Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

Human RecordAuthor: Yumeno Kyūsaku

Original Title	人間レコード
Author	夢野久作
Genre	Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	On a storm-laden October evening in 1930s Japan, a skeletal Westerner disembarks from a ferry in Shimonoseki, his hollow eyes and ghostly demeanor drawing uneasy stares. Clutching a silver-tipped cane, he drifts toward customs, shadowed by a pockmarked gentleman and a Korean accomplice who sends a cryptic telegram to Tokyo. Meanwhile, a Chinese-dressed intelligence mastermind in a nearby hotel dissects suspicions: the frail traveler is no ordinary man but a “Human Record”—a Soviet courier implanted with covert messages through experimental brain manipulation. Aboard the night train to Tokyo, two undercover agents posing as bellboys deploy clandestine technology to extract hidden propaganda from the old man’s drugged subconscious, revealing a plot to destabilize Japan. As tensions escalate between nations, the agents race to decode the truth before geopolitical rivalries erupt. But the Human Record’s fate hangs precariously: a disposable pawn in a game where betrayal is currency, and survival hinges on secrets even he cannot remember. What unfolds is a labyrinth of espionage, where loyalty dissolves and innovation becomes weaponry.