Pathway to Japanese Literature

Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.

SorceryAuthor: Izumi Kyoka

Original Title	妖術
Author	泉鏡花
Genre	Popular Fiction
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	Amidst Tokyo’s capricious spring weather—where plum-scented breezes clash with sudden downpours—a chance encounter unfolds. A young woman, ethereal as mist, alights from a streetcar, her indigo umbrella and silk robes defying the rain’s chaos. Funazaki Kazuharu, a weary salaryman nursing a hangover, impulsively follows her into the storm. Drawn by her enigmatic allure, they share shelter beneath her snake-eye umbrella, their banter laced with unspoken tension. \nShe leads him through Asakusa’s rain-drenched streets to a hidden teahouse, where flickering pea blossoms and shadowed corridors blur reality. Claiming to be a magician, she conjures butterflies from a fan, their dance mirroring her elusive nature. Yet as quickly as she appeared, she vanishes—leaving Kazuharu bewitched, his wallet lighter, and his certainty unraveled. \nWhat begins as a flirtation steeped in coquetry spirals into a riddle: Is she a performer, a thief, or something more otherworldly? Between downpours and drifting petals, the line between enchantment and deception dissolves—one moment a shared laugh, the next a phantom in the lantern-lit dark. Will her magic offer transcendence or ruin? The rain holds its breath.