Pathway to Japanese Literature
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That FaceAuthor: Hayashi Fubō
| Original Title | あの顔 |
|---|---|
| Author | 林 不忘 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In the bustling heart of Edo, Okumi lives a life of enviable privilege—adored by her devoted husband, Shōkichi, surrounded by wealth, and cherished as a mother. Yet beneath this veneer of contentment, an unsettling force gnaws at her. Vivid, recurring nightmares plague her sleep: a windswept coastal cliff, a decaying temple, and an enigmatic man whose presence lingers like a shadow. These dreams, once childhood terrors thought long forgotten, return with haunting intensity, blurring the line between memory and premonition. \nWhen Okumi stumbles upon a dusty portrait of Iwaizumi Hansaburō—a long-deceased actor whose face mirrors the spectral figure from her visions—her reality fractures. Desperate for respite, she retreats to a remote seaside village, only to discover the eerie landscape of her dreams materialized in waking life. As storms rage and fate tightens its grip, Okumi is drawn toward a chilling convergence of past and present, where love, obsession, and the supernatural collide. \nWhispers of a forgotten history and a love that defies time seep through every page, leaving Okumi—and the reader—to question what is dream, what is destiny, and what price must be paid when the two entwine. |
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