Pathway to Japanese Literature

Characters

Tomoko

Yuzuru

Tsuneko

Housekeeper

Time: A June afternoon

Place: Western-style study combined with parlor

Tomoko, taking off her apron, hurriedly entered.
From behind, the housekeeper followed, looking as though she wanted to say something.

Tomoko: “That’s right. Leave it as it is.”
(Handing her apron to the housekeeper and sitting at the desk) “Just the handkerchief now, I suppose.”
“Find time to do it, please.”
“Be careful not to scorch it.”
“Oh, and… before that, could you quickly run an errand for me?”
“Check if the greengrocer there has strawberries, and if they do but aren’t good ones, go all the way to the station front.”
“Bring a box of the high-quality ones…”

Housekeeper: “About how much…”

Tomoko: “The price doesn’t matter at all—as long as they’re good ones…”
(Taking up a pen and searching through a drawer) “I’ll just write a postcard, so have that sent along as well.”
“Now, please get things ready.”
(Writing a postcard) “Let me see…”

(The Housekeeper exits.)
(A long pause.)

Tomoko: “Oh—Mr. Yoshizawa... Could you bring this morning’s postcard here for a moment? It should be in the letter rack—the picture postcard.”

Housekeeper: (Bringing the postcard) “Is this the one?”

Tomoko: (taking it without looking) "Yes, that one..."
(looking) "This isn’t the one."
"There should be one that came this morning."
(Laughingly) "Oh dear… this…"

(The Housekeeper exits, also laughing.)

It’s a photo of the coast—with ‘Gamagori’ written on it…

Housekeeper (appears while looking at a picture postcard)

Tomoko: (snatching it) Here…
“Yes, this one. (Pause) — ‘Both of us are quite taken with it and plan to stay four or five days...’ Hmm.”

Housekeeper: Huh?

Tomoko: This matter…
“Please hurry and get ready.”

(Housekeeper exits)

Housekeeper: “Pardon?”

Tomoko: “This matter…”
“Please prepare quickly.”

(The Housekeeper exited.)

Tomoko wrote, “...Well then, please enjoy yourself thoroughly while you can. Please give my regards to your husband...”
“For Mr. Yoshizawa—here, take this...”
“Still not ready with the preparations...?”
“Oh, right—check the bath before you go...”
“Since it’s nearly time for you to leave...”

Housekeeper (from offstage): “It’s already been properly heated.”

Tomoko: “Right.”
(Pause) “Well then—what are you doing?”

Housekeeper: “I’m just adjusting my obi.”

Tomoko: “You don’t need to fuss with your obi every single time…”
“It’s just right there.”

(The sound of the front door opening; Tomoko exits.)

Pause.
——)

Yuzuru appeared.
(Mechanically picked up the picture postcard on the desk and read it.)

Tomoko appeared after him.
“Will you take your bath right away?”

Yuzuru did not respond.
(Still in that state, he exited to the back.)

Tomoko (with a slightly somber expression)
slumped into a chair
but immediately regained her composure and stood up)

Yuzuru’s voice: Hey!

Tomoko (silently entered the back room).

(A long pause.)

A woman’s voice at the entrance: “Excuse me.”
Following this came Tomoko’s “Oh…,” an exclamation of apparent surprise.

Tomoko’s voice: “What’s wrong… Why did you come back? Alone?”
“(Pause) I saw it this morning.”
“(Pause) Yes, he said they’d stay four or five days, so I thought it’d still be a while yet…”
“(Pause) Well now, do settle down.”
“(Pause) He just got back here.”
“(Pause) It’s fine, really…”

Tomoko appeared, followed by Tsuneko.
——Tsuneko looked somewhat tired.

Tomoko seemed troubled.
"Ugh, you're doing nothing but laugh..."

Tsuneko (sitting down): Oh, let me rest a moment—I've only just arrived.

Tomoko: And then...?

Tsuneko: That man?
(With a meaningful smile) I'll tell you now, just wait.
(Sigh) I'm truly not being a bother...

Tomoko (quizzically): “No—I... You shouldn’t keep laughing like that… Tsuneko….”

Tsuneko: “You’re so impatient… Sister…”
(Having said this, she suddenly avoided her sister’s gaze and took out a handkerchief.)
Tears had welled up in her eyes.
But, as if even she herself found it comical, she tried to laugh again—but she could no longer hold back.
(When she pressed the handkerchief to her eyes, she suddenly shook her shoulders and sobbed.)

Tomoko (at a loss): “You’re such a strange one…”
“What do you mean by that?”
(places a hand on her younger sister’s shoulder)

“Tsuneko…”

“Since you were crying—it’s not that I don’t understand.”
“Did something happen with him? Hurry up and tell me.”

“I’m sorry.”
“When I saw your face, I just couldn’t help feeling sad.”
“(Pause) I thought about staying quiet for good.”
“I thought about staying silent and enduring it….”
“But I can’t take it anymore…”
“It’s just too much… you know…”
“I… I’m going home.”
“(Pause) I just can’t bear it anymore.”

Tomoko: “What exactly do you hate?”
Tsuneko: “Why… Everything.”

A long silence.

The sister stared intently at the profile of her downcast younger sister.

Tomoko: “Did you have a fight?”

“No, that’s not it,” Tsuneko said.
“(Pause) I just couldn’t go through with it after all.”

Tomoko murmured, “So it really is hopeless… There was something wrong from the beginning…”

“That’s not what I mean,” Tsuneko countered. “But you were the one who said his manners were atrocious, weren’t you?”

“You mean such a thing…?”

Tsuneko: “It’s not just that.”
“Yes, that’s what I mean—but it’s not merely bad manners. I’ve reached my limit.”

Tomoko: “All men are like that.”

Tsuneko: “You see? That time he visited our house, he yawned right in front of Mother—and she was livid afterward, wasn’t she?”
“He does those things incessantly.”
“If he yawns in front of me alone, I wouldn’t mind—but when others are present, he shamelessly acts in ways that mortify me.”

Tomoko: “What kind of things…?”

Tsuneko: “I can’t list them all—there’s just too much…”
“Even after we boarded the train，he was the same way.”
“Suddenly，he put his legs up on the seat and started snoring loudly.”
“He’s been like that since the day we left.”

“He didn’t even talk…?”

Tsuneko: “Do you think he’d even talk?”
“I can’t fathom what purpose this trip was supposed to serve!”
“Everyone kept staring at us with these strange looks.”
“You see? He slept with his mouth hanging open—didn’t even bother to cover himself with a handkerchief!”

“He must’ve been worn out from the ceremony and all,” said Tomoko, suppressing a laugh.

“In that case… what about me…? After all this time… he goes and wears that obi.”
“You’re different! You’re not like him!”
“Now even you’ve started talking like that… Sister.”
“…”

“And even after we arrived at the inn, he kept chatting up the maids—making these crude jokes… It’s just so bizarre.”
“At mealtimes, I felt mortified in front of the maid serving us…”
“Because everything he says is so vulgar—Sister, we’re in Tokyo, aren’t we?”
“He must’ve thought acting like some country bumpkin would make me look ‘refined’—that’s how it was.”
“The maids’ remarks were perfectly lovely.”
“‘Is your husband from Tokyo too?’—he’d say things like that.”
“Then he’d scratch his head with this ridiculous gesture—‘No need to counterattack so fiercely!’ he says.”
“Can you believe how awful that is?”

Tomoko: “You’re being rather stubborn yourself, Tsuneko.”
“Men are the ones who say such things… Depending on who they’re with.”

“Brother-in-law says that too…?”

Tomoko: “Well… Who knows about Brother-in-law…”

Tsuneko: “He wouldn’t say such things.”
“And then there’s something even worse.”
“Last night… Gamagori—what prefecture is that in?”
“When I asked him—he retorted, ‘What prefecture do you think it’s in?’”
“Sister, do you know?”
“You don’t know, do you?”
“So I just took a guess—‘Mie Prefecture?’”
“I just threw it out there.”
“Then he laughed and said, ‘Well then, draw a map of Japan and circle where you think it is.’”
“I told him I hated being quizzed like some schoolgirl.”
“But he pulled out paper and pencil and insisted.”
“Finally kept nagging—‘Can’t even draw a Japanese map?’”
“It was utterly humiliating.”
“‘I can draw a map of Japan!’ Look, I drew it exactly how he wanted!”
“But when I’d only sketched Honshu—‘What’s this? A cucumber!’ he said…” (laughing through tears).

Tomoko: “What?”
Tsuneko: “He said it looked like a cucumber!” (starts crying again)

Tomoko (restraining both anger and amusement): “That’s quite rude.”

“How did I ever decide to marry someone like that…?”
“He has no delicacy at all.”
“(Pause) In the morning—the way he washes his face… (Sigh) And when he gets dressed… flailing his arms around…”
“If he insists on wearing Western clothes, he should at least learn how to put them on properly—but watching that spectacle is unbearable.”

Tomoko: “He does sound utterly detestable.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Isn’t it better to have someone straightforward than some pretentious man?”

Tsuneko: “But he’s not being straightforward at all.”
“If I had to say why—it’s because he’s putting on airs about being unaffected.”
“Do you get it?”
“He’s probably trying to show off how ‘I’m not putting on any airs at all!’”
“And he doesn’t realize that’s just another kind of pretense.”
“So he nitpicks every little thing he does or says, and when I’m around him, I get all worked up.”
“I just want to say ‘Hmph!’”

Tomoko: “Hmm... I wonder...”

Tsuneko: “That’s right—I could tell even during the ceremony. That way he had of acting like it meant nothing... He’d pretend everything was such a bother, yet he’d turn completely rigid about it. You know that clueless face he always makes? That’s just him covering up his awkwardness—‘Huh? Am I really marrying that woman?’ ‘Huh? Am I supposed to drink this sake?’ ‘Huh? We’re going on a trip together?’ That’s exactly the face he’d make... To begin with, not even deciding our destination until we reached the station—how utterly dismissive! Mother was beside herself with worry. No matter how many times she asked him—‘Oh, I haven’t decided yet.’ Then he’d just get off wherever the train happened to stop! It wasn’t like there was anywhere special he wanted to see... Hahahaha... How did things come to this? Mother, of course, but even Uncle Akabane turned away with that sour look.”
“That’s just another act.”
“Putting on airs of indifference.”
“Only making himself more ridiculous...”

Tomoko: “I remember that too.”
“Now that you mention it, I did think he was strange.”

Tsuneko: “And there’s more.”
“At Tokyo Station, when everyone came to see us off—Sister, you brought a bouquet into the train car and gave it to us both, didn’t you?”
“Do you remember what he said when he saw it?”

Tomoko (curtly): “Yes.—‘What are we supposed to do with this?’ he said…”
“‘What a nuisance to carry around…’ he said. ‘It’ll just wilt anyway…’”

Tsuneko: “Right? You understand, don’t you? He tries to hide his awkwardness by saying something deliberately cold.”
“If he were actually clever, that might work—but he doesn’t have the brains for it. He just ends up saying things that hurt people.”

Tomoko: “He’s such an impossible man.”
“So hard to deal with.”

Tsuneko: “I want to despise him.”
“Though maybe I’m really the one who should pity him…”

“If I say that again…”
“No—it’s fine, Sister. I’ve already made up my mind…”

“Resolution…?”

“So I’m going home… back to my house….”

A long silence.

“Well now, you’re being too rash.”
“That’s not how it works.”
(Pause) “Men are…”

“Enough already with your preaching…!”
“What about men then…?”
“Who decided that?”
“So you’re just like that too, aren’t you, Sister?”
“Then I shouldn’t have come here to discuss this.”

Tomoko: “Tsuneko.”
“Let’s consider this more carefully.”
“It may not have matched what you imagined, Tsuneko—but based on what I’ve just heard, if that’s truly all there is, then it isn’t as grave a matter as you believe.”
“First of all, doesn’t that fail to constitute proof he doesn’t love you?”

Tsuneko: “What does that matter? Whether I’m loved or not is a secondary issue.”

“Huh?”

“The first question is whether you have a partner who loves you and brings you happiness.”

“Even I… Tsuneko… That’s already…”

“You’re going to say I knew it from the start, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I knew.”
“What if I was wrong?”
“Even if I wasn’t wrong—what if what I hoped for still fails?”
“Sister, you’re happy—so you could never understand someone like me… (crying)”

Silence.

Tomoko (sharply): “What are you saying, Tsuneko? I hate to voice this myself, but no one worries about you more than I do. That’s precisely why you came to me instead of anyone else, isn’t it? So I’ll help you work through this. Let’s try saying what needs to be said—both giving and hearing difficult truths. You mustn’t lose your temper like you always do…”

“Sister,” Tsuneko interjected, “I absolutely refuse to go back like this. There’s something I held back from saying, but if you’re going to take that tone, I’ll lay everything bare. You’ll be appalled. Even I have my limits.”

Tomoko: “Wait a moment, please.”
“Calm down and speak properly.”
“If you say it, there’ll be no taking it back.”
“Of course, just because you’ve told me doesn’t mean I’ll go telling anyone else—but I want to say this much so you don’t do something that would wound your own pride.”
“It might be unreasonable to ask you to stay calm right now, but I at least mustn’t lose my composure.”
“For your sake. Now, please pull yourself together.”
“And then, please tell me just the facts without mixing in emotions.”
“If it’s something you can say…”

A long silence.

Tsuneko: “If you speak that way, I can’t bring myself to say it.”

Tomoko: “Then perhaps it’s better left unsaid, wouldn’t you agree?”

Tsuneko: “But if I don’t speak, Sister, you’ll never understand how I feel. Besides… It hardly matters if I do say it. There’s no chance things will mend peacefully anyway… This is how it is.”

Tomoko (gets to her feet) “I’ll be right there.”
“You must be starving.”

Tsuneko: “No.”

“But anyway, we’ll make do with what’s on hand.”

“It’s fine, Sister….”
“I’m going back to Okubo now…”

“To Okubo...”
“Why….”
“Now, just listen to what I have to say a bit longer before… alright?” (Exits.)

A long pause.

Housekeeper (brought in tea) “Here you are.”

Tsuneko (silently nodded in acknowledgment).

Housekeeper: “I wasn’t aware at all…” (offered the tea) “Have you already decided to return home?”

Tsuneko: “Yes.”

(The housekeeper exits.)

Yuzuru (appearing): “Oh, my apologies.”
“You’re back already?”
“Rather quick, isn’t it?”

“Because I… came to miss Tokyo…” Tsuneko said awkwardly.

Yuzuru: “Even honeymoons are becoming more ritualistic these days, don’t you think?”
“To put it plainly, people only do them because others do—that’s the extent of their appeal.”
“But that realization comes later. When you’re in the thick of it, you might get rather swept up—as they say.”

Tomoko (appearing): “What are you rambling about all by yourself?”
“Listen, you…” (bringing her mouth close to her husband’s ear and whispering something in a low voice)

Yuzuru (cheerfully): “Is that so?”
“I must apologize for intruding.”
“Well then, please make yourselves comfortable…” (stands up) “But we’ll have dinner together, won’t we?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Oh, Brother-in-law, there’s really no need…”
“Sister—truly—Brother-in-law may stay if he likes.”
“That would be better.”
“I’ll have Brother-in-law hear this too.”
“Then I’ll ask for your counsel.”

“I see…”
“I don’t mind either way… (glancing between them) Then let’s have Brother-in-law stay too.”
“After all, when it comes to it, we’ll need your advice anyway…”

Yuzuru (deliberately feigning composure): “What’s all this? Why the sudden formality…”
(sat down)

“How about if I had explained the gist of it first…?”

Tsuneko…

“Even for me, it’s… difficult to put into just a few words.”
“I’m not sure how to phrase it…”

Yuzuru: “If you explain it simply, I’ll understand.”
Yuzuru: “Did something go wrong?”

Tomoko (looking at Tsuneko): “It’s not that I’m saying there’s a mistake, but…”
“Well then, I’ll explain it myself. All right?”
“It’s like this.”
“It still comes down to this issue after all.”
(Pause) “From what Tsuneko says, it seems nothing is working out.”
“Rather than there being any particular incidents like this, I suppose it’s more that they’re incompatible personality-wise.”
“First of all, he appears to be the sort who doesn’t understand a young woman’s feelings at all.”

Yuzuru: “Well, that may be, but you…”

Tomoko: “Yes, I just told Tsuneko that too… It seems she apparently never imagined it would come to this.”
“Mother was quietly worried about it too, and I’ve cautioned Tsuneko about it indirectly before.”
“But when it comes to matters of degree—well—it’s still a misjudgment… Especially in front of Tsuneko here, there are times when things can’t be interpreted solely in the worst light…”
“I can’t simply place all the blame on Tsuneko, but…”
“I do feel there’s some responsibility on my part as well.”

“That’s not true at all.”
“Sister, you’ve done nothing…”

Tomoko: — “Oh, listen here.”
— “So Tsuneko says that although bringing this up now may seem tactless, she wants to reconsider her future once again.”

Yuzuru: — “Shouldn’t we hear a more concrete explanation?”

Tsuneko hesitates... (looks at her sister)

Tomoko: — “It seems various things have accumulated over time...”
— “Hmm... I’m not sure where to begin...”
— “Tell me now—what was it you found most unbearable?”
— “The thing you simply couldn’t endure.”

Tsuneko: “That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier.”
“But if I don’t say it, you won’t understand, so I’ll just come out with it.”
(Pause) “It happened last night.”
(Pause) “At the inn, I ran into someone he called a friend.”
“I’d never even heard of this person before, but he came by in the evening and they started drinking together.”
“That alone might have been tolerable.”
“They both got drunk and kept talking loudly nonstop.”
“I thought it was too much, so I tried suggesting we might be disturbing the neighbors.”
“Then...”
“Don’t fuss over pointless things!” he snapped.
“And then suddenly they decided to go out somewhere—the two of them left together and never came back, no matter how long I waited.”
“I stayed up all night waiting without closing my eyes once.”
“When morning came, he returned with this strange look on his face.”
“Then he looked at me and started smirking.”

A long silence.

Tomoko looked at her husband’s face, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Even so,” said Tsuneko, “I stayed quiet for a time. Then I meekly suggested, ‘Perhaps we should return to Tokyo.’ When I asked if that had angered him—” She drew a shaky breath. “No—it was simply that I wished to go back. If need be, I told him, I would return alone.”

Silence.

“If you want to go home, then go.”
“But that sort of thing means nothing,” he said.
“It’s just how men socialize,” he added, as if stating an obvious truth.
“No matter how much he apologizes, I can never forgive this.”
When he went that far with such outrageous words—“Don’t you feel ashamed before me?”—I finally spoke up.
(Pause) “If that’s how it is, I’ve done nothing dishonorable.”
“If you choose to doubt me, that’s your own doing—that’s all.”
“So I—no, there’s no doubt whatsoever.”
“That behavior doesn’t just humiliate me—it degrades you too.” Though I didn’t phrase it so harshly, that’s what I meant.
“By then, I could barely speak.”
(Pause) “My heart was too full.”

A long silence.

“Is that all… you wanted to say?”

Tsuneko nodded.

Tomoko: “…What do you think…?”

Yuzuru: “That’s a bit rough.”

“It’s not just ‘a bit’! And then what did he do?”
“He didn’t do anything. And then he didn’t say a single word. Until we reached Tokyo Station, both of us stayed silent… He just said he’d stop by home, and that was the last we spoke…”

“So he doesn’t know you came here?”

“He must’ve realized anyway.”

“But Tsuneko, men are…”
Tomoko: “If it’s that lecture of yours—I’ve had enough…”

Yuzuru: “Why…?”

Tomoko: “Tsuneko told me earlier.”
“Given what happened, no wonder men can’t understand.”
“(Pause) But… shall we hear Brother’s opinion?”

Yuzuru (stiffening slightly): “It’s troublesome to face such defiance, but I’m not defending men. However—with matters like this—you can’t make harsh judgments based on surface facts alone without first scrutinizing the motives.”

“But even you…”

Yuzuru: “Now, wait.”
“So here’s the thing.”
“Shall I take a turn playing Sensei and lay out his case?”
“(Pause) Well—you see—back then, when he met that friend and got teased with things like ‘Enjoying yourself?’ or whatnot—he ended up feeling rather self-conscious.”
“Even when meeting friends, he wouldn’t talk properly—just kept glued to his wife’s side—and given his character, he’d likely spread such stories himself.”
“Crude as it sounds—especially at night—if he’s itching to be alone with her from early on, people are bound to gossip.”
“That rankles too.”
“Fine—I’ll show them some backbone.”
“To do that… he’d have to share a leisurely dinner over drinks… prove he isn’t obsessed solely with his wife…”

Tsuneko (tried to say something)

Yuzuru: “Now, listen carefully.”
“At that point, he fully trusted his wife and pressed ahead decisively by leveraging that trust.”
“When he first tried this approach, his wife was clearly displeased.”
“So he swallowed his tears and rebuked her sharply.”
“‘Bravo!’”
“‘Bravo!’ his friend’s eyes seemed to shout.”
“‘Of course!’ he declared with a twitching nose—though his eyes begged forgiveness from his wife, she remained utterly unmoved.”

Tomoko: “If you’d quit it already with that joking tone…”

Yuzuru: “I’m not joking.”
“Hey, Tsuneko, my words aren’t insincere at all, right?”
“You mustn’t judge things based on mood.”
“It’s not a problem that can be solved with logic anyway.”
“To put it bluntly, if you just understand his mood at the time, that’s enough.”
“That’s right, isn’t it, Tsuneko?”

Tsuneko (remains looking down).

Yuzuru: “If one keeps dawdling like this, there’s a risk of undoing nine fathoms of labor with a single basket. In that case, it would be safer to withdraw from this situation.”
“Well, that’s a matter that will be understood later.”
“If he explains himself properly, you’ll understand.”
“Even if he doesn’t explain himself, you should understand if you think it through.”
“Given how intelligent she is…”
“So, pretending to be utterly disoriented, he disappeared from his wife’s presence.”
“That should’ve been enough, but the man was such a nuisance—‘What, leaving already? Feeling lonely?’ and all that—so he figured, ‘Well, since I’ve come this far,’ and steeled himself recklessly.”
“So, the next morning, after finally convincing his friend and thinking, ‘Well, that’s that,’ he rushed back to his wife’s side—and just as he feared, there she sat all alone, wide-eyed and waiting.”
“At that moment, if it were a Western man—‘Oh, my beloved wife! My dearest one!’—he’d surely have been startled, heartbroken, furious.”
“If it were me, I’d search for kind-sounding words like ‘This is proof I cherish you…’ or such, but Japanese men can express those very feelings with just that… what was it… ah, that grin of theirs.”
“If it were a Western woman—how you must have made me sad!”
“You must never do such things again from now on.”
“‘If this isn’t the last time,’ she’d say, threatening her husband, ‘I might run off to any man at all!’—but Japanese women know better than that. They tuck their chins into their collars, stay silent, and stare at the edge of the tatami.”
“How deeply that must make the husband feel ashamed.”
“Even if she were to speak, she’d suggest something as indirect as ‘Well, perhaps we should return to Tokyo…’”

Tomoko: "You're being unusually talkative today."
"Haven't you said enough?"
"I've understood perfectly well."
"Tsuneko—you needn't hear Brother's full explanation. You grasp it already, don't you?"

Tsuneko (nods).

Yuzuru: "Do you truly understand?"
"If interrupted here, this might sound sarcastic—but that's not my intent."
"What I'm attempting to convey is..."
"In essence, matters remained harmless up to that point."
"There was no fundamental issue."
"The complications arose—"
"—only after crossing that threshold."
"He became angry."
"No... rather from that juncture onward."
"However—and this aligns with my interpretation—this too constitutes merely temporary emotional friction, or what one might call mutual petulance."

Tomoko (heatedly): “What you just said—do you truly believe that?”

“When you say ‘Yuzuru,’ what exactly do you mean by that?”
“I simply considered the matter in the most commonsensical way based on what I heard earlier—no, not from you, but from Tsuneko.”
“So then, if Tsuneko here were to consider the circumstances of that time and conclude that my earlier reasoning holds true—well, in that case, it needn’t be treated as such a grave matter.”
“However, the problem of how they will reconcile from now on remains… but that is an utterly ordinary problem.”

“That’s not what we’re discussing here.”
“Tsuneko—what do you think of all this…?”

Tsuneko (hesitantly): Sister… May I speak my mind?

Tomoko: Of course you may... (she says, glancing at her husband)

“There’s no need for reserve with me. Go on and speak—though I must say, I’m getting hungry.”

Tomoko: “The meal can wait for now—let’s pause this discussion first.”
“Wouldn’t that be better?”

Yuzuru: “Fine.”
“Well, Tsuneko—what do you have to say…?”

Tsuneko: “That explanation just now—from a man’s perspective, it might be a splendid… excuse, perhaps. But when you say ‘us women’—no, that’s too grandiose. Even if it’s just my own problem…”
“As far as I’m concerned, that’s not something to be grateful for at all.”
“Men’s vanity—that pride in calmly trampling women underfoot—isn’t a habit worthy of respect either way.”

“That’s right.”

Tsuneko: “So I’ve made up my mind after all.”

Yuzuru: “Well, you can always decide that later.”
Yuzuru: “So you mean it can’t be avoided regardless of reasons?”

Tsuneko: “It’s not about pardoning or not pardoning.”
Tsuneko: “It’s a difference in lifestyles...”

Tomoko: “That’s right… absolutely…”
Tsuneko: “It isn’t just manifesting in that single matter—the difference…”
“Every last thing he does… I can’t stand to witness any of it…”

“Since when has that been?”
“From that very day… Since we held our wedding…”
“You mean it was sudden?”

“It suddenly became noticeable.”

Tomoko: “It’s not so much that *his* attitude changed abruptly—isn’t it rather that *your* feelings reached a turning point then? Such things do happen.”
“When you think ‘Alright—I’ll start a new life with this person,’ you don’t begin seeing him through fresh eyes—that’s not how it works.”
“At that moment I realized—all those little attentions from my husband as a spouse—each one brightening or darkening my mood… Well—my own experience—” (She casts a light smile toward her husband.)

Yuzuru (nodded repeatedly, maintaining a very solemn expression).

“That could be part of it too.”

“However, it’s mutual,” said Yuzuru. “Even from a man’s perspective, the same could be said. Though men probably don’t fixate on such things as much as women... When you marry and realize things turned out as expected—or feel they didn’t match your imaginings—such experiences are all too common in a man’s view too.”

Tomoko (blushing slightly): “In other words—disillusionment.”
“But women—no matter how you put it—are modest…”

Yuzuru: “Who knows…”

“The effort to conform oneself to a man’s lifestyle alone…”

Yuzuru: “Well, they do—on the surface, at least…”

Tomoko: “No, I’ve even made various sacrifices for that purpose.”

Yuzuru: “What kind of sacrifices…?”

Tomoko: “When my husband’s hobbies don’t align with mine, I sacrifice my own as well.”

Yuzuru: “You’re referring to music, I take it.”

Tomoko: “No—it’s not just that.”

Yuzuru: “If not that alone—then what?”
“Ah—so you mean *that* matter.” (He gazes upward at the ceiling with sarcasm-laden eyes, as though suppressing laughter.)

Tomoko: “What do you mean? What are you referring to?”

Yuzuru: “What fool goes asking others about that?”

Tomoko: (laughing) “That’s something from the past. In any case, you have no right to say such things to me. Please don’t say such strange things in front of Tsuneko.”

Tsuneko: “Sister…”

“It’s all right—Brother-in-law just acts that way around everyone…”

Yuzuru (laughing): “Then am I just like Tsuneko’s husband?”

Tsuneko: “That’s a lie! Brother-in-law is a good person! First of all—you’re the one who took eighty photos of Sister during your honeymoon…”

Yuzuru: “You remember that well. Didn’t your husband take any?”

Tsuneko: “Would someone like him own something as stylish as a camera? He doesn’t even have a cane.”

Tomoko: “Oh, he doesn’t carry a cane?”
“Then what does he carry around…?”
“An umbrella…?”

Tsuneko: “And a briefcase.”
“He walks around toting a large briefcase with both hands.”
“He doesn’t let porters carry it.”
“But he says he can carry it himself…”

Yuzuru: “So he’s quite strong, then.”

Tsuneko (vaguely): “Yes… When getting off the train, he even unloads other people’s luggage for them.”

Tomoko: “In that way, he’s not very considerate at all.”

Tsuneko: “And yet, when I’m getting on or off, he doesn’t even lend me a hand.”
“He just rushes ahead by himself.”

Tomoko: “From Tokyo Station onward, he slept the entire time…”

Yuzuru: “Who?”

Tomoko: “It’s him.”
“He just ignored Tsuneko and started snoring loudly…!”
“With his mouth open…”

Yuzuru: “It’s not that his nose is defective.”

Tomoko: “His manners are terrible. Even at inns, I hear there are quite nerve-wracking situations happening right beside him… In front of her, he seems perfectly fine cracking jokes with the maid. Even the way he eats his meals—apparently that’s vulgar too.” She looked at her husband’s face. “She says he has absolutely no gentlemanly qualities about him.”

Yuzuru: “That’s… not really important.” He avoided his wife’s gaze. “It’s nothing major.”

Tomoko: “What I find most unbearable is how he deliberately acts bored no matter what… No matter how stunning the scenery gets, he never says it’s beautiful. When eating something, he makes a show of finding it tasteless. Suggest buying souvenirs, and he pulls a face about them being cumbersome. It’s like there’s just no spark in him at all.”

Yuzuru (with an awkward smile, as if suspecting they might be talking about him).

Tomoko: "On top of that - he's lazy..."
(glancing at unkempt strands untouched by her brother-in-law's comb)
"...never combs his hair after bathing..."
(Yuzuru discreetly examines his own nails)
"...if you suggest taking a stroll - 'Why walk when you can see the sea right here?' he says..."
"'It'll just wear me out' - that's how he always responds!"

Yuzuru (finally seeming to realize something about himself, flared his nostrils and looked toward Tsuneko).

Tsuneko (simultaneously harboring some doubt at her sister’s astonishing imagination while feeling even a desire to respect her).

Tomoko: (with increasing fervor) And yet he puts on airs over the most trivial things…
“When he asked which prefecture Gamagori was in, she thought it was obvious, so she didn’t answer…”
“Then, full of himself, he drew a Japanese map and told her to circle where it was—acting all high-and-mighty like a schoolteacher…”
“He thought she couldn’t do it, so when he kept pestering her, she quickly drew a Japanese map for him…”
“But when he saw she’d only drawn Honshu, he said, ‘What’s this? An eggplant?’…”

“Cucumber, Sister.”
“Right, right.”
“He called it a cucumber….”

Yuzuru: “I see” (laughs).

Tomoko: “He’s quite rude.”
(Pause) “With all this and that, she probably can’t feel even a hint of newlywed bliss—it’s all so utterly bleak…”
“If that’s how it was from the start, he seems a bit pitiful.”

Yuzuru: “So, what do *you* think?”
“Do you agree with Tsuneko?”
(Pause) “It probably won’t be that simple.”
(Pause) “First of all—what would *you* do?”

Tomoko: “Tsuneko and I are different.”
“I can’t make judgments from my own position.”
“Tsuneko has higher ideals than someone like me…”

Tsuneko: “That’s not true.”
“But perhaps coming to consult you about this was a mistake.”
“I don’t consider myself confused about anything, but I knew you’d scold me later for not mentioning it to you both, so I decided to speak up anyway.”
“Still, it’s been quite enlightening.”

Tomoko: “So you still mean to leave him.”

“Yes.”

“However, Tsuneko, if you think greater happiness lies ahead waiting for you, you’re wrong.”
“If you were to remarry someday, you must at least consider that this marriage might become an even unhappier one.”
“You might say you wouldn’t enter such a marriage—but as this experience shows，marriage isn’t something you can understand without actually living through it.”
“That’s how it works.”
“Of course，it’s different if you’re determined to carve out your own destiny chasing after some elusive happiness.”
“If you consider even a life where you keep falling down and getting up，only to wear yourself out without ever reaching anywhere meaningful… well，that’s another matter entirely．Right?”
“You can’t just hop from man to man until you find your ideal husband.”
“Can you honestly say there’s any real chance of *you* meeting someone who fits your standards?”
“I certainly can’t claim there is.”
“In which case，you must also consider what you’ll do if no such chance exists.”
“Divorce—this thing called divorce—is profoundly complicated.”
“(Pause) And yet… it must come down to divorce，mustn’t it? Since you’re already married…”

Tomoko: “That’s right.”
“Though it’s only been a week or so…”

Yuzuru: “If your time together was brief, then naturally your losses would be smaller.”
“But she’s already lost what matters most.”

Tomoko (looks painfully toward Tsuneko).

Yuzuru: “It’s a clichéd argument, but by conventional chastity standards, you’ve lost the right to select a husband as a virgin. Even if you achieved a reasonably ideal remarriage, this new union could never be completely pure. There’d inevitably be some residue from your first marriage. The more passionately you love each other, the more that residue would surface. Now, through mutual effort, you could mold such a relationship into something rather beautiful. But let’s be honest—that’s nearly always the exception.”

“I don’t particularly intend to remarry, nor do I believe leaving now would let me live happily from tomorrow onward. But staying reluctantly with *that kind of person* feels utterly meaningless—I can’t help it.”
“The recklessness of choosing such a husband deserves punishment in some other way.”
“If it meant living single my whole life, I think I could resign myself to endure that.”
“With that much resolve… wouldn’t ending things decisively now be truer to myself…?”

“But being faithful only to yourself is futile.”

Tomoko: “That’s right.”
“You can’t just think about yourself.”

“Then whose matters should I consider?”

Tomoko: “Everyone’s matters… First of all—Mother’s matters. There’s no telling how worried she would be.”

Yuzuru: “No—rather, first and foremost, shouldn’t we consider your husband’s position? You might plunge your husband into irreparable misfortune. In such a case, what will you do? Can he endure it so calmly? Do you not care what happens to him?”

Tsuneko: “Even if you say that, Brother, he doesn’t consider my feelings at all… Rather than that, he’s calmly trampling on our happiness… The hope of making our life together enjoyable doesn’t show anywhere in him at all… If you look at it that way, isn’t it futile for only me to keep trying this and that, putting in all this effort?”

Yuzuru: “Whether it’s futile or not—you can’t know yet. It’s only been a week or so…”

Tsuneko (tearfully): “Brother—you’re still insisting I endure this life of submission to the very end, aren’t you? You’re telling me to handle alone what we should be doing together!”
“Sister—I can’t… I just can’t…” (wipes tears)

Silence.

“Then even if he wants to try but lacks strength—I’ll do it alone. I’ll keep trying endlessly.”
“But if he has the ability and won’t… if he lacks the will… I can’t find any strength…”
“No interest in it either.”
“I hate it! Hate it! I’d rather die than stay…!” (weeping quietly)

Tomoko (crying along but keeping her voice cheerful): “Pull yourself together—this isn’t the time for crying.”
“This is so trying.”
“This sort of thing… Of course he doesn’t *mean* to make you unhappy—no doubt he thinks he’s acting perfectly normal—but somehow… it still rankles you… Well, not just you—no woman would find it acceptable, I suppose… Not merely displeasing, but it casts a shadow over your very life, doesn’t it?”
“That does seem likely.”
“But if he bears no ill will, then what? Mightn’t you try gradually, patiently, to mend things…?”

Tsuneko: “It’s his nature… It’s hopeless…”

“That’s right. It’s different from mere rudeness…”

Yuzuru: “It’s ultimately a question of degree, isn’t it? Men by nature carry such flaws to some extent—from a woman’s viewpoint. All this talk of personality or whatnot—in the end, it’s mere habit. I shouldn’t speak lightly, but if you insist on refusing to tolerate male selfishness, Tsuneko, you must cleanly discard your status as men’s subordinate. And then—to truly love each other—you must display truly corresponding capability.”

“When you speak of ‘corresponding capability,’ you mean economic independence, don’t you?”

Yuzuru: “It needn’t be economic.”
“For instance, suppose I worked as a schoolteacher.”
(Looking back at his wife) “And this one became a store clerk.”

(Tomoko and Tsuneko exchanged glances.)

Tomoko (indignantly): “What do you mean by ‘this one’…?”

Yuzuru: “It’s an affectionate way of addressing someone close.”
“But even so, we can’t claim women have achieved true independence.”
“Whenever this one has something to discuss, she comes to me: ‘Hey, you, what should I do…?’”

Tomoko: “That’s a lie…!”
Yuzuru: “That’s no lie! You see—with this situation, you can’t call it equal competence.”
Tsuneko: “But if we both acted that way… If we could discuss everything together…”

Yuzuru: “Hey, you… what should we do…?”

Tomoko: “That’s enough!”

Yuzuru: “What a tedious conversation…”
“Tsuneko-san—go home today. Back to your husband’s side…”
“Then keep up the pretense—act like nothing’s wrong.”
“We’ll play along too…”

Tomoko (cheerfully): “That’s a good idea.”
(earnestly) “Please… go ahead and do that.”

Tsuneko (unable to embrace that sentiment, stares at something distant).

Yuzuru (quietly stood up): “I’ll just go freshen up before dinner.”
“I’ll trim my nails while I’m at it.”
“I’ve been ordered to dine with Madame Tsuneko Saito, so…”

Tsuneko (glancing at her sister’s face, begins to offer a faint smile but suddenly turns serious): “Sister, please let me go home today.”
“I know this wastes your kindness, but I just can’t seem to settle...”

Tomoko: “Going home—where to...?”

“Ōkubo…” Tsuneko replied softly.

Tomoko (also in a low voice): "As I thought…"

A long silence.

Tsuneko: “Well then, Brother-in-law—” (stands up) “Please excuse me.”
“I’ve troubled you with such trifling matters… Truly…”

“Yuzuru, do think it over more carefully.”
“Hey, why don’t you see her off if you’re so inclined?”

Tomoko: “Yes.”
“Well then, Tsuneko—even if you go there now, anyway…”

“Yes… but it’s fine, so please don’t worry……”
“Well then, goodbye……”
“I’ll come by again… tomorrow, perhaps……”

“Yes, but I’ll just see you off—please wait.”
“It’s fine.”
“Sister… really… I’ll be alright…”

When everyone rose from their seats, a sudden rain arrived in torrents.

The three of them gazed out through the window in silence.

Tsuneko.
She let out a deep sigh.

What cruel irony of weather for one named Tomoko.

Yuzuru: “It should stop soon.”
“Please rest a little longer.”

A long silence.

――CURTAIN――