Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

The Multitude of the PoorAuthor: Miyamoto Yuriko

Original Title	貧しき人々の群
Author	宮本百合子
Genre	War & Social Literature
Author Type	Female Author
Summary	In a remote mountain village steeped in poverty, three brothers huddle around a hearth, their hollow eyes fixed on a pot of boiling potatoes. Hunger gnaws at them ceaselessly, twisting familial bonds into rivalry as they brawl over meager portions. Nearby, a privileged young woman observes their desperation, her attempts at kindness met with venomous distrust. These children of tenant farmers see her not as a benefactor but as an extension of the oppressive system that leeches their parents’ labor. \nHaunted by their scorn, the woman confronts her own complicity in a world where wealth and suffering run parallel. She navigates the village’s stark realities—a madman tormented by crowds, an elderly beggar clinging to survival, a consumptive girl withering unseen—each encounter chipping at her naivety. Yet every gesture of aid feels trivial against the weight of generational inequity. When a shocking act of theft forces her to confront the raw humanity of those she pities, idealism collides with harsh truth. Can empathy bridge a chasm forged by centuries of exploitation? The answer lies in the quiet defiance of the hungry, the resilience of the broken, and a reckoning with privilege that threatens to unravel her very identity.