Pathway to Japanese Literature
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| Original Title | 修道院の秋 |
|---|---|
| Author | 南部 修太郎 |
| Genre | Popular Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | A solitary traveler departs Hakodate’s mist-shrouded harbor aboard a steamer, the northern autumn pressing its melancholy upon him—a landscape of indigo waves, distant mountains veiled in cold clouds, and seagulls dissolving into the horizon like snowflakes. His destination: a Trappist monastery clinging to Hokkaido’s rugged coast, where monks live in perpetual silence, labor, and prayer. Alongside a pragmatic businessman named K, he navigates the stark beauty of pastures and crumbling cliffs, guided by Mr. S, a man whose 23 years at the monastery have etched his face with quiet resignation. Within red-brick walls, foreign and Japanese monks move like statues, their vows severing them from worldly desires. The traveler’s curiosity curdles into unease as he confronts their asceticism—lives stripped of warmth, voices reserved only for Latin hymns. Yet amid the echoing corridors and tolling bells, doubt lingers: Is this devotion or desolation? A mirror to his own restless soul, the monastery’s silence whispers questions about faith’s cost and whether peace lies in renunciation—or in embracing life’s chaotic, imperfect hum. |
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