Pathway to Japanese Literature
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The Ise ScrollAuthor: Izumi Kyoka
| Original Title | 伊勢之巻 |
|---|---|
| Author | 泉 鏡花 |
| Genre | Popular Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In the mist-shrouded pilgrimage roads of Meiji-era Ise, a penniless traveler lingers in a desolate tea shop, his gaunt frame and unspoken burdens intriguing the elderly proprietress. Across the lantern-lit thoroughfare, where paper dolls leer and sacred rivers whisper, a noblewoman cloaked in silk awaits at an opulent inn—her poise masking a clandestine yearning. As night deepens, their fates intertwine through veiled messages and vanished footsteps, drawing them toward a forbidden rendezvous steeped in otherworldly tension. Shadows blur reality: flickering octopus tentacles freeze in midair; jeweled lights guide phantom attendants; a shogi board materializes as both challenge and omen. Between crumbling tea houses and shrine gates heavy with ancient cedars, secrets unravel—of illicit love, spectral encounters, and a sculptor’s fragile grasp on mortality. Yet dawn approaches, threatening to dissolve the fragile boundary between devotion and delusion, leaving only the Isuzu River’s timeless flow to witness what vows or ghosts endure beneath Ise’s divine winds. |
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