In the photo, a murdered Seiko did
her hair in a Japanese coiffure. The assailant Mukai showed on the
photo with his head drooping.
Yukiko stayed for a while on the hard chair, and repeatedly read the
same news article. She thought about Osei’s mysterious fate. Seiko of
an intractable disposition was strangled by her own husband after all.
 It seemed to be a good warning for Tomioka. Yukiko finally
understood Tomioka’s perplexity on his face when she visited his
dwelling as far as Mishuku in Setagaya Ward. What is he doing now? If
she had conceived a murderous design against Tomioka at that time,
she also might have jumped to her death after him into a train from
the overpass.
Tomioka would not be able to break away from Osei’s illusion. He
might not have been the only person that had completely broken
down after returning to Japan. Kano also was such a person who had
utterly broken down.
That evening, she slept in her room after a long absence. She was
exhausted, and felt herself today at which she arrived finally after
having continued a long trip up to the present. Yukiko was thinking of
Tomioka’s room in Mishuku, while hearing the sounds of rustling corn
leaves outside under the window and cicada’s chirping.
She fell asleep, while various memories of Ikaho came up like her
dream and into reality. At times, she felt stifled and had an uneasy
sleep. That abhorrently viscid blood of the flesh lump, however, was
her casting off of all her past. With no one to depend on, with no one
to meet with, she wanted to do a job only for herself.
Yukiko was never sympathetic to the deceased Osei. She hated Osei’s
obstinate way of life, and hated Tomioka who was drowned by such a
woman. ― As days went by, and since she read the news that Osei
was killed by her husband, Yukiko conceived hatred for Tomioka and
the murdered Osei as if she spit on them.
Four or five days passed, but Yukiko did not get well. Iba could not
wait and came for her. But he could not press her when he saw her
pale complexion, and hesitated to ask her to come soon to his
religious community.
“How is your condition? You look seriously ill. …… Cheer up, only
your spiritual strength will heal you. To die or to live is also up to the
spiritual strength. For some reason or other, you seem like a different
person after coming back from Indochina. Be a joyful person and dress
yourself up. You need to cheer up. ― By the way, Ōtsu Shimo’san, that
madam came. Today is the third day since she stayed at the temple to
pledge herself to the Ōhinata’kyō. She is very promising. She is
eloquent and has a sizable fortune. These days, she is thickly
powdered, and is very enthusiastic. She is an elementary school
teacher and her parents’ house is a soy bean paste, miso, shop,
according to her. A woman, when she aged, seems to consider her fate
to come, and so, it’s convenient for us. The founder also says that she
is a real find.”
Iba wore black suits with a sunflower badge on his chest.
“I cannot say in a loud voice, but the most profitable business in the
world today is the religion. Rescue people through religion. Amusingly
enough, so many lost people are inspired by hearsay and visit us.
Shops opened on each side of our religious community and a guide
map to our facilities is posted at the station. It’s interesting. Many
people are ready to give us money. It is the religious power that no one
is hesiant to give us money. We sold the house at Sagino’miya. We
have bought an ex-banker’s residence at Ikegami[*70], and the founder
lives together with me and my family. This residence is awesome. I
bought it at 3,500,000 yen. The house is old but the floor space is 316
yd2, and the site is 1,977 yd2, including a pond and a mountain.”
“God will punish you some day”
“God won’t. God will never throw lucky people away. God is not
interested in such people who fail to grip a rope of the fate tightly. ―
It seems that I love Yukiko. I will purchase a cozy little house for you,
someday. After all, I am the first man of yours. I cannot forget that,
especially. ……”
Yukiko felt disgusted.
“Please, stop talking like that. Even if you try to sweeten me up with
such a talk, I won’t be deceived anymore by a man. Even a woman
brushes up on her discerning taste, when she gets old. Don’t bring up
the old story. I’ve had enough of it. I think nothing of you.”
Iba grinned. Yukiko’s face with no make-up looked pale, but
womanly. She was captivativating unlike a modest maiden in the past.
“I do not talk like this with perverted interest. Simply for the sake of
Yukiko’s happiness, I talk like a sissy. You should not think of chasing
only your ideal. You learnt from experience to taste the sweet and
bitter in the world. You probably have uderstood either love or fancy is
not trustworthy for men and women. In this world, money opens a
door either to the heaven or to the hell. I utterly realized the value of
the money. Immediately after the war I was at my worst. I was
extremely depressed, and it took me time to get over the loss mentally.
Today’s Iba is different. I strongly sensed the necessity to amass a
fortune as much as possible as far as I live. The founder also says the
same thing.”
After talking, he put a parcel of money, and went away in a hasty
manner. Yukiko opened the parcel, where was a bundle of 100 yen
wrinkleless banknotes. She had never had other banknotes than the
wrinkled ones. Funny enough, she felt herself piteous while looking at
crisp 100 yen banknotes for 10,000 yen. The new banknotes just
withdrawn from a bank were awfully attractive, which made her think
of Iba’s vigorousness in life.
She felt like getting Iba to buy a cozy little house, and meeting with
Tomioka there. Her momentary sweet dream torn apart at once, and it
was succeeded by an intense jealousy against Tomioka.
Yukiko did not feel like relying upon Iba, nor praying to the
Ōhinata’kyō.
One day, she got a female handwritten letter from Kano, which told
her of Kano’s death.
Just as she worried about it. Yukiko read the letter from Kano’s
mother over again. His mother wrote that his funeral was going to be
held in a Catholic service for Kano’s own will. Kano, who had been an
ardent patriot and had believed that Japan would never lose the war,
was dead and was mourned in a small Catholic style funeral, which
perplexed Yukiko. After all, it seemed to her that the last years of
Kano’s life was like a victim of the war. Yukiko wanted to send a letter
of gentle condolences to his mother. But she felt languor and refrained
from writing to her.
She did not hear from Tomioka since she read the news. She worried
about where on earth Tomioka disappeared. He might not be in
Mishuku anymore.
She thought of Tomioka more than one time a day. Tomioka
persistently stayed in her thoughts. She wondered if it meant her love
for Tomioka. Iba talked groundlessly that there was no true love in the
world. Iba might have been able to say such a thing because he had no
pillar to rely on other than money. To Yukiko, it seemed to be
impossible that Tomioka had forgotten her suddenly at the time of
Osei’s miserable death. He said that he was working at a soapmaking
company. Yukiko, however, wanted him to get back to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry, and to be appointed to the post in anywhere
else, say, a district forestry office in some local mountain area. And, at
that time, finally, the two people would do modest marriage, Yukiko
fancied. While looking at Tomioka’s brochure of Indochina which she
had taken from Osei’s room, Yukiko could not believe that Tomioka
would vanish from sight like a pebble on the roadside as it was.
Yukiko decisively wrote to Tomioka.

»I read the news about the death of Osei’san. We cannot help but
think that everything has been handled to a mysterious thread of the
fate. You must have had a difficult time.
How have you been getting along?
Once, I have hated you and have gotten angry with you. I believe,
however, that you do not have any other woman than Yukiko to
comfort you.
Kano’san died on the 22nd. His mother wrote to me that his funeral
was done in Cathoric style. I think you were not aware of this matter,
so I told you. His last years were pitiable, if I might say.
Ten days have passed since that time, and I think your pain might
have calmed down. I truly suffered. Why did we not die in Ikaho? ……
If we two have died in Ikaho, nothing regrettable would not have
happened. I wonder why we could not have adamantly casted off the
world. If we had died in the mountain in Da Lat, it would have been
much more beautiful.
I did an abortion. I felt hatred against you, and so, if I had relied
upon you, I would have been mentally cornered and would have
committed suicide around this time. You are such a person as getting
other people to die. Because of you, Osei’san and I, and Kano’san,
besides, your wife, everyone has become unhappy. I do not mean to
blame you, but this is just my thought. Why won’t you be courageous
once more in the same way as old days?
I am still hanging around without working. When I get well, this
time, surely, I surely will find my working place, and will work. How
have you been getting along? After all, I want to see you. It might be a
woman’s regret, but I am still attached to you. Yukiko has never talked
of parting from you, have I? Please, give me a visit. And tell me about
your thought which hopefully is not ambiguous.»

After five days since she had mailed a letter, she received a reply
from Tomioka. A 5,000 yen postal check was enclosed in an envelope,
and he wrote in a letter, »I need still 2 weeks more before meeting you.
I do not want to meet anyone at this time; this is the most painful
moment to me. However, a letter from you, at least, was a good
comfort to me. Abortion might have been unavoidable. I gave up on it.
This should be all my fault. I am certain to visit you. You wrote that
you have not parted from me, and if it is the truth, upon which I will
rely, and I surely come to meet you.»

.. * 42

Tomioka wrote to Yukiko that he would visit her in 2 weeks. Two weeks
had passed but he still could not visit her.
He did not feel like visiting Yukiko, with whom he felt most at home.
It was not because he was a lazybones. He was busy supporting Mukai
Sēkichi for his trial, for whom Tomioka had to take care of a lawyer as
well. Tomioka was not bound simply to the fact that the murdered
Osei was Mukai Sēkichi’s unmarried wife, but that Sēkichi had no
relatives. Tomioka’s sense of responsbility urged him to do the best for
Sēkichi. While caring for Sēkichi who was held in prison, he was
touched by the seriousness of Sēkichi who had killed the woman.
Tomioka nauseatingly hated his own deceitful spirit. He thought that
he could make up for his own sin at least by caring for Sēkichi. He
clung to the woman called Osei, desiring to try his own viability and to
recover his whithered feelings. Osei, however, was other man’s wife.
Tomioka had not minded at all the man, Mukai Sēkichi, who existed
behind Osei, and had completely forgotten that Sēkichi had helped
him previously in Ikaho by buying his Omega watch. Tomioka
happened to realize, for the first time, the presence of Mukai Sēkichi
when he heard that Osei was killed by Mukai Sēkichi. And he was
surprised that lust of the man and woman was so furious.
Tomioka thought that Sēkichi fiercely got his vengeance on Tomioka
by killing Osei for living together with her. Sēkichi’s presence
disappeared like illusion from Tomioka’s mind after having left Ikaho.
Tomioka did not forget the phrase that Stavrogin in Dostoyevsky’s
“Demons” who, during a preparation for his death, calmly covered a
strong silk rope thickly with soap paste beforehand in order not to feel
excessive ache and pain when he would hang himself to death.
He took Yukiko to a double suicide trip in Ikaho. He, however, had
held regret all the time and persistent on this world even on the brink
of committing a double suicide. Sordidly enough, he relied on Osei,
whom he met by chance, for restoring his life. His egocentric attempt
resultantly induced innocent Osei’s death, and Sēkichi’s crime and
imprisonment. Tomioka felt a cold shiver in his own slyness. Tomioka
was not moved anymore by Yukiko’s letter expressing her desire to
meet him, or felt no pain for her abortion. He could not help but think
that he had lost all his heart at the time of his return to Japan.
Sēkichi said, when Tomioka met him in Shinagawa Police Station. “It
was all the same even if I live in wherever. Capital punishment or life
imprisonment, whichever it may be, the sooner rendition of judgment
is better. I would like to console Osei’s soul in prison.” And he declined
Tomioka’s offer to hire a lawyer.
Tomioka ruminated Sēkichi’s word, and agreed, of course, it was all
the same even if people lived anywhere. Even if he dreamed to go
abroad, the former life would never bring back to him. The world had
changed. It was better to forget the former dreams and illusions as
soon as possible.
It seemed that Kano died of lung tuberculosis. People are
overwhelmed rapidly from behind to the final destination. Tomioka,
however, did not want to hurry to the unfortunate terminal. If he had
lost all his heart already, he thought there was no way other than to
live an easy life without worry, if possible.
He did not want to meet Yukiko.
He scraped up some money and sent her 5,000 yen, which was his
parting gift and modest celebration for the woman who had erased a
child from this world. Because, to tell the truth, he did not want a
child.
An awful rain storm lasted from the morning.
Tomioka lay in bed without Osei, abstractedly listening to the rain.
The window looked smoking in rain, and droplets washed away the
dirt of the window glass. He was languid and motionless, crossing his
hands on his chest with his eyes wide open.
For a while ago, large Osei lay beside him. Osei, when she awoke,
sang a song at first, putting her legs on his legs. Only that moment
brought two people close heartily. Tomioka, with his eyes close, had
been listening to her song. At present, Osei was nowhere. Tomioka,
however, did not feel loving nor yearning for the deceased Osei. He
rather felt relieved. He’s fed up with women. He felt having learned for
the first time that lying alone in bed was so easy and healthy. Today,
for the first time, he had a good opportunity to transform his life. He
was eager to return to the jaunty and spirited self after smashing all
the things such as politics, social ethics, and all others, into pieces by a
mill powder grinding device. How refreshing it is to be alone! Tomioka
turned his faraway look to the downpour outside which was blowing
leaves and branches outside the window.
Being tense in his solitary life was his recourse for salvation.
At first, he had to leave this room, simultaneously with which, he
needed to rid himself of his wife and parents. He wanted to change
even his name, if permissible. He wanted to quit the current company
and find a new job. He did not want to admit that Osei’s death
affected his feelings for a sudden change.
However, a man known to him was imprisoned, which was not
pleasant to Tomioka. A vision that Mukai Sēkichi dejectedly sat down
in prison passed flickeringly through Tomioka’s mind. He felt the
vision deranging. If a sentence was determined soon as Sēkichi himself
expected, Tomioka also might calm down. ……
Tomioka was looking out through the window glass at the rain. The
green plants outside looked like blowing the fog. Certain mysterious
green rays overwhelmingly penetrated into the room. Death seemed to
touch his skin easily. He, however, though that people could not die
easily. He was absent from the company since that incident. Tomioka
began writing sporadically these few days about southern forestry for
a magazine of agriculture published by some newspaper company. His
manuscript would be 100 sheets in volume. When he would finish
writing, he intended to send his manuscript to the magazine to get
some money.
Previously, he whimsically had tried to send his manuscript of about
30 sheets referring to his memory of southern fruits to the same
agriculture magazine. It was around the time when that incident
happened. His writing appeared in the magazine, and he got 10,000
yen as payment for his manuscript. It was more than he expected, and
thus, he noticed his own talent, which encouraged him.
His writing was like this.
»I was a government official who worked for the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry, and was assigned as a civilian personnel to
French Indochina, where I lived for 4 years. During my 4-year stay in
the Tropics, I had memories of various fruit there.
In the tropical regions, a variety of fruit plants grow, and the fruits’
mellow tastes, above all, are intensely attractive to people who live in
the region. When it comes to the most impressive fruit to me, banana,
the king of tropical fruits, comes first. Bananas have begun to be
imported from Taiwan these days. Not so many people, however, know
that bananas have hundreds of varieties. Slender, short and thick-set,
remarkable dihedral angle, brownish white or reddish in color, strong
or weak in aroma, not to mention shape and tastes.
I preferred eating king bananas, and sanjaku bananas, in other
words, bananas ripened in low-height trees. Sometimes I was given
cooking bananas, which were not good in taste. Tillers, which are new
shoots from the root or around the bottom the original stalk, are used
for reproducing. In approximately 15 months after planting, tillers
become 10 to 20 feet high. From the trunk with leaves grown, flower
stalks of 40 to 50 feet long appeare and begin bearing flowers. The
flower stalks naturally bend below while bearing fruit, and the trunk
begins to wither. Meanwhile, new tillers grow from the root and
replace the withered plant. In one year, the new flower stalks bear
fruit. This propagation method is suitable to everywhere in the hot
and wet climate, with a sticky soil and good drainage, however, is not
adopted for a strongly windy area and alluvial soils. The banana is the
gift of the Heavens. The poor people feel grateful to banana which
they eat as a part of their meal. If a banana is the King of fruit, a
mangosteen might be the queen. The scentific name of a tree bearing
mangosteens is Garsinia mangostana. I saw mangosteens for the first
time at a fruit shop near Pura Tic in Ha Noi. The mangosteen was the
size of a small percimmon kaki, with the flat top. The rind is smooth
and reddish-purple colored. When the mangosteen is cut in round
slices, inside is an inner layer of a seed coat surrended by a creamy
white edible flesh. The rind contains tannic acid and pigment. Once
its juice drops on a cloth, the stain is not readily removed. The high
season of mangostieens is said to be from May to July, however, it was
February that I bought and ate a mangosteen for the first time in Ha
Noi. In Hue, during two weeks of my stay in the Moulin Hotel,
mangosteens were served at every breakfast. A mangosteen has a
flavor of Japanese mandarin.
This tropical tree, mangosteen, is conically-shaped. Its leathery
leaves are large and oblong, and opposite-leaved. The mangosteen
originally grew in Malaysia. The mangosteen grows extremely slowly,
and takes nine to ten years to bear fruits. The cultivation area should
be in the hot and wet climate. The trees prefer deep, well drained
fertile soil with high moisture content. If mangosteens are the refined
fruit, a rare fruit durian with an intense disgust evoking smell should
also be referred to, on the other hand.»
Tomioka wrote, moreover, about cultivation of various other fruits
like cardamom, jack fruit, papaya, adding his memories of eating
those fruits, and tropical travelogues. Tomioka, groping under the bed
to pick up the magazine, turned the pages and looked at the pages
where his article was printed. Naturally, southern sceneries of Da Lat
appeared in his mind. A rapid and violent change in his life stunned
him.
He sent to Yukiko a half of 10,000 yen of payment for his manuscript.
He felt it ironic that his money was applied for aborting his child. He
suddenly remembered his child with nostalgia whom a Vietnamese
maid gave birth to, after that he had left her in Indochina. He thought
that he would never meet the child. In his dissipated mind, the
memory aroused his nostalgia for the child.
When he threw the magazine and stood up, someone knocked at the
door. Tomioka was appalled, and said, “Who?”
“I’m Yukiko. Yukiko ……” A voice was heard outside the door.
Tomioka opend the door, and saw a woman standing with her
umbrella dripping with rain. Yukiko looked very emaciated and
haggard.
It might be heartless, but Tomioka thought her visit extremely
annoying.

.. * 43

For three weeks, she had been waiting for his coming. She got to
fretting. It was rainy, but she could not restrain from visiting him.
Yukiko saw Tomioka’s face when he opened the door, and understood
her love affair with him would end this day despite her desperate
efforts. She did not have a rain coat or rain shoes. Yukiko, in a light
blue blouse and a dark blue skirt with her hairy bare legs, entered the
room silently.
“Did I disturb you?”
Tomioka, while quickly adjusting the front of his rumpled yukata,
sat near the window, and tried to turn a smile to her.
“You had a hard time. ……”
“Things were tough for you, too. Are you alright getting out of bed,
now?
“Sure. I cannot be hospitalized any longer. …… At last, I got well.”
 Yukiko felt their dreary reality sorrowful, and remembered their days
in Indochine where the two people came close to each other hand in
hand quickly whenever no one was there.
“I have read it in the newspaper. Say, I cannot wait any more. In your
reply, you wrote that ‘I am certain to visit you. You wrote that you have
not parted from me, and if it is your truth, upon which I will rely, and I
surely come to meet you.’ Clinging to your letter, I have lived somehow
so far. ……”
Yukiko sat down as if collapsing there, and spoke to Tomioka. He did
not change his bored countenance and said.
“Ahuh, I was wrong in every way. I did not forget you, but had to
meet with Osei’s husband. I became involved in the issue, so I did not
have time to visit you. ……”
“You would not come even if I died groaningly in the hospital.”
“That’s not true. I did not worry you because I believed that you are
alright.”
You don’t have any affection for me, and yet, cowardly tell a lie to
please me. It doesn’t work. － You are so longing for Osei’san. What on
earth would such a woman be good for you?”
Yukiko began shivering with jealousy about Osei. Immobility of his
mind like a stone reflected scorchingly on Yukiko, who felt painful. She
knew that their relationship would end in failure if she spoke on
impulse, however, spat out at him.
“In truth, you did not worry about a child at all, and yet, it was you
that asked me to give birth to a child. …… And yet, you did not visit
me, never came to see me to the hospital. Once you went away from
me, you were always separated from me. － Only when we meet like
this, you flatter me. You might have given empty compliments to
Osei’san, so, she was infatuated with you, wasn’t she? You are a person
who intend to commit double suicide, notwithstanding that, are
slowly leaving the premises when you oversee a woman dying. You
pretend not to notice it although you let other people sacrifice their
life. － I hate Osei’san. I hate also Osei’san’s husband. Thinking back
now, I wonder why we went to Ikaho. …… I can’t help but feel
mortified at you. …… I must come to see you notwithstanding my
intention to clear my mind of you. I am stung by my feelings like this.
My innermost feelings don’t change, and cling to my thought, and
cannot break away from there. …… I cannot explain it clearly, but I
am angry with you, despite that, love you, therefore, I feel myself
extremely pitiable. ……”
Yukiko, who was sitting on the tatami floors, leaned on the bed while
shedding tears. The bed creaked. Tomioka stared at the driving rain
while hearing the crys of Yukiko. ‘What does she want me to do? ……
How long does this woman blame me for the past memories lika a
moneylender? …… For the sake of our past memories, she still strives
to get back the old days of memories like a moneylender collecting
money.’ While hearing her crying, all of sudden, Tomioka felt rage.
“Please, leave me alone! I have nothing to do. A person like me is
empty. I cannot pay you back even if you press me fiercely. － Haven’t
we, each other, cleared a nuisance from ourselves in Ikaho?”
“I hate it. Don’t say like that …… . As if I lost to Osei’san. Be nice to
me as before. …… I hate parting from you. ……”
“You will be injured if you keep it up with me. From the time when
we returned to Japan, we should have begun to walk in different
directions. The world has changed from the older days. You should
step forward in your life. ……”
“Oh! What a scary thing you say! …… It’s as if you are telling me to
die here. …… If I had begun to walk in my life, I would not have met
you long before. － What you said, however, is your true feeling, I
suppose. You got tired of me, and so, you can say the truth. …… I am
not surprised at whatever you may say. I am not. The air in the room
where you lived together with Osei’san may be disturbing us. …… If
Osei’s ghost appeared here, I would tell her that I will never part from
Tomioka’san all my life. ……”
“Don’t talk so loud! Restrain yourself in the tenement house as this.
Osei does not matter. I feel relieved that she died. I feel sorry to
Mukai’san, though. I can walk freely anywhere. On the other hand,
Mukai is imprisoned still without freedom of travel. Can’t you sense
my irritation even a little?”
“Don’t you think that it’s strange that I have to worry Osei’san’s
husband. …… I hate it. Do they have anything to do with the
relationship between you and me? …… It’s something that you caused
yourself. It has nothing to do with me. What a strange thing you are
saying! ……”
Yukiko was mortified with Tomioka’s shamelessness as he still deeply
loved Osei and could not forget her. She was so mortified as to get
excited emotionally, and then, had glazed eyes. Suddenly she felt dizzy
and flopped down. She felt a strong pain in her lower belly, and the
strength was being lost from her shoulder.
Tomioka was upset and shook her shoulder.
“What happened? Do you feel sick?”
The rain became harder, and the wind blew intensely. Tomioka held
Yukiko and laid her in the bed. The blue veins stood out on her
forehead, her dry lips whitened. Her forehead twitched painfully.
Tomioka understood that he said something extremely merciless to
her. Her whole body looked like that of a sick person. The ten fingers
of her both hands curled as if a cicada moved its six legs to seize
something. Her nails had black dirt in them.
He drew water in a metal pail, and put a wet towel to cool her
forehead. He got utterly disgusted with himself. He suddenly wanted
to earn money. Yukiko fell fast asleep. Then, he went to his desk to
write his manuscript about his memories of forestry and plants in
Indochina.
―　In reference to betel palm, Areca catechu, and betel plant, Piper
betle, there is a beautiful myth in ancient Vietnam. It was during the
period of King Hùng Vương IV dynasty in Vietnam. A courtier, Khan
had two sons Tang and Khan. Their father Khan died when brothers
were very young, because of which the brothers especially got along
with each other. They depended by chance on the Luu’s house. The
Luu had a daughter. The elder brother Tang fell in love with the
daughter and married her.
While writing, the scenery of Da Lat came into his mind, where he
met Yukiko for the first time. A red striped gingham skirt which
Yukiko wore when they had visited Ontre tea plantation flickered in
his mind as if it was yesterday. He could not believe at all that the
wreck of the former Yukiko, who was young and beautiful like a girl,
lay in his bed. However, his mind became calm and collected, and his
pen moved more quickly than he expected. He felt hungry, soon. He
took bread from the tea-cabinet, and put on the electric stove to make
coffee.
He looked at the clock on the tea-cabinet. It was almost one o’clock.
He stuffed his mouth with the bread, and casually turned back at the
bed, where under the towel was the opened eyes of Yukiko.
“Why not eat, too?”
Tomioka made another coffee for her. Yukiko with her eyes open
looked up at the ceiling.
“Get up, and drink coffee.”
Yukiko got up obediently and took a cup of coffee from Tomioka.

.. * 44

In the late afternoon, the rain became still harder. Tomioka was
constantly writing. ―　Within the surveillance area of Da Lat
Forestry Office where I was assigned, the shipment of cassia pines was
15,700 cubic meters. We, foresters, in military orders, engaged in
prompt development and quite reckless deforestation.
Every officer’s face at that time had begun to recede in his memory.
“We went from Da Lat to Duran, and then what was the name of the
terminal?”
Suddenly, Tomioka asked Yukiko.
She learned for the first time what he was writing. She cheerfully got
out of the bed, and said.
“I’m sure it was called Trucham. ……”
“Oh, yes. It was Trucham.”
Yukiko stared at the back of Tomioka who sat facing the desk.
“Hey, I wonder if you remember a hamlet called Manrin. ……”
“Manrin?”
“Have you forgotten it already?”
“The hamlet where the royal tomb existed.”
 “Right. It was 2.5 miles from Da Lat. There was the Forestry Bureau’s
residential station. We walked together in the shadowy grove for the
first time.”
She went near Tomioka, and looked at his manuscript on the desk.
“What do you intend to do with your writing?”
“I want to earn money. ……”
“Will it convert into money?”
Tomioka went to the bedside to take the agriculture magazine, and
handed it to Yukiko.
“Read this. ……”
Yukiko took it and saw the contents. Her eyes caught the name
Tomioka Kengo. She turned the pages of his article and began to read
it.
“I got money with it, and so, became enthusiastic about writing. The
money I sent you was a part of the payment from this manuscript.
……”
“Ah! Did you write this?”
Memories and cultivations of banana, mangosteen, and durian are
described in a casual format.
At night, the rain and wind were still blowing hard. Out of the
window, the trees swayed like a roaring tsunami. Yukiko began to say
that she would stay overnight in his room. Tomioka gave up on
whatever was happening. While they were eating the bread and
drinking coffee, the electric light was suddenly extinguished.
With a candle light on the desk, the two people were talking about
memories of Indochina in a familiar manner like close friends. Their
recollections disagreed from time to time. They, both, somewhat
strived to recall their intense affection of old days by the help of their
reminiscences. The electricity did not return. The candle light also
went out. They did not have anything to do other than to lie in bed. It
thundered with lightning bolts at times, instantly shining through the
curtainless window. The rain blowing against wooden shutters and
glasses sounded like torrent.
Tomioka was not inclined to go throught the same thing again, and
stubbornly lay without moving. Yukiko irritatingly expected something
and talked in a hasty manner again and again about their walk in
Manrin forest. The taste of the intense kiss in her memory got her
chest as if entranced. Tomioka lay on the bed, however, did not remain
in the scenery of the memory of Manrin. Even if Yukiko pronounced
many times in a soft voice, Manrin, Manrin, to his ear, he could not
recall anything but Osei who had laid her large body beside him.
Osei’s final face clearly came up in his mind, Osei who put her thick
legs heavily on his legs, and hummed a tune as usual.
Her eyes were half-opened and her tongue appeared slovenly out of
her mouth. Someone of the multiple dwelling house told him about
the on-site scene immediately after the murder. Tomioka, however, did
not see her dead body which had been carried out already for a
judicial autopsy. He suddenly longed for her large responsive body.
That woman died and was no longer of this world. …… In the
darkness, Tomioka felt something hot welling up in his throat.
“Do you remember that garden in the villa owned by some Chinese,
under the tennis court in Da Lat?”
“Ahuh.”
Tomioka became disinterested in all that sort of things like Da Lat
and some Chinese’s villa. He loathed Yukiko’s fawningness over him as
if she suggested that it’s his turn to talk if he remebered the garden.
He did not care about such past dreams anymore, and did not have
any intention to cling to the dream at all. …… Instead, he felt a strong
desire for Osei’s stout large body. Tomioka sighed.
He thought to have discovered the true woman through his
experience with Osei, and felt tears falling from the corners of his eyes
 He turned back Yukiko’s hand which came creeping to his chest.
“What’s the matter? Don’t you want to?”
“No. I am tired tonight. I want to sleep tight. ……”
Yukiko pulled her hand back, gasped, and fell silent for a while. She
seemed to sense his change in mind, however, never even dreamed
that he was obsessed by his own yearning for Osei.
“Well, let’s talk of the South. …… Somehow, I cannot sleep tonight.”
“I am sleepy.”
“We met after a long time, and why are you so cold towards me? ……
You have been more affable to me. ……”
Yukiko tried once more to implore him clinging to his chest.
Tomioka recalled in his mind an Irish writer and poet of the late 1800s,
Oscar Wilde’s saying, ‘One barrel does not have to be over to know the
brewing quantity and quality of the wine.’ He disliked rehashing the
past affairs. At present, he did not feel a desire for any female bodies
other than Osei’s. He did not have a thirst. Tomioka then fell in asleep
without knowing it.
In an ominous dream like going below the dark water, Tomioka met
Osei. It was a weird face with her half-opened eyes and her tongue
slovenly appearing out of her mouth, however, was extremely
attractive. In the water, he quickly caught her in his arms. She wound
her long legs around his waist, and her hands around his neck. Osei’s
cold tongue touched his cheek. At the instant, he screamed, “Ooh!”
Tomioka woke to his own scream.
Yukiko’s body heavily covered him. She was awake and was attaching
her wet cheek closely to his cheek.

.. * 45

Next morning, when Tomioka woke up, Yukiko was in front of Osei’s
small mirror stand, making up her face. The sky cleared, and was blue
crystal as seen very often in autumn.
 Tomioka, on the bed, was looking at Yukiko while she was putting on
her makeup. A feeling like repentance weighed heavily on his mind,
and he felt as if he had been dragged into a bog.
Yukiko did not hesitate to use Osei’s white face powder and her
powder puff. He felt displeasure at Yukiko’s recklessness, while
thinking that an animal, called a woman is insensitive and shameless.
He thought such an insensitivity might be pertinent to women that
the woman could recklessly use the departed Osei’s cosmetics. He,
however, wondered whether he himself might have been more
insensitive, and was deeply regret for that he impurely spent overnight
on Osei’s bed. It was he that was hideous. Yukiko in front of the mirror
appeared exceedingly gaunt. Her knees became thin, which made her
look much older. Her bosom also became thinner. Her dry hair faded
into a reddish tinge. Her forehead became wider, and her skin around
eyes broke out like a skin rash.
Tomioka sprang to his feet, and went to wash his face downstairs
with stealthy steps as if he was diffident to others. Tears overflowed
from the eyes of Yukiko while making up. Yukiko could not oppose
Tomioka who called Osei even in his sleep. She understood that no
memories of Indochina remained anymore in his mind.
Around 10 o’clock in the morning, Yukiko left there with discomfort.
Tomioka did not see her off, saying that he was tired. She also was
tired. So tired as if the air of her body fell out. She unconsciously
carried her deflated body at a slow pace toward the station. She was
thinking how to live from now on, and tasted loneliness as if she was
falling into an abyss. She could not do anything at present, and so,
thought to dare go to Iba’s place to do office work for the Ōhinata’kyō
for a time being.
Five days passed in vain.
Iba’s demand came to her by mail. He asked her to come a day
sooner. Yukiko inclined to go to see what the Ōhinata’kyō was. No
letter from Tomioka. He should have kept his promise to visit her if his
love for her was still there even just a little. Yukiko thought to try her
fortune at the Ōhinata’kyō and to conjecture a future relationship with
Tomioka.
It was a scorching hot day.
 Yukiko walked to the Ōhinata’kyō, counting on the street number of
3-xx on Ikegamichō. No wonder Iba said that he had purchased some
banker’s residence. Granite gateposts had doors made with iron bars,
and gravel stones were spread all to the entrance. Plants were well
pruned in the garden and tended with great care. There was even a
new garage made of corrugated galvanised iron. She entered the
premises through a side door. An emaciated middle-aged woman,
seemingly a believer, with a big straw hat on was weeding the garden.
Under the eaves of the entrance, a board of Japanese cypress, hinoki,
was hung. On the board, two kanji characters were written in green as
Tensei[*195], which signified a finishing touch. A glass door was wide
open, and many clogs, geta[*45], were placed in rows on the tile floor.
In the entrance, a new large screen with a drawing of a dragon was
set in front. Behind the screen, someone was at a table. Yukiko
recognized the person as Ōtsu Shimo with whom she had shared a
patient room at a maternity hospital. She painted her face thick with
white powder, wearing an indigo blue hakama[*51] over the indigo blue
separate kimono of arm length. She was writing something. It was a
deep and cold windblown entrance. Somewhere far behind, prayer
seemed to begin. Mingled voices with a note of anxiety were praying
in unison.

.. * 46

If not a droning sound of mingled voices of prayer, as if it was gloan of

wild beasts in deep mountains, this entrance would have caused her
such an illusion that she was in a rural hospital. Ōtsu Shimo noticed
Yukiko, and quickly came near to her.
“You are welcome. Yukiko’sama has come, Professor!”
Yukiko felt it to be absurd. In the room, Iba replied, “Oh.” When
Shimo opened the wooden sliding door, a man of his sixties lay on a
military blanket, and Iba was holding his hands over him. Shimo went
to the corner of the room to take a brown plain cushion, zabuton[*227],
placed it near the sliding door. She sat on the floor and pushed the
zabuton toward Yukiko and invited her to sit down there. Then, she
silently went out closing the sliding door. It was entirely a wonder
world for Yukiko. An old man, lying with his eyes close, repeatedly
opened and closed his mouth like fish breathe air. His face was dark
pale, and his hair like dry grass was disheveled. A big black mole on
his forehead. He wore a white outing shirt and gray trousers, with bare
feet.
Iba wore a black loose-fitting outer garments in the same way as
Shimo. He also shut his eyes.
“Please understand …… the Original Vow of the Ōhinata’kyō is to
have deep affection for believers who have the ardent faith,
disregarding age and youth, right and wrong. Its heartful generosity is
only to relieve burning earthly desires of all beings. The earthly good
and evil is not serving any purpose. Advocate the prayer earnestly to
the Ōhinata’kyō, nothing is better than the divine worship. And this is
‘the good.’ You should not be afraid of the evil. The virulence of illness,
in particular, is the most minimal of all human evils. The virulence of
illness is conspicuous, as if we see a milestone in our life. The
virulence in mind is inconspicuous, hardly caught by hand, therefore,
this is the evil of the hell. This is the karma, our present deeds to be
the cause of our future. Illness is minimal. When you pray to the
Ōhinata’kyō day and night, the heavenly and earthly powers will well
up, which are stronger than any other deeds. The Original Vow of the
Ōhinata’kyō lies truly and simply on this deity. The illness is minimal,
and the deity will extend a healing hand to you. ……”
Iba spoke fluently without pausing. He put his trembling hands on
the old man’s shoulder to vibrate it furiously. The old man inhaled the
air through his lips.
“Inhale the atmospheric medium, the ether, fully through your
mouth. Now, a large quantity of ether of the Ōhinata’kyō is sent forth
for you from my hands. ……”
Yukiko, while staring at them, worried that Iba became demented.
Iba opened his eyes from time to time, and leaned over the old man’s
eyelids.
 “All beings possessing worldly desires and passions are not be able to
free from the life and death. May the deity feel pity. Feel pity. Wipe off
an original cause of the virulence of illness. May the Ōhinata’kyō have
mercy on him.”
Iba, repeating such phrases for a while, placed his trembling hand on
the old man’s forehead. Then, he said, “Please, purify.” Iba tapped the
old man’s shoulder to come to his senses. The old man, with his face
bright, sat up slowly on the blanket. Iba was wiping his hands with a
white cloth which covered the Precious Triad, Sanpō[*149], in an alcove,
tokonoma.
The old man dressed himself, and then, sat properly on the same
place, and made a polite bow to Iba.
“How do you feel? Do you feel your body lighter?”
“Yes. I am refreshed. I feel pleasingly freshed.”
“You will get completely well with four or five more prayers and
incantations. Your illness is quite grave, so, you need more than one
day to restore to health. The Ōhinata’kyō absolutely never says prayers
have immediate effects or instant healings as frauds in the world do.
The Ōhinata’kyō is observing the concerned people’s perseverance in
prayer, and let him keep out from the virulence of illness.”
“Yes. I intend to come for prayer again and again.”
“That will be good for you. ……”
“How much shall I pay for today’s treatment?”
“We are not a hospital. Free of charge is our mercy. This is the
fundamental concept of the Ōhinata’kyō. …… We receive no money
from the poor, and receive whatever amount of money that the rich
people would dedicate. Whereupon we perform incantations and
prayers to expel their evils.”
Iba said, and then, leisurely went back to the desk. The old man
appeared embarrassed. Then, in an instant, Iba extended a file of
votive offerings in front of the old man.
“Here you are, for your reference, the amount dedicated by
worshippers so far. ……”
The old man respectfully took the file and opened it on his lap. A
sickly girl wearing a black hakama brought them tea.
 On the first page of the file, the former Minister’s name appeared
with his dedicated amount as much as 50,000 yen. The signature was
suspicious whether really written by the former Minister himself, who
had died as a war criminal sentensed to death. The old man looked
from page to page for a while, and put it on the blanket before long.
He took a writing brush in the writing box which was set on a table
nearby. He wrote 500 yen as the amount of money that he intended to
dedicate.
He paid 500 yen, and respectfully appointed the next date and time
for prayer to Iba. The old man went out to the hallway.
Yukiko was relieved, while hearing the old man’s footsteps fade away
to the distance.
“What a good business!”
Yukiko said giggling. In actuality, no one knew what kind of a stroke
of good fortune it was, but an idle man who could not get any job until
recently got 500 yen only by vibrating his hands for a while with
doubtful prayers. No one could refrain from saying that it was a good
business.
If it was the former Yukiko, she would have flung away in a rage.
While sitting cross-legged, Iba took a foreign cigarette and lit it. His
method of sitting cross-legged was called the ‘Kōchi’yama’[*96], and
was regarded as indecent.
“Now, you know. The world is interesting, isn’t it? Nothing is
difficult. The only thing that you should do is to cheat people into
trusting you. It’s a simple magic. When you tactfully spray ether of the
Ōhinata’kyō, a sick person comes back to life. No one would like to
work anymore as a salaried employee. People cannot have the mercy
of the gods and Buddha, so they come to purchase it by devoting some
money. We understand people’s mentality, and so, produce the
Ōhinata’kyō and sell it. Everyone is willing to buy it. ……”
Yukiko was amazed. A change of Iba’s state of mind after the war was
common to her. Yukiko took his cigarette and lit it. In the large alcove,
tokonoma, a calligraphic scroll with characters of a doubtful writing
style was hung also here in the same way as other alcoves. In a
metalwork vase decorated by cloisonné, shippō’yaki, a female pine[*37]
was arranged. In the center of the 10-tatami room, a military blanket
was spread. Iba’s table was placed near the sliding latticed windows
pasted with white paper, shōji, which held a commanding view of the
garden. And a small Chinese-style table. The room was restful maybe
because the ceiling was high and well ventilated. In a small courtyard,
the washings were hung out to dry.
“If a newspaper doubted and come to pry into the personal affairs of
the religious community, what will you do?”
“Don’t worry. We easily sense it. It is our credo not to get any money
from a doubtful person.”
“Are you capable of discerning the true from the false?”
“I do business like this, and so, can quickly discern people.”
Yukiko thought that such trick like a night-time entertainment
business would not last long. After the war, however, many people
were stretched out with no hope of doing things. So, people with the
abnormal psychology possibly appeared in the world.
“How is your physical condition?”
“Maybe I also have to pay an incantation fee.”
Yukiko puffed at her cigarette with a smile. Her relation with
Tomioka had not yet been settled. She thought it not bad to help Iba’s
business, as a makeshift. She had lost self-confidence to do a proper
work anymore. To find the basis of her livelihood, she felt like helping
his ridiculous business made her feel easy rather than being a maid in
a bar or a coffee ship, although the Great Shunny Faith, the
Ōhinata’kyō, was still doubtful to her.
Yukiko had an aversive feeling against all the society, and also felt
like placing a curse on Tomioka. It was that regrettable for her to be
defeated by Osei, as she herself still survived. If she had been dead,
Tomioka, on the contrary, would have yearned for the deceased Yukiko.
“You look haggard. ……”
“Yes. When I eat delicious food even a little, and relax, I will get fat
like you. …… A woman will not become beautiful if not a person who
spends money on her.”
Iba grinned, picking earwax. It seemed that the prayer was over. A
large drum began to sound. Soon, Ōtsu Shimo came and called Iba.
 Yukiko went after Iba to the hall. Approximately 30 male and female
believers were standing in the hall with their backs against the wall.
They were waiting for the founder and the professor to enter the hall.
The hall seemed to be extended, and the board floor of 20-tatami wide
had a nice smell of new wood. A purple curtain was gathered on the
three-sided alter. Behind the curtain, a crescent-shaped mirror was
shining.
In the front, the founder, Narimune Senzō, took his seat on a tall
Chinese-style chair. He wore a gown-like black clothes. A gold badge
impressed with a crest of a combine pattern of a crescent and a
sunflower was worn on his chest.
Iba, standing beside the founder, bowed to believers, and said.
“Please, take a rest. ……”
Believers sat down on the floor. Yukiko also sat down on the lowest
seat. Iba sat on a rattan chair. It looked like a manners room in an old
elementary school. The founder sounded a gong, murmuring
something from his mouth. After a while, he spread a sheet of paper
on the desk.
“Today, I will talk to you about the divine will, described in Chapter 3
of the the Ōhinata’sama. Everybody, please wear clothes of God.”
Every believer picked up a purple garment without sleeves from the
lap, spread it out and wore upon their shoulder. The cloth was
something like a shawl with the collar of happi where a crest was dyed
as Ōhinata’kyō. The decree in Chapter 3 says …… The world’s
boundaries incline toward each other, and the human beings reach an
understanding. This is a true discipline. Poeple in the world have a
lack of disciplines, only being at a loss, only loitering around. The
Ōhinata’sama wishes to rescue such people out of the Hell, and so,
gives people the worldly karma bringing upon themselves inevitable
results. If people depend upon others, and forget to requite favors for
their favors, they fall into the Hell. ……
A soft breeze was blowing in through the open glass window. A quiet
sound was heard while a gardener leisurely used his scissors.
“Everyone has 50 years to earn a living, by which people discipline
sacrifices. ……”
 Yukiko felt pain sitting on the board floor, so, she secretly changed
the position of her legs to sit in an easy posture.

.. * 47

Tomioka employed a lawyer for the sake of Sēkichi. At least, it was the
best and sole effort that he could do for Osei’s consolation.
He got a letter from Yukiko who persistently urged that they
both should get together to restore their lives. Tomioka was not
more attentive to Yukiko than a stranger. He knew that Yukiko
seemed to be obsessed with a new religion, and thought it might be
good for her. There was no sign that Tomioka would move from the
room full of Osei’s memory. He laid on the same bed everyday, and
wrote a manuscript for the agricultural magazine. When he sent it,
the magazine publishing company sent him a certain amount of
payment for return. He was content with this work for now as he did
not need to meet anyone. He thought that it was unbearable
anymore for him to be bound to his workplace for a certain hours a
day. He had already ceased from going to his friend’s company
without any contact. He had fallen into the mental states of
vagrants. He never went to his home in Urawa in Saitama
Prefecture, and left letters from his wife, Kuniko, unsealed on the tea
cabinet. He did not have any emotion also for his wife in her sickbed
for a long time. He was in the know that his parents were living on a
small remnent of their property. However, his perseverance gave out,
and he did not know what to do for them anymore. The majority of
his money that he got after selling his house was gone when he had
failed in timber business. Nevertheless, he had given the money
with which his family might be able to live for half a year or one year
more if they lived meagerly.
While lying, he opened manuscript straw paper and was writing
an essay on urushi.
 The urushi, poison oak, otherwise called cattle lacquer tree (Rhus
verniciflua), is native only to Japan, China, Indochina, Burma, and
Thai. Tomioka started writing from this, however, felt his head being
strangely numb. He, from time to time, felt dizzy, recently. He
realized a decline of his body more and more, maybe because he had
not eaten meals at a fixed time. He got impatient to earn money as
much as 10,000 yen around by writing up the manuscript about the
urushi. His body, however, did not catch up with his impatience. He
slovenly thought that the production areas of the urushi did not
matter to him.
He suddenly changed his storyline. He started writing his
momories: During the war, I was assigned to Hanoi, capital of
Tonkin, in the nothern Indochina. Once, I had a business trip to a
small town called Phuc Tho.
Phuc Tho is located in the northwest of Hanoi and 80 miles away
from Hanoi. This place can be said to be the world-class urushi
garden.
The urushi’s scientific name is Rhus succedanea, and is called
the hazenoki in Japan, and called sơn in Tonkin. In Phuc Tho town,
the sơn trees were cultivated as a side business in farmhouses, in the
same way as silkworm-raising districts in Japan. In older times,
Vietnamese urushi was called pot lacquer, and was low in quality
and also in price. Japanense urushi merchants tended to avoid
dealing with it, if possible. Due to the wartime shortages of goods,
however, they strived with one another in importing it. Although I
had only a few days experience inspecting sơn cultivation gardens in
Phuc Tho, I have at present an opinion that the cultivation of
hazenoki is worthy of notice in Japan. If Japanese farmhouses
cultivate Japanese Rhus succedanea, hazenoki, as their side business,
Japan will be able to export Japanese urushi of higher quality to
western countries. Drying is important for urushi, but Vietnamese
urushi is incomplete in drying. If their skill of urushi production is
not improved, the world’s best town of cultivating urushi will be
deserted. Their urushi lacquer is extremely cheap, so, Japan cannot
compete in price. In Phuc Tho, farmers scrape off the sap from
trees, and go to sell crude urushi to brokers in the town market. In
the urushi market in Phc Tho, all their daily necessaries are
available. Women and children of farmhouses dress up and go to
the market. The rustic gaiety on the market day is as if a toy box is
toppled over.
Tomioka stopped writing. He felt his daily life in Japan was dull
and tedious as if he was taken back to one century obsolete world.
His desire to go overseas is merely a fancy world for him for the time
being. There seemed to be nowhere to go away in this situation. He
thought that this was the proper place for him to be. While
sharpening his pencil with a knife, however, he happened to stare
at a pointed blade of the knife, and lost his interest in writing the
essey of urushi. It had nothing to do with him even if Japanese
urushi was exported to overseas. Besides, the amount of production
of urushi in Japan was poor in comparison with Vietnam and China.
He flopped down and stared at the pointed blade of the knife. Osei’s
death gave his heart a pain. When she was alive, they always had
quarreled with eath other. A hunting dog named Sēkichi came
dashing against a raving hare and bit it to death. Tomioka regarded
his own slyness as someone like a hunter who hid himself behind a
rock and whimsically aimed at Osei. Sēkichi committed murder as if
seduced. Tomioka put the blade on the artery of his wrist, but, did
not feel like stabbing it into his artery on the spot.
Tomioka felt like vomitting because he did not eat anything
since the morning. His writing also was stagnating. He rose up and
wore a dirty Y-shirt and black serge trausers, then, went downstairs.
He took out Osei’s clog, wore them, and went outside. It was twilight
time, but the town was still bright like a midday. He walked leisurely
near to the station, and passed through the nawa’noren[*135] of a
small tavern. He wanted to yield himself to drunkenness. He ordered a
glass of shōchū, alcoholic liquors made by distilling of sake lees. He
took it off at a draught, and ordered the next glass. No other
customers. A smell of grilling dried foods was coming from the
backyard. Behind the counter, a middle-aged man, seemingly a
master of the tavern, scolded a fifteen or sixteen year old girl in a low
 voice. She from time to time raked up her bobbed hair in her ears,
and turned towards the wall with her profile in a miff.
“Why’s your sulky look? Despite you don’t know the world at all, you
fooled around with a man. …… Where did you stay, last night?”
Tomioka, drinking shōchū, silently listened to the master’s scolding
the girl.
“Where did you stay overnight?”
The girl stood facedown. Tomioka ordered the third glass. He got
drunk intensely, which cleared his mind a little. He wanted to forget
his woes by watching a movie for diversion for a first time in a while.
The girl brought him the third glass. The girl of a dark face with no
makeup had large bright eyes, and quite good looks. Her thick and
black eyebrows were not shaved as if a straight line was drawn
horizontally. The girl put a glass on the table, looked at him and
grinned. He saw her clear eyes.
He was drunk as if three glasses of shōchū changed his views of life.
He left the tavern. The drunkness enabled him to forget all his
distress. He loitered unsteadily around the town. ‘Tonight, when I
get back home, I will write up my urushi esssay and bring it to the
Agriculture Magazine.’
Tomioka walked to Sangen’jaya[*162] and went into a movie theater. It
was showing the film entitled “Ginza Sanshirō[*47].” In the film, a
main character is a doctor, who could not forget his former mistress
and drink sake very often. Tomioka thought the doctor was very
much like a yakuza[*217]. Tomioka was drowsy, taking a corner seat. The
hero doctor fought against many opponent yakuza in the luxury
town, Ginza, and threw them into the river one after another. A
daughter of a restaurant seemed to love the yakuza doctor, but she
always began quarreling against him whenever she met him. She
reminded Tomioka of Osei. She had nothing similar to Osei in
appearance, but her character resembled Osei. The storyline was
lack of consistensy and had no sense at all to Tomioka who was
drunk. He was bored with the movie and left the theater. The town
still took time before fading into twilight.
He wondered what time it was. He had no sense of time after he
had sold his omega watch to Osei’s husband, Sēkichi, in Ikaho. He
looked in a shop at the clock, the hands pointed close to 8. He
thought that it was that time already, and aimlessly walked again. He
was enticed a little more to such drunkness as grasping at sand. He
turned back towards the theater, and entered the bar in a small
barrack in the market near the station.
He went staggering inside to a narrow bar. A middle-aged woman
with heavy makeup for her age made herself agreeable and put her
cushion on a chair for the sake of Tomioka.
“Aunt, a glass of chū.”
“Oh, you’re in a good mood. You have already drunk somewhere else,
haven’t you?”
She poured shōchū in his glass to the brim. Tomioka slowly touched
his lips to the brim of his glass. ‘Liquor shop Jiamusi’ could be read on
a paper lantern swinging in a wind under the eaves.
“Aunt, did you come back from Manchuria?”
“Yes. Why do you know that?”
“The lantern says Jiamusi, a prefectural city in eastern Heilongjiang
province. ……”
Under her small eyes there was dark circles. She had a receding
hairline on her forehead, and her nose also was small. She powdered
her nape heavily with white powder. She wore a yukata with a collar
lace apron. On the table, the hard-boiled fish, ham slices, boiled eggs
were served. Tomioka picked up a ham slice from a large dish and
crammed his mouth with it.
“Yes, I did. I came back alone without any of my belongings. I’m flat
broke. You may not believe it, but I worked as a teacher for ten years
in Jiamusi. …… We don’t know what human beings are like. Doing
business is quite new to me, and everyone warns me of the “samurai in
business,” which possibly ends up in failure.”
“Aunt, how old are you?”
“What do you guess? I am young however I may look. I had a hard
time, and so, I look older. ……”
“The female age is difficult to guess. 40, maybe?”
 “Ah, how sorrowful! Do I look like an old woman? I am 35. I intend
to bloom once more. ……”
Hearing that she was 35, Tomioka was amazed indeed at her lie. He
inwardly thought that she was 50, nevertheless, he pronounced her
age 10 years younger.
“Oh, I am terribly sorry to hear that. 35 …… . Extremely young. You
have enough time to live your life over again from now on. Then, you
must have parted from your husband. No choice, because you are so
fresh and young, and beautiful. ……”
The woman was pleased with a light laugh. She served two slices of
ham on a small plate and put it on the table.
“I outlived my husband. I parted from my husband in Jiamusi. He
worked for the Concordia Association, the Kyōwakai[*102] in Baoquing
County, Hōsei[*64]. And we ended up getting a divorce. I think nothing
of my former husband at all.”
The second glass was served.
Tomioka was getting dead drunk. He knew that life is like a revolving
stage everywhere in the world, however, such a world was plaintive
that he met a woman who worked as a teacher in a distant place like
Jiamusi. From time to time, he extended his hand to her, and said the
same thing over and over, “Hei, Aunt, let’s shake hands.”
“Did your husband truly die?”
“Truly. He got together with a woman of the same Kyōwakai, in
Korea. I heard about it exactly. …… He committed suicide by a
shotgun.”
“Aha. ……”
A story became interesting when it was complicated. The third glass
of shōchū went him off his feet. He layed his face on the table.

.. * 48

Yukiko constantly earned her livelihood by accounting work in the

Ōhinata’kyō as far as the autumn. The internal affairs of the
Ōhinata’kyō were utterly in disorder beyond description. The founder,
Senzō, was rather a stingy and avaricious person, and always began an
angry dispute with Iba over money. Yukiko understood well the
disposition of the two men, besides, did not forget to put money away
for herself by filching it from the community’s accountancy.
Senzō, as well as Iba, always said that all the life is money. “The
Ōhinata’kyō is not the Great Shunny Faith, but the Great Money Faith,
isn’t it?” Yukiko sometimes spoke ironically. She fully recovered her
health, and her skin glistened. She appeared much younger than
before. As was Ōtsu Shimo who became Senzō’s secret mistress, Yukiko
returned to her old days of love with Iba. Iba sent his wife and children
back to their birth home in Shizuoka. Now, he bought a small house
for Yukiko near the church of the Ōhinata’kyō. Yukiko did not love Iba
at all. She hated him instead. Yukiko lived alone in a small house of 6
yards on one side, with a beliver aunt as a live-in maid, and commuted
to work at the church. She had 100,000 yen as her savings. She also
learned that ‘it is only money to rely on in life,’ and so, became
dexterous to deal with money. Believers increased more and more, and
thus, the Ōhinata’kyō had quite a prominent power, and was becoming
an institution in town.
Yukiko did not mean not to think about Tomioka. She wrote many
times to him, however, did not get any reply from him. The more she
thought that she could not get back his love as before, the more she
noticed not being rescued by her present life.
She lacked for nothing in her present life, however, always felt
starvation in mind.
One rainy night, Yukiko came back home from the church, change
clothes from her black uniform to her lined kimono, awase, and took
supper with the believer aunt in the living room. Meanwhile, she saw
an evening newspaper, where an advertisement of the Agriculture
Magazine caught her eyes. The name, Tomioka Kengo, showed as a
writer of “Essay of Urushi.” Yukiko recalled in mind the Agriculture
Magazine which Tomioka showed her in Osei’s room. Soon she asked
the aunt maid to buy the magazine at the bookstore nearby.
Tomioka’s writing was merely an amateur, but his writing style was
easy to read. Her memory of Vietnam which only the two people knew
ignited her mind. While reading “Essay of Urushi,” she felt running
immediately to meet him. Yukiko, however, was stubborn to Osei’s
departed soul, and thus, refrained from visiting him. Her mental
starvation was felt everyday, however, it seemed not to heal without
meeting Tomioka. Yukiko reflected on her behavior. ‘I have attacked
too much his ruin and reduced circumstances. However rare Osei was
for Tomioka, I cannot be defeated by that woman. I wonder why
Tomioka collapsed and I also am collapsing. …… We, two people
dreamed too much of the irrevocable past dreams, and after all, we
might have become to hate each other. If Osei’s issue was the center of
us two people, it would have been impossible for us to resolve to die
together. Two months have passed since the incident. By now,
probably, Tomioka has been released from Osei’s apparition.’
“Look at this name, aunt. …… This is the name of my former lover.”
The aunt, who was putting away the dishes from the table, took the
magazine in hands and looked at the contents at which Yukiko
pointed. The aunt was called O’Shige’san. Her two sons died in the
war, and she made a living by peddling fish. Her husband died this
past spring. Too many miseries came one after another to her, and so,
she began to worship the Ōhinata’kyō. Iba found that she was tight-
lipped, and employed her as a live-in maid for Yukiko.
“The essay of something. How do you read this kanji character?”
“The essey of Urushi. It is read Urushi. The tray and the wooden
bowls on our table are lacquered by urushi. The kanji character means
it.”
“Did he do business dealing with the urushi?”
“No, he did not. He was a public employee of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry, a person of rank. …… During the wartime, I
worked for the same ministry as a typist, and went to Indochina as an
army civilian employee. I met him over there, and we loved each
other.”
While talking about her past, she became sentimental, and was
moved to tears.
“The war ended. We returned to Japan separately through the many
postwar hardships. I don’t know why, but our relationship turned cold
and distant rapidly after blown by wind of Japan, although we two
people had loved ardently each other in the southern country. We
once talked about mutual suicide, and went to Ikaho looking for the
place of death. ……”
Oshige listened to Yukiko while wiping slowly the table.
“We were stuck in Ikaho without money. He went to sell his watch in
town, and the master of a bar bought it. Tomioka must have come
under some evil influence and had an affair with the master’s wife. It
was my surprise that the man, who intended to commit a mutual
suicide, still went astray into such an absurdity. …… My trust upon
him utterly fell apart. …… Well, since then, I have gotten so desperate
as not to be able to even breathe. I never did love Iba. Anyone in
starvation become desperate, whose mind also starves. After all, he or
she becomes like a hungry wolf. I think that people in love eventually
hate each other when they starve. …… If I compare it to sailing, people
who board a ship sailing a peaceful sea will not vomit. While sailing
on a stormy day, however, people vomit even if they may try to feel
good. …… Things are like that. …… I came back again to Iba, because I
have nothing to vomit any more. …… Iba is a person I dislike. He is
worse than I. I have become considerably evil, however, that man is
utterly evil, more evil than I. …… The founder also is an evil person.
You are deceived, aunt. ……”
“I know that very well. Despite that, I cannot live if not believing the
Ōhinata’sama. I don’t mean that I believe the founder and Iba’sama.
They are trivial people. ……”
Hearing that Oshige believed the Ōhinata’kyō but not the founder or
Iba, Yukiko felt as if her mind was suddenly burned by Oshige’s words.
She felt her own sense of superiority was knocked down.
“That’s true. I only believe the invisible Ōhinata’sama.”
“Such a god as Ōhinata’sama is nowhere in the world, is it?”
“In fact, one day, I looked at my nail. However magnifiscent and
convenient things are invented, nevertheless, I thought even my nail is
miraculous. Human beings’ nails are more fearful than atomic bombs.
I utterly thought so. I thought this means that gods live in human
beings. However hard scholars might strive to invent even a nail of
human beings, they would not be able to invent it. No, they absolutely
cannot. …… This nail is created naturally from one’s parents. Without
gods, human beings would not be born. …… Human beings have
possessed worldly desires, and I cannot live without believing
something. How about, O’Yuki’sama, going straight to the man whom
you love, and speak a story well in simple words? …… Men are not
shackled by superstition, so, may not be so easy to deal with. If you, a
woman, remain patient and speak to him of your affections carefully,
he will understand you and your devotion. Speaking does not mean to
chat, but you have only to sit beside him, and protect him tenderly.
……”
Yukiko began to giggle. She felt for the first time that she could
laugh cheerfully.

.. * 49

Tomioka earned money with the “Essey of Urushi,” and could keep
alive. He partly paid for his unpaid room charge, and could
live on the remaining money somehow for two months. He also got
used to the loneliness, and began to write about the memory of
some agriculture and forestry engineer about whom he had wanted
for a long time to write about in the Agriculture Magasine.
He aimed mainly to describe his nostalgia for the forestry in the
southern country. He had written down a lot in his study notebooks in
Indochina, none of which he could bring back on the occasion of
repatriating. He retraced his memories and thought in mind that he
would send his future book to the deceased Kano for his memorial if
he successfully wrote up the manuscript and the magazine company
published it as a book. Furthermore, he had a secret wish in his heart
to dedicate his future book to all those who died in combats in
Indochina.

Vietnamese, regardless of their social classes, have a fervent faith for

nature, and are inclined to interpret natural and social phenomena
through their natural spirits. Their lives during their lifetime depend
upon the activities of natural spirits and all the vicissitudes are notices
made by spirits, which is the vietnamese philosopy.
On the day of his arrival in Da Lat, Tomioka was introduced by the
chief of the bureau to Kano. He recalled in mind that Kano displayed a
wooden piece on his desk.
“Tomioka’san, have you ever seen the first grade aloeswood for
incense, kyara?”
Kano held up that small wooden piece to Tomioka’s nose, and said
with a smile.
“After I have come to the was zone, I don’t have any opportunity to
touch a woman. So, I began to study the aloeswood for incense. It’s
smart, isn’t it? ……”
Tomioka wanted to start writing it from this memory that he had
been shown aloeswood by Kano for the first time. At that time, Kano
also told him that the same wood is called Kyara in Japan and shĕn
xiāng in China using different kanji characters. When he went to the
Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute in Saigon, he saw an
excellent aloeswood for incense, kyara, at the size of a dried bonito,
katsuobushi[*90] in the Forestry manager room on Liu Song Street near
the botanical garden. The manager, Mr. Moran, told him its French
name as bois d’agar. The aloeswood was used since the days of the 7th
emperor Wu of the Han dynasty of China, during 141 to 87 BC. It
seemed to be used from much earlier in India, Egypt, and Arabia. A
good example of spirit worship of Vietnamese can be referred to by
many temples existing everywhere in Vietnam, and the aloeswood
incense is often burnt there. The aloeswood is said to be as valuable as
gold of the same weight, and is produced in southern Vietnam.
Furthermore, the quality of the Vietnam aloeswood is the best in the
world. Hearing this, Tomioka put a pinky finger size piece of
aloeswood under Yukiko’s pillow in her bed when he first got
acquinted with her. He went to a Vietnamese temple and offered a
bribe to a monk, who gave him a small piece of aloeswood. Tomioka
thought there was a mysterious linkage between the Vietnamese
religion and aloeswood incense
He wrote his manuscript as many as 200 sheets. While writing,
Tomioka was aware that Yukiko’s concern was utterly irrelevant to
various things in Indochina. The nostalgic memory of the Vietnamese
maid and his child flashed into his mind instead. He thought that
after all he could not forget the sceneries in Indochina only because of
his nostalgia for scents pertinent to the land there.
These days, his visits to Sēkichi in prison was reduced. Particularly,
for the past month, he had not been there at all. Tomioka felt himself
as if such pale sparks that spilled over outside a gear of this huge
society, while his interests transferred from one focus to another with
nothing burning up. There was no difference between Sēkichi
imprisoned and Tomioka himself unprisoned. Presumably, prisoners
were good people itself and people released in the society were real
prisoners. Tomioka secretly felt conscience of the Penal Code doubtful.
A perpetrator who murdered Osei was Tomioka. Sēkichi worked
merely like a hunting dog of the hunter, and was arrested. The man
took the absurd way and chose capital punishment. Tomioka began to
feel irritation as if he could not sustain his own conscience while
thinking about Sēkichi from time to time. Sēkichi’s crime related to his
behavior, on the contrary, the crime committed by Tomioka was no
other than something not done.
Sēkichi unexpectedly assumed being bright anytime when Tomioka
visited him in prison. He could not believe when the lawyer remarked
that Sēkichi was gloomy and lonely by character. ―　Tomioka, even
while writing, recalled Sēkichi’s beaming face despite he wanted not to
think of it. The hunting dog was imprisoned. When the hunter visited
the dog, it looked quite unconcerned. …… Such an image appeared in
his mind and he felt something weird in Sēkichi. The cause that Kano
was arrested by the military police in Saigon was the same. Kano
already entered the netherworld. Even when he had been alive in bed,
however, Tomioka did not visit him at all. Kano had been dying lonely
without reconciling with each other.
Only Yukiko visited him in Yokohama. She talked to Tomioka that
Kano apologized to Yukiko for hurting her. Tomioka thought that his
own cowardice was a lasting psychological injury marked with a scar.
At night, Tomioka was eager to drink a strong sake. The Southern
forestry would not make him money at his writing speed of five or six
sheets a day. Everytime that he became eager to drink sake, he sold
Osei’s furniture and clothes. He sold her tea-cabinet, her trunk, and
Osei’s clothes were already gone. To the tavern where the young girl
with beautiful eyes worked, he went there seven or eight times and got
along with her to chat.
The girl came twice to collect money for reckoning. ― Tomioka got
bored writing, and took a towel hung on the wall to go for taking a
bath after a long time. A laughter of a semiwhispered tone was heard
through the wall, which became Osei’s voice as caused by an instant
associative imagination. Such a laughter as if swelled out, when
Tomioka went hand in hand with Osei downwards on the narrow
stone stairway in Ikaho at night. He pricked up his ears towards a
female laughter sounded through the wall.
He looked back over his shoulder towards a voice, hearing it saying
“Uncle!” The tavern girl with large eyes looked into his room from the
hallway, with two or three magazines in her arms and her clogs hung
on a hand.
“Oh, it’s you. ……”
“Are you alone?”
“I’m alone. May I help you? Did you come to collect my debt?”
“I came here to play with you.”
“Ahaa ……”
Tomioka thought what a bold child she was. The girl rushed into the
room at once, and shoved her dirty clogs under the bed. She sat on the
hem of the bed without fear, and giggled meaninglessly. Tomioka
noticed the laughter which he had heard was hers, and sat alongside
her on the bed. He put his arm on her shoulder and drew her close.
The girl looked up at him with her mouth open innocently. He stared
at her face, which had a Southern feature. He kept staring at her
lightly swarthy face, thinking in mind that he saw many faces like this
in Indochina.
“Dad scolded me a lot, so I ran away from home to make him scared.
……”
“Your dad scolds you for your naughty deeds, doesn’t he?”
“He has a nervous breakdown. Mom talks to dad of a divorce, and so,
he is irritated everyday. The other day, as well, I stayed overnight at a
police box. The police box at night is extremely amusing. ……”
“Which police box did you stay at?”
“It’s far from here. The policeman was very gentle and a good
person.”
Tomioka did not understand at all the girl’s psychology.

.. * 50

It was winter.
Tomioka wrote up his manuscript about his memory of some
forestry engineer as many as 500 sheets in poverty. This was
unsuccessful. He was disappointedly turned down as it was difficult to
publish his manuscript at present due to a recession in the publishing
industry. As if he stood on a steep slope, as if he was likely to roll
down, he could not support his own unstable life anymore. He tried to
find a job, thus, went to an employment security office and visited his
friends of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Ministry days.
All these efforts deceived him. He, lying coldly in the unheated
room, did not always think about Yukiko. For him to think about
Yukiko, in itself, was an indication of his vulgarness. He had not paid
for the room since the summer, and thus, was forced to leave it by the
owner. In addition, his old mother came from Urawa to visit his room,
and appealed for help referring to Kuniko’s disease and their tight
plait.
One snowy morning during the New Year Days, a telegram informed
him of the death of Kuniko. Tomioka sold off the bed in a hurry to a
secondhand dealer, and went back to Urawa. She lived a wretched life
and unrecognizably worn out. Her death was utterly like a suicide.
A long-term weakening drained her. Besides, she was affected with
tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis, which needed a surgical
operation. Her doctor seemed to be anxious about the operation of
this thin, worn out woman, and so, his medical advice for her was only
to breathe fresh air and take a pill of cod-liver oil. Soon, a pus wound
appeared at the upper part of the groin, so an operation was inevitable
to insert a pus rubber pipe. She was in the emergent condition. But
Kuniko endured her disease patiently until she drew her last breath in
a miserable appearance.
His home lacked of money even to buy a coffin. Tomioka did not feel
such the sorrow of parting as he felt for Osei at her death, but had
feelings of guilt and remorse at not having treated her like his wife. So
he hated their reduced circumstances.
It was snowing in the morning.
He did not have money to invite a Buddhist monk to read the sutra
near her death pillow nor to ask an undertaker to carry her body to a
crematory. He decided to borrow the money from Yukiko in an
emergency. He wore his father’s old wornout overcoat, and left for
Tokyo early in the same morning. He visited her relying on the address
from her envelope. Iba’s nameplate appeared. A modest two-story
house. On the other side of the painted gate, a shrub of the aoki,
Aucuba japonica, bearing red berries, was covered with snow. When
he was about to open the lattice door, a dog barked noisily in the
house. Tomioka dared to open the lattice door with the frosted glass
fitted in.
Unexpectedly, Yukiko carrying a white dog in her arms came
downstairs into the corridor. Yukiko wearing a yellow jacket and black
trousers looked at Tomioka’s miserable appearance. At first, she stood
as if she was completely overwhelmed, and seemed not to be able to
speak.
Her looks had utterly changed since this past summer. She became
chubby but younger. Her body had flesh in the right places. She
recovered her appearance to the days of Indochina. The dog was long
haired and white, which still was barking nervously with its red
tongue out at Tomioka. Yukiko beat the dog’s head severely, and said.
“Ah! I wondered who has come. ……”
Tomioka also appeared surprised looking at the dramatic change of
this woman. Yukiko carried the dog upstairs, and noisily shut the
paper panel door, fusuma. Before long, she came downstairs and
invited Tomioka to the living room. Yukiko, facing behind, secretly
stuck out her tongue. She felt so exhilarating as to feel pain on her
chest while thinking that, at last, Tomioka broke down and visited her.
Yukiko realized at once that this man came to borrow money. She
turned the soft futon up over the heating devise, kotatsu, and turned
on the switch of the brazier. She said in a sweet voice without looking
at Tomioka.
“It’s cold. Warm yourself in the kotatsu.”
“You have utterly changed.”
“How have I changed?”
“You became younger.”
“Is that so? I’m not easy going, though. ……”
Yukiko sat face to face with him. She seemed to just have bathed as
her hand skin looked ruddy. An iron kettle was steaming on a large
porcelain brazier, hibachi. Near the paper lattice window, shoji, a
three-sided mirror was placed, next to which a small shelf, a doll
carrying seawater barrels showed in a glass case.
“You’re already aware of my purpose to visit you, aren’t you?”
Tomioka intended to talk from the entrance that he wanted to
borrow money. However, when he entered the kotatsu, he somehow
failed to begin talking. So, he only looked around the room at her life
style. The dog barked noisily on the second floor.
“Where is Iba’kun?”
“He is in the church, now.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes. An aunt works as a live-in servant. She went shopping.”
“Yours is an enviable life. ……”
“Oh, do you think so? ……”
Yukiko, with an impassive face, snorted in her mind, wondering
whether even this was an enviable life.
 “After the war, women became stronger.”
Yukiko assumed a composed look and said, “Do you think so?” while
serving tea. Tomioka utterly changed in appearance, and seemed two
or three years older. She thought, “Is this the Tomioka that I have been
yearning until today?” She felt strange with her own coldheartedness,
while watching him from the corner of her eyes.
“Kuniko died yesterday.”
“Ah! Your wife died?”
Yukiko stared wide-eyed at him. She recalled Tomioka’s wife whom
she met twice. She could not forget her impression when she met his
wife near his house in Gotanda, while she was hanging around
Tomioka. Suddenly, tears overflew from her eyes. Tomioka, who came
to his former woman only to ask for money like a rascal, appeared
surprised seeing her flowing tears. Suddenly, various past memories of
his undergoing hardships with this woman shaked his desolate heart.
He could not say anything but absent-mindedly looked at her sobbing.
Yukiko did not sob for Tomioka with her sentiment of pity. She shed
tears remembering her own misery at that time like an ownerless dog.
However, when she noticed her tears had an unexpected effect on him,
Yukiko pressed her face on a wet towel which was put on the mirror, as
if she could not abstain from crying.
Tomioka, in the silent astonishment, kept staring at her sobbing. His
heart began throbbing gradually. Fragrance which soaked into the
towel assailed his nose seductively. Tomioka came close to Yukiko who
was weeping loudly, held her shoulder, and pulled off her towel. He
was delighted to understand that Yukiko loved him so deeply. He held
her soft neck with his hands, and kissed her intensely. She had fresh
scent as if he touched a new woman. He restlessly held her large waist.
Yukiko like a patient undergoing medical examination let him do as he
wanted. Soon, a secret memory of two people only, unexpectedly, was
passing through a common course to the highest of all, where they
finally shared a pain in their hearts.

.. * 51
The clock struck 12. Tomioka took a morning bath.
He felt emancipated from his life in such poverty that he had to give
up taking a bath even for 6 or 7 days. The cobalt tiled bathtub was
filled with hot water to the brim. He felt pity for his wife who died
with a gaunt appearance, while washing his body with a white soap
made in France. Looking at snowing on the small window, Tomioka
felt like glimpsed at the cross-sectional view of the vast and menacing
human society. Nowhere was his mind. He felt like desolate feelings
stuck to his soles, as if he was loitering in the vast snowfield. The gas
heater of the bath was burning with the sound of steam.
In the soft steamy atmosphere, he shaved looking at his face into the
mirror. Iba’s safety razor was chilly in his heart. He put it on his cheek,
while recalling an epigram, ‘I will eat the whole dish once I took the
poison,’ which simply signified ‘I will do till the last once I did it.
Tomioka bitterly thought vulgarity of a person, who passed through a
variety of the elusive world and reached here. A human being is a
simple creature. The reality quickly changes with trifles. Unexpectedly,
nobody is hurt, who quickly gets up and smiles. ― Yukiko looked up
at the wall clock, and was relieved as the aunt did not come back soon.
Her errands were always slow, and her return home was much slower
today. Yukiko had to reach the Church by one o’clock and switch with
Ōtsu Shimo for the work in the office. Yukiko decided to steal all the
money today from the small coffer at the reception.
The founder Narimune Senzō had a large coffer in his bedroom. All
the property of the Church was hidden there. Apart from that, money
in the amount of 200,000 to 300,000 yen was laid up all the time in the
small coffer in the reception. These days, the Ōhinata’kyō was more
and more prosperous. Donations flew in, and the money dedicated by
worshippers for consultation and prayer requests extremely increased.
Season’s fruits, vegetables, and rolls of textiles were piled up in the
worshippers’ attendance room.
Yukiko prepared for lunch, and put a bottle of Suntory whiskey of
Iba’s favorite on the table. Tomioka in the lively florid came back from
the bathroom. He surprisingly saw Yukiko working lively. He thought
that two people secretly expandeded their joy here, and kept watching
the room through a thief’s perception. The dog was barking noisily
upstairs. Tomioka entered the kotatsu, and felt the dizziness. He
gulped drunk two or three glasses of whiskey in a gulp each. The taste
of wishkey stimulated his body, and brightened his gloomy mind.
The aunt came back at last. She looked perplexed seeing an
unknown guest. Seeing Yukiko’s attitude toward him, however, the
aunt seemed to guess that he was the writer of the story of urushi.
Yukiko took 20,000 yen out of a drawer of the chest. She felt a little
pity to give him that amount, but wrapped the money in a newspaper
and pushed it under the cushion, zabuton, of Tomioka. Tomioka
showed his appreciation with his eyes.
Yukiko left for the church before one o’clock, and Tomioka went out
with her. She walked slowly and asked him.
“What are you going to do from now?”
“As you can see, I cannot do anything. This money as well, I don’t
know when I can pay it back to you. Are you all right with it?”
“Sure. Do you stay at that room in Meguro after all?”
“Yes.”
“Say, I want to see you again. ……”
Yukiko felt it hard to part from him. Now that Kuniko had died,
Yukiko thought that they could marry without worrying about anyone.
However, she restrained herself from talking about marriage to
Tomioka, who was going to buy a coffin. Although she said so,
Tomioka, who understood well what she had in mind, somehow felt it
troublesome to talk further about their next meeting. Furthermore, he
did not have ability for life at the present, and so, could not require
her anything.
The two people separated at the Den’en’chōfu station, while feeling
something equivocal.
Yukiko in Iba’s rubber boots went to the church on the snow road.
She took over the work from Ōtsu Shimo, who was going to Atami
together with the Founder today. Yukiko, sitting on the heating pad,
stared at the scenery in the garden for a while. It did not snow. The sky
was seen like cold petroleum through the leaden clouds. Tomioka in
poverty was pitiful, but she felt that the attractiveness was fading from
the man who had a lack of ability to make a living. A while ago, she
was eager to steal all the money from the safe behind her and run
away with Tomioka. But now she strangely calmed down, and thought
that she had still a few hours to form an idea. An electric light was lit
in the reception. It seemed that Iba drank sake with believers of the
closed circle in the Founder’s room. In the lecture hall, approximately
20 naive believers secluded themselves, and sat on the cold floor to say
their prayer.
While her waist warming up on the heating pad, she with a smile
remembered Tomioka’s vigorous strength at that time. That time was
memorized in one point of her body to be a vestige also in her mind.
While thinking this way, she could not retain her composure towards
Tomioka. Her love entirely attracted to Tomioka seemed to her like the
woman’s last struggling for creating her blood. She thought she could
seek love with Tomioka peacefully. Boiling up waves in her mind went
again toward the safe behind her. Yukiko extended her hands like an
eable towards the safe. The money flooded into the coffer like hot
water, whilst everyday was alike and tedious to Yukiko. She wanted to
retire from such a strange life that anxieties could not thoroughly be
wiped off. She was too lonely to keep striving in a corner as this.
Yukiko pretended to be casual and looked at today’s donations in the
donation book. She noticed the unexpectedly large amount of money
was donated today, and opened the coffer. The banknotes of almost
600,000 yen were stored there.
Nothing surprising that the money of this amount was stored for
four to five days in the coffer, however, the money at which Yukiko
looked today was challenging. Ōtsu Shimo correctly calculated the
entire sum of money and reported it to the Founder and Iba, so Yukiko
cannot do anything with the money. However, she did not feel like
bringing it to the Founder’s room in the evening. The large coffer
hidden in Narimasa’s bedroom was not opened every day but regularly
on Sunday night. It was Sunday, today. It was the day when Iba and the
Founder secretly calculated a whole income of the week. Tonight,
however, the Founder was going to be absent. Therefore, the large
coffer possibly might be opened on Monday. If so, Yukiko had still two
days.
 Yukiko imagined various pretexts. After her running away, the aunt
would inform Iba of a strange visitor. Yukiko got tired thinking of
these many different things, and went to the lecture hall. Electric
candles lit richly in the alter. Believers who shut themselves in the
church were saying their prayer loudly.
“People put boundaries into one and our true minds associated with
each other. People in the world lack every training, only go astray, and
loiter around in vain. …… The Ōhinata’sama is tormenting people
with secular agonies for salvation of these people from the hell.
Without salvation of faith, without believing that the true faith is
rewarded, these people die to fall into the hell. Hō’ren gē’kyō (refrain
prayer) …… So be it. Wherever the place the Ōhinata’kyō may rule
over, the darkness disappears and the Sun shines, and people are
emancipated from loitering in the darkness. ……”
Yukiko sat on the floor while listening to the prayer. She closed her
eyes and joined her hands in prayer. However, her irritating mind got
entangled like threads and could not calm down. Bulky banknotes
flickered in front of her eyes, and she could not remove it from her
thoughts. The God did not show over her head or before her eyes. She
could not worship even the Ōhinata’kyō’s ether to which Iba always
referred. The God was nowhere. Only the people’s gathering like
Noah’s ark was a gloomy view on the large floor. Iba with his red face
entered the lecture hall. His complexion was significantly good and his
body was of a discernibly dignified build. He looked around all over
the hall, and at the believers saying prayer. He opened the glass
window facing to the engawa-porch, spit into the garden, and
violently shut the window again. He found Yukiko sitting near the
entrance of the hall. He, with a satisfied look, went away with a heavy
stride towards the founder’s room. Iba’s receding figure looked full of
self-confidence. He was thinking that the believers were like infants
with no need of constant care. Yukiko looked at the alter with electric
candles shining. The round mirror was shining in the other side of the
purple curtains. Yukiko kept gazing at the mirror while anticipating a
possibility that the God might appear around it. Despite her
anticipation, even a mystic shadow was not reflected on it. The snow
on the garden glass was melting in the form of a circle as if in the
pictures painted by Kōrin[*98]. The wind blew, and the glass windows
sounded with squeaking.
When she thought about Tomioka, Yukiko extremely missed the
fleshly pleasures of this morning as if her chest was compressed.

.. * 52

Kuniko’s funeral was over. Tomioka still stayed in Urawa for 5

additional days. He felt relieved after the funeral as if he unloaded a
heavy burden off his shoulder. He sold off Kuniko’s beddings, her
clothes, and all her belongings for a mere song, and blew off the
memory of the decesed, warts and all. For Tomioka, his wife Kuniko
was like another person for a long time. Osei’s memory still stifled
him, however, as for Kuniko, he felt somewhat released. At the same
time to bury her, everything about Kuniko was off his mind quickly. It
could be said that Kuniko, as a wife had a lonesome life. She was
completely meaningless as a wife since Tomioka came back from
Indochina. He had stolen Kuniko, who was his friend’s wife, and had
lived a happy life together. But it was the ephemeral happiness. Two
years later, Tomioka left for Indochina as a civilian employee. If not the
war, both Kuniko and Tomioka must have stably settled in an ordinary
official’s life. Tomioka had been away from Japan and left Kuniko for
five years, which was a distance too far away for two people to get
along together again. A large encumbrance as the war was falling on
them heavily. The married couple standing on the steril barren land
had lost their passion to walk closer to each other and to reclaim the
land. After all, their marriage life was over fleetingly. Tomioka felt
much freer after Kuniko’s bruial.
His elder parents desired to spend the reminder of their life helping
the farmer in their home country, Matsuida town in Gunma
Prefecture, Jōshū. Upon their request, Tomioka sold their hut-like
house in Urawa for 140,000 yen net to a man who worked for Japanese
National Railways. He gave the money to his parents and sent them
out to the home country. In Matsuida, the younger brother of his
father was a farmer. He had a storage which was previously lent to
evacuees, and let the old couple settle there.
It was a sunny day when Tomioka returned to Tokyo. When he
entered his room, the daughter of the tavern was there, who wrapped
herself in his futon and reading magazines.
She laid down freely and easy as if she was in her own house. Seeing
Tomioka enter the room, she grinned at him. She did not show at all
since she dropped in at the end of the last year. Before he knew it, she
was made up and had her hair permed. Once he had kissed her
playfully when he was drunk. This girl came again, relying only on
that connection.
“A while ago, a beautiful woman came here. I drove her away. ……”
Hearing this, momentarily, Tomioka could not guess who the
beautiful woman was, then noticed that Yukiko had come.
“What was the woman like?”
“Very beautiful. She wore the high-coller stripe overcoat and nylon
stockings. Besides, she hung a shiny black bag on her arm. And then,
she smoked here.”
“Did you talk with her about something?”
“Sure. She aksed me how I became acquinted with you, and I said I
am a good friend with Tomioka’san. Hearing that, she wrinkled her
nose and grinned like snorting. I was stung, so I spread out the futon
and lay down in it.”
“Didn’t she leave any message to me?”
“She said she will come again. She insistently asked me if I stay here
always. I said, yes, of course. …… She looked perplexed. But, I do not
like such a woman. She seemed to be cold-hearted. She looked around
the room. Maybe, she won’t come anymore. Am I wrong?”
“You are terrible. ……”
“Well. Do you love her, Tomioka’san?”
“She’s Tomioka’san’s wife.”
“Oh, no. …… Don’t lie. Rumors spread that Tomioka’san’s wife was
murdered. I know everything.”
The girl stood up with a nasty smile. She wore her jacket but not her
skirt. Her thick knees were exposed from under her dirty short
chemise. Tomioka looked away, and turned on the electric grill. There
was no bed in the bleak room, without a suitable place to settle. He sat
in front of the table, the surface of which was thinly covered with
powder dust from the girl’s powder compact. A cheap and stiffened
lipstick and a red comb with a few teeth chipped off were also lying
beside it. Tomioka bitterly smiled, thinking that Yukiko might have
taken him as a fickle man as ever.
“Listen. Uncle will work from now on. So, go back home.”
“How come? Right now, I do not have a house to return. I was
committed in Yōseien in Saginomiya until yesterday. I ran away from
there. Because there was nothing interesting there. I always pasted
pattern paper to make air mail envelopes, therefore, my hands are
chilblained. Look. ― I remembered you, uncle, and ran away. If I go
back home, I will be driven away again. …… There is no place other
than this room for me to go to.”
“What is Yōseien?”
“It’s a youth detention center for juvenile delinquents like me. We
paste envelopes, on each side of which blue and red stripes are
printed. The envelopes were pretty, and the job was interesting at first.
But I grew tired of it. The afterimages of blue and red stripe pattern
such as a barber shop’s long and thin candy remained like dust in the
eyes. We worried, saying to each other that we all well became color-
blind.”
Tomioka felt his brain becoming tired. It might be said that he was
exhausted all his life. He yearned for tranquillity of his former official’s
life, of which he had made light as a simple life at that time. He could
not help thinking that it had been the most beautiful days in his life.
He had many worries also during the days of his simple official life.
But those were not grimy worries like today. He screamed at times
and/or suffered bitterly in other occasions. ― Around ten years had
passed since then. At present, however, he felt, in pleats of his heart,
that his power ran out, and so he did not have any energy to scream
anymore. His life became flat like mold. Simultaneously, he merely
looked, with other people’s cold eyes, at people’s mold-like way of
living, which came about with mold. Seeing the poorly madeup young
girl’s recalcitrant figure lying down, Tomioka thought as if he saw a
color of a corner of society after the defeat. This girl was also tired.
However, now, this girl’s presence was an annoyance to Tomioka.
“Listen, I will send you home. Why not go back home?”
“No thanks. I want to be here.”
“Why don’t you leave here?”
“Don’t be hard on me. It’s very cold outside, today. It’s much better
to sleep here than in the station. I will not disturb you, so, let me stay
here. May I?”
“No, you may not. Uncle will send you home, so you’d better go
home.”
Tomioka said curtly. The girl, lying, held her tongue for a while. She
got up abruptly and wore her skirt which was left untidily near the
pillow. She held a parcel wrapped in furoshiki, and went to the
corridor. She shut the door so wildly that Tomioka looked back. After
she went away, he stood still for a while, feeling as if she left dismal
behind. He felt helplessness. He felt like her youth was good for
nothing for herself. She was lonely, ignorant, nervous, hysterical, and a
pixie which Tomioka did not understand at all what she thought or
why she wanted to loiter in the town. After all, the girl would go to
prison or commit suicide. …… He felt so disgusted as to vomit. He
kicked the futon spread on the floor.
Tomioka suddenly recalled Kuniko’s corpse as thin as a rice cracker,
senbē, at the time of placing her in coffin. While kicking the futon, his
eyes became sore in the back, with recollection for her. That woman
also died. She did not have any happiness, but died as rags. He had
placed her in coffin, and pounded the nails. That parting hurt deeply
with sympathy for her, for the first time, now.

.. * 53

Yukiko, having only her single belongings, left home without saying
anything to the aunt. She decided not to come back to this house
anymore. With strong intention, as if she would wrench her own life
off, Yukiko at first took a taxi and visited Tomioka in the tenement
house. She had the taxi waiting outside and entered his room, where
she met a strange girl who seemed insane. So, she changed her mind.
She went out of the tenement house, and went by taxi to Shinagawa
station, from which she got on a train for Shizuoka. She had not
thought about her destination, and so, casually, bought a ticket for
Shizuoka.
Yukiko absentmindedly looked out of the window at the wintry
scene in the twilight, as if she was on a trip of the whim. She
momentarily had an idea to go back to her parent’s home in Shizuoka,
but that was thought of as boring. Besides, it was troublesome to come
across someone she knew.
The train arrived at Mishima around at eight in the evening, where
she felt like going to Shuzenji and changed trains. At each station, she
looked out at the inns’ advertising boards, and felt like getting off at
Nagaoka station. She quickly unloaded her suitcase from the luggage
rack, and got off the train. It was an ordinary town as if she walked in
the suburbs of Tokyo, maybe because it was late at night. An old male
touter took her to a small inn called Yamabuki’sō[*218]. The inn was
comparatively new and built of timber of low quality. Yukiko did not
mind whichever inn it was. Yukiko without taking off her overcoat
wrote a message quickly and had it sent to Tomioka by telegram.
The inn was tranqille. There seemed only a few guests. She put away
her locked suitcase on a storage space above the closet. She changed
clothes to the inn’s dotera and went to the bathroom. She was fidgety.
She had a guilty conscience for having absconded with the money
600,000 yen, however, no more feared Iba or Narimune. She got the
happiness of 600,000 yen, however, now she could not procure the
happiness which she wanted, with the money of that much. She
thought everything was too late.
After taking a bath, she took her place at the table where dinner was
served. Her mental starvation was not satisfied. She went to the town,
and took a walk in the cold wind. Street after street, there was nothing
more than darkness everywhere. She bought mandarine oranges,
mikan, and went back to the inn. She wanted Tomioka to come by all
means, so she wrote another message and had a maid send it to
Tomioka by telegram again. She did not care however what the inn’s
staff might wonder. Rather, she spoke jokingly to the maid that she
was waiting for her lover to come. Yukiko felt as if she had gotten a
great wealth, and could immediately start a joyful life joining hands
together with Tomioka. At present, however, the happiness that she
had money drove her into a solitude with which she was afflicted
furthermore.
She could not sleep even if the night fell. She lay on the starch-
smelled sheet, and while hearing the cold wintry wind roaring, her
yearning for Tomioka began intensely burning like fire. She got up two
or three times in the middle of the night, and opened the storage over
the closet by sliding the paper door, fusuma, to confirm the presence
of her small suitcase.
Brief and irritative sleeps were intermittent till the daybreak.
It was after her sending him the fourth telegram that Tomioka came
to Yamabuki’sō. She was eating dinner. The manager announced, “A
guest for you,” and at the same time, Tomioka in a worn-out overcoat
without a hat appeared from behind the manager, and entered her
room. He looked angry. Immediately after sitting, he said. “Your
telegram is senseless, which says, I will die if you won’t come.”
Yukiko was pleased at that his meek coming. She wanted Tomioka to
share her anxiety of these last two days. Soon, she ordered sake. She
was in high spirit and could not wait for his coming back from the
bathroom. The maid teased her, and Yukiko was giggling and laughing
although there was nothing funny.
Tomioka returned from the bath and took his place at the dinner
table while asking her, “When did you arrive?”
“Last night. You must be surprised getting my telegram!”
“Yes. The neighbor’s wife surprised when a telegram was delivered to
me.”
“I eagerly wanted you to come. I have many things to talk to you. I
left Iba.”
Her news seemed not to be a surprise to him.
“What are you intending to do?”
 “I left because the life there was unbearable to me. I committed a
bad thing before leaving it. ……”
Yukiko, like a child who did mischief, innocently talked of her crime
that she stole 600,000 yen from the Church and fled from there.
“Iba’san must have given a robbery report to the police at this time.”
“No, he cannot. Everyone is doing dubious things there. It’s a
money-making religion. If he turns in me to the police, the church’s
dark business will be exposed. ― He knows how to avoid danger
which will only backfire. Only 600,000 yen means to them no more
than a breaking down of one single car. …… It is dirty money they
have made without capital. ……”
“God will punish you for it someday. ……”
“I don’t care, if you mean a punishment of the Ōhinata’kyō, because
it is godless. Besides, this amount of money is cheaper for Iba than
giving me that house. ……”
“A certain money in a certain place, isn’t it? I see, the religion is
profitable if it succeeds.”
Tomioka became tipsy with two or three small ceramic cups of sake,
and gradually felt relaxed. Yukiko might have wanted to alleviate her
own feelings of guilt by speaking ill of Narimune and Iba. Tomioka
thought such a longterm negotiation with Yukiko was his fate. Osei
and Kuniko have died. Only this woman survives. Besides, she lives
with a stout fight. Considering this, he felt as if he was driven in a
desperate situation by this woman this time.
Yukiko remembered the prayer of the Ōhinata’kyō such as ‘People in
the world lack of discipline, only being at a loss, only loitering around.’
She began to get desperate and thought that loitering around the
today’s delusion is far more fun even if she would be caught by Iba
tomorrow. After dinner, the maid cleared the table, and got another
order to bring them a few more ceramic bottles of sake.
“Thinking back of Ikaho, we have survived well.”
“After that, our life was not necessary to add. ……”
“I wonder if it’s true. …… Your life, however, was full of changes,
wasn’t it? Such as the fact that a woman like Osei’san appeared in
front of you. ……”
No reply from Tomioka.
 “I would have been much happier, if Osei’san did not die in that way.
I am mortified seeing your face as if it is possessed by Osei’san’s
departed soul. I do not mean to say this because I am drunk, but we
have not had even a day that we can talk over anything like this
together, have we? I hate Osei’san. I still hate her very much. How
disgustful she was! ……”
“Did you call me here to this inn to talk of Osei?”
“No. Not that. I did not think of that at all. …… But, when I saw you,
I thought that woman’s departed soul still possesses you, somewhere
in your body. ― Why could not we die agreeably in Ikaho?”
“Can you die, now?”
“How about you?”
“I can’t die. ……”
“Well …… . I don’t feel like dying either.”
“We no longer need to die. Time has passed while transforming our
mentality.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean nothing. Not any particular reason.”
“Do you mean that I can be together with you from now on?”
“Together? Well. It may be impossible. I came here but intended to
leave tomorrow. ……”
Maybe Yukiko was drunk. She felt her eyes blurred with tears. Then,
the tears fell to her chest. He said that it was impossible to be with
her, and she asked “why?” with her wry lips while sobbing
convulsively.
“As a result, I have always caused troubles to you. Even if you ask me
why we cannot be together, I don’t have any explanation to give you.
We are in such a world as this. Somehow, I feel sorry hearing that you
stole the money from the church, however, I do not need a wife or a
woman for a time being. I feel like doing my work a little more
seriously. I got used to the hard life, and will move from that
apartment house soon. Can’t we part amicably as it is?”
Suddenly, she had an intense pain in her chest as if a wad of 600,000
yen banknotes fell down on her head like a heavy anchor.
.. * 54

Yukiko stared at Tomioka’s face when he said, ‘Can’t we part amicably

as it is?’ She kept silent for a while, thinking whatever thoughts he
might have, he could not have uttered before her such faithless words
like he did not need a wife or a woman.
Tomioka was drunk strangely not like usual.
He looked blankly at Yukiko, while bringing a cup of sake to his lips.
They were the coldest eyes she had ever seen. She wondered whether
this was his natural facial expression. Scrawny cheeks. His habit to rip
off his hair with his hand whenever he smoothed his hair upward from
his forehead. His eye rims were swollen. He tapped his dark-red chest
exposed of the dotera. Yukiko felt that she saw in Tomioka what was
unknown to her before. She stared at him as if this was the first time
seeing him, and then, sensed a choking odor of the male body to
fascinate a woman. Yukiko picked up a bottle and poured sake into his
cup, while thinking that this body scent might entice a woman. She
also got drunk.
Yukiko wanted to get drunk badly.
Was her thought of this morning merely a shallow idea, in case
Tomioka did not understand her passion although she had stolen
money and fled? …… Anyway, she did not think two people would go
well even if she got together with him. However, she did not feel like
part with him.
She got drunk more heavily and her whole skin became numb as if
she had eaten poisonous globefish. She wanted drunk more, and to
call down whatever thoughts she had in mind upon him. Yukiko, from
time to time, at a lucid moment in her drunkness, began talking about
her memories of Indochina.
“I am never disappointed like you. I will survive. You have it your
own way and find another mistress. I read a novel “Bel Ami[*14]” in the
camp in Hanoi. You are the very personage of the hero of this novel.
…… The novel’s hero is a homeless vagabond, and climbs up the ladder
of women to reach the top of the social pyramid in Paris. But you
merely step over women one after another. ……”
Tomioka did not read that novel, but got disgruntled when he was
told that he stepped over women. He grabbed her arm and dragged
her towards him.
“Did you call me here to say such a thing? I’m not such a man who
relies on other people’s money even if you came to me with 10,000,000
yen. …… You stole the money from the church, and boasted of it as if
it was a trump. …… Why did you go to Iba if you yearn for me?”
“How can you say things like that, despite that you always do as you
please? ……”
Tomioka let go of her hand.
“You also use men as your ladder.”
Tomioka laid down with his eyes closed. He did not know what his
memory associated with, but remembered the day of his arrival in Hue
and that he was accommodated at Grand Hotel near Clemanseau
Bridge. He spent a few days in Hue to visit Mr. Marcon at the Forestry
Bureau in Hue. He went to ask Mr. Marcon to provide him with the
wood seeds. He assumed an overbearing attitude at Grand Hotel, and
now, has no trace left, but inwardly looking forward to 600,000 yen
that this woman boosted. …… Tomioka grinned at himself in mind.
Yukiko said to him that he stepped on women, and it may be so.
Recently, Tomioka got a job proposal to go to Yakushima[*215] Island
of the south end of Japan, by the care of his friend and former co-
worker in the Agriculture and Forestry Ministery. Tomioka was
unwilling to go back to the same work as an public service personnel
again. Nevertheless, he did not have any other means to live on, so, he
had no choice but going back to the former office.
Besides, there were two other possible jobs for him, one of which
was to work as an engineer at the Forestry and Forest Product
Research Institute which was located in Takaike’chō in Wakayama
Prefecture.
 Tomioka preferred the job in a local forestry office on a solitary
island of the south, Yakushima, to going to the Forestry and Forest
Product Research Institute in Takaike’chō. His friend encouraged him
if the Forestry and Forest Product Research Institute in Takaike’chō did
not please him, there was another post for him in the Kōya forestry
office in Kudo’san’chō in Ito’gun in Wakayama Prefecture as well.
Tomioka departed from him saying, “I will come to see you when I
have nothing more to do.” He thought, however, it would be better to
go into mountains once more than blunder around Tokyo. Even so, he
needed to make considerable preparations before his leaving his sick
wife and parents behind. However, Kuniko had died and his parents
had moved to Matsuida. Finally, he became free from any burden in
his life. Even from tomorrow, his friend would issue a written
appointment of his work in Yakushima Island.
As for Yakushima Island, Tomioka knew nothing other than the
ancient forests of Yakusugi, Cryptomeria, of more than 1,000 years old.
Yakushima seemed to him to be an uninhabited island. His friend
explained to him that Yakushima consisted of the forestry office only,
and it rains constantly even for a whole month, however, islanders
were naive. His friend laughed saying, “Are you ready?”
Tomioka thought, if he returned again to the former job as public
service personnel, it might be better to go to Yakushima Island, than
to the mount Kōyasan[*100] in Wakayama. He saw a map, and found a
round island Yakushima close to Tanegashima[*192] Island.
He closed his eyes thinking of going to Yakushima. Yukiko creeped
close towards his flank, and said something garrulously, although he
went off into a doze.
She creeped closer to him, pressed her face to his chest.
“Why does your mind part from me? Why did you suddenly become
so callous toward me? Did you get angry at my having been at Iba’s
place?”
“Not being like that. Whether getting angry or not is not an issue
anymore. After the end of the war, everyone’s mood has changed like
this. …… We lost the power to judge things on the basis of ourselves.
It’s not ourselves but someone else around us to determine our
purpose. The reins of government began to make us. Even if we both
chase our old dream and live a merry life with your money for a time
being, nothing will come of this. We are precarious like a rootless
floating plant, which, nevertheless, will not work itself out, after all.
…… ”
“We will die. We should have died in Ikaho, but could not. We will
die when we run out of money. You aksed me to die together, didn’t
you?”
“It’s painful to die.”
Tomioka suddenly recalled the method of suicide described in
“Demons.” Whether it causes you a pain or not if a boulder as large as
a large house falls upon your head. …… He delineated a boulder in
mind, and was frightened with its possible pain imaging if he stood
under the boulder of about 3,000 tons in weight, hyaku’man’gan. The
boulder itself was not painful, but a fear for the boulder caused him a
pain when he was seized with fear for it. Tomioka felt a fear for death
regardless of the means, which was similar to a fear of the boulder.
“Dying is painful.”
“If we died, there is no pain.”
“If we can die well, it would be good. But when we fail to die well, it
will cause us a pain. ……”
“I can bear pain. But, it is unbearable that you hate me.”
Yukiko grasped the collar of his dotera, and shook him as if lifting
him.
“I don’t hate you. As I love you, I say to you that we shall change the
way of life each other now. …… Either is possible for you, going back
to Iba or starting a new job with that money. O’Yuki’san, the world
changed in this way. Our romance disappeared simultaneously with
the end of the war. You are old enough, so, you should stop having a
dream like a girl of juvenile years. In my case as well, when I am away
from you, I see you in my dream and feel the ecstasy sometimes.
Human beings are like that. ― Now, look at me. Let’s talk without
reserve, tonight. We do not want an awkward parting, each other, do
we? It’s not that I want to break up because I hate you. If I hated you, I
would not have come over here. ……”
 Tomioka got up wearily, and picked up the bottle of sake, tokkuri.
The sake had already gotten cold, which he poured into his cup.
The maid suddenly entered the room to make the bed.
Tomioka ordered her to bring another bottle of hot sake. While the
maid spread the futon, two people sat on chairs on the engawa-porch.
The passageway was cold.
Until the bed making finished, they sat face to face in silence. Soon,
a pair of the futon was put side by side, which filled the whole room.
The charcoal brazier, hibachi, and the low table, chabudai, were set
aside to the alcove, tokonoma.The hot sake was served there.
More charcoal was put in the hibachi, which burnt with blue flames.
Two people sat down across each other at hibachi.
“Tell anything to me.”
“Not the great story even if you edge up to me. …… We may be a
graduate from a life and death dialogue.”
“You are selfish.”
“Why?”
“I mean only that. I fled in a desperate feeling.”
“In a desperate feeling. That’s no good. I won’t do it for anything. ……
I’m sure it’s Matthew 7: 13-14. ‘Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is
the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is
the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.’ ……
After all, we have already passed without stopping in front of the gate
which leads to destruction. Anything is welcome but the fear for the
boulder, as I said before.”
“Then, I will die alone.”
Tomioka grinned with a cold look and said in low voice.
“Do as you please.”

.. * 55
The next morning, they got up around noon. Tomioka was reading a
newspaper in the futon. Articles reported the strike of Japanese
National Railways to be carried out in February. Tomioka was not
interested in a labor dispute. He threw the paper to the bedside, and
gave a big yawn. Yukiko was staring at a stain on the white curtain.
She felt wretched while thinking, ‘Tomioka can go back to the same
room as before, however, I have no where to return.’ She removed her
hands from the futon, and looked at them in the yellow sunshine of
the late morning.
Tomioka lay on his belly holding his pillow, picked up a cigarette and
smoked. Yukiko spoke to him.
“Around what time do you leave?”
“Let me see. I will take on the train around 2 o’clock.”
“Will you return by all means?”
“How about you?”
“Where can I return to? I do not have any place to go.”
Tomioka puffed a smoke and stared at it. Yukiko hated to go back to
Iba’s house. If she could return there any time, she would not have
needed to cling to Tomioka. On the pretext of her flirtation, she would
have returned to Iba quickly. Although she did not have any intention
to die, she did not feel like going back to Iba, the fact of which was
serious indeed to her. She did not feel like talking anymore. Another
one day at least, she wanted him to stay here. However, she had
secretly given up on Tomioka. Tears naturally filled her eyes, when she
thought that today’s parting would be the last parting.
Tomioka was aware that she was sobbing, but pretended not to
notice it. Her innermost feeling reflected on him as well. He stubbed
out the cigarette in the ashtray. He came closer to Yukiko and clasped
her tightly in his arms.
Last night, they were drunken in a strange way. They talked too
much to each other, and then slept. After all, however, they could not
carry out their last parting from each other with purity.
“Right now, we are hugging each other, but in a few hours, we will
part from each other, more badly than complete strangers.”
Yukiko lonesomely said in Tomioka’s chest. The two lonely people
felt as if afflicted with seasickness.
 “Cheer up, you too.”
“Okay.”
“I intended to hold my tongue, but I start to work again.”
“Oh!”
“So, I am going to leave for the post in one week.”
“Where is your post?”
“It needs to go on board ship at Kagoshima as far as an island of the
border. Yakushima Island.”
“Yakushima? Does such a place exist?”
“My post is there in the local forestry office. I will go there, and for
five or six years, or for my whole life, I am going to live there. ……”
Yukiko cried holding his shoulder tightly by her arms.
“I hate it! You are going to such a far-off place. …… Then, take me
there!”
“I can’t. It is a lonely island. First of all, you are not the woman who
can live in such a place for five or six years. Once or twice a year, I can
come up to Tokyo, so, let’s meet again in that time. For a time being, I
want to enter the mountains, although I am not sure whether I can do
or not.”
Yukiko wore a blank look. And yet, she was imaging herself chasing
Tomioka to Yakushima.
“Say. Aren’t you going to be with that girl whom I saw in your room?
……”
Suddenly she asked.
“That girl?”
“Yes, in your room, I saw a pretty girl lying in your futon.”
“Ah, she is a daughter of the bar nearby. A delinquent girl.”
“Where you intimate with her? In the same way with Osei’san.”
“Stupid!”
“I cannot believe that you are going alone to such a far-off place. ……”
“Alone. I will go alone.”
“I see, you go alone. How envious! Men can find any place to settle.
On the contrary, women have no home for peaceful living anywhere in
the past, at present, and in future.”
“You can go back to Iba’s place.”
“Do you think that is the best for me?”
 “Do you have any other way?”
“I will never go back to Iba’s place. If I go back there, what I did this
time resultantly will be just a play, won’t it? Don’t fool me. ― You
finally became alone, so I resolved to marry you now, and fled. Truly,
we had a lot hesitation after our return to Japan. We got desperate,
and, sometimes, things were not favorable to us. However, we were
both equally guilty. At great pains, we have already passed without
stopping in front of the broad gate which leads to destruction. Then,
we should not part from each other, but should strive together for
looking for the narrow gate which leads to life. ― You say to me to
stop yearning for bygones, however, you said that you see me in your
dream when you are away from you. After all, it’s you that are a
romanticist who does not forget bygones, isn’t it? I do not understand
why you want to part from me after that you became alone. If you hate
me, say frankly that you hate me. …… And then, I may go back to Iba
as you insist, or I may not. ― It’s quite a mystery why you cannot
marry me.”
Tomioka kept silence. He could not say clearly that Osei’s affair was
yet to be solved in his mind. If he determined to go to Yakushima, he
could pay from his salary to retain a lawyer for Osei’s husband. Come
to think of it, Osei was a victim caught in his and Yukiko’s problem. If
he clearly voiced this, it was clear that Yukiko would get angry. He did
not have any other choice but ambiguously brushed away his thought.
Later, the two people took bath, and sat down at the late breakfast
table. Exactly one year had passed since their trip in Ikaho. Tomioka
met the grim stare of Yukiko. She was staring at him on the depth of
the mirror while combing her hair in front of a mirror stand.
“You look happy.”
“Is that so?”
“You feel released as you broke off with me, don’t you?”
“It might be so.”
“You were coldhearted, from the beginning. ……”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Nothing can be done now, but I utterly feel sorry for
Kano’san for the first time after a long time.
“You yearn for him. ……”
 “Yes, I yearn for him. Why did he die? The dead suffers a loss.”
“So, we should live however hard we perseveres.
“It’s too late to find the narrow gate.”
“Not late.”
“Well. Do you take 100,000 yen with you?”
“Do you mean that you give me 100,000 yen?”
“Not enough for you?”
“Not bad.”
“If you need banknotes as much as 200,000 yen, it’s quite all right
with me.”
“You are too generous because it is someone else’s money.”
“Originally, it is their easily gained money. …… Religion racks up
amusingly great profits. ……”
“Because it is the entrance fee to the narrow gate. ……”
“Indeed. ……”
When Yukiko pulled out her Boston bag from the storage space
above the closet, Tomioka put the comb on the mirror stand and said.
“I do not need money. As I begin to work, I don’t need any money.
The money is important for you.”
“Why is it important? I don’t care about money. ……”
“That’s not true. Money is the best friend for people. ……”
“Say, I know your feelings, about why you intend to go alone to
Yakushima. I don’t know if my guess proves right, probably it must be
so. …… Osei’san still remains in your mind, doesn’t she? Otherwise, I
wonder whether it’s your wife.”
Tomioka sat down against the alcove. The maid brought them hot
tea. Tomioka had the maid go to the reception to ask the time for
train.

.. * 56

If Tomioka was going back to Tokyo, Yukiko as well did not feel like
staying indefinitely at the inn. The two people checked out, got on the
same train as far as Mishima, where they changed trains for Tokyo.
Tomioka could not leave Yukiko alone who had no place to go. He
thought that he had to take her to his room at last. The two got off the
train at Shinagawa Station.
On the platform of Yamanote Line, they began laughing, and thus,
she went with him to his room.
Unlike Izu, the cold pierced them to the bone in Tokyo. The storm of
the life roaringly raged, which made them feel dark and gloomy again.
They entered the room, and found a postcard from Agriculture
Magazine. The publisher advised him about their intention to publish
his manuscript of Agriculture engineer’s memory separately in the
series. Tomioka felt light-hearted.
As the electric grill was not usable, Yukiko put her luggage and went
to the charcoal distribution center nearby and got the expensive
charcoal. Tomioka flipped the pages of his manuscript and began to
read it. The neighbor’s wife brought him Iba’s visiting card, and said
that certain Iba visited him a while ago.
Tomioka put the visiting card into his pocket. He did not want
Yukiko to see it. Before long, Yukiko, reddening her face, came back
with charcoal and other shopping items. She also hung a 0.4-gallon
bottle of sake by hand. Tomioka pitied her.
He was as if daunted by the feelings of this woman who continuously
had a fantasy like a child. He came across many contradictions. He did
not understand his own path to the betrayal which he naturally had
committed against this woman. He regarded with fear her habits.
Thinking that this fear is a fear to himself which exists in his
innermost feelings, Tomioka felt guilty like a criminal.
In general, women won’t look back at whatever may happen. They
with a simple heart like a child tempt men
This room was also not safe once Iba had come. He had to carry out
a quick going to Yakushima. Prior to that, his point of issue was how
to clear the matter of Yukiko.
“Won’t you work at the former government office? I will ask for
employment for you. You can rent a room and live alone leisurely, can’t
you? You will be able to study, besides, find someone to marry. ……”
 Yukiko glared at Tomioka.
She seemingly wanted to say to not refer to this topic anymore.
Her feeling was as if overtaken by darkness, and did not need the
day before or the day after. She had no more than the present. Besides,
the 600,000 yen money made her bold. Because she could circumvent
the difficulties anyhow with this amount of money. At the worst, she
intended to go to Yakushima, even alone. She now could not part from
this man’s body scent anymore.
Yukiko, like an insane woman,wanted to keep clinging to his manly
scent which even Iba and Kano had not. She whould rather have gone
straight to Iba’s place from Shinagawa Station than that she part from
him now.
Yukiko, as if she had lived in this room for a long time, began freely
preparing for supper. Tomioka had no choice but to take Iba’s card out
of his pocket, and show it to her. She was surprised.
“Oh, did Iba come here? I wonder when he came. How did he know
the address of your dwelling?” She was surprised. “Strange. ……”
“God might know this place. ……”
“No kidding. How did he find this place? I did not tell your address
to anyone.”
“When Osei’s incident happened, he found out about this place,
didn’t he?”
“No way. He might have known the incident itself, however, would
have not known this place.”
Iba’s appearance throughly puzzled her. Tomioka felt like was being
chased by an unidentified anxiety.
“Well, I am in an exemptible position. So, please take me with you to
Yakushima. When I get bored, I will come back alone. Please take me
to stay with you there for a month or so. Then, I will be convinced.”
Tomioka had no intention to take her as far as the southern end of
Japan, however, his mind changed by Iba’s appearance. He felt like
embarking on an adventure.
Early the next morning, he visited his friend, and applied for the
post in Yakushima, and asked him to go forward for a quick
proceedings for Tomioka. On his way back home, he dropped in the
Agriculture Magazine company’s editorial desk in Marunouchi to hand
over his manuscript.
At the editorial desk, a journalist who was acquinted with him had
not yet arrived at the company. So, Tomioka waited for an hour for him
to arrive. The journalist said a strange thing when he met Tomioka in
the office. He said, “Yesterday morning, someone came to ask the
address of the writer of The essey of Urushi.” His remark cleared
Tomioka’s doubt. Yukiko had talked to him that she bought the
Agriculture Magazine where his Essey of Urushi was printed, and she
read it. So, presumably, Iba visited the publishing company to find out
about Tomioka’s address.
The next day, Yukiko went out all day. She, with her luggage, went to
a movie theater one after another, and watched two or three movies. If
Iba came to the room again while Tomioka was absent, she was sure
that Iba would forcibly take her back.
Now that she was going to Yakushima together with Tomioka, she
had nothing to worry about, and nothing of greed. She gave him
money to hire a lawyer for the Osei’s case.
She returned late at night to Tomioka’s room. And the next day, she
again went away with her luggage.
She spent a week this way. On the seventh day, Tomioka got a special
delivery letter from Iba who wanted to meet Tomioka and asked him
to determine a time, date and a place to meet. On the same day,
Tomioka was assigned to Yakushima forest office.
Tomioka tore the letter up. On the other hand, Yukiko seemed to
worry about it, but decided not to care about Iba’s threatening special
delivery letter since Tomioka’s leaving for new post in Yakushima
became definite.
Tomioka went to many places for greeting, corrected his manuscript,
and finally cleared the room and delivered his luggages for Yakushima.
Two weeks had passed since coming back from Izu.
Until the very day that he left Tokyo, he was thinking somehow of
leaving Yukiko. However, she paid for a lawyer of Osei’s husband and
so, he could not go alone any longer. He had no way other than to
leave things to chance.
 When he lived in camp with Malaysian timber transporters in the
southern mountains, he acquired this habit to leave things to chance.
When Malaysian came across some unlucky things, they always said,
‘Apa boleh buat,’ which meant ‘what can I do?’ Nothing more than this
expression was comfort to Tomioka’s present feelings.
Utterly nothing he could do. He himself did not touch Yukiko’s
money, and yet, kept her discharging her money for all things,
although it made him feel like choking. The February labor strike,
which made a lot of noise in the papers, was forbidden. Even so, the
social situations became turblent more and more. Tomioka thought
that it was difficult to live in Tokyo only with ideological feelings.
Much misunderstanding occurred in his life, which certainly were
caused by this modern life in Tokyo.
A variety of discrepancies in his life caused Tomioka to be
bewildered at how to deal with himself. He had to change his places
once more for restarting his life as another person. He always felt a
gap between the society and himself while worrying passively. In the
west and in the east, the society was swept away past his ears at a
speed of rotating belts. Even uneasy signs of the World War III were
smoulding. Tomioka felt it unendurable to maintain an old connection
with Yukiko in this mentally inferior social situation. Nevertheless, the
old connection was never ripped up although it was likely to fade
away, and ate at his life like mold.
In the mid-February, they left Tokyo by night train.

.. * 57

“Il a le diable au corps. ― The devil has possessed me.” Kano often
said the phrase in Da Lat. When Tomioka asked him who the devil
was, he jerked his chin up towards Yukiko.
The train trip was too long and boring. Tomioka was amazed at
Yukiko who tirelesssly devoured various food all the time.
 The train reached Kyoto in the morning. If not Yukiko, Tomioka
would have spent one day or so in Kyoto.
Yukiko got down onto the platform at Kyoto and went again to buy
food, maybe because she was not used to having a large sum of money.
He leaned out the car window looking at her. Her back wrapped up in
her overcoat showed shabbiness of the woman who was past her
prime. She seemed to have bought him a pack of cigarettes. When
Yukiko casted a brief look at him, her face was dry and badly pale.
The train passed Ōsaka and Kōbe, and ran along the coastline of
Maiko. The sea shone dully in a lead color, which reflected white onto
the car window.
Yukiko, with the collar of her overcoat pulled up was fast asleep. The
third-class train for Hakata was comparatively crowded. People even
sat on the passageway.
Due to many food wastes and a stuffy atmosphere, the crowded
train car was hot and muggy although the steam was turned off during
daytime. Tomioka was looking stolidly at Yukiko’s face. In four or five
days of their cohabitation, dark pale triangular rings appeared under
her eyes, and the rouge remained in wrinkles of her lips, the skin of
which was torn. Her eyebrows rose roughly and oil blots appeared on
her small nosehead. Her eyelids, from time to time moved tinglingly
with nerves
The devil was sleeping. The devil, however, pretended to sleep, and
was well aware of Tomioka’s eye movements. Yukiko smiled while
sleeping. Tomioka quickly turned away his eyes.
“You again begin to say something about me, don’t you?”
Yukiko saying, opened her eyes and took a mandarine orange from
her lap, and began peeling it. Rustily desolate winter fields and
chimneys dominated the landscape. The debris of factory zone,
mountains, rivers, and the sea were notched by the train wheels while
running backwards.
They arrived at Hakata late at night.
The two people were extremely tired but quickly changed trains for
Kagoshima. They wanted to be tired out to the degree that they
were anesthetized thoroughly by weariness. Yukiko gradually began to
feel lost. The night rain was glittering while falling on the dirty car
windows. Yukiko saw fragments of dreams many times. She felt
vibrations of a running military vehicle towards Da Lat. The vehicle
drove from Saigon, through DiLinh of Lam Dong Province in central
highlands, straight to Lang Biang Highland towards Da Lat.
Each time she awakened, the reality of the night train running
through the rain made her feel lost. She thought Japan is unexpectedly
large. Tomioka was fast asleep like a sick person.
It also was a long journey. Once that she was far from Tokyo, her
memory of the life with Iba was torn to shreds. In Kumamoto, the rain
stopped for a while. Passengers changed quickly from a station to
another. People spoke in slangs and accents of Kyūshū dialect.
Nothing around them had a relationship with them. Yukiko stretched
out her tired feet in between Tomioka’s legs, and closed
her eyes.
She was sure that no danger would attack her from anywhere, and
felt funny while imaging the rageful face of Iba. ‘Once I come up here,
he cannot bring me back anymore. ……’ She sarcastically wanted to say
to Iba, ‘I will pray for the further prosperity of the Ōhinata’kyō.’
Ōtsu Shimo would make up heavily as usual and sit down in front of
that cashbox, from now on as well. Yukiko from time to time paid
attention to her Boston bag on the rack. This was the only thing for
her to rely on.

They reached Kagoshima in the morning. The rain poured down.

They got on a cycle rickshaw[*22] to go somewhere to stay overnight.
They were taken to a small inn in the Sengoku’chō town near to the
port.
On the second floor, the window commanded an enormous view of
Sakurajima[*160] as if a thick stage curtain was stretched. Sakurajima
could be seen dimly in purple in the rain.
Yukiko was extremely tired, and stretched her limbs on the salty
smelling tatami.
Tomioka asked a maid the departure time of a liner for Yakushima
Island. She replied that a liner would not leave port for many days in
the rain or storm. He asked again to let him know the possible
departure time of it, and lay on the tatami with his overcoat on.
He could see Sakurajima while lying down. The sea was blue as if
coated with urushi-lacquer. Small boats disorderedly pressed closely
each other in the port. The maid bought tea, to whom Tomioka
ordered beer.
“We came extremely far. It is unbelievable that we go on board a
boat from here overnight. We are like being banished to the island. If I
am alone, it’s impossible for me to come.”
“We are going to live on the farthest island for four or five years from
now on.”
“That’s true. ……”
“How about going back now? From here, you can go back easily.”
“Are you still talking like that?”
“Because you said that you cannot come alone.”
“I came here because I am together with you. …… Don’t you think
that I am a miserable woman?”
“It is unbearable if you expect me to be grateful.”
A radio was playing noisily as if being scorched, somewhere in the
neighborhood. Yukiko took off her overcoat, and put on a padded
kimono of half-length, doreta, on her shoulder. She looked outside at
the corridor, in which the rain was driving.
“I do not expect you to be grateful. I do not have such a cheap
feeling. However, isn’t it better for you to be together with me than
with no one? If Yakushima is not suitable for me to live in, I feel like
coming here and work as a waitress in a restaurant. A woman is only
like that. If you get rid of me, that is another story to be put aside, and
my intention is to survive in a place like this. ……”
“I did not say that I get rid of you.”
The maid brought them beer.
Tomioka gulped it, and felt it like it fetched his breath finally.
The maid informed him that the boat would not set sail for a couple
of days. It was boring for him to stay for two more days in a place like
this. But he cannot do anything with it if the boat did not set sail. He
also went to the corridor and looked at the sea with the rain falling
hard on.
 “Did you say to the publisher that you are going to Yakushima?”
“Sure.”
“Iba will get angry.”
“Will he come chasing you?”
“I don’t think so. The stolen money won’t mean so much to him, will
it?”
“No small sum of money. …… It’s possible that he is going to have
this case reported to the police.”
“Do not worry about it.”
Yukiko, saying it, left the window and came back inside the room.
She also drank beer. Cold beer got in her belly. She somehow felt sick.
“A bath is ready, madam.”
The maid came to tell that a bath was prepared.
When she was called madam, Yukiko stared wide-eyed at Tomioka as
she had never been called madam.
“Madam, you take a bath first.”
Tomioka said mockingly. He was extremely tired. He did not feel like
taking a bath. He said to be going to buy passage tickets and confirm
the departure date of a ship, and went out with a coarse oilpaper
umbrella borrowed from the inn. He walked, as he was told, on a
broad desolate road leading to the steamship company toward the sea.
He felt refreshed as he finally was alone. He wanted to depart aboard
the ship alone if the ship was leaving just now. He entered a blue
painted barrack of the company. As he was told in the inn, the ship did
not sail until this storm blew itself up. Anyway, the company staff said
that the ship would sail the day after tomorrow. Tomioka bought a
couple of second-class passage tickets and wrote in the embarkation
list Yukiko’s name and her relationship as wife.
On his way back to the inn, he went on a busy street and bought a
bottle of whisky. In the room, Yukiko laid on the futon. She looked
pale and shivered with cold.
“How do you feel?”
“It’s so cold and I cannot stop shivering. Will you call a doctor? ……”
She grasped his arm, slightly and rapidly trembling. Her condition
seemed to be different from symptoms of the cold. Her lips bled. He
tested her forehead with his hand. She seemed to have no fever. If she
laid up in this inn, however, it would be an annoyance to him. He
asked the inn to call a doctor. He wrapped her with three pieces of
futons, but her trembling of cold did not stop. A doctor did not come
soon. As Tomioka went to buy a cold medicine, he had an ominous
feeling.
He had Yukiko take a medicine with a hot tea. She was still
trembling. In one hour, a young doctor came. With a help of the maid,
Tomioka unclothed Yukiko’s clothes and shemise to get her examined.
The doctor injected her a medicine of camphor and vitamins. Tomioka
felt relieved when the doctor said that she would get well in two days
or so. He remembered the symptoms of the deceased Kuniko, to which
Yukiko’s symptom seemed to him to be somehow similar. Tomioka
sensed a similar sign in Yukiko’s face.
Yukiko was fast asleep after taking a sedative. Tomioka thought every
occurrence that he came across was a hard door against which he was
pushed as if fate decreed. At the time when Kuniko had been sick in
bed, a doctor also said to him that she would get well in two or three
days. The result showed that the doctor’s diagnosis was wrong. This
inn seemed to be built after air raids, which consisted of 5 rooms or so.
The inn was unexpectedly crowded with occupants. In the room on
the other side of a thin wall, joyous laughter could be heard. Tomioka’s
room only was gloomy.
Tomioka, without changing into the dotera, turned on the bottle and
drank whiskey at the bedside of Yukiko. The storm became
increasingly badly. The inn shaked in the wind from time to time. The
light did not come on in the room, so the darkness in the room caused
dismality toward evening. Sakurajima Island spread over the window.
Maybe because of it, he had a feeling of being oppressed as if
Sakurajima was about to fall down to the room.

.. * 58
He travelled up to this place, so far in his vague feelings, therefore,
Yukiko’s disease was a considerable shock to him.
The second day was clear.
The rain let up nicely, but it was a very windy day. Towards daylight,
the maid came to set charcoal to fire in the hibachi, and noticed them
that a ship named Shōkokumaru is sailing at nine in the morning.
Yukiko’s symptom was not yet relieved. She was fast asleep and
coughed while sleeping. Hearing her cough, Tomioka felt pain as if his
skin was chafed, and the pain began resembling a toothache little by
little.
He looked out of the window on the corridor at the sky of the wintry
daybreak. Sakurajima melted into the petroleum color of the sky. Poor
wooden warehouses were lined along the coast, over the roofs of
which masts of ships could be seen like a lattice. Street lights were lit
in town. The moon at dawn shone white above the distorted shadow
of the town. Tomioka stared at the daybreak of the port town, where
all the places were still asleep in silence. He thought it difficult to
depart in this state. He dare postpone their departure until the next
ship. He went back to the hibachi at the bedside, and closed his face to
charcoal fire and lit a cigarette in kneeling position. Yukiko’s eyes were
open.
“How are you! Your feeling ……”
Yukiko tried to smile, but seemingly could not. She, with her eyes
wide open, only looked up from beneath at his face. He touched her
forehead. It was unexpectedly cold. Her widely opened eyes in
indescribable loneliness gave him an unfamiliar impression. He
suddenly felt affection for her. He kneeled and closed his face over her
face.
“I postponed our departure, so, do not worry. I am going to the
steamship company to renew our tickets. So, you stay sleeping in
peace. Getting irritated means nothing. …… You know, the fatigue of
the travel made you sick. Or maybe because we got wet in the rain.”
Tomioka spoke slowly dividing words one by one. Yukiko nodded
with her eyes open. He took her hand and touched it to his cheek. He
remembered that he attended the surgery of her injury at a French
surgical hospital in Da Lat when she was stabbed by Kano. Yukiko’s
eyes were exactly the same as at that time. Memories of Indochina
ached in his chest. He remembered his nauseating fear of their fateful
sentiment of a traveler while looking out of the hospital window at the
sky over the lake at daybreak. He reflected on his liaison with this
woman, which might have occurred because he came across her in the
course of his journey. However, when he asked himself about a passing
chance affair with Vietnamese maid, he sneered at himself thinking
this also might have been a sentiment of a traveler. Niu’s innocent
feature with her light-brown skin was impressed in his memory. He
felt nostalgic about her, along with the deceased Osei, whom he could
not meet anymore. Looking back now, however, the life in Indochina
seemed to him not to have been simple as described with the word
‘nostalgic.’ In the same way as a person who became gentle to anyone
after he was sentended to death, Tomioka who felt a keen loneliness
yearned for someone’s heart, whoever it might be. Enjoying freely a
solitude was not permitted under Japanese military dictatorial regime.
He, therefore, quenched his thirst in his mind with Yukiko’s body.
Now, his egocentricity yielded this result. Thinking like this, Tomioka
clasped her hand firmly in his hands with his feeling of compensation.
Yukiko said weakly.
“Aren’t you going alone onboard?”
“Stupid! Did you think that I’m going onboard alone?”
Yukiko nodded like a child. Tomioka, in a kinship-like feeling,
flipped teardrops off the corner of her eyes with his finger. He gave her
a few more firm clasps as if he said, ‘No matter.’ He released Yukiko’s
hand, and asked what time it was as the maid brought them tea.
“It is around seven.”
The maid said looking at her wristwatch and touched it to her ear.
Tomioka went downstairs. The wall clock pointed at a little past
seven. ― He went to the steam company, and delayed their departure
until four days later, when the same ship, Shōkokumaru, would leave
this port again. He took a leisurely walk towards the port. The
Shōkokumaru had a white hull, whose funnel was puffing a cloud of
smoke, and a crane on the ship was lifting timbers. On the wharf,
fruits booths were open for passengers. Apples were piled in booths.
Seeing these nothern fruit in the southern end of Kyūshū, Tomioka felt
strange. He purchased 8 pounds of apples for Yukiko. Apples were
packed in a basket painted in green. He, holding the basket
approached the ship closely. Passengers were waiting in lines. Every
passenger held a small fishbowl of glass. The Shōkokumaru looked like
a liner going for Indochina. Under the illusion as such, he imagined
how pleasant the journey would be if he could go onboard ship with
Yukiko this morning. However, the sea voyage of his dream was no
more than a route as far as Yakushima. No route beyond it. The
boundary was strictly limited after this war. This ship could not go
farther than to the other side of Yakushima Island. This ship had no
route towards that yellow waters of the southern country. The crowd
of passengers and porters jostled each other on the wharf. Waste
straws, pieces of wood, and apple peels were scattered about the pier.
While looking blankly up at the crane hoisting timbers, Tomioka
thought this defeat in war was, so-to-speak, a Japanese revolution
carried out over a term of the war period. The ship blew a whistle, and
a departing signal sounded. Passing throught the crowd who came to
see off passengers, children and women were vending paper tape rolls.
Tomioka also bought a roll of red tape. The office manager who wore
the same prewar uniform stepped down the ladder onto the wharf.
The embarkation began. Staff in white uniform and policemen were
standing beside the ladder.
Passengers with their large baggage were pushed into the ship.
Before long, the second whistle sounded a little past nine o’clock,
and the ship was slowly leaving the quay. The clamor of people seeing
off passengers sounded on the pier. Passengers who unloaded their
baggage appeared on the deck. The tape rolls, like many birds, flew
from the pier to the deck. Narrow strips of red, white, cobalt, yellow,
green rainbows were swaying in the wind. Tomioka threw his red tape
roll towards a boy who was waving his hand to the pier, but his tape
hit the forehead of a clerk-style woman, who received his tape with
both her hands. With dark skin and shabby clothes, however, she had
a cute face. She wore a faded blue jacket. She was holding the tape
high so as not to be cut. Tomioka lost his patience with the slow
movement of the ship, and let go of his tape on the way. He left the
wharf towards the steamship company. He felt like he had no purpose
and no accessible road. When he looked back over his shoulder at the
sea, unexpectedly the ship looked small and so far away. On the pier
with waste of tape scattered, people of the seeing-off were still waving
their hands, hats, and handkerchiefs. In the turbid sea, eye-stinging
red and yellow tapes were floating.
Tomioka asking a person for the direction, went to a post office.
He sent a telegram to the forestry office in Yakushima. He bought a
post card and wrote to his parents in Matsuida that he arrived at
Kagoshima and was waiting for the ship. There were only a few visitors
in the large post office. He took a post office’s pen and was writing the
letter on a hexagonal pyramid-shaped desk. He suddenly noticed a
young woman next to him wrote ‘Tokyo’ in her telegram form, and felt
nostalgic. This woman also sent a telegram to Tokyo, which gave him a
feeling that a big city called ‘Tokyo’ exists far in the world’s end.
For Tomioka, Tokyo was an old country. If not Osei’s incident, he
would not have fallen into the border of desparate hermetic living
similar to a suicide. Light rays in the perfectly clean morning post
office were as quiet and peaceful as the seabed. The woman next to
him went to a lattice-furnished counter for sending her telegram. Her
shoe heels were damaged badly. Her black overcoat also was worn out.
Tomioka posted his card and left the post office.

.. * 59

There was a small clock shop near the inn. Tomioka approached the
show window and looked at watches for a while. All items were
imitation Swiss watches with a price tag of 3,600 yen, which he liked.
He went into the shop to buy one as a token of Yakushima. He asked
to show him some watches from a display shelf. The Omega watch he
bought in Indochina was sold to Osei’s husband in Ikaho. Thereafter,
he felt inconvenienced without a watch. So, he wanted to have a
watch. He picked up one watch and took it near to his ear. It made a
clear ticking sound. That watch had a round shape and was thin. He
bought it to his heart’s content.
When he entered the room, Yukiko seemed to have gotten tired of
waiting and was close to tears. She, as if felt relieved, pushed out her
hand from the futon towards the apple basket which Tomioka hung.
He sat by her pillow soon and began peeling an apple with a knife.
“I went to see the ship on the way. It was a very good ship. I think it
is the best ship on Yakushima route. Every passenger carryed goldfish
in a glass fishbowl. I wonder if there are no goldfish in Yakushima.
……”
Tomioka, peeling the apple, talked about the ship which he saw a
while ago.
“A white ship. As you are sick, I had our tickets changed to the first-
class, which may be a little excessive outlay of money, though. No
meals are ready in ships, and they advised me to prepare our meals
twice. They said that there are many doctors at the way-port, in
Tanegashima, but no doctor in Yakushima. ……”
“Is it such a place?”
“Yes. I worry it a little. ……”
“If I get sick while sailing, please drop me off the ship in
Tanegashima.”
“If you think so, you should rather stay in Kagoshima than get off in
Tanegashima. Kagoshima is much convenient. If you do not get better
enough to get onboard the next ship, you can be hospitalized here or
find an inexpensive lodging place, and come later. You can take your
time. Whatever things you may do, Kagoshima is a city and
convenient.”
Yukiko was looking up at his hand which was peeling an apple, and
then, noticed the new watch on his wrist.
“Did you buy that watch?”
“I bought it now near the inn.”
“Let’me see it. ……”
Tomioka moved his left hand close to Yukiko, who stared at the dial
face of the watch. It was somewhat similar to the watch he sold in
Ikaho. She said, “A good watch.” She did not ask him the price, so he
did not say it. He bought it with the reminder of the money paid by
the publisher, so, was not servile. Her facial expression, however,
showed that she was somewhat abashed. She might have thought it
very expensive.
“If we got onboard the ship, we would be on the sea around this time
now. …… Is the sea rough?”
“The wind is strong, but the sea looks calm. All the people on the
pier are throwing tapes to passengers on ship as if an outward-bound
ship sets on sail.”
“Oh! It must be beautiful.”
“Rather, I felt it unrefined. It also is nostalgia of people who cannot
go overseas. ……”
Ornamental tapes, which adorned so-called loneliness and
sweetness of people, were flickering in his mind. Yukiko was strangely
particular about his watch. Tomioka who bought an expensive watch
seemed to be faithless to her. Tomioka peeled another apple and gave
her a half of it.
Yukiko bit it. The apple was disappointedly not succulent, and its
flaky flesh tasted bad. Tomioka also ate half of the apple of no
appetizing flavor.
“This apple is not tasty. ……”
He, saying, spattered the apple core. Fowls began noisily crowing,
which the inn might grow. Rain showers began falling, again.
Before noon, the doctor came for injection. The youg doctor said to
Tomioka while investigating her chest and back.
“She should take X-rays. ……”
Yukiko felt a chill. It was unbearable for her to be sick in bed while
on journey. It had been better to stay in Tokyo than part now from
Tomioka after coming together as far as here. Yukiko felt somewhat
suffocated thinking that she might have been affected with a fatal
illness. Scabies which she was transmitted after she repatriated had
been far better than being affected with such a disease which made
her feel anxious. Yukiko prayed in her heart that the yound doctor
would not say to Tomioka unnecessary things anymore.
Four days had passed which were unbearable to Tomioka as well as
Yukiko while on journey. During the four days, the young doctor with
great intimacy became a good acquintance. He was formerly an army
surgeon, who worked in a field army hospital in Central China all
through the Second Sino-Japanese War from July 7, 1937 to September
8, 1945. His age was unexpectedly not so different from Tomioka. He
was still single, and helped with his father’s hospital. He looked very
young probably because he was single. He graduated from Fukuoka
medical college. The maid talked them about the doctor that he was
fond of music, and assembled an electric phonograph by himself, and
that his hobby was collecting music records. His family name was
Hika, and his father was born in Okinawa[*143]. One day, Hika listened
intently to the music played from the radio in the neighborhood, and
said with a happy smile, “I like this music.” Tomioka strained his ears
while recalling in memory that he heard it somewhere in the past.
Yukiko was listening attentively to the music while lightly rubbing,
over her kimono sleeve, her skin after being injected with medicine.
Tomioka and Yukiko did not know the name of that music.
“Whose work is it?” She asked frankly.
“Symphony No.9 composed by a Czech composer, Dvorak, and
named ‘From the New World’.”
Doctor, saying, slowly put the syringe away, and then, washed his
hands in the washbowl water.
Tomioka was envious of the doctor’s music taste, and felt happy to
encounter a good doctor at such an end of Kyūshū like this. His
appearance was short and thick body build was not suggestive of a
doctor. His gentle narrowed eyes and white regular teeth were
impressive to him. Tomioka said to the doctor that he was on the way
to go for his new post to the Yakushima Forestry Office, and told that
he had been assigned as an Army civilian employee to the Forestry
Bureau in Indochina for a while
The doctor appeared to get interested as soon as he heard that
Tomioka was going to work for the Forestry Office, and began to talk
of his juvenile ideals that he also intended to go to Hokkaidō Imperial
University[*60]. ― Tomioka told him that he felt helpless without a
doctor in Yakushima, and asked the doctor whether he would come to
the island when Tomioka would send him a telegram at the time of
emergency. The doctor assured him to come there whatever might
happen.
“I have heard that Yakushima has no doctor. Nevertheless, I think
that a doctor relevant to the Forestry Office resides in the mountains. I
also had an idea to open a hospital in Yakushima, however, no
electricity and much rain all the year round urged me to gave it up. It’s
pity if I cannot listen to music records, so I soon removed this idea. It
seems that the Forestry Office supplies electricity every few days,
recently. …… It appears that people are egocentric. We say that
medicine is a benevolent art. However, I cannot endure such a life in
exile that I cannot listen to even a music record, after all. ― This
time, however, I will visit you there by some chance ―. By the way,
frankly speaking, a moisture-laden land is not recommended for your
wife’s physical condition. …… You may not be able to be inconsistent
with your duty. So, I would advise you to choose a house in a higher
place in the mountain and have a routine lifestyle. …… As the time is
pressing, I cannot examine your wife thoroughly. I would like you to
keep me informed on your wife’s daily condition in the Island, even by
a postcard.”
Hika, with a thoughtful tone so as not to give uneasiness to the
patient, gave his advice this way. Yukiko already forgot the tune of
Dvorak’s ‘From the New World,’ but the word of ‘New World’
resounded in her ears. She felt that this word foretold of their new
departure, and had a good feeling and respect for Hika’s innocent
attitude. ― Tomioka felt a Russian-like personality before the
Revolution in this doctor, while remembering Dostoevsky’s words in
his novel “Crime and Punishment” that human beings won’t be able to
live without compassion. He kindly prepared emergency medicine and
necessities for injection for them. In the morning on the fourth day,
Tomioka and Yukiko rode up by car to Shōkoku’maru. Unexpectedly,
Hiki, without his hat and overcoat, came running to see them off. It
was truly a surprise for them, who were under way and did not have
anyone to throw them a tape at the time of their departure. Tomioka
and Yukiko did not expect at all to be seen off by the young doctor.
The first-class cabin was furnished with bunk beds, where new white
blankets were ready. The 891-square-yard cabin was comfortably wide.
A table and chairs were placed in the center and a bench close to the
wall, on an alcove of which a mirror and a water jug were prepared.
When Yukiko lay on the lower bed, Hiki who entered the room after
them took out an injection needle from his bag, wiped it with alcohol,
and injected a nutritional supplement in to Yukiko’s arm. Yukiko did
not forget the cold touch of the doctor’s hand forever. She felt a-first-
love-like emotional wormth.
Yukiko could not go on deck, but Tomioka went out of the cabin
together with Hiki to the deck. Even after the ship left the pier,
Tomioka did not come back to the cabin.
On the first-class deck, Tomioka kept holding the green tape Hiki
threw to him for a long time.
Tomioka was waving the broken-off tape high over his head until the
pier seemed to move further away, which was squalid as if a toy box
was turned over. Hiki stood at the end of the pier, waving his white
handkerchief, then left the pier by long strides, bending his upper
body slilghtly forwards. The back figure of the doctor, who was
walking away waving his medical bag, looked reliable to Tomioka.
The ship was sailing out on the sea, and Sakurajima Island shining
in the morning soft light appeared smaller than expected, purple and
healthy. When he saw Sakurajima from the window of the inn, it
appeared large as if a tapestry was streched outside the window, but it
looked like a small ornament on the sea. The Third-class passengers
came crawling out of their cellar-like cabin, were basking in the
sunshine on wooden chairs across the large deck. Their souvenirs of
fishbowls were put here and there on the deck. Goldfish shined gold in
every fishbowl.
The sea was calm.
The wind on the shady side was piercingly cold, while the sunshine
was nicely warm in the sunny side. The large chimney looked up
above, from which the dirty smoke streamed towards the west.
Tomioka tore off the green tape in his hand, and its pieces scattered to
the white sea reflecting in the sunshine. These few-month
occurrences wore his heart down, which had him feel emotional pains
in his heart. The large sea refreshed him as if a chain of his fate, which
clung to his feet and shoulder, was blown off. While looking at the
silent sea water, Tomioka was made to think about the saying that
loquacity has ten regrets while silence has one, comparing the land
and sea, respectively.
Yukiko felt comfortable in the ship’s resonating with her back. The
feeling that she leaned all on the ship which moved forward was very
much similar to her feeling at the time of returning from Indochina.
Strangely enough, the doctor’s gentle behavior and medicine-like body
oder were unforgettable to Yukiko. Besides, his face resembled Kano.
Yukiko could not understand herself who had incoherent feelings, but,
round and round while meditatively, as a cow chewing the cud, she
delineated for pleasure the imagination of dangerous encounter with
Hika.

.. * 60

It was around two o’clock that the ship arrived at Tanegashima Island.
In the sea shining white, the yellow and flat island was seen out of
the window. Tomioka, while smoking, was looking at the lonely island
stretching out on the sea. Yukiko was sound asleep. For some reason,
Tomioka thought how far he came.
Fog veiled in a small port seen far away, which was crowded with
innumerable small boats. Roofs of houses along the coast looked like
white and black paper cutouts, which was a rare view for him. The
ship slowed down and took its time entering the Nishino’Omote’kō
port located to the north of Tanegashima Island. The liner was
scheduled to be at anchor in the harbor till nine o’clock at night. A
sailor said to Tomioka that the liner did not leave this harbor until
after nine at night. Tomioka thought it tedious to shut in the ship. He
was anxious to arrive at the terminal, in Yakushima, as soon as
possible.
Tanegashima, however, looked like an uninhabited island from afar.
He felt somewhat like he was in the battle position but met no enemy
for a long time. The desert island had no interest for him. But he was
told that Tanegashima is the only island of civilization among many
islands with which the sea of Ōsumi was studded, towards the south
from Ōsumi Peninsula projecting south from Kyūshū. He was gazing
absently at the harbor of the island which was approaching near and
near, while thinking that he was going to less inhabited island than
this. The island was like a bald mountain. The very long and wide
island with no high mountain seemed to be ready to sink in the sea at
any moment.
“Say. Did we reach somewhere?”
Yukiko asked while making sounds of her pillow. Tomioka replied
with his cheeks on his hands at the window.
“We arrived at Tanegashima.”
“Is it a good port?”
“Sure. It’s a modest port. Do you want to wake up and look at the
outside?”
“No, no need to look. …… After all, every port looks like another
everywhere, doesn’t it?
“Quite a lively port. There are many small boats. Somewhere in
Indochina, there was a village very much resembling this.”
“Is it resembling Indochina?”
“No, it is not. But I felt like I had seen a village like this. Wherever
we may go, the ports built by Japanese are gloomy and lonesome. ……”
An anchor was noisily dropped to the bottom of the sea. The ship
moved little by little, closer to the wharf.
Many people, like clumps of ants, waited for the liner’s arrival on the
bright pier.
As the liner approached, each person became clearly seen. Clothes
were not different either in Tokyo or in Kagoshima. Some young
women wore red jackets of a recent trend. Every woman seemed to
perm the hair. Young men combed their hair in the greasy Regent[*153]
hairstyle.
Soon, the steps were set up and passengers with fishbowls and
packages of apples began to descend in droves to the pier. The narrow
pier swayed in waves, which looked like flyaway clumps of ants.
Tomioka with his overcoat on his shoulder went out to the first-class
deck.
While he was looking, the crowd disappeared in droves towards a
hill-shaped town. A white sandy road reflected dimly in the light of
the sunset. A wooden townhall, forwarding agents, an old and slanting
three-storied inn, pubs and taverns looked like a mess along the quay.
Tomioka wondered why the ship rode at anchor until nine at night
in the island like that. Not so many cargos to stow in the ship were
piled in the pier.
The two people did not go on shore but spent their time in the ship
until night. In the evening, illuminations were lit glitteringly over the
deck, and a popular song flew noisily from the loudspeaker.
Sounds of clogs running around on the deck or corridors were heard,
and also merry voices of women from taverns reached his ears. The
door of their cabin was opened very often, and someone rudely looked
inside. Tomioka and Yukiko got surprised during these rudeness.
“I wonder if Yakushima is the place like this. ……”
Yukiko said helplessly after lying on her bed and covering herself
with her blanket. The unknown ‘blues’ was roaringly heard many
times repeatedly from the deck, which made people’s minds neglectful
of their duties.
The next morning, Yakushima Island came into sight.
They were going to go ashore from the Anbō harbor. The liner
reached the Miyanoura sea, which curved inwards, off Nagasaki. The
sea was running high along the coast line, and there was no harbor
accessible for the liner. Therefore, the liner rode at anchor offshore.
Small boats came in sequence to pick up passengers. When he saw an
isolated and slightly elevated mole-like land located at the south end
of Ōsumi islands, Tomioka was overwhelmed with emotion thinking
that he finally arrived home.
 Over the stingingly blue ocean, shadowy darkgreen mountains
stood high toward the clear sky.
It is located 32 nautical miles in the southwest of Tanega’shima
island, 193 square miles in width. The shape of the island is round and
almost flat horizontally. In the center of the island, the highest
mountain in the Kyūshū district, Mt. Miyanoura’take, of 6,351 ft high
peak rises far upward. Mt. Nagata’take and Mt. Kuromi’take form the
mountain ranges of Mt. Yae’take, which gives vertical variety to
landscape. Yakushima ceders[*216] grow thick on the mountainside of
3,281 ft to 4921 ft above sea level.
A memo pad in Tomioka’s pocket contained a simple explanation
about Yakushima. It was a jet black, round island incomparable in its
figure to Tanegashima. For the first time in a long time, he felt
refreshed looking at the darkgreen color of the island. He did not feel
like drifted to the isolate island; rather, he felt being welcomed by
trees as if his soul and body were washed. Tomioka was on the deck in
a cold sea wind, and was looking tirelessly at the island standing far
ahead. Tanegashima was an island like lying in the sea, on the other
hand, Yakushima was standing on the sea. He thought it would
certainly look scaring if he came across such an island in the dim
twilight at dawn.
Even only the fact that a grove island was floating on the bright and
azure sea showed a wonder of the nature.
When the barges left the liner, the engine of the liner was actuated
noisily. Waves were quite rough in the sea.
The small barges were tossed like leaves by rough waves, but strived
to sail toward the lonesome quay of Miyano’ura port.
Yukiko got up slowly and combed her hair. She, in an unresisting
mood, put her compact mirror between wrinkles of the blanket and
tried to fix her untidy hair. She, in a troublesome air, tied her unoiled
hair in a bundle with her handkerchief. She rubbed a creme on her
face with effort. The light reflected from the sea through the window-
pane, and swayed like heat haze on the wood siding wall painted in
white.
 Yukiko stubbornly did not bother to look out of the window. She did
not look at Tanegashima, and was not going to look even at Yakushima
which rose upwards immediately in front. Probably the landing did
not matter for her. She only behaved in such a lazy manner that she
began preparing herself just because the ship seemed to reach the
port. Tomioka regarded her lazy manner as being caused by her
sickness.
Around 10 o’clock, the ship arrived offshore at Ambō.
Many small barges rowed their way over high waves to the ship. It
was drizzling before no one knew it.
Tomioka descended the steep steps, holding the shoulder of Yukiko
in sickness. A boy in a white uniform waited to receive her from under
the steps. The steps were constantly swaying upwards and downwards
as if it would be sucked into the waves, so it was utterly risky. Yukiko
holding onto the boy’s arm somehow came down into a small barge.
Yukiko crouched beside luggage wrapped in straw. Far in the sea, a
small island shadowy like a tall demon came into her sight from
between the luggage. Yukiko stared wide-eyed at the island for a while.
It looked uninhabited. ‘There is nothing there,’ she murmured in mind
and felt like was oppressed by that tall and black island.
Soon, the barge riding on surges left the ship quickly. The barge
badly swayed, which affected the passengers. The rainshower turned
into a pelting rain. Passengers in the barge got soaked. Yukiko
wrapped the whole head and body in Tomioka’s overcoat. She felt
bitterly cold in her lower legs under her knees. She coughed badly in
the darkness under the overcoat.
When the barge entered a tiny bay like a cat’s forehead, the sway
stopped finally. A white sandbar was damp as if washed in the rain.
The seawater in the bay was greenly transparent, so that the rocks and
seaweeds on the seabed, also empty cans, were seen clearly.
There seemed to be an upstream river away from the white sandbar.
An unusual mechanic suspension bridge was hung like an arch over
the high embankment.
On the sand beach, four or five people were waiting for the barge,
the two of whom were a staff of the district forestry office to pick up
Tomioka.
 One person opened a coarse oil-paper umbrella, bangasa[*10], and
another wore a raincoat. Tomioka paid the barge fare and jumped onto
the white sand. Then, he embraced Yukiko with his moist overcoat on,
and took her down to the sand. The staff ran creaking the sand
towards Tomioka.
“You must have been tired. We feel sorry to hear that your wife is
sick. ……”
A middle aged man with rustic eyes, completely different from
urbanites, held his bangasa over Yukiko.
The sand stretched up to the other side of the embankment. Yukiko
was extremely exhausted and ceased walking many times on the sand
with a sigh. She became stifled and felt feverish all over her body as if
it burst into flame.
Steep rugged mountains rising over the suspension bridge
disappeared in the milky mist before they realized it.
They climbed the embankment and passed through the long
supension bridg. They finally arrived at Inn Anbō with a signboard of a
restaurant Miharu’tē. The inn was located on a pretty good hill; in
close proximity, many thick metal wires supporting the suspension
bridge were connected with steel frames on a narrow slope paved with
concrete.
The inn served as a rice-rationing pantry and a forwarding agent. Its
style of construction was gloomy and did not resemble an inn.
They took off their shoes at a dark earthen floor, and went up the
stairs sticky due to the rain, then, entered a room upstairs.
Everywhere in the rustic inn, walls were not covered with plaster,
but wood sidings.
Tomioka asked a young maid who wore a jacket to lay out the futon
for Yukiko. The rain became harder like hempen cords were flowing.
The sea and mountains should have been seen from the corridor, but
the scenery was entirely hidden in the mist. The white mist wall
obstructed their vision.
Through the white mist, yellow smoke was streaming from a
bathroom in the garden.
 The futon was laid out in the room. In the other brighter room,
Tomioka exchanged visiting cards with people who came to pick them
up. A maid brought them warm tea and brown-suger flavored
teacakes.
“I’ve heard that this island rains a lot.”
Tomioka asked while drawing near a light box brasier and lit a
cigarette.
“Yes, it is rainy almost for a month. Yakushima is such an island that
rains for 35 days a month. ……”
The man who wore a raincoat said. He was young unexpectedly
when he took off his raincoat. He looked lika a scholar.

.. * 61

The man in the raincoat was named Tatsuke. The man with the
bangasa umbrella was Noborito. Both were clerks and did not seem to
work in the forest. They said to Tomioka that a minecart, torokko, ran
regularly twice a day to and from the mountain.
A small official residence was ready for Tomioka. Nevertheless, it was
inconvenient for him with a sickly person for the time being. So, they
offered him to stay in this inn for a few days. Tomioka accepted the
offer. However, it was a lonesome place, indeed.
It was raining sultrily all the time. The rain looked like thick wires in
milky color.
After they went away, Tomioka took bath entering the dirty hot
water in the Goemon’ cauldron[*49], and then, he also layed in the
futon for a while. Yukiko seemed to be unable to stop coughing. She
flushed her face and coughing. She took a cough medicine, and then,
kept her eyes open in the dark.
Yukiko felt like both people received punishment for some kind of
crime which they might have committed and were thrown away here.
She had a sense of foreboding that she would die here. She wanted to
die with one effort if she was going to die. They said this rain
continues to fall everyday. It seemed to her that she could not put up
the coming life in this island. When she strained her ears, the rain
caught her ears.
The room was furnished with paper lattice windows, shōji, without
glass, in every grid of which the paper got loose heavily like a bag.
They were given one single futon each. The sheet smelled of the laver,
and the pillow was hard like a tree’s root.
The hot water boiled over the brim of a distorted alminium kettle
onto ashes in the hibachi. Nevertheless, the flyaway of ashes did not
rise as the ashes was as hard as a shell. Yukiko kept watching the
exhalation of a vapor for a long time as if she gazed fixedly the
loneliness of the room. On the alcove in board walls, flowers like
chrysanthemum were arranged, and three lamps were hanging from
the ceiling over the flower arrangement. There was nothing other than
that. The room was insipid, which reminded her of the old life.
Tomioka was snoring and sleeping well. She was envious that his mind
was peaceful enough to snore.
She sighed audibly as the sound of rain was so noisy as no one came
or went. She thought that she could not do anything here even if she
would become healthy. Nevertheless, even if she would go back to
Tokyo, she had no hope there.
The lamps were lit in the evening.
The supper was ready. A boiled red crab was served as a side dish
but there was no vegetables. Yukiko was drenched with sweat for her
heat of a little less than 104 degrees F. She did not have extra clothes,
so, she changed into a laver smelling yukata of the inn.
Tomioka awkwardly injected medicine into her arm. He drank sake
leisurely at her bedside for the first time after these past days. On the
tray, there seemed to be nothing edible as relish. Only the urushi-
laquered[*210] small wooden container was heaping full of cooked rice,
which protruded from beneath the lid. While thinking that it looked
strange because this island was the place lacking rice, Tomioka smiled
grimly.
The sake was the spirit distilled from sweet potatoes, imo’shōchū.
When he brought his nose close to it, an odor assailed his nose.
A couple of porcelain bottle were soaked in the hot water in the kettle,
so, he did not imagine the content was the imo’shōchū. He asked the
maid whether they had the Japanese sake, and got her reply that there
was no sake in this island.
If the sake was not available, he seemed to be able to endure
anything if it could be drunk. He got drunk drowsily. He was drunk
and completely forgot all the things that had happened till yeaterday.
He was seized with an illusion such that he had lived here already for a
long time. The rain turned into a storm. A turbulent flow of the
rainwater along the drainpipe sounded like the percussion instrument.
Ideology was not needed here. He thought that he was here only to
live, and gulped down the sake without thinking anything. Gods rule
over every ground. The rain falls and the wind blows on the will of
gods. People struggle for living naively in this severe rain. They cannot
live if defeated by the rain. By the way, it rains altogether very hard.
The hostile noisiness of the rain pierced Tomioka’s chest. The woman
had a high fever and was frothing at her mouth in her sick bed. This
was the coldhearted world of gods, however, he could not be defeated.
Having been drifted this far, he thought that this had to become the
best place for him.
There was no miracle anymore after he had crawled out as far as
here. Or, it’s possible that this woman also would die here. Tomioka
reflected on the two people’s hardships for a long time, and tears
blurred the outer corners of his drunk eyes.
Where in the world was there any other person like her who felt
enthusiastic about a man like me? Osei died on her own way, Niu did
not come following me. Kuniko yielded to poverty. Only Yukiko came
together with me as far as here while fighting against her disease.
When people came from the forest service station to pick them up at
the wharf and called her “your wife,” Tomioka suddenly recalled in his
mind a healthy family living a public employee life for a long time. He
could not but felt pity and yearned for his child whom Yukiko aborted
without his permission, as if he blamed himself for it.
Yukiko was delirious with fever and called the doctor’s name from
time to time. Tomioka felt painful and sometimes turned over the
moist washtowel on her forehead. He thought to wait until tomorrow,
and to send a telegram to Hika if her illness would become worse.
The tacky tatami mats and the board wall as if the fog was blown to
it, all these seemed to be an ill omen to Tomioka.
The next day, the rain let up. It was a dim morning like a rainy
season. Tomioka went to the forest service station for the greeting of
his starting for the new post. The director was away on a business trip
for Miyazaki Prefecture. Noborit guided him and showed him stratum
maps and documents. On the way, Tomioka went to look at an official
residence which was located neat the station and close to an
elementary school. This also was the barrack-type accomodations
without proper plaster walls like a temporary shelter. The house was a
small single story built in the tanoji-style[*193]. In the garden, the
gajumaru, i.e. curtain fig, or Ficus microcarpa, which several people
could encircle with their arms, hung down branches like teats. The
bashō bore small fuit and its leaves grew thick. The beauty of mid-
green leaves was hard to think of as a winter scenery. A fine misty
drizzle began to fall again. Tomioka planned to enter the mountain on
the following day, and asked Noborito to send his telegram to
Kagoshima. He returned to the inn around noon.
Yukiko’s fever had not subsided, so Tomioka tried togive her a
penicilline injection as taught by Hika. She seemed to be in her senses
and said a joke.
“It’s my long-standing desire to die by your side.”
“It’s easy to die, you can die anytime later. Never say die now that
you came a long way as far as here!”
“The rain is a noisy thing. ……”
“The rain lit up, now.”
“I want to look at the bright sky just one more time.”
In the next room, there seemed to be a meeting, and 4 or 5 people’s
talking voices could be heard from behind the paper panel partitions,
fusuma.
In the drizzle, mountain ranges could be seen clearly. The figures of
mountains looked like vertically implanted inkstones. The washtowel
put on the sick person’s forehead was unexpectedly hot like boiled,
and he was startled at its heat and kept holding it for a while. Out of
kindness, the maid advised him to dissolve mustard powder in water
and paste it on the breast of the patient. So, Tomioka asked her to go
to buy the mustard powder, and dissolved it in water. Then, he
stretched the mustard paste on a sheet of paper and fastened it to
Yukiko’s breast. After a while, he torn off the fastened paper, and saw
her skin reddened.
Tomioka closed his face to her skin, and prayed to the gods and
buddha. Please bring us back into life.

.. * 62

Each time that Yukiko painfully inhaled and exhaled, Tomioka, with
his forehead touching the tatami, counted her breathing while holding
her hand which sweated hot like boiled.
‘Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose
shall those things be, which thou hast provided?’ Tomioka
remembered this phrase of Luke Chapter 12 – 20, while praying to the
gods. He felt an ill omen. He forgot where he read this phrase, but it
suddenly appeared in his mind. He held her hand firmly, on the other
hand, there was a portion in his mind where he was desiring the death
of this woman. He impatiently tried to brush his thought off his mind,
and called in a low voice her name, “Yukiko! Yukiko!” at the ears of the
sick person. Yukiko in a fever opened her eyes slightly and weakly
looked around. Tomioka closed his ear to Yukiko’s heart, which
throbbed at a steady pace relatively. He tried the pulse of her wrist.
Tomioka was about to go crazy while doing these deeds. The sound of
rain overflowed and filled his ears. This night induced him to feel as if
he was brought back to a certain day in Lang Biang Highlands. It was a
strange linkage that these two people had. Tomioka felt like having
lost his humane feelings somewhere else while fighting left and right
in these unstable years. He began to take himself for a human being
who had a hollow heart. He was like a monster with a hollow heart
who walked hiding behind the real flesh-and-blood gesture and tone.
He felt himself weird.
Before pitying Yukiko, Tomioka found himself unmanageable at first.
It was raining still in the evening.
Around evening, Yukiko fell in a profound sleep. She seemed to be
less feverish. Penicilin injections done every four hours might have
worked for her. Tomioka was pleased at the fact that this medicine had
a good effect, even a little, for Yukiko’s life. He was extremely tired. At
night, again, he drank shōchū by her bedside. While gradually getting
drunk, he felt loathsomeness against the sludgy person in sickness
who was sleeping with her mouth open. If he was reflected onto this
woman’s fate, it was only their past memories. He thought of
themselves like loony ones who were cornered in such a place like this
as if they secretly ran off.
A women is such a being who sticks to her memories forever. A
woman always mistakes her memory for her destiny. ------ Tomioka
was sharp-tongued in oder days and said to Yukiko that she must have
been born, if in Tokyo, in Nerima Ward, which was the well-known
production area of Japanese white raddish, Nerima’daikon, comparing
it with her white legs. Her sleeping face was slack and looked like a
woman of easy virtue. Kano had once said that she resembled an
actress, Miyake Kuniko. When Tomioka carefully stared at her, her
facial structure appeared horsy like a homely daughter born in a
Kabuki actor’s family.
Tomioka drank smelly shōchū a lot, but he became vivacious more
than usual. The maid worried about him and asked, “Are you all
right?” He replied in a blank stare, “I’m all right.” The drunkness let
him forget all the vague things such as memories and fates.
A stormy wind like produced by blowing the bellows pierced his whole
body, and he was observing himself like a relish for drinking sake.
‘I do not need to come to such a place like this, but I am not willing
to go begging for a living in Tokyo. …… Art brings bread as a proverb
says, but the issue is whether I can endure the work of entering the
deep mountain like the hermit.’ Taking Yukiko as his companion, he
mercilessly pretended to act like an accompaniment of her memory up
to now; partly because he was rapaciously attracted to the money with
which Yukiko had absconded. ‘Anyhow, it is the God’s money, which
must be wonderworking. After all, Gods are as fair as cruel. ……’
Tomioka felt like drinking all the night while listening to the sound of
rain like overflowing from the eaves trough.
‘I lost the power to love a woman.’ He brought seven or eight
porcelain bottles of sake, tokkuri, into line on the alcove. He felt
limpidity as if he had thoroughly understood the triviality of women,
and fell down on the hem of Yukiko’s futon. Late at night, he awoke
feeling thirst like his throat was burnt. He thought a nosebleed was
about to blow, and groped for the kettle on the hibachi brazier, and
put his lips on the spout of the kettle. The rain seemed to let up. The
sound of raindrops were heard like from afar.
He looked at his wrist watch. It was almost four o’clock. Tomioka lit
the alcohol lamp, and took out an injection needle.
His head felt giddy.
It became a kind of his routine work. The psychology of nurses in
the world might be the same as his. He was quite indifferent to the
patient, however, became roused from sleep even late at night. That
was all. However, the patient deservedly frowned to show her pain.
“How do you feel?”
“Much better.”
“The rain let up.”
“How heavily it rains here! I was amazed with a heavy rain in this
island. ……”
“Yes. ……”
“It’s really a persistent rain.”
“It resembles you, who are gadabout from one memory to another
eternally, doesn’t it?”
“Probably …… . You’re right.”
“Are we both skinned hares?”
Yukiko smiled.
Tomioka tidied up the injection needle, and then, lit a wet cigarette.
While puffing unsavorily, he stretched his arm to the alcove for a
porcelain bottle of sake.
An illusion of Osei was present to his senses. Tomioka licked the
empty bottles one by one.
 “Do you want to drink sake so much?”
“Yes, I want.”
“I also want to drink sake, if I was not sick. Say, why did we feel like
coming here?”
“We could not help but come because I got a job here.”
“Why did you have to get a job at such a far-off place like this?”
“You know, we cannot live in Tokyo. You, go back to Tokyo when you
get a little better. …… You understand?”
“What shall I do when I get back to Tokyo?”
“I don’t know. What you are going to do …… .”
Yukiko closed her eyes. She felt her disease was something special.
Hika insistently said to her to get an x-ray, but Yukiko did not agree.
He offered her to bring a portable x-ray machine, but Yukiko hated to
be examined in her chest.
“Do you have time?”
“It is already dawn. It’s five o’clock. Is this the island where it rains all
year round?”
“Who knows?”
“In this island, there seems nothing to do than entering the
mountain to work. I also went to see the official residence, yesterday. I
wonder whether you can stay there alone. …… When I enter the
mountain, I will be absent from home for a week. ……”
“Can’t I enter the mountain?”
“It must be difficult.”
“It must be. If not for rains, this island seems to me to be pleasant. I
hope it won’t rain everyday like this. …… In such a situation like this,
it would be nice if Kano’san is with us. ……”
“Do you go and call him back from the other world?”
“Even if I go over there to bring him back, if he won’t come back, you
will be relieved, won’t you?”
“Of course, I will. Becasue there are women everywhere.”
“I see. Women are things like that. However superb a woman may
be, she also is a thing of that extent when she is looked at from the
standpoint of men. …… Men and women are radically different. I feel
resentment hearing that there are women everywhere.”
 “If you feel resentment, you should get well soon. Get well soon and
fight against men. Fight with the most effective weapon of a woman.
……”
“How provoking you are! You had a sharp tongue from the older
days. If women such as the parliament women hear how you talk, they
must come in anger to plead against your statement.”
“Parliament women. …… I don’t think they are women. I have
forgotten the existence of such women.”
Amen, Yukiko said in mind to mean ‘indeed.’ She in anger moved her
own hand off her chest and groped for his hand.

.. * 63

They could not afford to stay at the inn forever. On the fourth day,
during a lull in a rain, Yukiko was carried in a stretcher to their official
residence. The islanders in surprise looked into the stretcher while
came carried on the road.
The blue sky was seen after a long time. The sun also was shining.
Trees which approached from both sides were glittering in sunshine.
He was blinded by the radiant colors of the sky. The color was so blue
and warm enough to be incompatible with the winter sky.
Along the winding road, the stretcher was brought as if in waves. She
opened her eyes when people’s voice halted. Hens and roosters noisily
ran into someone’s house. There was no town which deserved to be
called as a town. Houses in the village thoroughly closed their
shutters, otherwise, opened it only slightly, which resembled
Vietnamese villages in Indochina. Yukiko turned her head to the left
and right, and curiously looked around. Immediately after going under
a tunnel of huge trees like the banyan, Tomioka’s voice was heard.
“Thank you for bringing the patient. ……”
 The door of the house creakingly opened. People carrying the tunker
stumbled on into the house. The ceiling boards were full of stains and
the news paper was pasted on the wall boards. Yukiko stared eye-
opened wondering whether this truly was the official residence.
In the afternoon, Tomioka is going to the mountain riding on a
minecart, torokko[*202].
He is to stay overnight in the mountain, and will come back the next
evening. He hired a war widow who has children as a househelper, and
so, the woman will come to take care of Yukiko during his absence
from home.
No one knew where they obtained it from, but a comparatively clean
set of the futon of striped cotton was spread.
A blanket which they bought in Kagoshima was used as a bed sheet.
The rimless monk tatami, bōzu tatami, was laid in the room. A new
aluminium kettle was steaming on the box-type brazier, hako’hibachi.
After eating the lunch which was delivered from the inn, Tomioka
did up his puttees and wore his outfit for entering the mountain, and
then, went away. He wore a rainhat and a dirty raincoat, and carried a
shriveled rucksack on his shoulder, which was exactly the figure of an
expert forester who was accustomed to preparing his body. Noborito in
his skiwear came to pick him up. Tomioka asked the house helper
again the necessary care for Yukiko, and left the home. It was
exceptionally a fine weather.
“The fine weather like today is truly rare. …… I feel cheerful. The rice
porridge, okayu, is ready, madam. Would you like to eat it?”
Her complexion looked bad. Her black eyes were bluish as if she had
pinworm or ascaridida in her belly. She was named Tsuwai Nobu. Her
husband was killed in the battlefield 9 years ago.
Yukiko had no appetite.
She only opened her eyes and looked out of the slightly opened
shutters. She sticked to what Tomioka jokingly said the other day,
»There are women everywhere.» She was sure that he would survive
boldly as he was. Yukiko, unlike him, thought inwardly of herself not
to be able to live more than a few years. A turtledove was croaking in
the mountain nearby. The face of the mountain appeared purple as if
it was sharpened, which could be seen from the opening of the
shutters. It resembled the surface of an inkstone.
“Is Kosugidani valley very much far from here? ……”
Yukiko asked Nobu. Nobu who was squeezing a honey orange
ponkan, Citrus poonensis, looked up and said.
“Let me see, it takes two hours and a half. On the way to Kosugidani,
there is Mt. Tatchūdake, to which it takes approximately one hour. ……
Even so, they say that it snows heavily and snow lies thick in
Kosugidani. Your husband would be cold.”
The felling place[*36] in Kosugidani was located at the mountain
altitudes of 2296.6 ft. The average air temperature is 60.8 degrees
Fahrenheit. Snow piles up from December to March in Spring.
Because of steep lofty mountain ranges, the weather changes from
fine weather, cloudy weather, to rainy weather in a day. Besides, the
track of typhoons covers Yakushima Island. So, heavy rains hit the
island all year round. As a result, the income of the village was
strained, which delayed the implementation of the water
management.
The main income sources of the Island are the fishing of flying fish
Exocoetidae in May, sweet potatoes Ipomoea batatas, sugarcane
Saccharum officinarum, and forestry.
Yakushima Island was well known by Yaku’sugi cedar. Cedar wood
could not be pushed out through the river to the estuary as were done
in Indochina, so they had to rely upon the torokko-minecart to
transport the cedar.
The cedar which are surrounded in rain and fog all year round, and
due to aging, do not float on the water. When the cedar raw woods are
loaded and stacked on board a ship, once that one single wood is
dropped in the sea, the Yakushima cedar would not float but sink to
the bottom of the sea because of its weight.
“Does it snow so much in the subtropical area like this?”
“Yes, it does. You can ski until around March in Kosugidani.”
“Have you ever climbed it?”
“No. I went to Tachū’dake, halfway to Kosugidani.”
Suddenly, the sky darkened.
 The fog emerged covering the inkstone-like precipitous mountain
peak. Yukiko felt undescribable sorrowfulness while seeing the fog
moving around the mountain peak. She thought that people like her
would not grow in the landscape like this. Yukiko who had once tasted
the luxury could not endure stains on the ceiling and the newspaper-
pasted wall boards. If she goes back to Tokyo, various civilizations are
actively moving. She wondered how her life in her shed in Ikebukuro
would proceed. The memory of Joe appeared in her mind with
nostalgia now. Joe had come bringing the large pillow to her shed. He
sang for her the song ‘Forget me Not Lyrics’ to the radio. ‘Let’s write a
song for us / And sing until we’re old and grey / Forget me not my
dear, my darling / Forget me not my love / I’m coming home real soon
/ Please leave a light on for me / Tell me that you’ll always be true …… .’
Tomioka looked at the small radio, and asked her to let him listen to
a dance music. Yukiko intentionally adjusted the dial to the
International Military Tribunal for the Far East. “What did you think
of at that time?” An excessively polite inquiry in Japanese came from
the radio, which was apparently the pronunciation of a second
generation of Japanese American, Nisei. Tomioka pestered Yukiko with
an American dance music, saying that his heart ached when he heard
such a broadcast. Yukiko huffily said. “You as well as I am involved in
this tribune. ― I do not mean that I am eager to hear such a tribune,
however, I think that I need to hear the truth and reality in the war as
there actually are people on trial.” Yukiko felt it was 10 years ago that
she first met Joe. By now, that foreigner might have left for home.
Their language was not enough for them to know well each other, but
they understood each other’s feelings through their bodies. When
Tomioka said irony to her, she refuted him, “It’s the same as you loved
Niu in Indochina.”
While recalling her memories, Yukiko felt nostalgia for all her past.
The relationship with Joe was pleasant as they did not need to pry into
each other’s mind, and it was comfortable without seriousness as they
did not need to talk about each other’s responsibility.
.. * 64

Tomioka got into the first carriage, the torokko-locomotive engine, and
took a seat next to the driver. His body was roaring up on the narrow
rail, and he felt as if his body hung in midair. Below his eyes, the clear
and blue Anbō’gawa river was shining, which meandered through the
steep valley deep into the jungle. His visiting card in his pocket bore
the title of the technical officer of agriculture and forestry, which
somewhat was embarassing to him.
“How about smoking?”
The driver surprisingly looked at Tomioka. Below their eyes was a
precipitous cliff. The fern, hego[*55], was new to Tomioka. This tree fern
grew up everywhere in the outback of Da Lat as well. It resembled the
Cyrtomium falcatum, Oni’shida, which literally means ‘ogre fern,’
growing in the main island of Japan. Tomioka lit a cigarette, and
thrusted it into the driver’s hand which clenched the steering wheel.
The village of Ambō which was seen on the right side of the tram as
if it was on the bottom of the river was gradually disappearing among
ceders. The torokko-tram ran as if flying in the air. Behind the
locomotive engine, four open vehicles like minecarts were connected
in train. The all four carts were loaded with rice in large straw bags,
vegetables, postal matters, and salt in bags of two-fold straw mat. On
the rice bags, five or six woodcutters of the district forestry office sat
freezingly. Noborito also sat on the rice bag, and was talking loudly
with them. The land of 78.6 square miles was the jurisdiction of the
district forestry office and was government-
owned. The land, however, was narrow, and not comparable in width
even to a private land in French Indochina. Seeking a land in the
landless small island was no avail, certainly. There was no doubt that
even this narrow 78.6 square miles had to be a rich natural repository
in Japan, today. With the defeat in the war, Japan lost all its limbs such
as Korea, Taiwan, Ryukyu islands, Sakhalin, and Manchuria, and
became the main body only. Under these circumstances at present,
Japan had to dig up every corner in the kitchen to feed its big family.
“It must be cold in the mountain.”
 “They say that there is much snow nationwide this year. We have a
heavy show also in the mountain here. Everyone says it’s unusual.”
“I should have worn the winter clothes and equipments.”
“When we reach the mountain, winter clothes are available in the
office.”
“How long is the east-west distance of this island?”
“Well, approximately, the east-west distance is 14.6 mile, and north-
south distance is 7.5 miles. …… It is said that Yakushima Island is 97
miles away from Kagoshima. The Ambō is the warm town, but it is
extremely cold at the top of the mountain.”
The driver explained in an army dialect. Somewhere on the sides of
the mountain range, seen on the left hand, bared red soil which
sharply affected the eyes. The torokko-carts climbed up considerably
close to the peak of the mountain. Plumes of their breaths looked
white.
A raincloud appeared like black eaves, which began covering up the
mountain peak. Very soon, it started raining with big raindrops.
Tomioka looked back and saw everyone on the cart behind began in a
hurry wearing their raincoats and opening their oil paper umbrellas,
bangasa.
When the torokko-carts approached Tatchū’dake mountain, the rain
turned into a downpour with wind. They had to halt a little while in
order to cover the carts with canopies. The coldness was severe. ― It
was late afternoon that they reached Kosugidani. The mountain
darkened and sleet were falling. Large cedar trees rising straight high
grew thick, and there was a cluster of sheds at the tree felling and
transportation work place.
Tomioka made a dash for the district forestry office and warmed up
near the stove. Noborito introduced him the staff. Because of the
power plant failure today, unfortunately, a large lamp was suspended
on the ceiling.
A gray haired old official called Sakai talked to him with a smile.
“Almost all workers here were Korean in the older days. All workers
now are Japanese repatriates from Manchuria and Korea. Five copies of
Shimbun Akahata, the daily organ of the Japanese Communist Party in
the form of a national newspaper, are sent by surface mail. Even the
island like this has become somewhat democratized and complicated.
― The world changed very much. …… People with high-pitched voice
are high-spirited. Old men like me are not demanded on the
mountain anymore. Technical officer Tomioka also must be an orator
at first, rather than felling trees.”
Old Sakai finished his talk and took a cigarette from Tomioka and lit
it with a blaze in the stove. Glass pans darkened. Pendent icicles were
formed from the low eaves here and there.

.. * 65

Away from the city of Saigon, the road naturally entered the town of
Qua Dein, where many Japanese soldiers were stationed. While on a
journey from here to Bien Hoa, their vehicle passed through sugar
cane fields, orchards, and several small villages where palm trees and
areca catechu binlō were lush. The vehicle crossed a couple of long
iron bridges built over the Dong Nai River. And then, beautiful Bien
Hoa town. Yukiko, together with Tomioka and Kano, stayed overnight
in a small hotel. It was the hotel for French people, the name of which
was Maison Poisson. Poisson meant fish in French, and only the tail of
a fish was largely illustrated on the hotel billboard.
It was just after the air raid, and the power station was destroyed. So,
they took supper outside in the garden in twilight, where orange color
blossoms of Hoa Phượng were in full bloom. An unfamiliar bird
chirped in a shrubbery somewhere nearby. The fragrance of blossoms
smelled like choking. Lawn in the garden appeared greenly moisture
as if it got wet on the bottom of the light of the dusk. Under their
wooden table, Yukiko’s white shoe tops were playing with Tomioka’s
legs.
The night was so sultry that Yukiko was unable to fall asleep. Edible
flogs were weirdly crowing afar. While staring at the dark, she felt
smothered with recalling Tomioka’s weight over her chest.
A deafening silence outside the room. A clicking sound of secretly
turning the key. Soon the door opened and Tomioka’s high silhouette
raised in the light outside disappeared into the darkness behind the
door. Yukiko on purpose moved her fan violently inside her mosquito
net. Their mouths smelled of sherry which they drank on the lawn a
little while ago. Two groups of soldiers stayed in this hotel. So, Yukiko
and Tomioka kept staring quietly at each other’ eyes in the dark
without making any voice. On the bottom of their glittering beastly
eyes, a secret love only of their own, which was far from the war, was
keenly talking about their feelings.
Outside the window, a big fruit fell on the ground from a tree with a
thud, at which the two people were terrified. That silent night at the
hotel on the plateau of Bien Hoa as if they were on the bottom of a
well appeared in her dream afterwards as well. Her hand always
recalled a fragrant touch of Tomioka’s thick hair whenever she thought
about that night.
The next day, they with an innocent look were riding on the
rumbling vehicle from Gau Giay through a junction at Gi Lin and
farther on the ribbonlike state road for 24 miles. Yukiko and Kano took
the rear seat and a Vietnamese driver and Tomioka were side by side in
front on the driver’s seat. Kano was strangely in a bad temper. The
vehicle drove through a green tunnel with strong sunbeams shining
through branches of trees in the orderly rubber forest.
The vehicle stopped at Trang Bom. Tomioka and Kano went away for
a while to do their work in the forestry experiment station. Then, the
vehicle drove again with sizzling sounds over the somber, leaden, and
winding state road. The Vietnamese driver said that wild elephants
sometimes came out around here. It was a weird woodland where big
trees of Hoa Bằng Lăng grew in colonies in deep-black.
 In the dream, Yukiko with a smile was chasing her dream. That
springtime of her life would never come back again. …… Nothing of
that time remained the same. Things of that time did never remain
the same nor come back. Tomioka and Yukiko came drifting to the
southern end, Yakushima, in this way at present, however, both grew
older by some years since that time. ― Yukiko was listening to the
rainy sound rustling in her ears as if it was the stirring sound of the
sea of tree. However, she got disappointed when she noticed it was the
sound of rain spraying against the windowpane, and felt like fell into
an abyss.
The whole house seemed to be thoroughly drowned in the water like
the Noachian deluge. She closed her eyes, when her heart’s throbbing
sound was awfully clearly heard through her skin and muscles. The
sound of her heart halted sometimes and began throbbing again.
When she pressed her ears onto the pillow, the throb of her heart
sounded loudly like someone’s footsteps.
The rain was so irritating that she wanted to sharply slash the
circumambient air of with a sword. She stretched out her four limbs.
She imagined how big her coffin would be. She was eagerly awaiting
Tomioka who went to the mountain the day before, and concentrated
her whole body into waiting.
The doctor, Hika, also did not readily come. Yukiko did not know the
reason but wanted to send a letter to Shizuoka. She wanted to write to
her mother-in-law, but changed her mind while thinking. The
househelper Tsuwai Nobu seemed not to have any intention at all to
devise cooking for Yukiko. She served her a piece of dried pickled salt
plum, umeboshi, on tastless pasty porridge. From time to time, a raw
egg with shell was put on a plate. Yukiko somehow was caught by
illusion that Tsuwai Nobu and Tomioka arranged these things
beforehand. She thought that she had to be emancipated from this
woman. If not, she would be murdered.
Yukiko from time to time looked up at Tsuwai Nobu who was
painstakingly reading a book near her bed. She seemingly had a strong
will suitable for a woman who kept solitude for 9 years away from her
husband killed in action. Despite that, her fatty female skin around
her chest and chin appeared appetizing.
 Yukiko wondered what book she was reading and wanted to ask her
about the book, but felt too languid to speak out. She put out her
sweaty arm on the blanket and looked at it, while thinking that she
could sense the end of her life.
Tsuwai put the book there and went away to the entrance. The old
book was entitled Home Medicine, which Tomioka borrowed from the
inn Ambō. Today, the sharply cliffy inkstone-like Yae’dake Mountain
could not be seen in the haze of drizzling rain. White soles of Tsuwai
who went away to the entrance caught Yukiko’s attention. Women
here walked always barefoot. Their soles were unexpectedly clean,
maybe because they stepped on sand, and they entered the room
without washing their feet.
Yukiko thought that Tomioka would marry Tsuwai Nobu and settle
down in this island if Yukiko died here. …… Yukiko could predict such
possible future. While imaging the process that the two people would
be united in marriage, she felt something slimy blew up in her chest
with fierce rapidity. Yukiko writhed in anguish such that she could not
breathe. She pressed her nose and mouth with her both hands, but
could not prevent the viscous slimy thing from spouting. She could
not breathe. She could not utter a voice. Clots of spouting blood
contaminated her futon, blanket, and pillow.
Yukiko thought that she would die as it was. Her cold self sat beside
her other self, and clung to Death. Death existed in front of her other
self. …… Death remarked that everything is leaving from the body of
this woman, and seemingly was dancing the dance of victory. Among
the things which recurred to her mind, Yukiko felt like she heard
Kano’s faint voice inviting her, and slightly nodded her head. She did
not have anything to think of with a sense of loss in her life so far.
Even if Tomioka was beside her, a train which she alone was riding was
already about to go away to the other world. Yukiko wanted to know
the beginning of her death. The quick breaking down of her body flew
in sequence through her last life. From which part of her body begins
to collapse noisily? She breathed with short breaths. She wanted to
drink water. Memories of her long journeys in the days that she had
been recklessly healthy were ramblingly floating in her eyes. Her
anxiety, estrangement, and confusion to pass away into the unknown
world were expressed in her ten fingers as if those were depressing
keys on the piano keyboard. She felt badly as if the muddy blood were
full of her lung which had become a cavity.
Someone’s shadow was flickering near her pillow. The shadow was
her annoyance, so Yukiko tried to avoid it by lifting up her bloody face.
However, the shadow with a dark light like a lightning to ruin
mankind moved flickering upon her forehead.
Yukiko saw her own lonesome figure in the sounds of rain as if
judgement of Noah and Lot were roaringly surging against her. An
empty feeling of a woman who was not loved by anyone came back
reflectedly like an echoe from the other side of the cave of resonance.
She as a disqualified self did not have any means to get back anything
at this present. Where had she gone, herself of those days? …… It was
really languid even to remember various memories of Indochina.
While covering her mouth with both hands to push back towards her
throat the slimy blood which gushed out from her lungs, Yukiko was
groaning as if she was being buried alive, ‘Ah, I want to live.’ She did
not want to die. Her brain was clear and cold like ice but her body did
not move freely regardless of her will.

.. * 66

On the mountain, it rained unusually in torrents. Tomioka postponed

his return to the town until the next day. He was drinking spirits
distilled from yams, imo’shōchū, with five or six fellow workers while
warming themselves near the stove. He was lacking in courage to go
down the mountain and return to his official dwelling. He thought
that Yukiko’s symptom might not be so serious, and became more
heartless while he was getting drunk.
Tomioka thought the appearance of Yae’dake Mountain resembled
Khmer temple, the Bayon at Angkor Thom in Indochina, and was
talking piecemeal of stories at that time.
 “Towers of mansonry rise high on the mountain, and the many
towers are richly decorated with stone faces. In chambers, stone pillars
slant and stone beams are about to fall. In the vestibule of the garden
of stone ruins, a huge tree supports the retaining wall which was about
to fall down. Those are not different from ceders which had died
standing like mummies. Inside the royal palace, the statue of joining
sexual organs of the man and woman was enshrined as a symbol of
Shiva. I’m sure that they called it the lingam. …… Civilizations have
developed in various ways. I think this Mahesvara, Shiva in the
Buddhist pantheon, is man’s greatest civilization.
Atomic bombs also must have been created from secrets of Shiva, the
Mahesvara. ……”
People in the mountain were talkative. They listened to recollections
of Tomioka who had inspected mountains of far-off foreign land, while
frequently pulling up ceramics bottles of sake, tokkuri, from the
kettle’s boiling water on the stove.
Tomioka was accustomed to the smell of yam shōchū. It was different
from shōchū that he drank in Tokyo, and did not affect badly his head,
and the taste was unexpectedly good. Before no one knew it, they were
talking of women. An old female cook and girl waitresses, while
guffawing, tore dried cattlefish or poured soy souce to dried mackerel.
Tomioka got extremely drunk. He was so drunk as not to be able to
hear even a sound of the second hand when he pressed his wrist watch
to his ear. If he was not drunk, his mind was not endurable anymore.
It might not have been his mind but presumably his body that was not
endurable. The dark bluish skin of a fleshy wrist of a small girl was
flickering in his eyes. Tomioka had not touched the female skin
recently. …… He felt throbs in his belly while looking at the girl’s thick
neck, her plump waist, and even dark purplish skin of her foot insteps.
The girl wore a green jacket and blue loose trousers, mompe[*121] with
white splash water pattern kasuri[*88]. Lingering snow piled up on
mountains. Outside the shed, the sleet rain was ache to cheeks. In
their life on such cold mountains, the girl ran errands from shed to
shed without wearing socks-like footwear, tabi.
 If not for anyone around, he probably would push her down. Her
soft and elastic body was awfully eyesore to Tomioka. He felt like got
this kind of feelings after a long time. The girl’s face somewhere
resembled Osei. However, he had burnt his old days entirely to ashes,
and came over here all the way. He went up to his bed on the top of
the triple layered berth like shelves to raise silkworms, took off his
leather jacket, and lay down on the blanket. The girl’s guffaw sounded
playfully in his ears for a long time.
Tomioka slept a seductive afternoon sleep a little while and awoke at
around five o’clock. The lamp was lit. Someone downstairs was calling
him. Tomioka looked down from the handrail. He cried to him, “A
phone call to you from town. Your wife is in critical condition.”
Tomioka wore his leather jacket, went downstairs, and took on his
mountain shoes beside the stove.
“No torokko leave now, does it?”
“I will have it leave. The outbound torokko is only to go flowing
down the rail. I will ask someone to accompany you.”
The elderly in charge of General affairs undertook. The night was
going to fall. The lamplight was flickering in every mountain hut. The
rain unnoticeably turned to snow. Tomioka wore a shawl, which the
girl lent him, around his cheeks and neck, and sat on the torokko-cart
of one tatami size, where he groveled with a yound woodcutter who
steered the torokko and a student who was going to return to
Kagoshima by ship to be put into port the next day. Tomioka and the
student held a hand lantern in turns, in the light of which the
woodcutter pressed the steer.
The torokko drifted down the steep mountain road roaring noisily
like thunder. The torokko from time to time jumped into the air. The
young woodcutter skilfully save the speed, but did not forget to scare
the other two people saying, “Oops, we nearly fell headlong ……” The
light of the hand lantern floated smoothly down the rail through
blinding darkness in the valley. The rain pelted the town of Ambō.
It was nearly ten o’clock that Tomioka just barely arrived at his
official dwelling. Yukiko had been dead. In the room, there were seven
or eight people unknown to Tomioka and also to Yukiko. They were in
worry, and came to be present at her final moments. Tomioka greeted
the people around and sat close to Yukiko’s pillow. In the light of the
lamp, he stared at the bloated face of dead Yukiko for a while.
Someone stripped Tomioka of his dripping wet jacket.
Yukiko’s hands were not crossed on her chest yet. Tomioka, in the
same way as he did for his wife Kuniko, gently crossed Yukiko’s hands
on her chest which were not yet stiffened. Her cold hands were stained
with dry blood. The househelper must have wiped her face clean.
When he saw blood on her hands, hot tears pushed up suddenly on
his eyelids. He began sobbing. The death of Osei, the death of Kuniko,
and again the death of Yukiko now. Tomioka shook intensely Yukiko’s
body. Her body had no reaction. People there went away one after
another. The sound of their steps, putting up their oil paper umbrella,
bangasa, went along the road by the window.
“Around what time did her condition change?”
Tsuwai Nobu did not know clearly when her condition had changed.
At that time, she was reading the book of Home Medicine. The sick
person stared at her with weird eyes as if those eyes saw through all
that Nobu was reading. Tsuwai Nobu was pregnant. She did not want
to give birth to a child. She happened to pick up the book which was
left by chance near the sick person’s pillow. Legal abortion methods
were written in the book. Nobu concentrated into her thought
calculating in her mind the cost of abortion in Kagoshima. She
casually looked down at the bloated face of the sick person, who
looked frighteningly dreadful with her eyes slightly open. She could
not bear staying alone close to the sick person with whom she did not
have any relationship. So, Tsuwai Nobu quickly returned to her home
with bare foot in the rain.
Tsuwai Nobu fabricated a story to tell Tomioka. He, on his part as
well, knew that she fabricated her story, but abode by the inevitable
now that the thing had come up to this. Yukiko virtually had come to
this island to die. Tomioka politely dismissed people who were present
at Yukiko’s final moments. He expected Tsuwai Nobu to stay here, but
let her go because Nobu also seemed to have fear.
 Yukiko appeared to considerably suffer. Blood stains around her
caught his attention.
Tomioka lost his energy to do something. He took up the kettle on
the brasier, hibachi, in the next room, and poured the boiling water
into a metal basin. He soaked a towel in the hot water, and wiped
Yukiko’s face with it. He took out a lipstick from her handbag which
she always kept close to her pillow. He put lipstick on her lips, but its
growth was not good. He wiped her around her eyebrows, when he
lifted her eyelids up to open her eyes. He felt like her lips moved as if
she said, “Please, leave me alone, now. ……” The rain was drumming on
the shingled roof so stuffily. Tomioka wondered what those raindrops
wanted him to do. He felt like he was driven away by such a noisy
drumming sound as to pass throught the ceiling. Yukiko’s eyes were
glittering like those of an animal. He became anxious and looked into
her eyes once more. He drew the lamp near and kept staring at her
eyes. It was a look of entreaty. Tomioka felt like he heard infinite
protests from the eyes of the dead person. He took out her comb from
her handbag, combed her thick hair and bundled it up. The dead
person did not demand attentiveness from the living person anymore.
She left herself only to be done.
His wrist watch showed twelve.
It was pouring noisily outside all the night. Late at night, Tomioka
had bitter diarrhea. He sufferingly crouched on the toiled, buried his
face in his both hands, and convulsively wept tears like a child. What
on earth are the human beings? Whom will they be going to become?
…… Human beings disappear casually from this world after passing
through various processes. Human beings are uniformily children of
God, and also uniformily Devil’s fellow.
The rain was splashing into from the glassless wire mesh window of
the toilet. The candle light was wavering near his foot. A lower
abdominal pain like a hell on earth, along with the bad smelling of the
toilet, tore up his skin tinglingly.
He thought that he deserved such the impossibility as he could not
get out of this narrow frame. The impossibility led to a kind of
Gethsemane, the garden where Jesus prayed and his disciples slept the
night before Jesus’ crucifixion. The death of Yukiko itself appeared
something casual like a mishap. Therefore, Tomioka unexpectedly felt
pity and compassion for the purpose of her death. It was nothing
different from being in an automobile accident in Tokyo. If she had
passed away after a long days of fight against her illness, he could have
given her death a significance of a passion-like dream. …… Tomioka
holding his lower abdomen came back to his room as if crawling. He
wrapped the blanket around his waist. He did not know even which
direction the north was, despite the customary position for a dead
body who lay with the head to the north. Tomioka moved her pillow to
the wall, where the deceased lay flat. On the new futon beddings,
scissors made of Tanega’shima Island was laid, in place of a sword, for
self-protection during a travel to the world beyond.
The two people did not have any acquaintances in the island.
However, some people with whom they got acquainted after their
arrival in the island came to be present at her final moments while he
was absent. Tomioka felt amazement. No one knows where he would
encounter such a mishap. To attend her final moments must have
been a mishap for them, which simultaneously was the tastefulness in
people’s world as well. Thinking this way, Tomioka went to the kitchen
to take a bottle of shōchū which he had asked to Tsuwai Nobu to buy.
He warmed it and drank it. The dead woman lay in the next room. A
scene of the lonely feast without anyone in his company, like a
religious pureness, filled his inntermost feelings with gaiety.
Tomioka thought that someday in the future he also would attain
that bodily form, however, did not have any intention to die with
Yukiko. The more he drank, the more he became frustrated. He felt
deeply in his innermost feelings that this human frustration was his
salvation. The drankness thoroughly filled his whole body, and he felt
excitement as if his life was a benefit that he gained gratefully. He felt
like ether of the dead shone sometimes in space in the room. He
stared intently at the flat bed. The dead quietly remained in the same
still state.
He thought that Yukiko among the three women, who had been
with him, was the best and stayed with him for the longest time.
However, this cold body of Yukiko had no reaction any more.
 The past memories of two people were back in a flash in his drunk
brain, and he moved to tears. His drunkenness became fierce little by
little. He gulped down shōchū as much as felt his stomach heated. He
did not eat anything, so his drunkenness went over to his whole body
with an incredible speed. He continued talking to himself and
drinking in turn.
The wind blew and the candle burnt out at Yukiko’s bedside.
Tomioka staggeringly lit a new candle, and went to the next room to
put it at her bedside.
An expressionless face of the dead like a mask looked like being
thrown out in lonelines, which meant the feelings only of people who
look at the dead and think that the dead seems to be lonely. Tomioka
thought like this and touched her forehead. Ruthlessness of the dead,
not of a living body, blushed his hand away soon. Either a new
washcloth or a gauze was not available, so Tomioka opened his rice
paper sheet pad and put it over Yukiko’s face like a roof.

.. * 67

One month had passed. Tomioka took one-week off and went to

Kagoshima.
Kagoshima in early spring was comfortably dry like another world.
He arrived at the inn where he had previously stayed. After a short
period of time, however, maids had been completely replaced. He was
led to the same room where he previously stayed with Yukiko, which
was located to the front side of the inn. Tomioka felt amazement as it
was a mere coincidence.
His wrist watch had been soaked in the rain, so he brought it for
repair to the store he bought it. They said that the owner who was to
repair it was injured in bed. Tomioka did not have another choice but
took it to another watch store. On his return trip, he visited Hika, the
medical doctor. Hika was at home in his hospital, and remembered
him. Tomioka was led to the medicine smell room, and talked to Hika
about the death of Yukiko. Hika also said that he had wanted to take
the X-ray because he felt worry about her symptom.
Tomioka felt somewhat stifled in the situation being together with
Hika despite the sick person had passed away. Tomioka’s face had
utterly changed like a different person by heavy drinking for a month.
He lit cigarettes one after another. The room became terribly smokey.
Coffee was served. Tomioka felt like he met a civilization for the first
time after a long time. He drank the bitter coffee. Hika said, “Let’s
listen to Dvořák’s From the New World which your wife liked.” He
played the record on his hand-made phonograph.
While listening to the music, Hika said to Tomioka that she might
have not realized her own physical condition although she had been
sick for a long time. He added with a smile.
“Shall I examine your body? A quantity of your drinking sake is
considerably large, isn’t it?”
Tomioka felt relaxed while listening to the music. In the late
afternoon, Tomioka left the hospital promising a reencounter with
Hika, who was going to have a gathering afterwards. Tomioka had
nowhere to go. Each life has its own arabesque which refuses other
people’s intervention, he thought. His nostalgic feeling for the doctor
Hika whom he had had in the remote island a little cooled off. He was
a normal doctor who regulates his lifestyle. On ne se soigné jamais trop
……, which meant that you cannot be careful too much. Tomioka
wanted to drop by in a secondhand bookseller to buy a novel. Books
that he wanted to read were those of Émile François Zola. He
remembered the half-breed typist who worked for the Forestry Bureau
in Da Lat lent him Zola’s L'assommoir 1899. He walked to the lively
Tenmonkan[*194] street in twilight. He went around looking at movie
theaters one by one. Along the narrow street, the clamor of half-breed
races flowed like icebergs. The civilization like this was depressing to
Tomioka at present. He went in the backstreet, and enter the folksy
Japanese restaurant where women were seen. Women wore oily
shining makeups. Tomioka liked a woman in red evening dress. He
drank beer by her serving. The beer was so delicious that he had never
experienced. The rain lit up. The night air was dryly fragrant, and was
refreshing for him after a long time. Her eyes were thin like a thread,
and sometimes seductively glittered from the bottom of her thick
eyelids. The backs of her hands looked opaque in color. Under the
color lamp, however, her red dress was considerably contaminated. A
guitar player with a red neckerchief around his neck came into the
narrow earthen floor.
The woman gabbled with her strong dialect and drove away the
guitar player. Her dialect somewhat resembled Yukiko’s. Yukiko’s figure
at the time that she was buried under the ground in which the rain
soaked was fixed firmly on his mind. At any rate, that strong single life
had fallen. And here, again, barley grains of delusive allure were going
to germinate. Adam appeared not to have learned his lesson, and
began to be allured by emotions. …… Gods sowed countless seeds over
lands everywhere. Seeds were growing only by their “own natural
aptitude” to a crop. Tomioka emptied half-dozen bottles of beer in a
twinkling, and was dragged upstairs by the woman.
Late at night, Tomioka was sent back by the woman to the inn. The
woman seemed to be honest, unexpectedly. A considerable amount of
bank notes, other than he entrusted to the inn, were still left in his
purse. All the money in his possession was those that Yukiko left.
Tomioka entered the dried futon without changing his clothes, and
was chasing his own thought which was going to become heavier like
a stone.
He lost his energy to return to Yakushima Island. However, it was
unbearable for him to leave Yukiko’s body alone under the ground of
that island. Besides, what was left for him even if he would return to
Tokyo?
Tomioka in thoughts likened his own figure to floating clouds. That
was such floating clouds as insidiously disappear sometime
somewhere.

- End -
Postscript by Mei Yumi

..。 * <Hayashi Fumiko’s personal history>

Fumiko Hayashi is a Japanese poet and novelist. Fumiko was born on
December 31, 1903, 36 Meiji in Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
She was born on the second floor of a tin-smith shop, which reflected
in “Floating clouds”, where Yukiko tentatively lived alone in the same
circumstances. Fumiko said that she was born on May 5 in 1904, 37
Meiji, the year of Dragon, however, her registered birth date was as the
above. Hayashi Fumiko is the author’s real name, and her mother,
Kiku, registered her name simply in katakana, such asフミ子. Later,
upon her acquaintance Kobayashi Masao’s advice, she applied
beautiful kanji characters for her name, Fumiko芙美⼦. She died on June
28, 1951, 26 Shōwa.
Her mother, Kiku, delivered a baby out of wedlock at the age of 36 in
Shimonoseki. Her father was Miyata Asatarō, 22 years old. The family
of three traveled around Kyūshū as peddlers. Later, her father was
successful as a kimono fabric dealer, and took his favorite geisha, Sakai
Hama, into their home. Probably because of it or others, the 43-year-
old mother Kiku secretly took 7-year-old Fumiko, and went out with a
manager of her husband’s store and her bedfellow, Sawai Kisaburō,
who was younger than Kiku by 20 years.
Sakurajima island in Kyūshū erupted on January 12, 1914, 3 Taishō.
The lava flowed out and formed a land bridge to Ōsumi peninsula. At
that time, Fumiko’s family was rock bottom poor. Details on their
living were unknown until they settled in Onomichi in 1916, 5 Taishō.
She possibly with her mother worked as housemaids in the wealthy
house of Itō Den’emon, called the Kopper Palace of Itō Den’emon and
Byakuren Akiko[*74], and then, in a Turkish merchant’s house in Kōbe.
* * * * *

Fumiko graduated from a girls’ high school in 1922 at the age of 19.
After the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake on September 1, 1923, 12 Taishō,
she came to Tokyo in 1924 at the age of 21. While working as a
transcriber, a cafe maid, and the like, she began writing poems and
posted them to literary magazines, and sold her original nursery
stories in the streets. During this period, she got to know literary
people, and some of them estimated her literary talent highly. She
began writing novels in 1926, 1 Shōwa, at the age of 23. Her novel, A
Wanderer’s Notebook or Diary of a Vagabond, Hōrōki, became a long-
run best seller and it was made into a movie. She started writing as a
full-scale novelist.
In 1926, 15 Taishō, at her age of 23, Fumiko began to live with Tezuka
Rokubin[*198] a painter and the son of a wealthy farmer.
From January to February 25, 1932, 7 Shōwa, she traveled to Paris at
the age of 29. On the way back from France, she stopped in Napoli,
and then, in Shanghai, she met Lojin or Lǔ Xùn in Chinese. Lojin, born
on September 25, 1881 and died on October 19, 1936, was a leading
figure of modern Chinese literature. He was educated in the early
1900s in Japan. He is the most popular novelist still in 2013 among
students in the People’s Republic of China.
In January 1939, 14 Shōwa, her nonfiction, “Unit Kitagishi, Kitagishi
Butai” was published.
In March 1944, 19 Shōwa, Fumiko, at her age of 41, legally married to
Ryokubin. Hayashi Fumiko had many extramarital lovers. She was so
careless as to leave her affairs open to her husband Ryokubin. He,
however, took care of the after settlements of her affairs without any
complaints. No doubt that her affairs were reflected in her novels.
In the next year after the end of the war in 1945, 20 Shōwa, many
publishers began their business again in Japan. And Fumiko’s superb
works like “Late Chrysanthemum – Ban’giku,” “Floating Clouds –
Uki’gumo,” “Downtown – Shita’machi,” and others were published
successively. “A Wanderer’s Notebook – Hōrōki,” had originally the
subtitle of “The autumn has come,” which was first published in a
female literary magazine called “Nyonin Geijutsu[*138]” on October
1928, 3 Shōwa, at the age of 25. Afterwards, “Hōrōki” was published as a
book in July 1930, 5 Shōwa, and became the best seller. “A Wanderer’s
Notebook – Hōrōki” was regarded as Hayashi Fumiko’s masterpiece,
and was translated into English by Ericson in 1997.
In November 1948, 23 Shōwa, at her age of 45, ‘Late
Chrysanthemum, Ban’giku” appeared in an extra issue of the literary
magazine, Bungei’shunjū.
 From 1949 to 1951, 9 novelettes and novels appeared serially in
newspapers and magazines. Simultaneously, she was invited to many
seminars and lectures.
In April 1949, 24 Shōwa, “Downtown, Shita’machi” appeared in an
extra issue of the literary magazine, Shōsetu’Shinchō.
In 1950, 25 Shōwa, she made a coverage trip for her serial novel
“Floating Clouds, Uki’gumo” to Yakushima Island.
In June 1951, 26 Shōwa, “Floating Clouds” was compiled into a book
and published.
On June 28, 1951, 26 Shōwa, Hayashi Fumiko attended meetings in 2
restaurants one after the other, then she died suddenly of a heart
attack at home around 23:00 at the age of 48. Ishikawa Tatsuzō, a
journalist and novelist, said, “She was killed by journalism.”
* * * * *

..。 * <Writing Style of Hayashi Fumiko>

<The third-person pronouns>

Originally, the third-person pronouns such as he, she, they, are not
available in Japanese language concept. Very often, without any
subjects either the third-person pronouns or proper nouns, what/who
the subject is easily understood due to the wording, or the context
before and after sentences in a Japanese text. Hayashi Fujiko, who
wrote actively during the mid- Shōwa period, also did not use the
third-person pronouns but used proper nouns such as Kin, Tabe, Riyo,
Tsuruishi, Yukiko, Tomioka and the like. Otherwise she used ordinary
nous like ‘the man, the master, women,’ and so on. However, it seems
cumbersome to the non-Japanese readers that proper nouns should
frequently appear. Besides, the author from time to time disregarded
even the subject itself in her sentence. Her Japanese readers, however,
understand well what/who the subject of the concerned sentence was.
Japanese have no sense of incongruity to it. In the English version,
however, the subject of the third-person pronoun or proper noun was
added to such a sentence.

<Undescribed description>
Other characteristics in Japanese novels need to be referred to, as
follows: The author wrote in Chapter 12. »Tomioka moved her face
away from his chest and watched her plump lips. He found her lips far
different from Niw’s kiss of last night, and felt grateful for a value of
woman closely akin who understood every fragment of words that he
uttered. No need to be attentive, Tomioka felt easy, and
absentmindedly gazed at Yukiko’s face showing a flash of excitement.»
She wrote that »he felt grateful for a value of woman closely akin
who understood every fragment of words that he uttered» , which
exactly shows a traditional reality in the Japanese way of
communication. People understand the other people closely akin who
understand every fragment of words through the nuance their words
contain. It means that the translation of Japanese novels is not easy.
The translator have to read the unwritten nuance from between
sentences. In Hayashi Fumiko’s novels, this type of unwritten nuance is
scattered in many places, which is not exceptional but a typical writing
style of authors during the early 1900s in Japan. Even today, unspoken
nuances need to be heard very often in our daily conversation, which
does not mean that Japanese keep things secret but are accustomed
for a long time to read thoughts of each other without uttering in
words. This customary attitude amplifies on the considerations for
other people, “omoi’yari.” Today, we have learnt to pronounce clearly
in voice what we think about in our innermost mind, owing to the
Western especially American way of communications. Despite
whether it suits for Japanese traditional aesthetics or not, therefore,
the translators’ works became much easier.

<Hayashi Fumiko’s method of describing local names>

The author, Hayashi Fumiko, tried to describe local place names in the
local language as precisely as possible in katakana, which is one of
three writing styles in Japanese language such as kanji, hiragana, and
katakana. In her nonfiction, “Unit Kitagawa,” 1938, she, as a female war
correspondent at the fronts in Nanjing and Wuhan in 1937 – 38, wrote
in her text Chinese town names in katakana, either in local
pronunciation or in Japanese pronunciation. She collected the names
of things by showing it to her housemaid, amah, and let her
pronounce in local language. This is the basic method in sociological
and folkloristic field works to collect data indigenous to concerned
regions from local people. In Vietnam, she must have collected data in
the same way as above mentioned, although it is not easy now to find
the specific places from her descriptions in katakana. One confusion
lies upon Vietnamese social situations at that time, while Vietnam was
a French colony, and French pronunciation fairly intervened in local
languages. The author wrote Hue in katakana as ユエ, which cannot be
found in maps of Vietnam in Japanese, because the place is referred to
as フエ in katakana at present. In actuality, in French, ‘h’ is a ‘muet’ and
is not pronounced, therefore, ‘Hué’ is pronounced like ‘yue,’ which is
the reason that the author wrote Hue as ユエ in katakana. In Da Lat,
the author referred to the mountain Nui Ba, as ランヴィアンin katakana,
but notランビアン, Lang Biang, as shown on the present map. Her
description, ランヴィアン, came from Lam Vien, which was often used at
that time. There are other examples like that in her novel, “Floating
clouds,” 1951. Once that the author’s tendency in description is known,
however, the problem solving became easier.

During the translation of Hayashi Fumiko’s novels, Mei Yumi went to

Vietnam along with Yakushima Island and Sakurajima, as well as the
author’s resident in Shinjuku Ward in Tokyo, besides, to Nanjing, in
order to reflect the author’s feelings, the trend of times, and
atmosphere peculiar to the areas as accurately as possible upon her
translation. Yumi did field work in Vietnam to locate some streets and
towns which are not found on the present map. The author described
the local place names precisely in katakana by hearing the French
sounds prevalently used in Vietnam at that time. The translator tried
to find the present place names through the author’s descriptions in
katakana, and most of them were located. The names, however, must
have changed during 70 years, besides, there were Vietnam War and
possibly many other domestic conflicts during that time. Otherwise,
names of towns and streets must have disappeared by land
reassignment, in the same way as in Japan. So, Vietnamese themselves
sometimes could not even imagine where those towns and streets in
question are. To those unknown names of towns and places written in
katakana in the novel, a combination of alphabets of similar sounds
was applied like Ontre (Chapter 43, p. 291), Duran (Chapter 44, p.
292), Trucham and Manrin (p. 293).
* * * * *

..。 * <The early postwar novels of Hayashi Fumiko>

Three novels of Hayashi Fumiko translated here are related to the early
postwar period in Japan.

Late Chrysanthemum – Ban’giku

“Late Chrysanthemum” is an ex-geisha’s one night story after the war.
The main character Kin had a strongwill to survive.
In November 1948, 23 Shōwa, “Late Chrysanthemum” appeared in an
extra issue of a literary magazine, the Bungei’Shunjū. This is the most
important work of Hayashi Fumiko, which is praised for its highly
qualified perfection and elaborate description.
Kin is the name of the novel’s main character, Aizawa Kin. In the
novel, Kin worked as a professional geisha, and was named Kinya.
There are lots of kanji characters suitable for the pronunciation of
“kin.” In the novel, the kanji 欣 is used for the female name of Kin,
which signifies “feel the joy, excited, nice and happy.” The name Kin
might not be irrelevant to Egi Kinkin欣々, who was one of Taishō three
beauties[*188]. Egi Kinkin was born on January 30 in 1877, 10 Meiji,
otherwise said, born in 1879, 12 Meiji, and died on February 20 in 1930,
5 Shōwa. Her real name was Eiko, who was the wife of a scholar of law,
Egi Makoto. Kinkin or Kinkin Ei was her art name. Her younger
brother of a different father, Hayakawa Tokuji, was the founder of the
Sharp Corporation.
Fumiko’s lawful husband, Ryokubin, said that the model of Kin was
Tsuge Soyo, who offered the theme to Fumiko. Tsuge Soyo was the
geisha and was a lover of Tokuda Shūsei[*201]. When Shūsei first met
her, Soyo ran an introductory teahouse named “Shin’Nuno’bukuro” in a
courtesan and geisha district in Nakasu, which is located between the
sandbank of the Naka River and the Hakata River in Fukuoka city,
Fukuoka prefecture in Kyūshū. Shūsei wrote many novels about Soyo,
such as “House of the water’s edge,” “Treasury Anectdote,” among
others. Fumiko was a friend of the couple.
Hirabayashi Taiko[*59] said that the model of Tabe was a newspaper
journalist Takamatsu Tōichirō[*190]. Kirino Natsuo[*95] wrote her
fictional novel, “Nanika’aru,” in reference to the relevant history of this
period in Fumiko’s life, where Kirino wrote that Fumiko gave a birth to
a boy for the journalist, although both Fumiko and the journalist had
their own married partners, respectively.
* * * * *

Downtown – Shita’machi
“Downtown” is a two week story of a female peddler and an ex-soldier
after the war. Their relationship finished all of sudden.
“Downtown” appeared in April 1949, 24 Shōwa in an extra issue of a
literary magazine, Shōsetsu’Shinchō. The literary magazine has been
published monthly since September 1947 from The Shinchōsha
Publishing Co, Ltd. which was founded in 1896.
* * * * *

Floating Clouds – Uki’gumo

“Floating Clouds” is mainly a five year story. The storyline, however,
covers approximately ten years from 1939 in Japan through to 1943 in
French Indochina, and then, back to Japan after the war, 1945 to 1949.
“Floating clouds” is compiled in a book and published in April 1951,
26 Shōwa, which is considered to be the last novel of Hayashi Fumiko.
She died suddenly of heart attack at home at about 11:00 pm, June 28
in 1951, 26 Shōwa, at the age of 48.
In critical social situations in Japan, during the years after Japan’s
surrender through to her sudden death, Fumiko exerted her abundant
talents in writing. Along with “Floating Clouds,” “Kawahaze[*93],”
“Downtown,” and “Bone” are among her fruition.
“Floating clouds” can be seen as Hayashi Fumiko’s compilation.
Japan, which changed into towns of ruins and debris finally after the
firebombing and bombardments, made her bring up something
insoluble which was built up inward in her body. The real journalist
Takamatsu is said to work as a catalyst to act upon the fictional
Tomioka in this novel.

<Some contradictions in “Floating Clouds”>

1) Kano in Chapter 23 lived in Odawara with his mother, according to
Tomioka. In Chapter 34, however, he lived in Minosawa in
Yokohama, with his mother and his younger brother.
2) The “Ginza Sanshirō” is a movie produced by a Japanese film
director Ichikawa Kon, born on November 20, 1915, 4 Taishō and
died on February 13, 2008, 20 Heisē. The movie was released on
April 9, 1950, 25 Shōwa. The author Hayashi Fumiko died at the age
of 48 on June 28, 1951, 26 Shōwa. The novel “Floating Clouds” was
published serially on the novel magazine “Fūsetsu (Wind and
Snow)” in November 1949, Shōwa 24 through to August 1950, 25
Shōwa, then, continuously on another novel magazine,
“Bungaku’kai (Literary World)” from September 1950, Shōwa 25 to
April, 1951, 26 Shōwa, and the novel concluded at that time.
The most popular female author must have watched the newly
released movie, “Ginza Sanshirō,” on the premiere show in 1950.
However, it is diachronically impossible that Tomioka watched it on a
movie theater on the outskirts of the town as described in Chapter 47,
because the possible time setting of the chapter was 1947.

<Character’s ages>
The characters’ age is one of the important factors to understand their
background chronically in conformity with the actual historical facts.
In older periods in Japan, people’s age was reckoned customarily one
year older, which is the East Asian way of reckoning age, where the age
of the new-born child was reckoned as one year old immediately at the
time of a birth. On the first birthday next year, therefore, the same
child is two years old. Considering this, in 1943, 18 Shōwa, when Yukiko
was assigned and arrived to Da Lat, she said to her co-workers that she
was 22 years old, which means that she was actually 21 years old if
reckoned today.
A main character, Yukiko’s age would be predicted as mentioned
above, whilst another main character, Tomioka’s age was not referred
to in the novel, however, his age might be able to be guessed by the
storyline, and was presumably more than 7 years older than Yukiko, so
he must have been in his middle thirties at the end of the novel.
For details, in the Meiji and Taishō and early Shōwa periods, a girl
entered a local elementary school at the age of 6, after 6 years of
education, they entered a local girls’ high school for 5 years of study.
Girls who wanted to continue their studies had a choice to go to a
Girls school for applied studies.
A main character, Yukiko, after her graduation from a Girl’s School
in Shizuoka Prefecture at the age of 17 by old reckoning way of age,
came to Tokyo to attend a typist school of Japanese letters for 3 years.
[Chapter 3] Thereafter, she got a job as a typist in the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry at the age of 20. Yukiko said to her coworkers
that she was 22 years old when she was first assigned in 1943 to the
Forestry Bureau in Da Lat in French Indochina. [Chapter 7] She was 21
years old by today’s way of reckoning age (Her age is hereinafter
reckoned in the new way). Japan was defeated in the Great East Asia
War, which ended in 1945. Another main character, Tomioka, possibly
repatriated to Japan in 1945, and Yukiko in 1946 at the age of 24. The
two people spent the New Year days in Ikaho in 1947, when Yukiko was
25 years old. [Chapters 23 - 31] They lived in Tokyo in the winter of
1948, when Yukiko was 26 years old. [Chapter 32 -] At the end of 1948,
Tomioka and Yukiko went to Yakushima Island [Chapter 56 -], and
stayed there through to the year of 1949. Yukiko died at the age of 27 in
the Island. [Chapter 67]

<Some change in people’s feelings after the war>

In the late 1900s, the world did not have the concept of PTSD, Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder. Someone may say that the Japanese might
have suffered less from PTSD in comparison to Americans or
Europeans after the WWII. In actuality, a great part of Japanese began
actively to reconstruct the country from ruins and debris. The
characters in Hayashi Fumiko’s novels, however, would be able to be
analyzed from the perspective of PTSD in reference to their feelings,
their emotions entangled, their behaviors, a kind of “survivor’s guilt”
which sometimes causes apathetic attitudes towards work and daily
routines and lives, as well as their desire for death. The author seemed
to have sensed the discomfort in an unexplicable change in people’s
feelings after the war. She wrote in Ch. 41, in the form of Yukiko’s
thought. »Tomioka would not be able to break away from Osei’s
illusion. He might not have been the only person that had completely
broken down after returning to Japan. Kano also was such a person
who had utterly broken down. »
* * * * *
..。 * <Hayashi Fumiko’s career as a war
correspondent>

She went to Nanjing twice. Hayashi Fumiko went to China by her own
expense in 1936, 11 Shōwa. Then, she went to Nanjing twice in 1937 and
1938 as a war correspondent. Besides, from October 1942, 17 Shōwa to
May 1943, she stayed for approximately 8 months in Singapore, Java,
and Borneo, and came back to Japan in May 1943. Her first and second
business trips are shown below:

July 7, 1937, 12 Shōwa, the Lugouqiao (Lugou Bridge) Incident,

otherwise called the July 7th Incident, happened. On that day, the
Japanese troops were training there, the Lugouqiao (Lugou Bridge). At
the time when the army of the Republic of China was shot from
somewhere, they thought, as a matter of course, that the Japanese
troops fired toward them. However, the Japanese troops did not have
live ammunition at that time, but used fake ammunition only. When
the friendship treaty was about to be signed, other incidents
happened to cause hatred on the both side. Those were cowardly
tricks made by the third party, the communist army led by Mao
Zedong, who toasted with liquor hearing the news of the Lugougiao
Incident between Japan and the Republic of China.

Following the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the

Japanese Army marched rapidly into the heart of the Chinese territory,
although the width of China, almost the same in size as the US, is
approximately 25 times of that of Japan.
On July 7, 1937, the Battle of Wuhan was waged.
On November 12, 1937, the Japanese Army captured Shanghai.
On December 13, 1937, 12 Shōwa, the Imperial Japanese Army
captured Nanjing
Hayashi Fumiko, age 34, as a war correspondent for Mainichi Shimbun,
entered Nanjing[*128] immediately after the Battle of Nanjing ended
with the fall of the capital city to the Imperial Japanese Army on
December 13, 1937, 12 Shōwa. Very soon, the citizens of Nanjing came
back to the city of Nanjing and lived in the same way as before the fall
of Nanjing. For them, Nanjing was much more peaceful than before.
On the streets, the Chinese citizens sold furniture and antiquities
which they robbed from wealthy houses.
Hayashi Fumiko was praised as the ‘first’ and ‘female’ war
correspondent who had arrived in the Nanjing Front. Chiang Kai-shek
relocated his Republic of China Government to Wuhan after the
Nanjing Fall.

[For further reference, the truth of Nanjing is described in the report of American sociologist,
Dr. Lewis S.C. Smythe, who started his researches immediately after the Nanjing fall on 13
December 1937. In his report, the Table 4 shows clearly that ‘Total killed and injured’ is 6,750
from Dec. 12, 1937 to March 15, 1938. http://www.history.gr.jp/~nanking/LSCSmythe.pdf
“War Damage in the Nanking Area” December 1937 to March 1938, Urban and Rural Surveys
by Dr. Lewis S.C. Smythe (Professor of Sociology, University of Nanking) and Assistants. On
behalf of the Nanking International Relief Committee Completed June, 1938. --- Contents
proper 27 pages, Appendix 11 pages, Table 32 pages, Map 2 pages, plus covers, the sum total of
which is 72 pages and covers.]

On August 27, 1938, 13 Shōwa, the cabinet information bureau chose

Hayashi Fumiko, 35 years old, as a member of the “pen troop,” a group
of war correspondents to be sent to battle fields in China.
1938, 13 Shōwa, Hayashi Fumiko’s second arrival in Nanjing as a war
correspondent for Asahi Shimbun. She travelled by the concerned
newspaper company’s truck as far as the battle front in Hankou
(Hànkǒ u, Kankō in Japanese) through Wuhan (Bukan in Japanese).
The Battle of Wuhan was a large-scale battle of the Second Sino-
Japanese War, where Chiang Kai-shek was in command of the Wuhan
provisional government, and the Imperial Japanese Army was led by
Yasuji Okamura. She kept up with the rapid march of the Japanese
Army under the care of the Unit Kitagishi, and again became the first
journalist who entered the battle field of Hankou.
 She, as a war correspondent, wrote articles in the form of letters on
the way to the front line in China to the Asahi Shimbun editing staff in
Tokyo, which was enthusiastically read by Japanese citizens. Her
articles were compiled into a book as her nonfiction, “Battle Front -
Sensen,”and was published on December 20, 1938.
October 30, 1938, 13 Shōwa, she flew back from the battle front of
Kankō, Hànkǒ u, to Nanjing. From Nanjing airport, she was boarding
in a regular service passenger aircraft at 16:20 departure for Shanghai.
The next day, on 31 October 31, 1938, 13 Shōwa, she came back by one
of four Asahi Shimbun newspaper company’s private aircrafts to Japan
and landed on the Ōsaka Kizugawa airport.
After returning to Japan, she held many lectures and talked about
the battle fronts and Japanese soldiers. On those occasions, she did
not forget to appeal to the Japanese citizens to send carrots for the
military horses which fought alongside the soldiers in the far-off battle
fields.
Afterwards, at age 36, she published another nonfiction, “Unit
Kitagishi - Kitagishi Butai” in January 1939, 14 Shōwa. Kitagishi is the
family name, and literally signifies ‘North Coast.’ In the Japanese Army,
troops, which had formal names, were called, for the easy
identification, by the company commander’s name like Unit Kitagishi.
In “Unit Kitagishi,” which starts with her poem, she described the
life of ordinary Chinese in Nanjing captured by Japanese Army.
Excerpts from “Unit Kitagishi” are as follows.
* * * * *

Appendix
..。 * Unit Kitagishi

January 1, 1939, 14 Shōwa, Nonfiction

Hayashi Fumiko

Sept. 19, 1938　Drizzle.

A couple of Hayashi Fumiko’s poems:

Over mountains on a cloudless autumn day

In the trees blazing youth in seven colors of the rainbow
Gods yawn.

Leaves silently cover the solid earth

I close my eyes with nothing to think of
Scoop sorrow to my forehead
No haste to reach the infinite distance ahead
To the distance autumn melancholy passes away.
* * * * *

Mowing yellow
Red flowers in the field
Fatigue and maturity, and
Something there …
Now, I’m alive.
On September 17, 1938, 13 Shōwa, I left Ryūka airport in Shanghai by
the Navy aircraft. One hour later, I arrived at Nanjing. It was only an
hour flight, but the landscape below the aircraft was boring and
nauseous. The turbid lake regions occupied most of the land. The
world below was dark and dank as if it was a rotten portion of a fruit.
Late last year, in December 1937, I came here to the front of Nanjing,
as a war correspondent attached to the army. Nevertheless, I did not
notice the lake region like this at all. I wrote memorandums at that
time in my pocketbook. – ‘Dec. 30, morning, around at 10, I left to
Shanghai by a military truck. In the late afternoon, I arrived at
Kyan’in[*101] fort, and billeted in a camp. I asked my neighbor, a
meteorologist, which area Kyan’in was. He told me that we had already
passed over Kyan’in, and that we would arrive at Nanjing Airport in 45
minutes. The white clouds were truly beautiful. Our aircraft was
unwavering and flying smoothly as if sliding over the white clouds.
Ah, I have been in Nanjing for three days already. In Shanghai, I
could have been to see old temples in Hangzhou or Suzhou. For three
more days in Nanjing, I wonder what I shall do.’
On the 17th, in the morning, I arrived at Nanjing, and went to
Shā’kwan to see off an officer of the Navy, whose car was given to me.
It was the late autumn morning, and I felt chilly.
In the city of Nanjing, cycle rickshaws, huáng’bāo’chē, were already
moving again. The vegetable markets were also opened.
* * * * *

In a garden on the left of the iron gate, such flowers as red salvia,
white purple ezogiku (Callistephus chinensis), and cockscomb (Celosia
argentea) were in full bloom. From the gate there continued a tree-
lined approach of crape myrtle, and in a rose shrub, one single red
rose bloomed on a branch as high as me.
An entrance, a saloon, a bedroom, and two other rooms including a
room of a maid, amah[*3], consisted the house. On the first night, I was
wrapped up in a blanket to sleep on a no-mattress bed in the room
near the kitchen. As soon as I lay on the bed, I was attacked by
embarrassingly many bedbugs, so-called Nanjing-mushi (Cimex
lectularius), and suffered wakeful, turning and moving in the bed, all
night.
The next day, and days after as well, I slept becoming curved on a
narrow sofa in the entrance hall, which was rather warm, and I could
sleep well in peace, although the space was limited.
I soon began cooking my own food in this house.
When I showed a flat plate, the amah said, “Pánzı̌.” When I took a
pan, she said, “Guō.” Then, I took chopsticks and she said, “Zhù.”
 It was the first day of my arrival, but I went alone to the vegetable
market. I wanted to cook in an oiled pan a dish of sautéed wild duck
and vegetables. In the market, lots of appetizing fried wild ducks were
hung in booths. I was told that the wild duck was called yĕyā in
Chinese. I pointed at one thigh of a fried wild duck, and bought it
saying, “liǎ ng shí (twenty) qián.” I took out a twenty sen[*164] note of
Japanese Military payment certificate, and the duck booth owner got
the note with a smile, saying, ‘Hao, hao (good, good)’
I also bought a nappa cabbage, báicài (Brassica rapa var. pekinensis),
which was more expensive than the fried wild duck thigh.
On this back street, soldiers rarely walked. Roundabout narrow
allays in a demolished square were crowded everywhere with the
Xina’jin[*214] (zhīnàrén, the Chinese). Children were curiously looking
at me while my buying the fried wild duck. Some of them said to one
another in a low voice, “Rìbĕnrén, rìbĕnrén (the Japanese, the
Japanese)” I also bought eggs.
It was the days of a full moon in September, and the mid-Autumn
harvest festival, the Zhongqiujie, was coming very soon. So, sweets
shops and grocery stores selling pipe tobaccos began to sell
mooncakes, round or rectangular pastries, called ’geppei’ in Japanese
or ‘yuèbĭng’ in Chinese. Mooncakes containing an apricot costed ten
sen each.
Chinese refugees, who evacuated Nanjing last December, gradually
came back from the countryside to the center of the city, and again
began their business.
On the narrow roadways paved with broken stones, cargo cars full of
luggage were running around, calling the recipients’ names in a loud
voice from house to house, and delivered luggage of seemingly
household goods and furniture. Drivers and delivery persons were the
Chinese. In the house where their luggage arrived, the head of the
family called his daughters, his wife, and apprentice boys, and received
many packages of their luggage in a joyful fuss. There were large
packages of beddings, traditional Chinese baggage – wicker suitcases,
and others. I, carrying my packages in both hands, was an onlooker
there, and stood with my mouth wide open looking at all their fuss.
My large lotus leaf tore somewhere, which wrapped my fried thigh of
wild duck, and my hands became sticky and smelled of leaked oil. I
wore one piece blue cotton clothes, and sports shoes on my foot.
I enjoyed in this way, for three days in Nanjing, and began feeling
joyful, however, at the same time, felt anxiety about my sitting here in
a relaxed mood.
* * * * *

<On the ship were also 300 horses>

September 20. Light rain.
In the morning, under the blanket, stinking dust, I remembered again
the stanza of a poem, “I am living.” I felt being in a nondescript fiction,
which was lurking, and extending vaguely in space like a rainbow. It
was a momentary dream which disappeared and that I could not even
touch or see. Various images of my past fell onto my recollection all at
once like small grains of thorny wheat.
“A marching bugle is brave,” a soldier under his blanket was singing
to wake himself up. In the dark, I jumped up and combed my hair, and
went to the toilet on the deck to wash my face. When I came back
after my washing face, everyone around me got up, smoking or having
a chat. Soon everyone stood up and began putting their blankets away
in order.
300 horses were on board in this ship. All the soldiers around me
were to carry these horses from Japan.
A young corporal, who came from Narashino in Chiba prefecture
where cavalry soldiers were first trained, asked me to see horses after
breakfast.
* * * * *

Our ship had already heaved up the anchor, and was sailing.
After the breakfast, I went to the deck. It was drizzling. The yellow turbid
water took bites at the ship as if after a flood. Before the toilet barracks on
the deck, it seemed to me that heads of soldiers only stood in line, which
reminded me of a certain scene of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” written
by Erich Maria Remarque in 1929. I went to the upper deck, from there, I
could look down at the horses crowded alow. The stable was partitioned by
fences like box seats in a theater to the number of horses. Inside the
partitions, many soldiers in shirts were working in feeding the horses. Two
or three soldiers hung a long and thin rope down into the cellar, then a
bucket full of horse manure was reeled up to the soldiers on the deck. Horse
urine also was reeled up in the same way in a bucket. I quickly went down a
steep ladder toward the horses which were hitched to the fences, and looked
for the young corporal. The ship’s hold, like a barn for storing hay, trimmed
straws were stacked in piles. The hold was stifling with smells of straws,
horses, urine and droppings. Two round funnels of canvas were suspended
to provide ventilation from a large square skylight of the deck, where the
cranes were rising high.
These nearly 300 horses were transported from Hokkaidō. Since the ship
left Hiroshima port, the horses had made a life on the water for more than
10 days already. A black horse named Hokushin’gō hang a large wooden
amulet on the neck, at the back surface of which the name of the owner was
written as Shigemitsu Tomoichi, Hokkaidō. A red hair Tenryū’gō was
emotionally attached well to humans, and, when a soldier took trimmed
straws close to its mouth, the horse skillfully licked straws and scooped up
to eat from palms of the soldier. I also tried to take straws to the mouth of
Tenryū’gō. It opened its mouth grinding straws, and scooped up straws with
his tongue from my hand. It was so cute, and I nearly shed tears. Every
horse had an amulet and a thousand stitch good-luck sash.
I wanted to write a horse care diary.
- Morning feeding. Seven twenty in the morning.
This is the time for cleaning inside the ship, otherwise said, ridding of
horse manure. The breakfast for horses are: water, salt, trimmed straws,
rice bran, carrots, barleys, oats, and hay. The young corporal, in the
gloomy face, said, “A few days ago, carrots were out of stock.”
- Cleaning inside the stables. Nine to ten in the morning.
During this time, horses, tied to the fence, are taken outside the stable, one
by one, for exercise.
 - Lunchtime feeding. Twelve o’clock noon.
Foods are almost the same as their breakfast. In two or three hours, after
the lunchtime feeding, the next cleaning inside the stables begins soon.
- Cleaning inside the stables. Three to four in the afternoon.
During this time as well, horses are taken out to a walk, one by one, for
their exercise. Supper feedings begin at 5 o’clock. Foods for horses are the
same as the breakfast. After the supper, at eight o’clock, the roll call begins.
Soldiers examined horses in charge, whether there are any sick horses, or if
any horses fell down. After the roll call, horses are given the water and hay,
where the day’s schedule for horses is complete.
Horses, however, are not cheerful because of a long voyage in the ship.
Horses’ rough breathings as if splashing saliva, or like sigh, somehow
annoyed me. I earnestly hoped to get horses to step the land as soon as
possible, even a day earlier.
Around at three in the afternoon, the ship arrived at Wuhu.
* * * * *

The ship left Wuhu, and, went upstream as if gnawing the engine.
The right coast was like a flooded area[*38], where a village was
overflown with water. From time to time, in the wartime river,
indigenous people came rowing small boats with many ducks around.
With a pole, a man skillfully rowed his boat and led his own flock of
ducks without fail to keep the entire number. I wondered where he
was going with his ducks. Soldiers were longingly waving their hands
to the boat and ducks. When the boat with the ducks came close to
our ship, I, with my telescope, looked at the indigenous man’s face,
which was sunburnt dark. He, with scary facial expression as if
scolding angrily, always collected ducks near his boat. At the very
moment of passing one another, immediately, the rapid flow carried
away the boat with the ducks like a tiny leaf downstream.
At night, the blackout was thorough as a precaution against raid, so,
the deck was dark as usual.
* * * * *
Near my pillow, a young soldier went to inform the non-commissioned
officer in a low voice that a horse fell down. The non-commissioned officer,
who was sleeping, sat up abruptly, and, in his undershirt, went up quickly to
the deck with the soldier in charge.
* * * * *

The ship, probably anchored, was completely quiet.

After midnight, I went to the toilet on the deck. The river was pitch
dark, and drizzled. The wind was cold, and my nose perceived many
different foul smells flowing in the wind on the ship. I lighted my feet
with my flashlight, and crawled along the narrow corridor into the
cabin. In the hold afar, a horse neighed. On the way back from the
toilet, I went to the prow, and looked down at horses in the hold.
Under the dark light, horses tied to the fence were stamping, and
looked like they were suffering and weary. A duty soldier lay on the
stomach on the heap of trimmed straws, and concentrated on writing
something in his notebook.
* * * * *

September 21. Light rain.

The ship was at anchor all night at Anqing. The engine sound also
stopped. When everywhere became calm, the soldiers began writing busily
letters and diaries. On this day, a soldier said to me that a horse died, and
leant against the ladder empty-mindedly.
The horses also had their curricula vitae. I saw curricula vitae of many
horses. This time, a great part of the horses seemed to have come from
Hokkaidō. Horses which came from Takikawa’chō town had ‘Taki’ in their
names such as Taki’fuji and Taki’hikari. In the curricula vitae, the breeder’s
names, the horse’s characteristics, the health certificates, and the purchase
prices paid by the military, and others were described in detail.
* * * * *

-End-
Translator’s notes

Words are shown in alphabetical order and numbered from [*1] to

[*229], which appear at the end of each concerned word in the novels.

. . 。* A
[*1] Akabane Akabane is a town located to the north end of Kita’ku
Ward in Metropolitan Tokyo. In the north of Aakabane, the opposite
side over Arakawa River is Kawaguchi city, Saitama Prefecture.
[*2] Akasaka Akasaka is a town in Tokyo, and literally means “Red
Slope” with many slopes in actuality. It is located in the west of the
government center in Nagatachō, and in the north of Roppongi, where
many foreign embassies exist. Akasaka is a residential, business, and
nightlife district where many geisha entertainers work in the evening.
[*3] Amah Amah (amah, āmā) – Mother or maternal grandmother,
therefrom derived, nanny or maid, whom the white westerners have
employed once in China.
[*4] Appa’pā The appa’pā is a loose-fitting plain one-piece summer
shift homewear, like a Hawaian muumuu, which became popular from
the 1920s to 1930s. In 1929, 4 Shōwa, Tokyo was under intense heat for
the first time in 40 years. Women still wore kimono but changed to the
appa’pā because of the intense summer heat, which was said to be an
epoch-making for Japanese women to began wearing western style
clothes in daily life. The name appa’pā is said to come from a slang of
Japan’s southern-central region called the Kinki or Kansai district
including Ōsaka and Kyōto. Otherwise said that the pronunciation
was altered from ‘Hubbard’ as ‘Mother Hubbard’s dress’ in Britain.
[*5] Arare Arare is small rice crackers. An ‘arare iron kettle’ has its
surface decorated in a plaid pattern of small rice crackers.
[*6] Asagao Nikki ‘Asagao Nikki’ literally signifies the ‘Diary of
Morning Glory,’ originally called as ‘Shōutsushi Asagao’banashi’ in
Japanese. The first script was made for the sake of Japanese puppet
theater, Jōruri, during 1803 throught to 1818. Then a ten-chapter book
with illustrations was published in 1811. The first Kabuki performance
of this drama was made in 1832, 3 Tempo in Japan’s luner calender.
[*7] Asakusa Asakusa is a district in the Taitō Ward in Tokyo, and
well known with the Sensō’ji Buddhist temple, which is located near
the Sumida’gawa river. The Sensō’ji is the first temple in a pilgrimage
round of Edo 33 Kwannon, the Mercy Goddess of sacred places, and
the thirteenth temple in another pilgrimage round of Bandō 33
Kwannon. The map symbol for Buddhist temples, the tera, is the manji
卍 which is clearly reverse to the swastika. The torī ⛩ is the map
symbol for Shintō shrines, the jinja.
[*8] Atami Atami literally means ‘Hot Ocean’, which is a resort city
of hot springs, onsen, with an ocean view of Sagami’wan bay. Atami is
located at the northern end of the Izu Peninsula, and is set on the
steep slopes of the Hakone volcanic caldera.
. . 。* B
[*9] Babishō The babishō (Pinus massoniana ）signifies horsetail
pine, otherwise called Masson’s pine or Chinese red pine. The name,
horsetail, comes from its needle-like leaves of 15 to 20 cm long,
resembling a horse tail. The babishō is native to central and southern
China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and northern Vietnam, and is the same
family as the akamatsu, (Pius densiflora), otherwise called Japanese
red pine, with two leaves per fascicle, thus the babishō is called also as
Taiwan akamatsu.
[*10] Bangasa The bangasa is a coarse oil-paper umbrella. Japanese
used the bangasa in the rain in the Edo period, and in the older days.
The surface of a paper umbrella was greased with kaki’shibu tannin
which is contained in fruit called kaki. Paper umbrellas thereafter were
dried in the drying yard of an umbrella shop which was usually a
small-scale direct marketing shop. Manufacturing the bangasa at
home became the common means of living for the samurai warriors in
the late Edo period. A perfect peace flourished in Japan for 265 years in
the Edo period under the Tokugawa Shogunate from 1603 to 1868,
which resulted in a professional job shortage for the samurai warriors.
Kaki is native to the eastern Asia, and is yellowish red and a typical
Japanese autumn fruit, known as kaki persimmon or Diospyros kaki
overseas. Kaki persimmon (Diospyros kaki) contains 1% to 2% of
tannin, kaki’shibu. Kaki’shibu, kaki-tannin, has been used for coating
materials, medicines, soap goods, and others since the 800s. in Japan.
Kaki’shibu, as paint materials, is a chemical-free, thus, no sick house
syndrome occur. Moreover, the kaki’shibu is effective against
norovirus, which has been confirmed by researches in Hiroshima
University in 2007.
[*11] Barrack The “barrack” is a word used sometimes in Japan, but
the concept is a little different from the barrack(s) ordinarily used in
English, where barracks mean buildings for lodging soldiers, and were
originally temporary shelters. In Japan, the word ‘barrack’ always refers
to a temporary housing, furthermore, a disappointedly shabby looking
wooden hut.
[*12] Bashō The bashō (Musa bashoo) or Japanese banana looks very
much like a banana. The bashō is 2 to 3 meters high with large leaves
of 1 to 1.5 meters long and 0.5 meters wide. The well-known haiku
poet, Matsuo Bashō, took his poet name Bashō from this plant. He was
born in 1644, 21 Kan’ē in Iga city in Mie prefecture, and died on
November 28, 1694, or October 12, 7 Genroku in Japan’s lunar calender.
Iga is also known as the home of the ninja Hattori Hanzō and Iga-
ninja’s native land. Therefore, Matsuo Bashō was suspected as a ninja-
spy for the Shōgun Tokugawa, because Bashō traveled throughout
Japan on a pretext for making haiku poems.
[*13] Battle of Nanjing The Battle of Nanjing was fought during the
Second Sino-Japanese War. The battle started at one o’clock in the
afternoon on December 7, 1937. And at one o’clock in the afternoon on
December 10, General Matsui Iwane ordered all units to launch a full-
scale attack on Nanjing. On December 13, the Japanese troops rode
into Nanjing, the capital of Republic of China. Japanese military
operations were performed properly in conformity to the International
law. The truth of Battle of Nanjing is described in the report of
American sociologist, Dr. Lewis S. C. Smythe, who started his research
immediately after the Fall of Nanjing on December 13, 1937. Table 4
shows clearly that ‘Total killed and injured’ is 6,750 from Dec. 12, 1937
to March 15, 1938. http://www.history.gr.jp/~nanking/LSCSmythe.pdf
“War Damage in the Nanking Area” December 1937 to March 1938,
Urban and Rural Surveys by Dr. Lewis S. C. Smythe (Professor of
Sociology, University of Nanking) and Assistants. On behald of the
Nanking International Relief Committee Completed June, 1938.
[Contents proper 27 pages, Appendix 11 pages, Table 32 pages, Map 2
pages, plus covers, the sum total of which is 72 pages and covers.]
[*14] Bel Ami Bel Ami is the second novel of Guy de Maupassant
(1850 – 1893), and published in 1885. The English translation first
appeared in 1903, entitled Bel Ami, or, The History f a Scoundrel. The
scene was Paris in the 19th century. The novel traces the social
climbing of Georges Du Roy de Cantel (or Georges Duroy), ambitious
and unscrupulous seducer, pushy and opportunistic, who reached the
top of the social pyramid in Paris owing to his mistresses and their
influences and collusion in finance, media and politics. The satire of
the society in the late 19th century, where money came from political
scandals.
[*15] Bombing of Tokyo Tokyo was attacked 106 times by air raids.
B-29 raids from the Mariana Islands began on November 14, 1944, 19
Shōwa, and lasted until August 15, 1945, 20 Shōwa, the day Japan
capitulated. The Operation Meetinghouse air raid on March 9 - 10,
1945 was later estimated to be the single most destructive bombing
raid in history. On one day only, on March 10, victims exceeded one
million people, where 100,000 people died. The March 10th fierce
firebombing of Tokyo is called simply the great bombing of Tokyo,
“Tokyo dai’kūshū” in Japan, with no use of vocaburary such as
‘massacre’ or ‘atrocity.’ Only the fact was accurately described.
. . 。* C
[*16] Camel The Camel brand of cigarettes was introduced in the US
in 1913.
[*17] Chevalier We have two Chevaliers. Considering some
suggestive commonality in their names such as Jean Baptiste
Chevalier, the two botanists can be regarded as relatives. Hayashi
Fumiko’s “Floating Clouds” was published in 1951, and the storyline
covers Indochina before 1945. Chevalier in the novel probably meant
Auguste Chevalier, who described conifers in Indochine, with a figure
as shown below.

The first Chevalier, Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet Chevalier

de Lamarck was born on August 1, 1744, and died on December 18,
1829, often known as Lamarck in Europe, and was a French naturalist.
He became interested in botany after his visit to the Jardin du Roi, and
studied French flora for ten years under a French naturalist, Bernard
de Jussieu. In 1778, he published a three-volume work, entitled Flore
françoise.
http://www.lamarck.cnrs.fr/ouvrages/docpdf/FloreFrancoise_discours
preliminaire.pdf
The second Chevalier, Auguste Jean Baptiste Chevalier was born on
June 23, 1873 in Domfront, and died in the evening of June 3 through
to 4, 1956 in Paris, and was a French botanist. He wrote about conifers
in Indochine. Ref: “Notes sur les Conifères de l’Indochine” In: Revue
de botanique appliquée et d’agriculture coloniale. 24e année, bulletin
n°269-271, Janvier-février-mars, 1944. pp. 7-34.
file:///C:/Users/%E8%A3%95%E7%BE%8E%E5%AD%90/Downloads/
article_jatba_0370-3681_1944_num_24_269_6105%20(1).pdf
[*18] Chiba Chiba Prefecture, in Kantō region, is located in the east
to Tokyo and is the bed town in the vicinity of the metropolitan Tokyo.
Chiba, with a long coastline, is the only prefecture in Japan with no
mountain higher than 500 meters above sea level. People living in
Chiba and Saitama Prefectures are mocked as “hicks,” therefore, in Ch.
8 in ‘Floating Clouds,’ Yukiko said, “Don’t be rude!”
[*19] Chirimen Chirimen is a thinly woven textile fabric, a crepe
with a finely wrinkled or ridged surface, made of an expensive silk
fabric, and Chirimen’sukiya is also a crepe made of lightweight and
transparent silk fabric.
[*20] –chō and -machi Both -chō and -machi as Inari’chō and
Tawara’machi signify a town and/or street. A names of town is the
proper noun, and a choice of either -chō or –machi usually relies upon
the time-honored custom.
[*21] Currency value The land price as told in the novel was 20,000
yen per 35.5 square feet in 1946, 21 Shōwa, whilst the real income for
man in 1948, 13 Shōwa was 10,129 yen, provided that real incomes of
former years were unknown. For your reference, the currency value of
100 yen in 1946 is approximately 400 to 500 yen after the new currency
changeover in February 1946.
[*22] Cycle rickshaw Cycle rickshaws appeared in February 1, 1947,
22 Shōwa, because of the postwar shortage of fuel. The fare was 10 yen
for 15 miles, and was raised in October to 20 yen with additional 10 yen
by 0.6 miles. In comparison, the fare of a streetcar and a bus in Tokyo
was 0.5 yen, so the cycle rickshaw was a high fare transport. Cycle
rickshaw business offices, as many as 70, spread out in local districts
in 1949, 24 Shōwa.
. . 。* D
[*23] Dharma hibachi The Dharma hibachi is round in the
stereotype shape of Dharma. When Japanese are asked about a person
who has no legs, we remember ‘Daruma’san,’ which signified a
Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma, who lived during the 5th to 6th
century. Dharma, in his portrait, covered his whole body with cloth,
thus, neither his hands nor legs are seen. Dharma was said to come
across the ocean from India to China on a reed leaf (Phragmites
australis). On the other hand, charcoal heating braziers, hibachi, are
various in shape, color, and material, one of which the dharma hibachi
is.
[*24] Daikan The magistrate, daikan, refers to a person or a position
responsible for the affairs of his duty station on behalf of the monarch
or lord. In Japan, the daikan became one of officers’ ranks in samurai
regime, which was created as a system in the days much earlier than
the Edo period, and functioned afterwards as well, in the Edo period of
Tokugawa Shognate.
[*25] Danjūrō Ichikawa Danjūrō is a heredity name of Kabuki actors
of the Ichikawa family. Their family crest, mon, is called mimasu,
where mi signifies three, and masu a square, therefore, the design
pattern of mimasu consists of three squares nested inside one another.
The 12th Danjūrō was born on August 6, 1946 and died on February 3,
2013. Therefore, at a grand naming ceremonies, shūmei, the 13th
Danjūrō is bestowed on his family, usually a son.
[*26] Datemaki The datemaki is a thick and flat underbelt with
strings attached on both ends, and is wrapped around the waist and
belly before wrapping the obi. Then the obi is wrapped covering the
datemaki so that the obi fits tightly around the waist and belly, which
looks as flat as a pancake for a better appearance of the kimono.
[*27] Demons “Demons” (Бесы, Bésy) is a Russian anti-nihilistic
novel written in 1872 by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, born in
November 11, 1821 and died February 9, 1881.
[*28] Den’en’chōfu Den’en’chōfu is a high-class residential area in
Ōta Ward in Metropolis Tokyo. It was built on the concept of “Graden
City Tomorrow” 1898 of the British city planner Ebenezer Howard,
born on January 29, 1850 and died on May 1, 1928. In the early 1900s,
industrialist and financier Ēichi Shibusawa, born on March 16, 1840
and died on November 11, 1931, bought and developed the area. The
1923 Great Kantō Earthquake flattened the Kantō region relentlessly
and Tokyo suffered most from it, which enabled him to promote his
grand design quickly and effectively.
[*29] Dōjō The word dōjō came from bodhi-manda in Buddhist
terminology, therefore, the dōjō was originally adjunct to a temple,
and so, is considered as a sacred place. The dōjō is a formal training
place for any kind of the dō art and Japanese martial arts, and a formal
gathering place for trainers and traineers.
[*30] -dono -dono is a suffix, which comes after a person’s name to
express respect to the name bearer.
[*31] Do Son Bay Do Son, Đồ Sơn, is now a Vietnamese resort on
the bank of the Gulf of Tonkin, which is located 22 km away from Hai
Phong city. Do Son Bay in the novel possibly signifies the Gulf of
Tonkin.
[*32] Dotera The dotera, otherwise called a tanzen, a winter padded
roomwear in a shape of kimono of arm length. It is lined with cotton
wool for protection against the cold. Sleeves are wide open and the
collar is made of thick, black silk fabric, kurohachijō. The dotera is
very often used in inns and hotels in Japan, and a set of dotera and
yukata is ready for guests’ wearing in their rooms.
. . 。* E
[*33] Edokko Edokko means Tokyoites. Tokyo was called Edo in the
Edo period from 1603 to 1867, where Tokugawa shogunate ruled Japan.
People living in Edo was called Edokko, the Edo-born, and the same
term is still used today referring to Tokyoites, people living in the
metropolitan Tokyo.
[*34] Engawa An engawa is a porch, to be exact, a long and narrow
corridor in a traditional style of Japanese architecture, and resembles a
flooring and a wooden deck. An engawa is built outside on the
windows of a Japanese style room in ordinary Japanese houses, so that
residents can enjoy the landscape of the garden, actually outdoors and
yet mentally indoors. An engawa is conceptually ‘indoors,’ so, Japanese
don’t use footwear in an engawa in the same way as in rooms in a
house.
. . 。* F
[*35] Fai-Fo Fai-Fo or Faifoo is called today as Hoi An, and is a city
on the coast of the East Sea of the South Central Coast region of
Vietnam. Hoi An has been registered as a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO in 1999.
[*36] Felling place In the felling place, the whole processing of
wood production from tree felling to transportation is done at work
places in the certain area of the forest. Felled trees from which stubs,
roots or the like are cut off and brought to the side of the forest road,
where trees are cut into logs of the same size. Before chain saws were
introduced in 1955, 30 Shōwa, trees were felled and sawed into lumbers
before sap flow started. The lumber was left in the forest for natural
air drying. After a while, lumbers was divided into pieces suitable for
transportation. Then, people carried the lumber and boards on their
back and went down the mountain.
[*37] Female pine Aka’matsu (Pinus densiflora), which literally
means red pine, is called as a female pine, onna’matsu, for its red bark
and gentle outlook. An ornamental garden tree. There also is a male
pine, otoko’matsu. Kuro’matsu (Pinus thunbergii), which literally
means black pine, is native to the coastal areas in Japan. It looks rough
and manly, so called male pine. A classical bonsai subject. Pines,
however, are not dioecious. Japanese, in old times, tended to
categorize items of soft and gentle appearance as female, onna,
otherwise as male, otoko. Besides, a pair of large and small items is
called a husband and wife, meoto.
[*38] Flooded area <The 1938 Yellow River flood>　
Following the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the
Imperial Japanese Army marched rapidly into the heart of Chinese
territory, although the width of China, almost the same with the US, is
approximately 25 times of that of Japan.
To prevent the Japanese successful advances, the Chinese army,
under the order of Chiang Kai-shek, bombed to destroy the dikes on
the Yellow River on June 5 and 7 at Huayuankou on the south bank,
and on June 9 at Zhengzhou, then, at three points on the dikes at
night on June 11 in 1938. After rainy days, the water was swollen in the
river, and flooded. The floods covered and destroyed thousands of
square kilometers of farmland. The massive death toll of the common
Chinese was recorded, where an official Kuomintang postwar
commission estimated that 800,000 people drowned, which may be an
underestimate. When the dikes were destroyed by the Chiang Kai-
shek army, the Japanese army immediately sent more than 100 raft
boats to rescue the Chinese victims. Along with the rescue, on 12 June,
at five in the afternoon, two Japanese troops, with over 50 Japanese
civil volunteers from neighboring cities, started to repair the broken
dikes, despite the danger of the Chinese bombings. In this plight, the
Japanese army was free from the death or damage. The flooded areas
were affected for years to come, which was abandoned, and all the
crops destroyed.
[*39] Foreign Hill “Foreign Hill – Ikokuno’oka” was sung among
Japanese POWs who were interned to work in concentration labor
camps in Siberia even after the end of the Great East Asia War on
August 15, 1945. The song was made in 1943, 10 Shōwa, the lyricist was
Masuda Kōji, and the composer was Yoshida Tadashi. They also were
interned to work in Siberia. The song’s original title was “Yesterday
and also Today.” Japanese POWs sang it in nostalgia for Japan, and
cheered themselves up, being cheerful with good smiles and not
forgetting to enjoy themselves, even in difficult situations. The last
group of 1,025 POWs was released on December 23, 1956.
[*40] Forget Me Not Lyrics The song ‘Forget me Not Lyrics’ in
English has different versions of lyrics. In Ch. 20 of this novel of
English translation, the song lyrics is described as follows: ‘ --- Let’s
write a song for us / And sing until we’re old and grey / Forget me not
my dear, my darling / Forget me not my love / I’m coming home real
soon / Please leave a light on for me / Tell me that you’ll always be true
---.’ In Hayashi Fumiko’s original Japanese novel, however, the Japanese
translation of the song ‘Wasurena’gusa’ is used, which can be
translated literally again into English in the following way: ‘Good old
you. / Freshness of youth withered, / Once azure / Of this flower was
bright, / With you of past days I spent, / Joyful memories of which /
Are talking at my innermost heart.’
[*41] Furoshiki The furoshiki is a square wrapping cloth. The
furoshiki of approximately 27” on each side is the most popular for
daily use.
[*42] Fusuma Fusuma is a sliding paper panel, on a wooden frame
of which colorfully painted paper is pasted. The fusuma is thicker than
the shoji. Two or more pieces of sliding paper panels are used in a set
as a door of a room, a partition of a closet, or a decoration in the
room.
. . 。* G
[*43] Gas-meisen The gas-meisen is fabrics woven using gas-
threads, the thread which are passed through a gas-fire or an electric
heating, and thus, slightly shiny and a nice touch. The meisen means
plain woven silk fabrics.
[*44] Geisha The geisha is actually a moral artist of the Japanese
culture, such as dances, songs, playing the three-string musical
instrument shamisen, and their task is to entertain their customers
during feasts.
[*45] Geta Geta is a pair of traditional Japanese wooden clogs, and
consists of an unfinished wooden board, dai, where the foot is set on.
Underneath the board, dai, a couple of wooden boards is attached like
teeth, ha, to keep the foot above the ground. A cloth thong, hanao,
passes between the big toe and second toe so as to fasten the geta on
the foot. There are similar types of footwear such as the setta and the
zōri. The setta clogs are made by knitting rice straws, nailed on the
heel of sole as waterproof, and have strings of fabrics or leather on the
top, for the big toe and other toes to grip clogs. The zōri or zōri-geta
are flat and thonged clogs made of rice straw or other plant fibers,
cloth, lacquered wood, leather, and recently of synthetic materials,
and often are nailed to a board on its soles.
[*46] Gethsemane The garden of Gethsemane is located in the
vicinity of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, where Jesus and his
disciples usually visited, and where Jesus prayed while his disciples
slept, the night before Jesus’ crucifixion.
[*47] Ginza Sanshirō The “Ginza Sanshirō” is a movie
produced by a Japanese film director Ichikawa Kon, born on
November 20, 1915, 4 Taishō and died on February 13, 2008, 20
Heisē. The movie was released on April 9, 1950, 25 Shōwa. Ginze is a
business area, and simultaneously an entertainment district of Chuō
Ward in Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji,
east of Yurakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shimbashi. The
hero Arai Kumasuke was a six dan of Judō and a medical doctor, who
came back from Manchuria to Japan after the end of the War. He
cleared the complicated past background, rescued his ex-lover from
the gang, and married another woman who loved him.
[*48] Gōbyaku Gōbyaku is a dealer who gambled in stocks by
predicting the rate of the market. The name gōbyaku came from the
old dealer, who risked money by 100 sen* for a certain range of the rice
rate changes. (*Sen is a monetary unit used in the Edo period)
[*49] Goemon cauldron Ishikawa Goemon, born in 1558 and died
on October 8, 1594, was a semi-legendary Japanese outlaw hero. He
was executed by boiling in a cauldron in front of the main gate of the
Nanzen’ji Buddhist temple in Kyoto. A Spanish trader, Bernardino de
Avila Girón wrote about this incident as follows: “This incident
occurred in the summer of 1594. Ixicava goyemon and 9 to 10 people of
his family were boiled in a cauldron.” A bath where a cauldron as a
bathtub is heated on a direct fire is called a Goemon bath,
Goemon’buro after this incident. You can warm yourself in the Goemon
cauldron, Goemon’buro, at present, as well.
. . 。* H
[*50] Hachimaki The origin of ‘hachimaki’ is in Japan, where ‘hachi’
means ‘head,’ and ‘maki’ means ‘binding’ or ‘wrap.’ A hachimaki is a
stylized headband or bandana in the Japanese culture, and is worn as
a symbol of perseverance, effort, and courage. The Japanese plain
woven thin cotton washcloth of 13.8 by 35 inches in size, tenugui, is
used as the hachimaki to wrap around the head. The hachimaki was
first described in the Kojiki, the oldest extant chronicle in Japan,
compiled in 711 thru 712. The Kojiki is regarded as mythology, however,
it contains many facts, thus clearly is nonfiction in the form of
mythology - the style of writing at that time.
[*51] Hakama Hakama is a traditional Japanese loose-fitting outer
garment for the lower part of the body, which is tied at the waist and
fall to the ankles. Hakama is worn over a separate kimono of arm
length. Hakama was mainly worn by the samurai and the people of
high society in the older times, and is regarded as a formal dress for
both men and women in recent times. Its protootype was formed in
the Yayoi period, which ranged from around 8 B.C. to around the 3rd
century.
[*52] Haori The haori is an arm-length kimono-shaped jacket.
During and after the Meiji period, both men and women put on the
haori over their kimono garments like an overcoat.
[*53] Happi The happi is a traditional easy-to-wear straight-sleeved,
arm-length kimono-shaped jacket. It usually is made of thin cotton
cloth in indigo blue, and is imprinted with a family crest, the mon, on
the back. Today, Japanese like to wear the happi for summer festivals,
regardless of age and gender. There are similar clothes such as the
haori, the hanten, and the dotera. The haori is a formal garment with
kimono-sleeves, and both men and women put on the haori over their
kimono garments during and after the Meiji period. The hanten is a
roomwear, and resembles the haori in form. The dotera is a arm-length
cotton-patted roomwear for winter in the shape of a kimono, generally
used in Japan during the Edo period from the 18th century, and used
today as well.
[*54] Haruna Mount Haruna or Haruna’san is a dormant
stratovolcano in Gunma Prefecture in Japan, and appeared about
300,000 years ago. Mount Haruna has many peaks and is the tallest
Mount Kamonga is 4,754 ft high.
[*55] Hego Hego, Cyathea spinulosa, is the evergreen large ‘tree
ferns.’ This type of the pteridophyte becomes into a tree form, and has
a stout erect trunk-like stems of 13 to 16 feets high. The diameter of its
base can be as large as 1.6 feets. The hego grows in humid forests. The
nothern limit of its growth is the southern part of Kī’hantō Peninsula
located in the south of Kyōto or Ōsaka and Hachijo’jima Island in
Tokyo. The hego grows up well in the south from Shikoku Island,
South Kyūshū, and Yakushima Island.
[*56] Hi-collar Hi-collar is Japanese English, usually written in
katakana as ハイカラ, which signifies western-style or stylish things.
The origin of the word came from the high collar of men’s shirts. In
the Meiji period, 1868 – 1912, for the purpose of westernizing Japan,
Meiji government encouraged people to eat the flesh of animals such
as pork and beef – for the first time after approx. 300 years, and
inspired men to cut their hair short to be away from the samurai-
hairdo, and wearing western style clothes. The men’s shirt with a high
collar was very much impressive to the Japanese, who began using the
word ‘hi-collar’ to point at too much westernized people and their
styles as well as the westernization trend. The word was popular
among ordinary people and used until after the Great East Asia War.
Today, on the contrary, the ‘hi-collar’ tends to be used as a key word to
signify the retro atmosphere along with habits and customs of earlier
days.
[*57] Higan’zakura Higan’zakura is a kind of cherry trees, sakura.
The pronunciation of sa in sakura changes to za by liaison with
another word as follows: higan + sakura will change to higan’zakura.
The kind of cherry tree referred to in the novel is possibly either
‘ko’higan’ (Cerasus subhirtella (Miq.) S.Y. Sokolov, 1954) or ‘Edo’higan’
(Cerasus spachiana Lavalee ex H.Otto
var. spachiana forma ascendens (Makino) H.Ohba, 1992).
[*58] Hikari Hikari literally means ‘light,’ and was the brand name of
cigarettes, the logo of which was printed first in alphabet, but later,
was changed into Japanese ‘hiragana.’ In 1937, 12 Shōwa. Slogans such
as ‘National Unity’ and ‘National Spiritual Mobilization Movement’
were printed on daily commodities, including cigarette packages.
Besides, such designs and patterns as soldiers, munitions and weapons
were prevalently adopted in the products for daily use. In this way, war
awarenes infiltrated people’s daily life, and then, people’s mind. When
the war was waged, English was categorized to an enemy’s language.
English logos and indications, even written in ‘katakana,’ were
prohibited, and were changed into Japanese characters.
[*59] Hirabayashi Taiko Hirabayashi Taiko was born on October 3
in 1905, 38 Meiji in a family of poor peasants in Suwa city in Nagano
prefecture, and died on February 17 in 1972, 47 Shōwa. Her real name
was Hirabayashi Tai. At the age of 12, Taiko began reading Russian
literature. She was known as a writer of Proletarian literature, and
later, of the ‘Tenkō’ literature, where tenkō in Japanese refers to the
ideological reversal, mainly from communism. She was said to be
affected by a certain specific religious sect prevailing in Japan, but she
was free from it in actuality.
[*60] Hokkaidō Imperial University Today’s Hokkaidō University
was originally founded in 1876, 9 Meiji, as Sapporo Agricultural College
by William Smith Clark, who was born on July 31, 1826 and died on
March 9, 1886, 19 Meiji, and was a professor of chemistry, botany and
zoology, a colonel during the Civil War, and a leader in agricultural
education. In September 1907, 40 Meiji, Tōhoku Imperial University
set up the faculty of Agriculture in Sapporo. Sapporo Agricultural
College took the lead. On April 1, 1918, 7 Taishō, Tōhoku Imperial
University ceded the Faculty of Agriculture to Hokkaidō Imperial
University. The School of Medicine was established in 1919, 8 Taishō,
at which time the Agricultural College became the Faculty of
Agriculture. [Ref: Wikipedia]
[*61] Honjo Honjo is the name of town located in Sumida Ward in
Tokyo, and forms the contours of downtown districts in Tokyo
metropolis.
[*62] Honjo’Narihira Honjo’Narihira is a town, which is located in
Sumida Ward in Tokyo Metropolitan, and within a 5 minute walk from
Oshiage Station.
[*63] Hori’gotatsu The hori’gotatsu is a variation of the kotatsu, and
the outer appearance of the hori’gotatu is the same as the kotatsu,
with a cotton stuffed blanket, the futon, covering a square wooden
frame, and a plate is finally put on top on the futon. In Japanese
language, gramatically, a word’s pronunciation sometimes changes
when it is combined with another word; very often the k-sound
changes to g-sound. When the word ‘kotatu’ is combined with ‘hori’
(dig) like the ‘hori-kotatsu,’ the pronunciation of ‘ko’ changes to ‘go’
like ‘hori’gotatsu.’ For the kotatsu, a heated charcoal container is
placed on the tatami mat. On the other hand, for the hori’gotatsu, the
floor is dug out into the ground in a square shape, at the bottom of
which the charcoal heater was placed. People can sit with legs beneath
to stay warm. Recently, many Japanese food restaurants tend to
prepare the hori’gotatsu in their rooms so that customers enjoy foods
comfortably with their legs relaxed warmly.
[*64] Hōsei Hōsei in Japanese is Baoquing County in the
southeastern Heilongjiang province in China.
[*65] Hotei Hotei is the name of a folkloric deity, the name came
from the bag that he was carrying. Hotei in Japanese, Budai or Pu-Tai
in Chinese, and Bố Đại in Vietnamese signifies cloth sack.
[*66] Hototogisu Hototogisu itself means a lesser cuckoo, uculus
poliocephalus, and is a title of the famous novel written by Tokutomi
Roka, his true name Tokutomi Kenjirō, was born on December 8, 1868
(October 25, 1st Meiji in Japan’s luner calender) in Minamata, and died
on September 18, 1927, 2 Shōwa in Ikaho. He exchanged letters with
Leo Tolstoy. “Hotogisu,” otherwise pronounced “Fujoki,” was his best
seller novel written from 1898, 31 Meiji through to 1899, 32 Meiji.
Words of Namiko, the unfortunate heroin in the novel, became very
much popular at that time in Japan. “Ahhh, why do people die!? I want
to live! I want to live more for a thousand and ten thousands years!”
“Oh, Painful! Painful! I will not be born anymore to be a woman.”
[*67] Hō’zashi Hō’zashi or me’zashi are dried sardines
including Japanese anchovies (Engraulis japonicas) the
katakuchi’iwashi, and herrings (Etrumeus teres) the urume’iwashi. Hō
as hō’zashi means cheek, and me as me’zashi means eyes,
which are made by soaking small fish of sardine group in salty water,
then binding 4 to 5 fish with a bamboo skewer or a rice straw to dry
outdoors. Hō’zashi or me’zashi previously were very cheap, thus
being the food for the poor. On the contrary, nowadays, these are
comparatively high cost, so, the rich tend to eat these nutriently rich
dried fish.
. . 。* I
[*68] Ianfu The ianfu, or comfort women, were certified whores.
The licensing system of pleasure palaces and prostitution was
abolished by law first in 1873, and finally in 1946. See Mei Yumi’s
Japanese Literature published in 2014 for details about the licensed
prostitution system in the Edo period and afterwards.
[*69] Ikaho Ikaho is located in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of
Tokyo. Ikaho is a hot spring resort, onsen, and a popular tourist
destination along with Kusatsu onsen.
[*70] Ikegami Ikegami is a town in the Ōmori area, Ōta Ward in
Tokyo. The Ikegami’Honmonji temple of the Buddhist school lotus,
Nichiren’shū, is located there.
[*71] Inari’chō “Inari” as Inari’chō is a sanctuary or shrine, and “chō”
means a street or a town.
[*72] Institut Pasteur The Institut Pasteur in Ho Chi Minh City is a
Vietnamese national institute initially created by the French in 1891
under the name Pasteur Institute - Sai Gon, which was renamed in
1975 as the Institute of Epidemiology, and in 1991 given the current
name. [Wikipedia]
[*73] Ichioku Gyokusai Ichioku Gyokusai, where the ‘ichioku’
means 100,000,000, the entire Japanese population. The ‘gyokusai’
literally consists of characters like gyoku for jewel and sai for
smashing, which signifies ‘honorable death,’ but not a term for mass
suicide. The Japanese, even ordinary people, bore in mind the
hundred million honorable deaths, ‘Ichioku Gyokusai,’ to willingly die
for our beloved country, Nippon. This slogan, however, was touted by
Japanese newspapers such as Asahi Shimbun among others during
Great East Asia War.
[*74] Itō Den’emon and Byakuren Akiko Itō Den’emon, born on
January 6, 1861, November 26, 1 Man’en in Japan’s lunar calender and
died on December 15, 1947, 22 Shōwa, was an industrialist and Chikuhō
coalmine. His wife was Akiko, whose mother, Okutsu Ryō was a niece
of Yanagiwara Aiko, Taishō Tennō, the emperor’s mother. Okutsu Ryō
was a daughter of the warrior class, and worked as a geisha in
Yanagibashi, Tokyo, and one of the concubines of Earl Yanagiwara
Sakimitsu who was born on May 4, 1850, March 23, 3 Kaē and died on
September 2, 1894, 27 Meiji.
Akiko was a haiku-poet, her pen name was Byakuren, which means
white water lily. Akiko was born on October 15, 1885, 18 Meiji and died
on February 22, 1967, 42 Shōwa at the age of 81. After an unfortunate
marriage, she got married to Itō Den’emon. She was 25 and her
husband was 50 years old. Itō also had concubines, with whom Akiko
had to live together in the same house. Den’emon was lack of
molecular species, caused by venereal disease. Akiko, however, got
pregnant and ran off with the baby’s father, Miyazaki Ryūsuke. Later,
Ryūsuke became a lawyer. He was born on November 2, 1892, 25 Meiji
and died on January 23, 1971, 46 Shōwa, who was 7 years younger than
Akiko. They had two children, a son, Kaori, and a daughter, Fuki.
. . 。* J
[*75] Jikō’son Jikō’son is the female founder Nagaoka Yoshiko’s
pseudoname of a self-styled religion Jiu. The new religious sect, Jiu,
was founded during the war, and built its headquarter in Kanazawa
City in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1946, 21 Shōwa, where the sect was
renewed as the Jikō’son. The Jikō’son, since the days of the Jiu, hoisted
the national flag of Japan, although the display of Japan’s national flag
was prohibited by The Supreme Commander for the Allied
Powers (SCAP) at that time. The founder Jikō’son spoke out about the
coming national disasters, and that the divinity of Tennō transferred to
herself. Besides, her bizarre behavior attracted people’s attention.
Many celebrities became her believers, such as the former Sumō
champion, Yokozuna Futabayama and the famous Go player. On
January 21, 1947, the Ishikawa Prefectural Police arrested the founder
for inflaming public anxiety and for the Staple Food Control Act
violation. The founder, Jikō’son, was diagnosed as megalomaniac
dementia and was found innocent and released.
[*76] Juban Juban is an undergarment of the kimono and is visible
from the neck or below the ankles, the original word was gibão in
Portuguese, which came from jubbah ‫ ﺟﺒﺔ‬in Arabics.
. . 。* K
[*77] Kabuki Kabuki is Japan’s classical dance-drama. A storyline
proceeds to traditional Japanese music and lyrics, and all the
characters including female roles are performed by male actors. The
Kabuki actors succeed to the predecessor’s name of their specific
families. Most of actors were blood relatives and some were adopted
into the family. Kabuki actors wear the elaborate make-up and stage
costumes, which vary based on their roles. At the beginning, however,
during 1603 to 1629, kabuki performers were only females, who played
both men and women in comic playlets. The year 1603 is the
prominent year that the rule of Tokugawa Shogunate began.
Afterwords, in 1629, the female kabuki was banned, and women were
prohibited to perform dances and dramas in public. Therefore, male
kabuki started to continue until today. A great part of stories written in
scenarios were relevant to the real incidents at that time such as
politics, love affairs, loyalties, and others. The themes of oiran and
yūjo at licensed pleasure palaces were highly demanded in Kabuki
dramas. For a further detail of the Oiran and yūjo, see Mei Yumi’s
Japanese Literature, 2014.
[*78] Kagurazaka A town, Kagurazaka, has slopes, previously was
the outer edge of Edo Castle, opposite the Ushigome bridge over the
castle moat. From the old days, Kagurazaka was known by the geisha
houses, which still remain. In the neighbourhood, there are publishing
companies, and high-quality universities like the Nippon Dental
University, Juntendo University Medical Dept., Tokyo University of
Science, and Waseda University within walking distance. Kagurazaka
is a popular spot to enjoy a walk in its sophisticated atmosphere, and
delicious meals in refined Japanese restaurants.
[*79] Kaki Kaki is fruit tree native to the eastern Asia, and is a
typical Japanese autumn fruit, known as kaki persimmon or Diospyros
kaki, overseas. Kaki contains tannin, kaki’shibu. Kaki color is yellowish
red when clothes are dyed.
[*80] Kaki’shibu color Kaki persimmon (Diospyros kaki) contains
1% to 2% of tannin, which is called kaki-tannin, kaki’shibu in Japanese.
The Kaki’shibu color is similar to reddish-orange henna or cinnamon.
The kaki’shibu has been used for coating materials, medicines, soap
goods, and others since the 800s in Japan. Among paint materials, the
kaki’shibu is a chemical-free, thus, no sick house syndrome occur.
Moreover, the kaki’shibu is effective against norovirus, which has been
confirmed by researchers in Hiroshima University in 2007.
[*81] Kamaboko A kamoboko is a loaf made by steaming crude fish
paste stuck on a bamboo or wooden board, and served in slices. The
kamaboko has been made in the Heian period since the 1100s in Japan,
and is regarded overseas as one of a various fishjelly products, or is
referred to as fish cake in Hawaii.
[*82] Kamiōsaki Kamiōsaki is a district located in the northern part
of Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan.
[*83] Kanakana Kanakana or higurashi is the Japanese name of the
evening cicada (Tanna japonensis), which is found throughout East
Asia, and is most common in Japan. Its shrill call, ‘kana kana kana ---’
is heard in the early morning and evening.
[*84] Kanoko’yuri Kanoko’yuri is Japanese lily (Lilium speciosum)
native to Japan. Scented flowers of the kanoko’yuri bloom in August
and September.
[*85] Kannon in Atami The Kannon in Atami is Kōa Kannon, where
Kōa literally means the Raising Asia, and Kannon or Kwannon is the
bodhisattva in early Indian Buddhism. The statue of Kōa Kannon is
worshipped with a sense of intimacy in Japan today as well. Atami is a
well-known spa town in Shizuoka Prefecture. General Matsui Iwane,
born on July 27, 1878 and died on December 23 1948, was the
commander of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and built the statue of
Kōa Kannon at his own expense in 1940, 15 Shōwa to honor both
Chinese and Japanese soldiers and civilians who fell in battle, and for
consecrating equally both friend and enemy. The statue was made
using clay from the battlefields, including Nanjing. General Matsui
was sentenced to death by the International Military Tribunal of the
Far East for falsely being accused of responsibility over the so-called
Nanjing Massacre, which was in actuality done by Chiang Kai-shek’s
army of the Republic of China.
[*86] Kanto’daki Kanto’daki, where kanto comes from the eastern
region, Kantō which includes Tokyo or Yokohama, and daki means
cook or stew. Kanto’daki is so-called oden, however, the seasoning and
thus the taste is slightly different from the western region, Kansai,
which includes Osaka or Kyoto. In the kanto’daki, such ingredients are
boiled in a soy sauce dashi broth as eggs, thick slices of long white
daikon (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus), konnyaku or konjac
(Amorphophallus konjac) jelly, chikuwa and other shaped fish paste.
You may eat oden with mustard, karashi, as you prefer.
[*87] Karumeyaki The name, Karumeyaki, is a mixture of the
Portuguese and Japanese languages, where ‘karume’ came from the
Portuguese ‘caramelo’ and ‘yaki’ means ‘bake’ in Japanese. The sugary
toffee, karumeyaki, is very often hand-made and sold by street vendors
during festivals in Japan.
[*88] Kasuri Kasuri is a pattern of splashed water or sparkling white
water, popular with Japanese for the kimono.
[*89] Kasutori Kasu as the kasutori is otherwise called as sake’kasu
which are the lees left over from Japanese sake production, tasteful,
good for health, and used as cosmetics for skin beautification, today.
The kasutori, kasutori-shōchū, are alcoholic liquors made by distilling
of sake lees, however, after the end of World War II, in Japan, kasutori
means illegally brewed cheap liquor of bad quality.
[*90] Katsuobushi Katsuobushi is dried, fermented, and smoked
bonito, Katsuwonus pelamis. The weight of dried bonito is less than
20% of the fresh bonito. For your reference, roughly, a 9-ounce dried
bonit sells at 1,500 yen in a market. The katuobushi of high quality
sounds almost metallic when tapped together lightly, and is
translucent deep ruby color inside. Aspergillus glaucus gives a good
taste to the dried bonito. A basic soup for Japanese cooking, dashi, is
prepared using fine slices of the dried bonito and kelp, kombu. For an
easy and quick diet, put many slices of dried bonito on the boiled
white rice, and pour a little soy-souce on it, and eat it. Katsuobushi is
regarded as an auxpicious and lucky item, and used as a gift for a
wedding and a child birth. The reason is like a pun as follows;
katsuobushi can be paraphrased in katsuo (winning man) and bushi
(samurai), otherwise, can be read katsu uwo which can be heard like a
fish for a win.
[*91] Katsushika or Yotsugi Katsushika is a special ward, located in
the northeast in Tokyo. Yotsugi is one of towns in Katsushika Ward.
The concerned area is regarded as an inherent district of warmhearted
towners in comics and entertainment movies.
[*92] Kawajin in Shibamata Kawajin is a long-established
restaurant in a town, Shibamata, Tokyo, and was originally opened
during the Kan’ei era of 1624 – 45 in the Edo period. Kawajin was
situated along the Edogawa river, and so, customers were able to go up
to their rooms directly from the boat. Kawajin serves freshwater fish
cuisine such as eel or carp.
[*93] Kawahaze Kawahaze (Rhinogobius flumineus) is a fish of 4 to
5cm long, and lives in the flow of clear rivers or in mountain streams.
[*94] Kin Kin is the name of the novel’s main character, Aizawa Kin.
As a geisha, she was named Kinya. There are many kanji characters
suitable for the pronunciation of “kin.” In the novel, “欣” is used for the
female name of Kin, which signifies “feel joy, excitement, niceness and
happiness.”
[*95] Kirino Natsuo Kirino Natsuo is the novelist and a leading
figure of detective fiction in Japan. Her real name is Mariko Hashioka,
born on October 7, 1951, 26 Shōwa in Kanazawa city, Ishikawa
prefecture. In her novel, “Nanika’aru,” she wrote Fumiko’s way of life,
where Kirino Natsuo assumed her hypothesis that Fumiko gave birth
to Satō Kentarō’s son. The model of fictional Satō Kentarō was a young
journalist, Takamatsu Tōichirō, whom Fumiko met while she was in
Singapore, Borneo and Java in Indonesia for 6 months from 1942 to
1943. Later, in actuality, Fumiko adopted a boy. The title of the fiction,
“Nanika’aru,” came from Fumiko’s poem, which appeared in the
beginning of Fumiko’s nonfiction, “Unit Kitagawa.” ‘Nanika’aru’ or
‘something there …’ in Fumiko’s poem, however, rhetorically signifies
‘nanimo’nai’ or ‘nothing there.’
[*96] Kōchi’yama Kōchi’yama is a title of Kabuki program.
Kabuki is a classical Japanese drama which began in 1603, in the
same year with the beginning of Tokugawa Shogunote. At first,
Kabuki was played by female actors, which was then prohibited in
1629. Thereafter, kabuki has been played always by male actors.
The title, Kōchi’yama, came from the main character’s name.
Kōchi’yama says to his fellow who worrys that a crime might come
out. “Don’t worry about things to come out. We help other people,
so we have the reason. Don’t worry.” Kōchi’yama, sitting
cross-legged, drank sake. Afterwards, Kōchi’yama, always sitting
cross-legged, boldly made a sharp retort, which is well known in
Kabuki as ‘tanka,’ literally ‘caustic words.’ Finally, Kōchi’yama
entered on an elevated passageway leading to and from the stage,
“hana’michi.”
[*97] Komachi Komachi came from Onono’Komachi, born in 809, 4
Daido in the Japanese lunar calendar, and died in 901, 1 Engi-Gannen
in the Japanese lunar calendar. Onono’Komachi was well-known as a
typical beauty of Japan during the late Heian period in the 800s, and
her name is still used as a symbol of beauty in our days. She was the
granddaughter of Onono Takamura, and her father was the Dewa
region’s municipal leader, Dewa Gunji Onono Yoshizane.
Onono’Komachi was engaged in court service for two Emperors,
Ninmei Tennō and Buntoku Tennō. She had many love stories, which
were favorite themes of the Noh theatric drama and the Jōruri puppet
theatric drama. Onono’Komachi was also a waka poet, and was highly
regarded as one of the top 6 poets, and later, 36 of the best poets. Her
waka poetry is good enough for us to imagine her beauty.
[*98] Kōrin Ogata Kōrin, born in 1658 and died on June 2, 1716, was
a Japanese painter of the Rinpa school, where ‘Rin’ came from his art
name Kōrin. His gold-foiled folding screens, byōbu, are well known.
Especially, his “Iris, kakitsubata” in the Nezu Museum is a national
treasure of Japan, the pattern of which is used on the back surface of
5,000 yen banknote whilst a female novelist Higuchi Ichiyō’s portrait is
showed on its surface. Higuchi Ichiyō’s four novels can be read in
English translation in Mei Yumi’s Japanese Literature ISBN-10:
1499517602 ISBN-13: 978-1499517606.

[*99] Kotatsu A kotatsu is a heating device put on a tatami-mat

floor, in a wooden frame box, over which a cotton filled coverlet, futon,
is spread, and a square board is placed on the top. People sit around
the kotatsu, and cover their waists and legs with the hot futon.
Sometimes, the floor is dug out, and a heat source is placed in the
cavity at the bottom. People sit on the floor as if sitting on chairs. A
pot, hibachi, with burning charcoal was used as a heating source. The
kotatsu are used only in Japan, although similar devices might be used
elsewhere in the world.
[*100] Kōyasan Kōya’san, Mount Kōya consists of mountains with
1,094 yard high peaks. The Buddhist monk Kūkai first settled in 819.
Therefore, Mount Kōya is known as the world headquarters of the
Kōya’san, Singon sect of Japanese Buddhism. The Temple Kōya’san
Sōhonzan Kongōbuji is located in a 875 yard high valley amid the eight
peaks of the mountain.
[*101] Kyan’in Kyan’in is Jiangyin, Hayashi Fumiko wrote the town’s
name as Kyan’in, the pronunciation of which is very much similar in
Jiangyin dialect, [kɐ̞ŋ.jɪŋ]).
[*102] Kyōwakai The Kyōwakai is a political party, the Concordia
Association. The Manshū-koku Kyōwakai is the full name in Japanese.
The Kyōwakai was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was
founded to promote the ideals of Pan-Asianism and to create a civilian
control multi-ethnic nation-state Manchukuo in Manchuria. The
honorary president was Aisin-Gioro Puyi, Aishin’kagura Fugi in
Japanese, born on February 7, 1906, and died on October 17, 1967. Puyi
was the last Emperor of China and the twelfth and final ruler of the
Qing dynasty.
. . 。* L
[*103] Lang Biang Mountain Lang Biang has another name, Lam
Vien, and otherwise called Nui Ba. Seeing Hayashi Fumiko’s novel, the
name of mountain is written in katakana asランヴィアン, which clearly
shows that Hayashi Fumiko was told the name as Lam Vien. However,
Lang Biang is used in this book because the slope of the mountain is
decorated with the name, in the same way as Hollywood. Lang Biang
Mountain is located on Lang Biang Plateau, Lac Duong District, Lam
Dong Provines, 12 to 16km from the center of Da Lat. In Lat village at
the foot of Lang Biang Mountain, the indigenous people of Da Lat
inhabits.
[*104] Lev Isaakovich Shestov Lev Isaakovich Shestov is the
Russian Jewish philosopher. Lev Isaakovich Shestov，Лев Исаакович
Шестов, was born on February 13, 1866 (January 31 in Julian calendar)
and died on November 19, 1938. In Japan, he was referred to in German
as Leo Schestow, and his “The philosophy of the tragedy” was
translated into Japanese by Kawakami Tetsutarō in 1934. Kawakami
Tetsutarō, born on January 8, 1902 (35 Meiji) in Nagasaki, and died on
September 22, 1980 (55 Shōwa), was a Japanese writer, who was known
to the Japanese by his translation of works of Paul Valery and Andre
Gide. The Japanese version of “The philosophy of the tragedy” affected
the Japanese intellects who were exposed to a crackdown on thoughts
and a social anxiety after the Manchurian Incident in 1931. “The
philosophy of the tragedy” became an inspiration which led an intense
feeding of Schestow among intellects enough to coinage the word
“Schestow anxiety.”
[*105] Li Kōran Li Kōran, in Japanese pronunciation, was a well-
known actress and singer by her Chinese name Li Xianglan (Li
Hsiang-lan) and English stage name Shirley Yamaguchi, and later as a
Japanese Diet woman for 18 years in the 1970s. She was born to
Japanese settler parents on February 12, 1920, 9 Taishō, in Fushun in
Manchuria, and was registered in Japan by her born name Yamaguchi
Yoshiko. Her father Fumio was an employee of the South Manchuria
Railway. She married Ōtaka Hiroshi in 1958, who died in 2001 at the
age of 73. Yamaguchi Yoshiko died at the age of 94 on September 7,
2014.
[*106] Lunch box In Japanese, the ‘bentō’bako’ means a lunch box,
exactly. Business residents from overseas in Japan like to say “My Bentō
box” for my lunch box.
. . 。* M
[*107] Machiai Machiai literally means “waiting, or meeting,” and is
the abbreviation of machiai’chaya, or the secret meeting teahouse.
After the Meiji Restoration in 1867, the room renting business in the
form of teahouse started near Shinbashi to provide secret meeting
rooms for men and women. Later, the secret meeting teahouses,
expensive and refined, with feasts and the geisha entertaining
prospered for various purposes such as political meetings, war
councils, and others.
[*108] Manryū Manryū, as referred to in the novel, was the name of
a geisha in the town Akasaka. Manryū, born in July 1894 and died in
December 1973, was said to be the Japan’s No.1 beauty, and gained
popurality at that time. Manryū, along with another geisha Yōha in
the town Shinbashi, was called the double talented and beautiful
geishas during the 40s Meiji. Yōha was born on April 22, 1896, and
died on October 22, 1994. Her real name was Takaoka Tatsuko. She
became a geisha, Chiyoha, at the age of 10, then her name changed to
Yōha, who later cut off by herself her pinky by a razor blade to show
her sincerity to her lover. Her debt was paid by a wealthy concubine of
a certain Count, and Yōha left the pleasure world at the age of 18, and
married at the age of 23, went to New York, London, and Paris, so was
known overseas as the “nine-fingered geisha.” She finally went to Kyoto
to be a Buddhist nun.
[*109] Marguerite Gautier Marguerite Gautier is the role in the
novel, The lady of the Camellias, La Dame aux camellias, written by
Alexandre Dumas, fils, which was first published in 1848. The play was
an enormous success, and the role of the tragic courtesan, Marguerite
Gautier, became one of the most coveted amongst top-ranking
actresses.
[*110] Marunouchi Marunouchi, in Chiyoda Ward, is a modern
business and financial district in the center of metropolis Tokyo, and
literally means ‘inside the circle,’ which derives from its location
within the Imperial Palace’s outer moat.
[*111] Matsudo Matsudo is a town in the northern Chiba prefecture,
and flourished as a post town from the old days. A railroad ran in 1896.
Matsudo became a city in 1943. Matsudo was the suburb agricultural
area in the Edo period, and now functions as a bed town of
Metropolitan Tokyo.
[*112] Meisen The meisen is a plain degummed silk fabric, made
with sericin which is removed from silk filaments or yarn by boiling in
a soapsolution. The weaving technique for the meisen also was devised
in the early 1900s, and used to produce fashionable daily-wear kimono
with stylish patterns during the Taishō and early Shōwa periods.
[*113] Mikeneko Mike as in mikeneko means tricolor, and neko a cat.
The mikeneko is a white cat with two other colors as orange tabby and
black, and almost always female due to a sex linkage genes. The
mikeneko is seen especially in Japan, but rarely overseas.
[*114] Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry The Ministry of
Agriculture and Commerce functioned from 1881 (14 Meiji) to 1925 (14
Taishō), which was divided to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and then, was
reconstructed as the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce
during World War II. It was rearranged to be the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry, and now it was renamed as the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the Nōrin’suisan’shō, on
July 5, 1978 (53 Shōwa).
[*115] Miso’zuke Miso’zuke is a kind of nonperishable food
pickled in salty soy paste, miso. Food materials are pork, bamboo
shoots and fish, and vegetables such as Japanese white radishes,
carrots, burdocks, cucumbers, ginger, among others.
[*116] Mitsukoshi Mitsukoshi is known as the first in Japan as a
department store. Mitsukoshi department’s antecedent draper,
Echigo’ya, first introduced a price tag system in 1673, 1 Enhō, during
the Edo period. Mitsukoshi department started in 1928 until August 31,
2003, then, after a slight innovation, went forward from January 1,
2003 throughout to March 31, 2011, and then, merged Isetan
department store to be Mitsukoshi-Isetan department store on April 1,
2011. ‘Mitsukoshi for days of adorning and non-adorning’ has been
their advertising slogan. Mitsukoshi’s prestige is still high among
Japanese customers. There are still many groups of Japanese
traditional flower arrangement, kadō, desiring to hold their annual
exhibitions in the Mitsukoshi exhibition hall.
[*117] Miyake Kuniko Miyake Kuniko was an actress, born on
September 17, 1916 in Saitama Prefecture, and died on November 1,
1992. Miura Yasu is her true name. She debuted in 1934, and after a
break, started again in 1948. She mainly appeared in films directed by
Ozu Yasujirō, born on December 12, 1903, and died on November 4,
1992, who began his career during the era of silent films. After the
death of Ozu Yasujirō, Miyake Kuniko got a role in TV drama such as
“Takekurabe,” the English version of which Mei Yumi’s Japanese
Literature 2014 ed. contains in the title of “Red Lips and Gray Sleeves.”
Hope you enjoy it.
[*118] Moi, Muong In the novel, Vietnamese ethnic people is
referred to as モイ族 in the chapter 12, and モン族in the chapter 30, in
Japanese using katakana and kanji. It is not easy to determine,
however, from Japanese description, which ethnig groups are referred
to in the novel, by the author, Hayashi Fumiko. In Vietnam, there are
53 minority ethnic groups, where names of three ethnic groups are
pronounced similarly in japanese asモン. The Hmon are an ethnic
group from the mountainous regions, and the Mon are an ethnic
group from Burma and Thailand. Still anotherモン, the Muong is the
third largest of Vietnam’s 53 minority groups. The Muong people
inhabit the mountainous region of northern Vietnam, concentrated in
Hoa Binh Province and the mountainous districts of Thanh Hoa
Province. Besides, Ethnic groups were called differently by districts
and by occasional dominating powers. Their origin was pluralistic. As
a common feature, they inhabit the mountainous regions, and grow
upland rice and corns by slash-and-burn cultivation while moving in
the mountains. Bamboo is a very important item for them, and they
use bamboo in various ways. Recently, however, they tend to settle
down in suitable districts for them. Vietnamese ethnic people
described asモイ族in chapters 12 can be considered as the Moi. In the
chapter 30 in the novel, Tomioka made field researches in northern
Vietnam, and found cassia trees in Thanh Hoa. Considering this,
therefore, the mountainous indigenous people モン族in the chapter 30
is the Muong people.
[*119] Mom Mom匁 is a unit of weight, pronounced in Japanese as
‘momme,’ which was used at money exchange businesses during the
Edo period. 100 mom was 374.62g or 13.21oz. The same Japanese
weights and measures used early in the Shōwa period, where one kan
is 1,000 mon, 3.75 kg, or 8.267 pound.
[*120] Momoware Momoware literally means ‘split peach,’ and is a
hairdo suitable for the kimono. In the momoware hairdo, the bun is
split and a red woven fabric is worn in the center.
[*121] Mompe Mompe is a kind of working loose trousers for women
and a variation of the traditional Japanese clothing, hakama which is
tied at the waist and falls to the ankles. In the same way, the mompe
fits loosely around the waist and is tied around the ankles. Otherwise,
the origin of the mompe is said to be a male underwear, momohiki.
The momohiki is traditional bottoms worn by men as underwear, in
the shape of trousers strapped around the waist, in the same way as
Portuguese trousers, calças. The calças was handed down from
Portugal during Azuchi-Momoyama period, the final phase of the
Warring states period, the Sengoku Jidai, in the years from 1573 to
1600. During Great East Asia War, women wore active clothes, the
mompe, when they participated in air-raid drills. By the order of the
Ministry of Health and Welfare, along with the wartime slogan
“Opulence is the enemy,” the daily wearing of the mompe became a
duty of women late in the Great East Asia War. In 4 years after the end
of the war, women changed their mompe style clothes into blouses and
skirts again. Afterwards, Japanese women almost forgot wearing the
mompe.
[*122] Monetary value The monetary value declined. 10 yen
immediately after the end of war is similar to 60 yen now.
The prices rose up to 6 times or more of those days.
[*123] Mushanokōji Saneatsu Mushakōji Saneatsu was born into a
noble family in Tokyo, on May 12 1885, and died on April 9, 1976.
Saneatsu was a novelist, playwright, haiku-poet, painting artist, during
Taishō and Shōwa periods. He created a Tolstyan ‘New Village’ in 1918
in Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyūshū. He also was one of leading novelists of
the Shirakaba’ha, literally White Birch Society. The literary magazine
‘Shirakaba’ was published at Sansuisha printing house, still in business
in Kanda, Tokyo. The Shirakaba’ha from 1910 to 1923 was an influential,
and Tolstyan, Japanese literary coterie, known otherwise as a fraternal
group of wealthy novelists. Shirakaba’ha novelists’ works are still
studied in Japanese language faculties in universities in the PRC.
. . 。* N
[*124] Naga’hibachi The naga’hibachi means an oblong brazier,
usually box-shaped. The hibachi is a traditional Japanese open-topped
heating device, and holds burning charcoal.
[*125] Nagaya The nagaya is a tenement house, which literally
means a long house, often one-story dormitory with about ten rental
rooms. During the Edo period, ordinary Japanese in Edo, previous
Tokyo, usually lived in tenement houses, nagaya.
[*126] Naichi The term ‘naichi’ signifies the Mainland Japan or inner
lands, and is used to distinguish Japan from outlying territories,
‘gaichi,’ in the pre-war period and during the World War II. Outlying
territories, ‘gaichi,’ were lands under the control of Imperial Japan.
Control over ‘gaichi’ was renounced after World War II and the Treaty
of San Francisco in 1951. The terms ‘naichi’ and ‘gaichi’ are not used
officially anymore. Terms of ‘naichi’ and ‘gaichi,’ however, are
sometimes active when referring to Japan and countries overseas,
respectively.
[*127] Nanakusa’no’hi The nanakusa’no’hi or the nanakusa’no’sekku
is January 7, where nana signifies seven and kusa weeds, and as a
whole, means the Festival of Seven Herbs. The nanakusa’no’hi is
Japanese custom of eating seven-herb rice porridge wishing our
longevity and health, and to ward off evil. The seven edible wild herbs
of spring are Water dropwort, Shepherd’s Purse, Cutweed, Chickweed,
Nipplewort, Turnip, and Japanese Radish, which are cut into pieces
and boiled with rice in water and soup stock as a basic ingredient for
Japanese cuisine. The taste of seven-herb porridge is comparatively
thin.
[*128] Nanjing No Nanjing Atrocity. The Battle of Nanjing (or
Nanking) began after the Japanese conquered Shanghai on October 9,
1937, and ended with the fall of the capital city of Nanjing
(Nanking) on December 13, 1937 to the Japanese troops. There was no
Nanjing atrocity nor massacre after the fall of Nanjing. Therefore, the
Chinese people who evacuated to neighboring towns or their
homelands in local area came back very soon to Nanjing under the
control of Japanese Army.
The truth of Nanjing is described here in the report of an American
sociologist, who started his researches immediately after the Nanjing
fall on 13 December 1937. Look at the Table 4, which clearly shows that
‘Total killed and injured’ is 6,750 from Dec. 12, 1937 to March 15, 1938.
http://www.history.gr.jp/~nanking/LSCSmythe.pdf
“War Damage in the Nanking Area” December 1937 to March 1938,
Urban and Rural Surveys by Dr. Lewis S.C.Smythe (Professor of
Sociology, University of Nanking) and Assistants. On behald of the
Nanking International Relief Committee Completed June, 1938.
[The sum total of 73 pages, which contains the text 27 pages, Appendix
11 pages, Table 32 pages, Map 2 pages, plus covers and others.]
[*129] Nekomashōji A shōji as a nekomashōji is a partition, a
window, or a door, made of bamboo or wooden lattice frame with
paper pasted, and nekoma literally means a cats’ passage. The paper
pasted lattice window, shōji, which was furnished with a glass transom
at a lower part with another movable shōji incorporated there for
seeing outsides through or for letting the sunlight in, is called as the
nekomashōji. Formerly, however, an opening, a cats’ passage, was left
open without being covered with a glass.
[*130] Nerima’daikon The daikon (Raphanus sativus) as
Nerima’daikon is a mild-flavored, long tubular winter radish, and is the
special product of Nerima Ward in Tokyo.
[*131] Nikkō Nikkō is a city in the mountains of Tochigi Prefecture.
Nikkō Tōshō’gū Shrine was built in accordance with a Chinese wind-
water philosophical sysem, feng shui, and was completed in 1617 as
one of four guardian shrines of Edo, now Tokyo, and to be the burial
place of the Military Commander General, Shōgun, Tokugawa Ieyasu,
the founder of the Shogunate,Tokugawa Bakufu, in Edo, in 1603.
[*132] 1943 In “Floating Clouds”, the storyline develops from 1943
Indochina to 1947 Japan, and the figure as shown below delineates the
Japanese occupied territories in 1944. For your reference, in 1944, the
total population in Japan was 73,064,316, where the total Japanese
soldiers incl. the died in the war was 12,800,000.
On July 7, 1937, a military conflict occurred, which became a long
and full-scale war between Japan and Chian Kai-shek’s Republic of
China. Military supplies were transported for Chian Kai-shek aided by
England and the US through four military transportation routes called
Aid-Chian Routes, Enshō Routes. The supplies coming through the
Enshō Route of French Indochina was greatest and tough. Japan often
asked France to close down the route, however, the Vichy French
government did not accept, which controlled at the time French
overseas possessions, including Indochina. On June 22, 1940, Vichy
France government signed an armistice with Germany, whereupon
Japan, German’s Axis ally, eventually entered North Indochina upon an
accord between Japan and Vichy Indochina signed on September 22,
1940, then, southern Indochina on July 28, 1941 for a prevention
against an invasion of the Dutch East Indies. On the other hand,
meanwhile, a boundary dispute broke out on November 25, 1937
between the Kingdom of Thailand and Vichy French Indochina.
Finally, Japan intermediated between the two countries and Treaty of
Tokyo was concluded between Thailand and Vichy France on May 9,
1941. Thereafter, many limited wars grew into the World War II.
Japanese forces remained in Indochina until after defeat in Great East
Asia War on August 15, 1945.
[ref: The 1944 map on p. 57, Bernard Millot, “L’épopée KAMIKAZE,”
1970] [A further reference : Helen Mears, “Japan is Winning the
Political War” (PDF) , in the American Mercury, June 1944, pp 687-
693. http://www.unz.org/Pub/AmMercury-1944jun-00687]

[*133] Nippon’bashi Nipponbashi, Cầu Nhật Bản, otherwise called

Laien’bashi, Lai Viễn Kiều, is a small roofed bridge, which was built by
Japanese in 1593 to link a Japanese town with a Chinese town at that
time. The Thu Bon River is still essential to Hoi An more than 500
years.
[*134] Nishiki’e Nishiki’e, otherwise called the ukiyo’e, is
multicolored woodblock prints produced during 17 to 19 centuries, in
the Edo period.
[*135] Noren The noren is traditionally a rectangular cotton fabric
divider, with a few vertical slits from the top of the fabric for easy
passage or quick viewing. The noren is hung from a beam in doorways
as a symbolic barrier or also actually to block off the eyes from the
outside, or just as a wall hanging to adorn rooms. The noren has an
implication of a spiritual boundary and a protection against evil.
Therefore, bars and taverns often hang the noren or the nawa’noren in
doorways. The nawa’noren also is a room divider using ropes, nawa,
made of rice straws or hemp, and its concept is the same as the noren.
[*136] Nori’maki Teppōmaki Nori’maki, otherwise called nori’sushi
or Teppōmaki is a Japanese food, otherwise called ‘nori’sushi’ overseas,
as a sushi’s variation. The name ‘teppōmaki’ comes from its long
tubular form. ‘Teppō’ means a firearm with a long tube, and ‘maki’
means ‘roll.” Steamed rice is wrapped with a dried seaweed sheet,
‘nori.’
[*137] Numabukuro Numabukuro is a town in Nakano ward in
Tokyo. A railway has been available since 1927, and now for 19,068
passengers/day. A prison for political and ideological criminals was
relocated in 1910 from Ichigaya to Numabukuro, and called Nakano
prison. The prison was cleared and transformed to the park “Forest of
Peace” in 1983, where a peace resources exhibition center, a baseball
ground for children, open meadows for citizens, dog runs, a pit-
dwelling of the Yayoi period of 300 BC to AD 300, which was found in
this place, are arranged.
[*138] Nyonin Geijutsu “Nyonin Geijutsu,” was a literary magazine
for women, which Hasegawa Shigure sponsored, whose real name was
Hasegawa Yasu. Hasegawa Shigure was born in Tokyo, as the daughter
of a lawyer, on October 1 in 1879, 12 Meiji and died on August 22 in
1941, 16 Shōwa. Shigure was a playwright and novelist, and published
magazines and newspapers so as to promote the role of women in
Japan. The female literary magazine “Nyonin Geijutsu” was first
published in July 1928, 3 Shōwa, and the last issue No. 48 was in June
1932, 7 Shōwa.
. . 。* O
[*139] Obi The obi is a belt or a sash with which to fasten a kimono.
There is a variety of types and names for the obi. Heko’obi is the easy-
to-use obi, otherwise called the sanshaku’obi. Hakata obi is a high
quality obi sash made in Hakata to be presented to Shōgun Tokugawa
during the Edo period. The obi is decorative, and is usually thick and
heavy, therefore, a thin fabric sash, an obiage, is used to tie the obi
sash tightly.
[*140] Obiage Obiage is a thin fabric sash to tie tightly around the
thick and heavy obi sash of a kimono. Women choose their own obiage
compatible with their kimono and obi sash. The obiage was first
invented by the geisha in Fukagawa in Edo, in 1877.
[*141] Odawara Odawara is a castle town, located in western
Kanagawa Prefecture, and the terminal station of Odakyū line, and the
Japan Railway’s high-speed train, Shin’kan’sen, also stops at Odawara
station. Odawara is bordered by the the well known sightseeing spot
and active volcano zone Hakone mountains to the north and west, and
the Sakawa River to the east. The epicenter of the Great Kantō
earthquake in 1923 was beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay of
the Pacific Ocean to the south. The town of Odawara was utterly
damaged in the 1923 earthquake.
[*142] Ōigawa The Ōigawa river is a wide river in Shizuoka
Prefecture in Japan, and its depicted in an art printing, the ukiyoe, by
Utagawa Hiroshige during the Edo period.
[*143] Okinawa Okinawa is the southernmost prefecture of Japan.
‘Okinawa’ was the Japanese word identifying the Ryūkyū islands, and
first seen in the biography of Jianzhen written in 779 after his death in
Japan. Jianzhen, called Ganjin in Japan, was a Chinese monk, born in
688 and died in 763, and helped to propagate Buddhism in Japan.
From 1950 to 1953, during the Korean War, B-29 Superfortresses flew
bombing missions over Korea from Kadena Air Base on Okinawa.
From 1964 to 1972, Okinawa, along with Guam, was a key staging point
for the US in its military operations directed towards North Vietnam.
In 1972, the US government returned the islands, Okinawa, to Japanese
administration. Today, Okinawa is strategically one of the most
important US military base in Japan.
[*144] Ōmiya Ōmiya is a city located in Saitama Prefecture. From
Yotsugi to Ōmiya is less than a one hour drive.
[*145] Ōtake Port Ōtake Port is located at the west end of Hiroshima
Prefecture, and is the sea entrance of Ōtake city, which forms a seaside
industrial zone with Waki town of Yamaguchi Prefecture and Iwaki
city along Oze’gawa river.
. . 。* P
[*146] Peony Peony color, botan’iro in Japanese, is purplish-red,
similar to fuchsia or magenta fuchsia, and became largely popular
among women during the Meiji period in Japan.
[*147] Philopon ‘Philopon’ is a product name of the drug, the name
of which came from Φιλόπονος. Philopon was made of
methamphetamine, which was originally synthesized from ephedrine
in 1893, 26 Meiji by Nagai Nagayoshi, and was crystallized by Ogata
Akira in 1919, 8 Taishō. During the end of World War II, in April 1945,
the drug was imported from Germany and stockpiled in large
quantities, which was, no doubt, released in towns after the end of the
war. The concept of the side effect was not prevalent at that time,
however, the philopon was classified as a strong toxin afterwards in
1949, 24 Shōwa, and the production was prohibited. The Stimulants
control law has been enforced in 1951, 26 Shōwa. The case of
Lieutenant Kurotori Shirō is as follows. Lt Kurotori was injected the
philopon by an army surgeon for the first time in April 1945, and few
more times until after July 1945. He felt the abnormal feelings, known
as the side effect now, in 1946, 21 Shōwa, and suffered from the side-
effect syndrome for approx. 30 years. He finally recovered in 1975.
[*148] Piastre Piastres, precisely said as French Indochinese piastres,
are auxirialy currency issued in French Indochina as “piastre de
commerce.” One piastre was equivalent to one hundredth of a pound.
[*149] Precious Triad The precious triad, Sanpō, came from
sanskrit, and is a Buddhist concept. The triad are: Buddha,
Dharma, and Sangha. Buddha is the ideal spiritual potential which
exists within all beings, Dharma is the path of enlightenment,
Sangha is the community of those that attained enlightenment.
[*150] Prey Nokor A long ago, Saigon was called by the Khmer
name, Prey Nokor, which means the dense and tall forest that once
existed around the city. In the 1690s, a Vietnamese noble established
Vietnamese administrative structures in the Mekong Delta and its
surroundings, and named the city Gia Dinh. After the 1860s French
conquest, however, the occupying force adopted the name Saigon for
the city. On July 2, 1976, the city was renamed as Ho Chi Minh City.
[ref: Wikipedia]
. . 。* Q
. . 。* R
[*151] Rainy Blues Rainy Blues, Ame’no Brūsu, was released in 1938,
and was later sung by another title, “Han Yu Qu” in Taiwan. The singer
Awaya Noriko, born on August 12, 1907 and died on September 22,
1999, was a soprano chanson and popular music singer, and dubbed
the “Queen of Blues” in Japan.
[*152] Rakkyō Rakkyō (Allium chinense) is known as Japanese
scallion or Oriental onion, and is pickled in vinegar as a preserved
food, and served as a side dish and as a health food diet in Japan.
[*153] Regent The ‘Regent’ is a Japanese-English word named by a
Japanese barber, deriving from the Regent Street in London. The
Regent style is a ducktail haircut to be combed back around the sides
of the head, and a forelock is puffed out and gathered up at a high
position in the same way as the hairstyle of Madame de Pompadour.
Lots of hair grease, pomade, is required to hold the hair in place. This
hairstyle was a postwar fashion in Japan. The author Hayashi Fumiko
died in 1951, 26 Shōwa, therefore, the Regent hairstyle has been
popular apparently in the late 1940s in Japan.
[*154] Ringo’no Uta “Rngo’no Uta,” which literally means Song of
Apples, is a song featured in the 1945 Japanese happy love story film,
Soft Breeze, “Soyokaze.” The film was released on October 11, 1945 as
the first film produced after World War II in Japan. The film was
criticized, but was commercially successful. The song was broadcasted
on a radio for the first time on December 10, 1945. The singer and
actress appeared in “Soyokaze” is Namiki Michiko, born in Asakusa,
Tokyo, in 1921, 10 Taishō, and died on April 7, 2001, 13 Heisei.
[*155] Room size In Japan, a room size is referred to by the number
of tatami mats the room has. 2 tatami mat size is equal to one tsubo,
which means 3.3 sq. meters and approximately 3.9 sq. yards.
Considering this, a 3 tatami mat room, 3 jō, and a 4.5 tatami mat
room, 4 jō han, in the novel, are approximately 6 sq. yards and 9 sq.
yards, respectively.
. . 。* S
[*156] Sagino’miya Sagino’miya literally means a palace of egrets,
and is located to the northwest of the central Tokyo. In 1064,
Miyamoto’no Yoriyoshi built Hachiman’gū Shintō Shrine to dedicate for
the syncretic divinity of Shintō and Buddhism and of archery and war.
Later the shrine is called Egret Palace Big Shrine, Sagino’miya
Dai’myōjin, because many white egrets, sagi, lived in the precincts of
the shrine.
[*157] Saikaku Ihara Saikaku, born in 19 Kan’ei (Japan’s lunar
calendar) equal to 1642, and died on August 10, 6 Genroku (Japan’s
lunar calendar) equal to September 9, 1693. Saikaku was a Japanese
poet and creator of the ‘Floating World,” ukiyo’zōshi, genre of Japanese
prose.
[*158] Sakaki Sakaki (Cleyera japonica) is the evergreen plant
especially used as Shintō ritual offerings to Shintō gods. The botanical
Latin name, Cleyera japonica, came from Captain Andoreas Cleyera of
the Dutch Trading House in Dejima in Nagasaki. Sakaki was first
described in the Chronicles of Japan, Nihon Shoki, edited in 720.
Sakaki is a plant with opposing leaves, therefore, is not used in
Japanese traditional flower arrangements.
[*159] Sake Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage called nihonshu
made from rice based on kōji molds (Aspergillus oryzae). The
remaining rice paste, Sake’kasu, is edible and good for skin care. A
choko, hai, or sakazuki is used to drink sake, which is a small cup
especially prepared for drinking sake, made of ceramic or urushi
lacquered wood or other materials such as metal, glass, among
others. A choko when filled to the brim is 18ml, so Kin drank sake as
much as 0.09㎗, which is equal to a half a choko.
[*160] Sakurajima Sakurajima literally means a cherry tree/blossom
island, and is an active volcano. It was truly an island till the 1914
eruption, when the lava flows caused the island to be connected with
the Osumi Peninsula in Kagoshima.The author Hayashi Fumiko had
some connection with Sakurajima. Her mother Kiku was a daughter of
a hot spring inn in Sakurajima and lived with her third husband. The
author’s father, Miyata Asatarō was a young peddler. Asatarō and 36-
year-old pregnant Kiku ran away to Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi
Prefecture, where the author was born on December 31, 1903, 36 Meiji.
[*161] -san -san is a suffix used when calling others in Japanese. In
general, the Japanese call other people by their name plus a suffix. A
suffix such as -sama, -san, and -chan comes at the end of the name.
Imagine that you have a friend named Tarō, you can call him
Tarō’sama, Tarō’san, or Tarō’chan. For a girl as well, you can call her
Liyo’sama, and so on. In “Downtown,” Tsuruishi called Liyo ‘Oliyo’san.’
In old days, a prefix O- is used at the top of mainly women’s names for
politeness and familiarity such as Oliyo for Liyo, Osei for Sei, and
others. O- is not used very often in our days, except some cases. For
example, you can call such people as customers of your company,
guests, and visitors of your house, kyaku in Japanese, O’kyaku’sama so
that you can express them to be very important people to you. This
way, the suffix –sama is used for an honorable person, and the prefix
O- the name – the suffix was the formula a while ago. Although it
seems contradictory, the suffix -sama can be attached to anyone and
anything when you want to show your respect and affection for the
object. You can use it to call your favorite actor/actress as if he/she
were your adoring prince/princess. In the same way, you can call
Mishima Jinja Shrine as Mishima’sama to show your respect and
affection for the Shrine.
The suffix –san is for an ordinary use, which is used after the names
of any kinds of people. –kun is a suffix mainly used for boys and men,
and is used sometimes by a superior person like a boss towards his
subordinates including women. The suffix –chan can be used for
intimate people. When it comes to –chan, there is a well-known story
that Satō Ēsaku said in 1964 that he wanted to be called Ē-chan. Satō
Ēsaku was the ex-prime minister and the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize
receiver, born on March 27, 1901, 34 meiji, and died on June 3, 1975, 50
Shōwa. He visited Taiwan twice in 1965 and 1967 during his term. He
insisted that the defense of Taiwan was necessary for the safety of
Japan. He followed the US in most major issues, however, opposed the
Nixon visit to PRC, and also bitterly opposed the entry of the PRC into
the UN in 1971. Prime Minister Abe Shinzō is his kinship. Still another
example of the suffix -chan: Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an actor
favored by Japanese, and he is often called Schwa-chan by Japanese
fans.
Japanese call her or his friends and acquaintances by nickname if
familiar to her or him, the closer friends the shorter names. Elizabeth
has a variety of nickname patterns such as: Liza, Eliza, Ellie, Lily, Elly,
Lisbet, Lisbeth, Lizzie, Liza, Bettie, Beth, Betsy. You can call her, for
example, Elizabeth’sama, Liza’san, or Betsy’chan, from formality to
familiarity.
[*162] Sangen’jaya Sangen’jaya is a town in Setagaya Ward in
Tokyo. ‘Sangen’ means three houses, and ‘jaya’ is a pronunciation
change from ‘chaya.’ Sangen’jaya as a whole means three teahouses.
During the mid-Edo period, people traveled on foot to far-off
buddhist temples and shintō shrines for worshipping. Three
teahouses, Shigara, Kado’ya, and Tanaka’ya, lined the junction of
the pilgrimage route. So the place has been called Sangen’jaya
already since the early 1800s.
[*163] Satsuki Nobuko Satsuki Nobuko was born on February 13,
1894 and died on July 21, 1959 at the age of 65. She started her career as
a stage actress, and later became a movie star, well-known as one of
the top three marquee actresses at that time in Japan.
[*164] Sen Sen is a monetary unit which was used until the Edo
period in Japan. One tenth of one yen is equal to one sen.
[*165] Sennin The sennin is different in concept from hermits who
have withdrawn to a solitary place for a life or religious seclusion. The
sennin in Japanese came from xiānrén in Chinese mythology, which
are spiritually and physically immortal, and seek the elixir of life, and
have the role of sharman and use magics. In the novel, Floating
Clouds, in the chapter 33, Tomioka says that people do not have a
method to become the sennin. There is, however, a variety of training
methods like how to breathe and walk, the choice of a diet, where to
dwell, and others. The sennin, from time to time, recites charms and
use talismans. After all, the most important is to purify the mind and
body, and keep away from taboos such as a leakage of the spirit from
the body like a gas leak. The sennin should not eat five staple grains
such as rice, wheat, foxtail millet, broom-corn millet, and barnyard
millet, and so, eats pine nuts and the “kasumi” which means the
morning sun and the setting sun in the case of the sennin. The kasumi
usually means mist, haze, or fog, however, these are the taboo for the
sennin. There certainly is a female sennin, who is called the sennyo.
Long ago, in China, noble people who want to become the xiānrén
drank the “elixir,” which contained mercury, and suffered from
mercury poisoning.
[*166] Shamisen of futozao The shamisen, samisen, or sangen is
three-string musical instruments to be played using a plectrum, bachi.
Three different sizes of the shamisen are available such as the hosozao
literally ‘thin neck,’ the chūzao ‘middle neck,’ and the futozao ‘thick
neck,’ a choice of which depends upon types of music. The futozao is
chosen for the robust music like the puppet drama lyrics, the jōruri,
narrative music the gidayūbushi, rural popular music the min’yō, and
hilariously high pitch playing the tsugaru’jamisen.
[*167] Shinjuku Shinjuku is a prefectural center of Tokyo, where
Tokyo Government Office is located. Shinjuku also is office district,
and nightlife district along with Shibuya and Ikebukuro.
[*168] Shin’Koiwa Shin’Koiwa is a town in Katsushika, Tokyo, and
the railway station of the same name is operated by East Japan Railway
Company (abb. JR East).
[*169] Shinshū Shinshū was a province in the older days, and was
another name of Shinano’kuni, while the islands of Japan were divided
into countries, otherwise called provinces, kuni. Shinshū is still used
for referring to Nagano Prefecture.
[*170] Shintō Shintō is the indigenous spiritualty of Japan, spiritual
creatures of Shintō exist everywhere. The major deity of Shintōism is
the Sun named Amaterasu’Ōmikami, which means the Goddess
shining in heaven and characterized as the Goddess of the Sun and the
Universe. In Shintō, a round mirror is the most important sacred item,
and one single round mirror is placed in every Shintō shrine. The
reason is that the diety of Shintō is the Goddess of the Sun,
Amaterasu’Ōmikami, which is symbolized in the form of a round
mirror. The Emperor of Japan, Tennō is the descendant of
Amaterasu’Ōmikami, and simultaneously, the top priest of Shintō, who
worships Amaterasu’Ōmikami with rituals all the year round, details
unknown to us ordinary people.
[*171] Shirahige Shira- as Shirahige means white, and -hige means
beard. The name of Shirahige bridge came from Shirahige Jinja Shintō
Shrine which is located on the east riverside of the Sumida’gawa River.
[*172] Shitaya Shitaya extends to the western half of the Taitō Ward
in Tokyo. Shitaya, together with Asakusa, Honjo, and Fukagawa, is a
part of the contour of downtown areas in Tokyo. “Shita” as Shitaya
literally means “below, or down,” and “ya” means “lower region facing
uplands, or valley.” Shitaya is clearly the downtown.
[*173] Shizuoka tea Shizuoka has been known as a green tea
production area as early as 1362, 1 Jōji. Shizuoka prefecture is located
near Tokyo, therefore, Shizuoka tea sells well in the metropolitan area
and its peripheries.
[*174] Shuin’sen Shuin’sen, where the shuin literally means the red-
seal and sen ship, were Japanese armed merchant sailing ships, which
traded at Southeast Asian ports before and during the Edo period. The
merchant ships were derived of their cargo often by Chinese pirates,
which set sail from Fujian of the mainland China or Formosa.
Therefore, Tokugawa shogunate decided to issue red-sealed letter
patents, shuin’jō, in the first half of the 1600s to conspicuously
differentiate merchant ships from pirate ships. Japanese ships with no
red-sealed letter patent were not allowed to sail overseas.
[*175] Shō Shō is a reference unit of volume. Meiji government
adopted metric in 1891, 24 Meiji, and decided that the shō is a
reference unit of volume and that one shō is equal to 1.803 907 litres,
approx. 3.98lbs.
[*176] Shōji Shōji is a latticed panel, with a white sheet of traditional
Japanese paper, washi, pasted with rice glue to the frame. The
framework of shōji is made of wood or bamboo. The shōji is used in a
set of two pieces or more, and sometimes furnished with a glass
transom at the lower part. The shōji is available as a door or a
partition, and mainly to let the external daylight in the room. A sliding
lattice door or window, the shōji, is commonly furnished in Japanese
style houses and also allows privacy.
[*177] Shōsen Shōsen signifies the Ministry Lines or the Ministry
Railways. The national railway system in Japan was directly operated
by the central government from May 15 in 1920, 9 Taishō, until
November 1, 1943, 18 Shōwa.
[*178] Shunkan Shunkan, born in 1143 and died in 1179, was a monk
who was exiled along with two others to Kikai’ga’shima island on
charges of taking part in a failed uprising of the Shishigatani incident
of June 1177 against the rule of Tairano Kiyomori. Kikai’ga’shima island
is supposed to be Iwo Jima in Kyūshū, where the Battle of Iwo Jima was
waged from February 19 through to March 26, 1945. A pitiless painting
of Shunkan’s dreadful figure with unkempt long hair in rags of worn-
out clothes, staring in a direction of Kyoto on a rock of the isolated
island in blowing wind is well known in Japanese style woodcut,
ukiyo’e. http://data.ukiyo-e.org/waseda/images/401-0424.jpg
[*179] Siberia Thousands of Japanese POW soldiers were detained in
the Soviet Union and interned to work in concentration labor camps
in Siberia after the end of the Great East Asia War on August 15, 1945,
clearly a violation of International Law. The last group of 1,025
Japanese POWs was released on December 23, 1956.
[*180] Soba Soba is a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat
flour. Soba noodles are usually served in a square wooden box with
dipping sauce or in a hot broth as noodle soup. The square box for
soba is counted in the same way as a sheet of paper, ichi’mai, ni’mai,
and so on. Your order will be like this: “Soba ni’mai,” which means
“Soba, twice.”
[*181] Socket A socket-type outlet was invented in 1918 or 1919 by
Matsushita Kōnosuke, born on November 27, 1894 and died on April
27, 1989, the founder of ‘National,’ the original name brand of
Panasonic. A wall outlet was not available when the use of electricity
became widespread in Japan and electric lights were in general use at
home in the early 1900s. A code with a plug receptacle socket for an
exclusive use of an electric light was suspended from the ceiling. For
the use of another electronic device at home, an electric iron, for
example, a plug of the iron was screwed into the plug socket after
removing the plug of the electric light. A double plug socket to meet
the needs of housework was also Kōnosuke’s invention. For your
reference, in Japanese, a plug receptacle, a plug socket, or an outlet are
called ‘konsento,’ and written in katakana ‘コンセント’ like a foreign
origin word.
[*182] Song of the beach ‘Song of the beach, Hamabe’no Uta’ was
recorded in May 1916, 5 Taishō, lyrics by Hayashi Kokei. The composer,
Narita Tamezō, was born on December 15, 1893, in Kita’akita district in
Akita Prefecture, and died on October 29, 1945.
[*183] Song of Apples Song of Apples, Ringo’no Uta, was a theme
song in the 1945 movie, “Soft Breeze, Soyokaze,” and the first hit song
in Japan after the defeat in World War II. The song was released on
recod in January 1946 as a duet between Japanese actress Namiki
Michiko and a male singer Kirishima Noboru.
[*184] Sōseki Sōseki is the author’s name of Natsume Kinnosuke. His
writing style was full of wit and sophistication, plus a tint of agony. He
was born in Tokyo on February 9, 1867, and died in December 8, 1916.
Sōseki was a novelist of the Meiji period, 1868 through to 1912. His last
novel, Light and Darkness, Mei’an, 1916, was unfinished, when he died
at the age of 49 years and 10 months. On the 1984 banknote of 1,000
JPY is his portrait.
[*185] Sukiyaki Sukiyaki is the popular home cooking in Japan,
today. Japanese, however, did not eat meat during the Edo period,
although dishes called “sukiyaki” existed. In the past, the sukiyaki was
prepared in the way that fish, such as sea bream, tai, were boiled with
vegetables in the soup of fermented soybean paste, miso. After the
opening of a port Yokohama in 1859 (6 Ansē) to the oversea countries,
foreign people brought their meat-eating culture into Japan. At that
time, however, Japan had no livestock industry, so meat were taken
into Japan from overseas. Thereafter, Japanese gradually began eating
meat. Also in the Japanese favorite dish “sukiyaki,” sea bream was
replaced with thinly sliced beef, and the recipe changed, too. Popular
ingredients cooked with the beef are tōfu, long onion negi (Allium
fistulosum), shirataki noodle made of konyakku gel (Amorphophallus
konjac), leafy vegetables such as hakusai (Brassica
rapa var. pekinensis) and shungiku (Glebionis coronaria), mushrooms
such as shītake (Lentinula edodes) and enokitake (Flammulina
velutipes(Curt.:Fr.) Sing.). These ingredients, vegetable first, are put
little by little into a cauldron where the water of Japanese soup stock,
dashi, with soy souce and suger is boiled. People get together and
enjoy sake, boiled rice, or noodle, while eating the hot sukiyaki.
[*186] Susaki Susaki was originally wetland, and was reclaimed to
rearrange rivers as a transportation route to Tokugawa Shōgun’s
residence and the government center, Edo palace. From the Meiji
period through to 1958, 33 Shōwa, Susaki was a pleasure zone called
“Susaki Paradice,” in the same way as Yoshiwara, where many pleasure
palaces were built. On April 1st, 1958, 33 Shōwa, the Anti-Prostitution
Law was fully enforced, and the so-called red-light districts with cheap
brothels were abolished as well.
. . 。* T
[*187] Tabi The tabi is Japanese traditional ankle-high socks-like
footwear, with a separation between the big and other toe, and above
the heel is an opening with hook for easy wearing. A buckram of stiff
cotton fabric is attached on the sole for abrasion-proofing and easy
walking. The tabi is still demanded when wearing a kimono.
[*188] Taishō three beauties Taishō three beauties were
Yanagiwara Byakuren, Egi Kinkin, and Kujō Takeko. The author,
Hayashi Fumiko named her heroin in “Late Chrysanthemum” as Kin,
which came from Egi Kinkin. The other two beauties, Yanagiwara
Byakuren and Kujō Takeko, were as described below.
---------- ---------- ----------
Yanagiwara Byakuren, whose real name was Miyazaki Akiko, was
born on January 30 in 1877, 10 Meiji, and died on February 20 in 1930, 5
Shōwa. Byakuren was her haiku-poet name. Her father, Earl
Yanagiwara Sakimitsu, was born on May 4 in 1850 (March 23, 3 Kaei in
Japan’s lunar calendar), and died on September 2 in 1894, 27 Meiji. Her
mother, Okutsu Ryō, was the daughter of a warrior class, a geisha in
Yanagibashi in Tokyo. Ryō’s real father was Shinmi Masaoki, who was a
vassel of the Shyōgun during the end of the Edo period, and went to
the United States as the chief delegate to exchange instruments of
retification for the Treaty of Amity and Commerce or the Harris
Treaty, the Nichibei Shūkō Tsūshō Jōyaku, which was eventually signed
on the deck of the USS Powhatan in Edo Bay, now Tokyo Bay on July
29, 1858. The Meiji period started on November 9 in 1867 (October 14,
3 Keiō in Japan’s lunar calendar), and the warrior class was dismissed.
Thereafter, Ryō and her older sister was adopted by the Okutsu family,
then the sisters were sold as a geisha. The sisters were so beautiful that
everyone in Yanagibashi looked back at them. At the age of 16, after a
rivalry between Japan’s ex-prime minister Itō Hirobumi and Earl
Yanagiwara Sakimitsu, she became one of Sakimitsu’s concubines. Ryō
gave a birth to a girl, Akiko, at the age of 18, and died at the age of 21
on October 7 in 1888, 21 Meiji. Ryō was the niece of Yanagiwara Aiko,
the mother of Taiho Tennō, the emperor, therefore Ryō was Taiho
Tennō’s cousin.
Byakuren became the wife of Itō Den’emon in February in 1911, 44
Meiji, while Akiko was 25 years old and Itō Den’emon was 50 years old,
and was an industrialist and Chikuhō coal mine owner in Kyūshū. On
October 20 in 1921, 10 Taihō, she disappeared in Tokyo, and found
while she lived with a young man, Miyazaki Ryūsuke (November 2,
1892, 25 Meiji – January 23, 1971, 46 Shōwa). Ryūsuke graduated from
the Imperial University of Tokyo, and was a close friend of the Chinese
revolutionary, Sun Yat-sen ( november ,12 1866 – March 12, 1925) . The
Byakuren adulterious affair shook the society at that time. Later,
Ryūsuke became a lawyer, and Byakuren gave births to a son and a
daughter for Ryūsuke.
---------- ---------- ----------
Kujō Takeko was born on October 20 in 1887, 20 Meiji, and died on
February 7 in 1928, 3 Shōwa. Takeko was the second daughter of Ōtani
Kōson, who was born, during the Edo period, February 4 in 3 Kaei in
Japan’s lunar calendar, or March 7 in 1850, and died on January 18 in
1903, 36 Meiji. Her father was the 21st highest priest of Nishi’Honganji
Buddhist Temple in Kyoto. Takeko’s mother was a daughter of the
warrior class in Kishū, and a concubine of Ōtani Kōson. Takeko was an
educator and a poet.
[*189] Takadano’baba Takadano’baba in Shinjuku Ward is known as
a location of Waseda University, and students simplify the area name
as “Baba.” In 1636, the ground for horseback riding and horse racing,
baba, was built in the area by 3rd Shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu, born on
August 12, 1604 and died on June 8, 1651. Takadano’baba literally means
the baba of Takada, where Takada came from Takata, the family name
of the mother of the sixth son of Iemitsu’s grandfather, 1st Shōgun
Tokugawa Ieyasu.
[*190] Takamatsu Tōichirō Takamatsu Tōichirō was born on
January 8, 1911, 44 Meiji in Tochigi prefecture, and died on May 26,
1959, 34 Shōwa at the age of 48. He graduated from the Imperial
University of Tokyo, and was a journalist. After the war, he became a
professor at the University of Tokyo. He had a wife and children, and
yet, one of lovers of Fumiko, about which Fumiko’s generous husband,
Ryokubin, knew very well.
[*191] Tales of Ise The Tales of Ise, Isemo’monogatari, is a collection
of 209 waka poems associated narratives, which Ariwara’no Narihira
Ason (825 – 880) compiled, thus Narihira’s life and personality was
well reflected in the tales, provided that some pieces dating after his
death were added later. The tales consist of 125 sections with a total of
209 poems and prose, from which approximately 30 poems collected
also in the Kokin Wakashū later in 905.
[*192] Tanegashima The Tanegashima Space Center, a Japanese
space development facility, was founded in October 1969, 44 Shōwa.
Tanegashima is 172 mile2 in area and the second largest of the Ōsumi
Islands, and located in 71 miles south of Kagoshima Prefecture in
Kyūshū Island. Tanegashima has been occupied since at least the
Jōmon period, 12,000 BC. The Chronicles of Japan, Nihonshoki, which
completed in 720, described that the imperial court banqueted
islanders in 677. Portuguese first arrived in Tanegashima in 1614, and
traded guns and other goods with the Japanese. So, the firearms were
called as “Tanegashima” in Japan. Thereafter, the Tokugawa Shogunate
prohibited the arrival of Portuguese ships in 1639 until 1854. However,
the Portuguese left a lot of traces in words for the Japanese such as
kasutera, tempura, juban, among others. Kasutera came from sponge
cake, castilla. Tempura is deep fried seafood or vegetables, and the
name came from temperar of Portuguese. Juban is an undergarment of
the kimono and is visible from the neck or below the ankles, the
original word was gibão in Portuguese, which came from jubbah ‫ ﺟﺒﺔ‬in
Arabics.
[*193] Tanoji Tanoji or Tano’ma-style is a method of constructing a
house, which is prevalent in Kantō and Tōhoku districts in Japan.
Other variations are Edo’ma where Edo is Tokyo today, and Kyō’ma
where Kyō means Kyoto. The difference lies upon measuring methods
of dimensions. In the tanoji style, the length from the center of a pillar
to the center of another pillar is set to be 5.9 feet.
[*194] Tenmonkan Tenmonkan is the largest downtown and
entertainment district in Kagoshima Prefecture. Tenmon literally
means astronomy, and kan means facility. During the Edo period, the
25th feudal lord of Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Shigehide, born in
November 1745, 2 Enkyō and died at the age of 89 in January 1833, 4
Tempō, Holland style and culture devotee, built a research and
development facility for astronomical observation and calender as well
as almanac. The street name Tenmonkan came from this facility.
[*195] Tensei The ‘Tensei’ clearly comes from a four-kanji-character
proverb ‘Garyū Tensei’ 画⻯点晴 where ‘Garyū画⻯’ means a dragon in a
picture, and ‘Tensei点晴’ a finishing touch, and the proverb as a whole
signifies “Completing the eyes of a painted dragon,” or simply “A
finishing touch.”
[*196] 10,000 yen 10,000 yen of 1946 is equal to 8 million yen today
in 2014. Considering the corporate goods price index and the
consumer price index, one yen of 1898, 30 Meiji, is equal to 20,000 yen
today, and one yen of 1965, 40 Shōwa, is approximately equal to 1,438
yen in 2015. On the other hand, after the defeat in war, the annual
inflation rate was 59%. The cpi increased by 100 times during 3 years
and 6 months from October 1945 through to April 1949. One yen (100
sen) of 1945, 20 Shōwa, was approximately equal to 400 yen today.
However, in 1946, 21 Shōwa, one yen was about 800 yen. The storyline
of “Floating Clouds” dates back to 1943, 18 Shōwa through to 1946, 21
Shōwa, during and after the war. In Chapter 28, the bar master offered
10,000 yen for Tomioka’s Omega watch, which signifies approximately
8 million yen today, wow!
　
[*197] Tenugui A tenugui is a Japanese washcloth usually made of
cotton, 13.78” wide and 35.43” long. A use of tenugui is versatile. For
example, everyone is given a piece of cloth, tenugui, at the time of
house cleaning. Sometimes, a long cloth of light indigo is cut into
necessary pieces for the number of people who need tenugui for their
use. The tenugui is wrapped on the head, as hoods, to keep their hair
clean against the dust.
[*198] Tezuka Ryokubin Tezuka Ryokubin was born on January 6,
1902, 35 Meiji and died in 1989. Ryokubin, whose real name was
Masaharu, was a painter. His parents’ home in Nagano was a rich
farmhouse producing silkworm-egg cards. He and his one-year
younger Hayashi Fumiko got married at the end of 1926. Ryokubin was
always a sincere husband to his wife, despite that his wife, Fumiko, was
uninhibited.
[*199] 1,000 yen The price index was soared due to the black market.
After the defeat, annual inflation rate was 59%. The consumer price
index was 100 times in three years and 6 months, from October 1945
through to April 1946. The Present one yen was equivalent to 400 yen
in October 1945, 20 Shōwa, and 6 yen in April 1949, 24 Shōwa. So,
Tomioka gave 1,000 yen to Yukiko, which is equivalent, at least, to a
hundred or two hundred thousand yen at current rate, put simply, one
to two thousands dollars equivalent.
[*200] Tokonoma Tokonoma is an alcov, which first appeared in the
late Muromachi period, during the 14th to 16th century, along with the
rise of the tea ceremony. The tokonoma is somewhat an inevitable
item in a Japanese style room, even today.
There is a specific architectural style for the tokonoma. It was basically
a wall space. Later, a built-in recessed space was prepared as a
tokonoma in a Japanese style reception room. Usually, items for artistic
appreciation such as a calligraphic or pictorial scroll with arranged
flowers were displayed in the tokonoma. The tokonoma has easy
access, however, people may be expected to behave following the basic
traditional manners in a Japanese-style room furnished with the
tokonoma. The sitting order for them is also readily predetermined in
the room.
[*201] Tokuda Shūsei Tokuda Shūsei was born on December 12,
1871, 4 Meiji in Kanazawa city in Ishikawa prefecture, and died on
November 28, 1943, 18 Shōwa. Shūsei was one of the top ranking
authors in Japan, whose many works were made into movies. He was
acquainted with Fumiko as a war correspondent during 1938 in the
battle fields of China.
[*202] Torokko Torokko is a cart or tram like a minecart often used
in coal mines, and also is used in areas with poor road infrastructure
on steep mountain areas. In such areas, the torokko is privately used
by local inhabitants still today.
[*203] Totsuka Totsuka is a town in Yokohama city, Kanagawa
prefecture.
[*204] Tottori Prefecture Tottori Prefecture, facing the Sea of Japan,
is located in the Chūgoku region, and the least populated prefecture in
Japan.
[*205] Tsukiji Tsukiji is known by the Tsukiji fish market, which is
located along the Sumida’gawa River, on the land reclaimed during the
Edo period. Under the ground of Tstukiji fish market, nuclear
contaminated tsunas, genbaku maguro, were buried, which were
caught by a Japanese tuna fishing boat, the Daigo Fukuryū Maru, with
a crew of 23 men. The boat was exposed and contaminated by nuclear
fallout from the US Castle Bravo thermonuclear device test in Bikini
Atoll on March 1, 1954. Around Tsukiji fish market are delicious sushi
restaurants. A new fish market will open in Toyosu early in November
2016, the development of which was completed according to the 2004
Toyosu new Fish Market Master Plan led by the former governer
Ishihara Shintarō. In the concerned area in Toyosu, Tokyo Gas facilities
formerly existed and the soil was contaminated exceedingly in
reference to the national environmental standard of Japan, by 6
noxious substances such as lead, arcenic, hexavalent chromium,
cyanide, mercury, and benzene. The antipollution measures began in
2012 and are in progress with a budget of 103,500 million yen.
[*206] Tsunohazu Tsunohazu is the name of a place in the past,
which came from the hairdo of Watanabe Yohē, which looked like horns,
tsuno. Watanabe Yohē was a person who first entered and settled the
region during the Edo period in the late 1600s. The region has been called
Kabuki’chō since 1948, and is known as an entertainment district,
today, in the Shinjuku Ward in the Capital City, Tokyo.
[*207] Tsuruga Tsuruga is a city in Fukui Prefecture, facing Wakasa
Bay on the Sea of Japan, 80 km east from Maizuru, 97 km northeast
from Kyoto and 140 km from Osaka. Tsuruga is also the nearest city to
the Pacific Ocean. The naval port was installed in 1901 in Maizuru. In
1912, a port train from Shinbashi and in 1914 from Tokyo to Tsuruga
harbor connected to the Russian route for Vladivostok. Therefore,
cities of Maizuru and Tsuruga had important roles during World War
II.
[*208] Turon, Tourane Turon was the previous name of Da Nang,
which was known as Turon, or Tourane, during French colonial rule
since the 19th century. The capital was moved from Saigon (in
Cochinchina) to Hanoi (Tonkin) in 1902 and again to Da Lat (Annam)
in 1939 until 1945, when it moved back to Hanoi, and now in Ho Chi
Minh, the previous Saigon.
. . 。* U
[*209] Urashima Tarō and Otohime Urashima Tarō and Otohime
is a Japanese folklore of a fisherman who rescued a turtle and is
rewarded with a visit to the Dragon palace, the Ryūgūjō at the bottom
of the sea. He stayed for three days and had a happy time with Prince
Otohime. He returned riding on the turtle’s back to the previous
beach, and opened a jewery box, the Tamate’bako, given by Otohime.
As the result, he quickly transformed into an old man of 300 years.
The original source of this tale appeared in the Chronicles of Japan,
the Nihon Shoki, edited in 720.
[*210] Urushi Urushi is made of the poison oak, urushi’no’ki. (Rhus,
also Rhus vernicifera). This natural and toxic type of paint is the basis
for the traditional Japanese lacquer art. The raw lacquer is, at first,
turbid, and after curing by polymerization, it becomes clear and
amber in color. Prior to processing, the painter of the dried milk of the
toxic lacquer tree needs to be cleaned and reworked to obtain various
color tones. In the fresh state, the product has a bright yellowish-gray
color. Upon drying, the color changes in the range of dark brown to
black. The technique is called ‘Urushi,’ and the urushiol is the main
chemical component.
Objects coated with urushi are placed in a room for several days for
drying, which means that oxygen in vapor in the air harden the urushi.
The urushi, after drying, has a high hardness, low brittleness, and no
shrinkage cracks. The dry urushi is waterproof and is hardly attacked
by acids, alcohol, ether, or salt solutions. Its great resistance to
common liquids is the reason for appreciating urushi.
. . 。* V
[*211] Value of money The value of money increased by 7.5-fold
from 1949, 24 Shōwa to 2008, 20 Heisei. So, 300,000 yen and 400,000
yen in the novel are roughly 2,250,000 yen and 3,000,000 yen,
respectively, at present.
. . 。* W
[*212] Waka The waka is a semantical stanza consisting of 5-7-5-7-7
characters in Japanese, or syllables in other languages. The waka is
recently called as the tanka which literally means a short poem. The
waka and the tanka seem to be similar, which have 5 coherent clusters
of 5-7-5-7-7 characters with a total of 31 characters. The tanka as a
modern version of the waka, however, disregards traditionally
predefined promises and techniques of waka poetry, which has always
been maintained precisely in creating the waka.
[*213] Western style clothes Japanese women felt it easier to wear
the kimono, early in the Shōwa period until after the 1960s, on a daily
basis and as outfits in special occasions such as children’s classroom
visitations or PTA meetings. Therefore, very often in novels, women
wearing western style clothes were annotated so.
. . 。* X
[*214] Xina’jin Xina’jin signifies the Chinese, zhīnàrén. From the
geographical and historical standpoint, in reference to “Nuvus Atlan
Sinensis,” the word Xina’jin itself is free from a discriminative
connotation.
. . 。* Y
[*215] Yakushima Yakushima Island, 195 mile2 in area, is one of the
Ōsumi Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Yakushima has been
occupied since 12,000 BC, from the Jōmon period, and described in
Shoku Nihongi in 702. Yakushima was owned directly by Tokugawa
Shogunate during the Edo period, and then, designated the Imperial
possession, Tenryō, during the Meiji period. This is the reason that the
ancient flora and fauna was well protected. In 1980 an area of 73
mile2 was designated UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve. In
1993, 0.04 mile2 of Nagata’hama wetland was designated a Ramsar
Site, and the ancient forest became a Natural World Heritage Site.
Yakushima is the largest nesting ground for the endangered
loggerhead sea turtle in the North Pacific.
[*216] Yakushima cedar The term, Yakusugi, or Yakushima cedar, is
reserved for Japanese cedars, Cryptomeria, ages 1,000 years or more,
on the Yakushima Island, growing at altitudes of 1,640 ft and higher.
The first research of Yakushima cedars was made in the late 1500s. The
Meiji government, 1868 – 1912, prohibited residents from cutting trees
in Yakushima Island. After some law suits, the National Forestry
Bureau’s local office announced “the plan for forest management in
Yakushima” in 1921. By 2001, all the old growth trees in he National
Forest had been cut down except in the protected zones, thereafter,
commercial logging of natural yakusugi cedars had come to an end.
[*217] Yakuza The yakuza originally means déraciné,vagabond,
gambler, hoodlum, hooligan, and the like. They often earned their
livelihood by gambling. The spirit ‘to side with the weak and crush
the strong’ was a kind of catch phrase given to the yakuza. This
concept originated in the Muromachi period, 1336 – 1573, whilst the
gambling began in the Heian period, 794 – 1185. The gambler was
called tosē’nin. After the end of the Great East Asia War in 1945, the
words, gangsters and/or an organized crime syndicate, bōryoku’dan,
were often used. Along with it, the yakuza tended to mean members
of the bōryoku’dan. On the other hand, the original meaning of the
yakuza still remains, and thus, the yakuza does not always mean a
member of the organized crime syndicate, bōryoku’dan.
[*218] Yamabuki’sō Yamabuki’sō, where Yamabuki, Kerria japonica,
is a deciduous shrub in the rose family Rosaceae, native to Japan. The
flowers are bright yellow with five petals. “Yamabuki” is used in haiku
as a season word, kigo, for the spring. The haiku is a poem which
consists of 5-7-5 characters in Japanese or syllables in other languages.
(See page 225, Mei Yumi’s Japanese Literature 2014) - Sō as
Yamabuki’sō means an establishment for accomodations.
[*219] Yamada Isuzu Yamada Isuzu was an actress with an eight-
decade career on stage and screen. Her birth name was Mitsu, who
was born in Ōsaka on February 5, 1917 and died on July 9, 2012 at the
age of 95. Japanese film director Kurosawa Akira, born on March 23,
1919 and died on September 6, 1998, was invited to 1958 London Film
Festival, where the 1957 Kurosawa’s film, “Throne of Blood –
Kumonosu’jō” was projected in its opening. “Kumonosu’jō” literally
signifies “Spider Web Castle,” the storyline of which transposed
William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” to feudal Japan. Yamada Isuzu was
one of main characters in the film. During the feast, Kurosawa talked
together with Lord Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier.
Vivien was very much interested in Yamada Isuzu, and earnestly
repeated her questions to Kurosawa about Isuzu’s restrained acting
and her makeup on the scene of her becoming insane. Isuzu’s acting
had taken root from the 13th century Japanese Noh drama techniques.
[*220] Yosano Akiko Yosano Akiko, born on December 7, 1878, 11
Meiji, and died on May 29, 1942, 17 Shōwa, was a Japanese female
author, poet, active from the late Meiji period, through the Taishō to
the early Shōwa periods. The original Japanese of her poetry shown in
the novel is (1), and its English translation (2) as follows:
(1) Hitono mini arumajiki made tawawa naru
barato omoedo waga kokochi suru　　
(2) Unlikely enough for people richly adorned
roses are in bloom I feelingly adore
[*221] Yotsugi Yotsugi is located to the west of the Katsushika Ward
in Tokyo, along the east shore of the Arakawa River, facing the Sumida
Ward. Yotsugi is a community area, the center of which has the
Yotsugi station and the Katsushika Post Office. Houses and small- and
medium-sized factories, such as plating factories, coexist in this town.
[*222] Yotsuya’mitsuke Yotsuya’mitsuke station, at present, is a
station of the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line. Yotsuya is located in the
southerneast of Shinjuku. With the digging of the outer moat around
Edo Castle in 1634, temples and shrines moved to Yotsuya. Sophia
University is a short walking from the Yotsuya station, and Akasaka
State Guest House is also in the neighborhood.
[*223] “You were strong, Father - Chichi’yo anata’wa tsuyokatta”
Many Japanese applied for the prize of military song lyrics, the
competition of which was held by Asahi Shimbun Newspaper company
in October 1938, 13 Shōwa to encourage Japanese soldiers and
appreciate them for their hard duties overseas. Fukuda Setsu, an
ordinary Japanese woman who wrote this lyric, was awarded the
primary prize. The movie with this theme song was made to incite the
people to war, and, as a matter of course, the pictures taken by Asahi
Shimbun war correspondents were used in the movie. And yet, Asahi
Shimbun seems to think themselves legitimate to fabricate the war
crime stories and lies against Japan and accuse Japan and the Japanese
of war crimes.
[*224] Yukata Yukata literally mean bathrobe, a kimono–shaped
robe made of cotton fabrics with a variety of colors and pleasing
patterns. In old days, Japanese wore yukata as nightwear or sleepwear,
and, today, wear as outfits usually in summer, especially during the
season of Bon in July. Bon or O’bon is the Buddhist festival, which
begins on July 15 in the Japanese lunar calender. July 7 of the modern
solar calendar is a celebration day of stars and the day of a welcome
party for the deceased. During the bon period, Japanese worship the
family ancestors and the deceased family members. It is believed that
theirl spirits come back from the sky and visit their home during the
days of the bon. In communities, Bon Odori dancing festivals are held
as the most popular summer events usually in late July or mid-August
throughout Japan. At the Bon Odori, people wear yukata and dance in
the circle outdoors under the summer evening sky.
[*225] Yumoji The yumoji is an apron-like undergarment without a
crotch, for wearing under the kimono, and was used by women to
cover the under part of the body on a daily basis since the 700s Heian
period. Japanese women wearing the kimono did not use underpants
until after the end of the war. Western-style crotched underpants
gradually replaced the yumaki after the fire of the Shirakiya
department store in Osaka on 16 December 1932. When the fire
occurred, fire ladders were mounted, however, young sales girls
wearing the kimono with the yumoji underneath did not dare to
escape from upper floors through windows or even to go down the
ladders, for fear exposing their bottoms, and chose to stay inside and
burned to death. After this fire, women began to wear underpants.
The yumoji, however, was popular before World War II until after 1955,
30 Shōwa. At present, the yumoji is sometimes used as the
undergarment of a Kimono.
[*226] Yūzen Yūzen or yūzen’zome is a technique in dyeing. Colored
patterns are drawn by hand on fabrics, or frequent paper stencils,
katagami, are used, with which traditional patterns are printed on the
fabric. The kimono of yūzen’zome is popular today.
. . 。* Z
[*227] Zabuton Za’buton, where ‘za’ means ‘sitting’ and ‘buton’ is a
pronunciation change from ‘futon’; ‘za’ plus ‘futon’ changed into
za’buton. The zabuton is a Japanese cushion for sitting like a futon
beddings. A typical zabuton is a square of 20 to 30 inches each side,
and about 2 inches thick. It is advisable to learn properly how to sit
down on a zabuton. It is impolite to stand or step on a zabuton, and
the same can be said with a futon.
[*228] Zodiac In Asian countries, every year has its symbolic animal
as the 12 signs of the zodiac, and so, one cycle consists of 12 years. This
system, the Earthly Branches, was built from observation of the orbit
of Jupiter. The symbolic animals slightly varies by countries. In Japan,
12 signs of the zodiac are: Mouse, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake,
Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Wild Boar. 2015 is the year of the
Sheep.
[*229] Zōni The zōni is a Japanese New Year’s special dish, which is
the soup containing rice cakes, mochi. The taste, ingredients, and a
shape of mochi, either round or square, vary with families and regions
throughout Japan.
* * * * *

Wikipedia, along with other informative sites, was referred to from time to time while
preparing the translator’s note. And as a reference: Mei Yumi’s Japanese Literature 2014
edition containing Higuchi Ichiyō novels. ISBN-10: 1499517602 ISBN-13: 978-1499517606.
☆彡..。*・゜

©Mei Yumi & Hjosui Publishing 2015

ISBN-13: 978-1517080990
ISBN-10: 1517080991
Mei Yumi’s Postwar Japanese Literature

Preface
Late Chrysanthemum – Ban’giku 晩菊 November 1948
Downtown – Shita’machi 下町 April 1949
Floating Clouds – Uki’gumo 　 浮雲 April 1951
Postscript
Appendix Unit Kitagishi – Kitagishi Butai
北岸部隊 January 1939
Translator’s Note
Author Hayashi Fumiko 林芙美⼦
Translator & Writer Mei Yumi ⽬莞ゆみ

© Mei Yumi & Hjosui Publishing 2015

Hjosui Publishing
1548-6 Iiyama, Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan 243-0213
hjosui@gmail.com http://www.hjosui.com/

冰⽔パブリッシング
2015