Realm of the Dead by Uchida Hyakken

Realm of the Dead is a book I've been meaning to reach for a while now, published by Dalkey Archive Press in 2006 and translated by Rachel DiNitto, who has also written an in-depth study of Hyakken in Uchida Hyakken - A Critique of Modernity and Militarism in Pre-war Japan, (Harvard East Asian Monographs - 30). Realm of the Dead is made up of two books by Hyakken, the same titled Realm of the Dead/Meido from 1922 and also Triumphant March Into Port Arthur/Ryojun Nyujoshiku from 1934. Between the two volumes there is a one page preface from Hyakken for the collection Triumphant March Into Port Arthur, in which he goes some way in explaining the ten year gap between the publication of the two books, the main cause being the great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, reading this short preface from Hyakken comes the realization that Realm of the Dead is a book that would have perhaps been improved upon with the addition of at least a few pages by means of a further introduction or afterword to give a fuller con-textualisation to his writing and it's period. As well as writing an alternative version of I Am A Cat, Hyakken is also famous for being the subject of Kurosawa Akira's film Madadayo, in 1911 he was a pupil of Natsume Soseki, and after graduating from Tokyo University taught German at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy from 1916.

The two books consist mainly of short stories, 18 in Realm of the Dead and 29 in Triumphant March into Port Arthur, some of these in the later barely cover two pages, but reading Hyakken is to marvel at what he achieves in such a short space, his writing inhabits in lucid prose, realms of consciousness peeping out into vistas of the subconscious, or vice versa, at times surreal, reaching depths and heights that at times abruptly end as if their narrator is awakening from a dream or vision. Hyakken's compressed world is sometimes similar to that of Kafka, the inconsequential can be flipped over into being the consequential, plunging the narrator into philosophical explorations and interior ruminations which throw the narrator's world view into unexpected trajectories, the dilemma of a found wallet being one. Reading Realm of the Dead reminds me of the need to track out two other books, one being A Thousand One-Second Stories by Inagaki Taruho and the other is The Beautiful and the Grotesque by Akutagawa, in places it's interesting to remind yourself that Hyakken was for a time a contemporary of Akutagawa, perhaps he can be identified here appearing as Noguchi in the longer story The Bowler Hat, the narrator and Noguchi almost vie with each other as to who is the more affecting of the two writers, Noguchi departs the story eventually overdosing. Hyakken's stories do dip into some strange territories, one narrator finds himself being interrogated by melting police detectives, and although brief his stories impress with their unrelenting nature, in others the reader may pause and begin to question as to the motives behind Hyakken, or his narrator's reasoning in relating their narratives. In Whitecaps the narrator relates the story of how he and his Uncle find themselves rowing out to sea with the task of disposing of their pet dog that is guilty of biting a neighbour's child, reading Hyakken's stories sometimes feels that some could come closer to being described as narrative obstacles rather than ending with clear conclusion, although an overriding one could be that sometimes life is not good.

Across both of the books of stories there are number of different styles and narrative forms, some are dark explorative fictions, some feel that they maybe inspired from real life experiences and settings, there are a number here set in Hosei University, (including the title story of Triumphant March into Port Arthur), where Hyakken taught and perhaps if you are well grounded in Taisho/early Showa era history, some of the symbolism and portraits will begin to come into sharper focus, the story Triumphant March into Port Arthur is a far from being a celebratory narrative following the narrator watch a newsreel of the battle, which is centred around the meeting between General Nogi and General  Stessel, the narrator leaves the theatre with tears down his face, loosing all sense of his bearings he describes - 'The crowd kept clapping. My cheeks wet with crying, I fell into formation and was led out into the quiet of the city streets, out into nowhere'. Many of the stories feel that they have a metropolitan setting, but amongst these The Carp seems to pause for a moment to offer at what first appears as a landscape view, although with Hyakken it doesn't take too long before things begin to take on an alternative perspective, the narrator finds himself pursued into the landscape, the motives or identities of his pursuers uncertain, a mountain range comes into view, one pointing up resembling the dorsal fin of a carp, at points the delineation between land and sky becomes distorted, a spot of bright light appears and the narrator can hear an echoing sound that seems to grow in volume, the narrator finds himself on the other side of the light, staring back he notices that the side he was in is shaded in darkness, before him he observes a lake, in it a beautiful carp swims, the narrator becomes entranced by the fish, whose reflection he can see projected or reflected in the sky, the story ends with the narrator trying to restrain himself from diving in to swim with the beautiful fish. It's a beguiling story, reading it again on it's own and taken out of the stream of narratives from these stories, is to realise Hyakken's ornate  combination of allegory and modernist prose, to read The Carp is to perhaps picture a narrator witnessing an aspect of one of the stories from Ugetsu Monogatari - Muo no Rigyo/A Carp That Appeared in My Dream, and in another of one transcribing the journey from the mortal into the immortal, a fascinating collection that rewards after repeated reading.  


Realm of the Dead at Dalkey Archive Press                       

Light and Dark: A Novel



Light and Dark is a novel to be best read with the phone off the hook and the internet left unconnected, in this new translation by John Nathan it comes in a page shy of 420, originally published in 188 instalments in 1916 of the Tokyo and Osaka editions of the Asahi Shinbun,  Sōseki passed away before being able to finish it, although on his desk was left the blank paper with the number for instalment number 189 written in and waiting to be filled. As with all unfinished novels the mystery hangs over what was meant to be, reading the book feels slightly akin of finding oneself within a confined space but with the added dimension of the door being left open at one end. John Nathan in his introduction points out that in it's incompleteness it is complete, everything we need to know is there in what we have, perhaps it brings to mind the conundrum that faces all artists of when is their painting actually complete?. Perhaps it could also be said that with Light and Dark you could approach a reading of it with these two perspectives in mind, one of it being presented as a novel and secondly of the original appearing in instalments, of the events arriving sequentially. Columbia University Press have presented a fantastically produced edition of the book with the original illustrations from Natori Shunsen, a master of yakusha-e, heading each of the numbered instalments and when slipping the book's jacket off, the hardcover comes with an illustrated embossed cover and the page cut comes deckle edged, it's a handsomely produced edition to behold.

At the centre of Light and Dark is Tsuda and O'Nobu, newly wedded, Tsuda being slightly the eldest, they are still dependant financially on monthly contributions from Tsuda's father in Kyoto, which at the beginning of the novel begins to cease being paid, perhaps this is a possible punishment for past deeds?. Reading Light and Dark is no small commitment on the reader's behalf, it is a substantial read, being more lengthy than I Am A Cat, whilst reading invariably the mind turns to contemplate Sōseki writing it in his state of deteriorating health and of also noting at the same time some aspects and familiar motifs associated with the author that occur within the text, in one scene a visit to London is recalled,and dotted through the book are occasional references to Chinese poetry and proverbs, in another brief and fleeting scene the ethics of Naturalism are shown to be ineffectual, added to this Tsuda suffers from stomach lesions for which he his operated upon. Much of the drama of the novel is mainly passed through few characters, the character that appears to receive most of the attention and study is Tsuda who spends most of the novel recuperating from his operation, whilst in bed he receives visits from among others Kobayashi, who is imminently departing for Korea, Kobayashi is a man, although they may have shared a friendship in the past, is in ways the antithesis of Tsuda, towards the end of the book there is a showdown between the two where the men vent their scorn toward each other and their different senses of morality, throughout the book Kobayashi has held the upper hand to Tsuda's assumed respectability as he knows an episode from Tsuda's past which he threatens to relate to O'Nobu, it comes down to a question of money, where again Kobayashi is again unable to resist from exacerbating and demonstrating Tsuda's moral bereftness, it could be said that Kobayashi is testing out elements of the moral pretensions of the day, it's left to us whose right holds out. Throughout the book the reader's sense of empathy shifts between Tsuda and O'Nobu, (as it does more subtly between Tsuda and Kobayashi), a subplot earlier in the book is the possibility of a miai in the family and this provokes O'Nobu to revaluate her marriage compatibility with Tsuda, who by turns we get the impression has had his hand slightly forced into the marriage, the interplay of these considerations on their parts it could be said is back dropped by the world of stifled conventions that have no interest in real or true desires.

Across its panoramic vision it could be said that Light and Dark is a novel of varying contrasts, the title is one that rather being represented in any one scene, (among these ones which we are left with), but one that is hinted to in a number of scenes of one being thematic, throughout these we're reminded of Sōseki's interest in Buddhist thinking and of life's continual dualism, as seen in Uncle Fujii's theories on male and female relationships, in which moments of enlightenment are reached and constitute a larger circle of harmony then disharmony, rather pointedly O'Nobu criticizes Fujii by admonishing him, 'You're so long winded Uncle'. The secret in Tsuda's past withheld from O'Nobu is also something described as being something kept in the dark, these contrasts can also be seen when Madam Yoshikawa visits Tsuda and discussing Kiyoko-san she asks him 'I imagine you still have feelings for Kiyoko-san?', he replies with 'Do I appear to have feelings?' Madam Yoshikawa replies with, 'For just that reason. Because they don't appear'. Reading Sōseki there's always a sense of drifting between worlds, Meiji into Taisho, which also enables to step out and transcend the age of their setting. An aspect that imbues his work is a sense of the organic that filters through, there's  almost an utter lack of pretension in his characters which impresses them and their predicaments into the reader's sphere of empathy, and although he was tackling contemporary issues of his day there's a feeling in his writing that despite all being impermanent he sees things from the fixed point of the heart, through all it's wanderings, be they through the labyrinth of corridors of a distant onsen, of the opposing predicaments of love and then to end on the enigma of a smile.



Light and Dark at Columbia University Press     

 

Rivalry by Kafu Nagai

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Recently published in paperback, this translation by Stephen Snyder is the first complete translation of Rivalry/ Udekurabe to appear in English, the translation from 1963 by Kurt Meissner and Ralph Friedrich was taken from an early commercial and incomplete edition of the novel, Snyder's translation includes passages and scenes that were edited out due to their erotic nature. The novel was first serialized in Japan in 1916, whilst reading the novel and almost turning every other page I couldn't help but be confronted with the age old question - what constitutes a classic?. It would be interesting to read a criticism of the novel from a feminist perspective, although Kafu's narrative has a subdued empathy for the women depicted in it, the panorama offered through the portraits of the characters offers an in depth insight into the Taisho age and the receding world of the geisha, the novel  steps out of being a gender study or character study but depicts the human world in all of it's fragility and exhausting desperation, nearly all the characters are wrestling with how fate will treat them. The novel seems to dip into differing genres and narrative styles, sometimes the reading feels fabalistic as if coming from the old world, but then by turns it serves to chronicle Kafu's contemporary world, both exploring the inner world of the main character, Komayo, a bereaved woman and geisha returning to the area she had started off from, and then also moving from character by character it begins to examine each of their worlds and inner thinking. Set predominantly in Shimbashi the action of the novel spills over into Tsukiji and Asakusa,  topographically  the novel is of huge interest, the narrative informs with many references and descriptions of the geisha's world, in particularly the hairstyles and clothing of the geisha. Initially Komayo meets Yoshioka, a man she had known from her past, the relationship though is strained, true intentions remain obscure, through a meeting of another character, Komayo's heart begins to be pulled in another direction.

Although the main narrative follows Komayo's progress, the novel's focus dips in and out of the lives of the orbiting characters, creating a fascinating patchwork of characters representative of the times, the slightly lecherous Yoshioka, the man whom Komayo had a previous relationship, also Jukichi and Gozan who run the geisha house where Komayo is based, and at the beginning they receive a visit from novelist and storyteller Kurayama Nanso, who has a later chapter devoted to him where what appears to be an abandoned house holds an enchantment for the writer, this scene in turn though Kafu uses to make connections with the other pivotal character to the book, Segawa Isshi a famous onnagata actor, who becomes the potential suitor at the centre of the rivalry. Nanso is a curious character with a deep empathy of the passing of the old, the reader can't help from contemplating how much of Kafu could be depicted in Nanso. As the book continues another sub-narrative emerges concerning the sons of Jukichi and Gozan, Shohachi and the wayward Takijiro, another narrative follows Segawa when he meets poet/writer Yamai Kaname, described as the 'Verlaine of Japan', who contemplates writing a novel in the style of The Cathedral by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, through these fragmented but inter joining narratives Kafu opens up an area of narrative space, objectifying the characters and their environment, the prose becomes imbued with a fully realized but questioning and curious nostalgia. The narrative returns again to Komayo facing her fate amidst the competition for Segawa, Kafu shows that sometimes fate can turn and intervene in spite of the human effort exerted in order to shape it, a fascinating novel.

Rivalry - A Geisha's Tale at Columbia University Press              

The Lemon

'The Lemon' is a 1925 short story by Kajii Motojiro, born in Osaka in 1901, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis at an early age, which tragically took his life at the age of 31. A small number of his stories appear in English translation, although there's no collection of his available in one volume, some are available in various anthologies. The Lemon is one of his stories that was very popular in Japan, achieving great notoriety, with many of it's admirers emulating the actions of the protagonist's at the end of the book. It has a modernist feel to it, Kawabata highly praised Kajii's stories,with an ending that I found, whilst reading, impossible to predict. Along with five other classics of Japanese literature, it looks like The Lemon will be adapted into a short film.

The narrator walks the streets of Kyoto, through rundown streets, trying to escape a sense of melancholy weighing him down,feeling at odds with his surroundings. Suffering from tuberculosis,with no money, he finds a certain pleasure in the simple things he sees, the wrappers of fireworks in shop window displays. Walking along Teramachi he comes across a green grocer's store,and discovers what could be an elixir, in the shape of a lemon. Finding that the lemon has instilled in him a temporary reprieve from his sufferings, he walks into a book store. Going to the art section he is suddenly seized with a flash of inspiration.

Cold Green Tea Press, a DIY publisher have recently released an illustrated chapbook edition of the story, translated by Chinatsu Komori and Kenneth Traynor, which is available here.

Cold Green Tea Press

A Dark Night's Passing

Shiga Naoya's, 'A Dark Night Passing' is a book that I can't seem to see a readily available edition of in print, which is a little sad, although available through the usual second hand outlets. This edition is the Kodansha paperback, translated by Edwin McClellan. A novel in four parts, serialized mainly over the years 1921/22/23 in the magazine Kaizo, then the final segment was published in 1937. Although the book is, lets say,(in some parts), nearly approaching ninety years old, it still retains a modern feel. It's sometimes known as an 'I' novel, but there is maybe a little too much of the narrative mode to qualify. Well known for his short stories collected in 'The Paper Door and other Stories', 'A Dark Night's Passing' is his only novel to make it into English thus far.

The story is centred primarily around the character Kensaku, revealing different episodes in his life. As a child Kensaku's mother passes away, and he's moved into his grandfather's house, already in the house is Oei, who is senior to Kensaku by twenty years and is employed by the family to look after grandfather, also you are introduced to an array of characters who come to the house, usually to play cards. Kensaku's relationship with his father from his earliest memories has been strained, Kensaku recalls that once a playful fight turned nasty, his father tying his hands behind his back, and when Kensaku bursts out crying, his father tells him that he was only joking, and unties him, but Kensaku senses something maybe more malevolent in his father's eyes, the relationship with his father, and his mother that he never got to know are revealed piece by piece as the novel progresses. The story moves to Kensaku as a young writer, frequenting geisha houses, with high school friends, you learn that he has a brother Nobuyuki, who lives slightly beyond his means and two younger sisters, also that Kensaku had proposed marriage to Akio, but the offer was turned down by her family, the reason revealed later in the novel, the rebuff hurts Kensaku. When he tells his father of his proposal, his father's reaction is icy, telling Kensaku that it's his own business to sort out, unusal in that age, where the parents played a large hand in their childrens marital matters, and organised marriages. After more visits to a particular geisha house, Kensaku becomes enamoured by the geisha Tokiko, and it seems he can't summon the courage to act on his fascination for her, and the relationship fizzles out before it starts. Tokiko in the end can't seem to shake Kensaku out of his lethargic and directionless life in Tokyo.

In an effort to change his life and concentrate on his writing he decides to take the ferry and move to Onomichi, taking a tour of the local shrines and visits nearby islands. He finds a house, which needs a little work but he rents it, and his work starts well. He encounters the local prostitute, (a habit he had started back in Tokyo before leaving). After sometime his work rate slows and his listlessness returns, and he comes to the realization that he wants to marry Oei, even though she is twenty years his senior, and with his father's disinterest in his affairs, he concludes that it's the right thing. He writes a letter to his brother to put the proposal to Oei, days later he gets the reply from his brother that his proposal is turned down, his brother fearing that the rejection will depress Kensaku further, asks him to return to Tokyo, which he does. On his train ride back, Shiga Naoya gives a little portrait of a family on the train, there's diversions throughout the book, also on the ferry to Onomichi, an Australian returning home, these give the book a sometimes kaleidoscopic feel. Back in Tokyo his brother tells Kensaku another piece of the puzzle regarding the history of their family, regarding his parentage. Regardless of his proposal being turned down Kensaku decides to carry on living at the house with Oei, and his brother also tells him that he is going to quit his job and study Zen. After time Kensaku gets drawn to Kyoto with it's temples and history, and whilst walking he sees a woman working in a house close to his lodgings and falls for her immediately. Oei meanwhile has had an offer of moving abroad to work in a relative's business, and is set to leave soon, Kensaku decides to make the move to Kyoto to pursue the woman he saw.

The continuity of 'A Dark Night's Passing' doesn't seem to suffer too badly despite it being published in segments, the picture of pre-war Japan that it portrays when arranged marriages were more common, although that's not solely what the book is concerned about. Kensaku's situation in this regard tho' must have connected instantly with readers, not really mentioned in the book directly, but here's an insight into Miai. The novel gives an invaluable look at Japan at this time, given through Kensaku's eyes. Kensaku's search for a relationship that maybe will give meaning to his life is a compelling read.

Mandarins

Much to my shame I'd not read any of Akutagawa's stories before picking up this collection, I'd seen 'Rashomon', the Kurosawa film which was based on two Akutagawa stories, 'Rashomon' and 'In A Grove' and I'd been meaning to explore Akutagawa ever since. These 15 stories capture Akutagawa's great talent as a master of short story writing. Akutagawa was mainly writing in the Taisho period (1912-1926), and was a pupil of the great Meiji novelist Soseki Natsume, whom he greatly admired. Akutagawa committed suicide in 1927 by taking an overdose of Veronal, an early form of barbiturate, at the age of 35. This collection covers stories that span his entire career, 'The Handkerchief' an early story from 1916, to later stories like 'The Life Of A Fool' and 'Cogwheels' from 1927. Also this collection includes 3 stories published in English for the first time. 'An Evening Conversation', 'An Enlightened Husband' and 'Winter'. After reading a story like 'The Handkerchief ' where a professor's sense of bushido is questioned after receiving a visit from the mother of one of his students who had recently died, Akutagawa's inclusion of details, like the Gifu lantern really places you in the professor's company, when contemplating that Akutagawa was about 24 when he wrote this story, you can see why Soseki was so taken with Akutagawa.

Another story that stood out for me, was 'An Enlightened Husband', largely narrated by Viscount Honda, who's lament at the passing of the early Meiji era seemed to strike a chord, it seems that most of the characters in this collection, and maybe Akutagawa's stories as a whole, speak about a world now lost to them, although the stories in this collection are set in different time periods. I found so much in the detail included in these stories about an array of things I've not come across before, from the mention of the novel 'Nanso Satomi Hakken' to Shiki-shima cigarettes. Along with his seamless translation, Charles De Wolf's notes at the back of the book, are a great source of biographical and historical information on each of the stories, and it was interesting to learn that Akutagawa collaborated with Tanizaki Junichiro, I knew that they both had connections to Tsukiji, I think being there roughly at the same time, but didn't know that they had actually worked together.

Akutagawa's stories have a melancholic streak about them, and a supernatural element, something which is hinted at in 'At The Seashore', with a mysterious voice and the mention of a ghost, maybe the two are related?, and also in 'Cogwheels'. Akutagawa studied English literature, writing a piece on William Morris, and he travelled in Russia and China, it would be nice to think that one day maybe a collection of Akutagawa's non-fiction/essays would be published. Indeed names from European and Russian Literature are mentioned throughout the collection, not only Goethe, Strindberg, Baudelaire, Tolstoy, but also authors who were Akutagawa's contemporaries, Cocteau and Raymond Radiguet. In the story 'O'er Withered Moor', Akutagawa explores the thoughts of those assembled around the great poet Basho, as he lays out on his death bed. The story 'Winter' has a very Russian feel to it, maybe due to the narrators mention of his astrakhan hat. A story I've heard the name mentioned many times before is 'Life of a Fool', which for me overshadowed the rest in this collection, along with 'Cogwheels' published posthumously 3 months after his death. 'The Life of a Fool' is 51 short fragments each with a different subtitle, each a little snapshot concerning episodes of the authors life, that ends with noting the brief relative lucidity after taking the dose of Veronal.

Some video footage of Akutagawa can be found here.

archipelago books