Pathway to Japanese Literature
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The Scroll of the Divine HeronAuthor: Izumi Kyoka
| Original Title | 神鷺之巻 |
|---|---|
| Author | 泉 鏡花 |
| Genre | Detective & Mystery |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In the shadowed forests of Ōshū, young traveler Senkichi encounters a realm where divine wrath and human folly intertwine. Guided by the cryptic village elder Magohachi, he learns of Shirasagi Myojin—a goddess whose sacred grove harbors a blade that strikes down transgressors with merciless precision. Whispers of cursed hunters, a scholar’s obsession with heron nests, and a lover’s vanished fate seep through the mist-laden air. At Saimeiji Temple, Senkichi meets Osei, a woman bound by ancestral ties and a haunting pregnancy, her presence entwined with peony blooms and spectral visions. As forbidden shrines and shape-shifting omens blur reality, Senkichi is drawn into a dance of devotion and danger, where vengeful deities and mortal secrets collide. Beneath the enoki trees, a question lingers: Will reverence or recklessness claim those who dare glimpse the heron goddess’s truth? |
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