Pathway to Japanese Literature
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Into the WorldAuthor: Kanō Sakujirō
| Original Title | 世の中へ |
|---|---|
| Author | 加能 作次郎 |
| Genre | War & Social Literature |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | A thirteen-year-old boy leaves his remote fishing village for Kyoto, burdened by a childhood marked by illness, a stepmother’s indifference, and the ache of abandonment after his sister’s departure. Enticed by tales of his uncle’s wealth and promises of medical care, he flees under cover of Obon festivities, clinging to fragile hopes of education and belonging. Yet Kyoto’s glittering streets reveal harsher truths: his uncle, a gaunt, temperamental man surrounded by opulence and mistresses, treats him as a servant rather than family. Forced into apprenticeship at a pharmacy, the boy endures grueling labor, loneliness, and humiliating scoldings, his dreams of school crushed. Amidst the clatter of rickshaws and whispers of scandalous affairs in his uncle’s household, he navigates a world of strangers—kind apprentices, enigmatic aunts, and fleeting glimpses of sibling warmth. As winter settles over Higashiyama’s slopes, he questions whether this glittering exile will ever offer more than cracked hands and hollow promises. |
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