Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

'The Old Couple'Author: Kuroshima Denji

Original Title	老夫婦
Author	黒島伝治
Genre	Modern Short Fiction
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In a remote Japanese village, an aging farmer and his wife sacrifice their meager resources to fund their only son’s education, mortgaging fields and enduring sleepless nights of labor. Their hopes rest on Seizo’s promised success after graduating from a prestigious Tokyo school. Yet each academic milestone deepens their debt and isolation—first an extra year of study, then a sudden illness draining their last savings. When Seizo finally secures a corporate job and marries into urban sophistication, the couple abandons their rural life for Tokyo’s gleaming modernity. But the city offers no solace. Clad in threadbare country clothes, they tiptoe around their refined daughter-in-law’s disdain, stifling dialect and habits that mark them as relics. Between silent meals and half-hearted sightseeing, they nurse quiet regrets: Was their son’s ascent worth losing home, dignity, and purpose? As cherry blossoms bloom over alien streets, the couple confronts a bitter truth—their sacrifices have bound them to a world where they no longer belong.