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045501

The Yukiyo Newspaper StoryAuthor: Okamoto Kidō

Original Title有喜世新聞の話
Author岡本 綺堂
GenreDetective & Mystery
Author TypeMale Author
SummaryIn Meiji-era Tokyo, a peculiar report surfaces: a letter pouch addressed to “Mr. ○nosuke” is found inside a mullet caught near Tsukiji. The cryptic note, signed “Fude,” hints at a hidden tale of entangled fates. Years earlier, Ofude—a displaced samurai’s daughter—arrives at Dr. Mizoguchi’s home after a chance accident. Her quiet grace masks a web of secrets as she intertwines herself with the household: O-Chō, the doctor’s sheltered daughter; Tomonosuke, a clerk drawn to Ofude’s mystique; and Yoshinosuke, a medical student harboring his own affections. Whispers of forbidden meetings and manipulated desires spiral into tragedy—a suicide, two mysterious deaths, and Ofude’s sudden disappearance. Shadows of jealousy and betrayal linger in Banchō’s desolate streets, where vacant estates guard unspoken truths. Decades later, the mullet’s letter remains the sole thread to a story of love, vengeance, and vanishing lives. What became of Ofude? The river holds its silence, leaving only echoes of a woman who slipped through time like a ghost, her legacy etched in ink and blood.