Pathway to Japanese Literature
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The Smile of the GodsAuthor: Akutagawa Ryūnosuke
| Original Title | 神神の微笑 |
|---|---|
| Author | 芥川 竜之介 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | On a tranquil spring evening in 16th-century Japan, Padre Organtino, a Portuguese missionary, wanders the gardens of Nanban Temple, torn between devotion to his faith and an unshakable melancholy. Though surrounded by converts and the scent of roses, an invisible force gnaws at him—a presence woven into the land itself. Visions haunt him: spectral chickens swarming a sanctuary, a Bacchanalian revelry of ancient gods, and echoes of *Amaterasu Ōmikami*, Japan’s sun goddess, whose voice declares dominion over mountains and seas. When a mysterious old man materializes—a spirit of the land—he warns Organtino that foreign gods inevitably bend to Japan’s transformative power, just as Buddhism and Confucianism once did. The missionary clings to faith, yet doubt lingers like twilight shadows. Is his mission divine or doomed? Between whispered prayers and spectral encounters, Organtino confronts a timeless clash: the relentless tide of tradition against the fervor of conversion. But in this land where cherry blossoms drift like ghosts and gods dwell in every stream, even certainty dissolves into mist. |
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