Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

Possessing SpiritAuthor: Toyoshima Yoshio

Original Title	憑きもの
Author	豊島与志雄
Genre	Modern Short Fiction
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	A disoriented editor retreats to a secluded mountain hot spring with Akiko, a woman whose unnerving gaze clings to his skin like a phantom’s grip. Their relationship, devoid of conventional affection, is steeped in a toxic symbiosis—he drowns in alcohol to mute her haunting presence, while her vacant eyes pierce through his defenses, leaving him ensnared. Hallucinations of disembodied eyes plague him, blurring reality and delusion, as he grapples with addiction and a creeping sense of possession. \nAkiko’s meticulous control over their surroundings—anticipating his every need, dictating his routines—deepens his paranoia. A perilous climb up Mount Asama’s smoldering crater becomes a metaphor for their spiraling dynamic: teetering on edges both literal and psychological. In moments of drunken vulnerability, he oscillates between desperate dependence and fleeting urges to sever their bond violently. \nEerie and atmospheric, the narrative weaves alcoholism’s decay with uncanny horror, where love curdles into obsession, and the line between human agency and supernatural influence dissolves. The unresolved tension simmers, promising a descent into darker truths about control, identity, and what it means to be truly possessed.