Pathway to Japanese Literature
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Butterfly PaintingAuthor: Hisao Jūran
| Original Title | 蝶の絵 |
|---|---|
| Author | 久生 十蘭 |
| Genre | Detective & Mystery |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In post-war Tokyo, a peculiar gathering awaits Yamakawa Hanayo—a fragile, sheltered man whose improbable return from combat baffles former acquaintances. As guests trade stories of wartime atrocities and a shadowy figure dubbed “Butterfly,” Yamakawa’s absence looms like an unanswered riddle. When he finally appears, unchanged by years of conflict, his porcelain complexion and fastidious manners clash with whispers of jungle survival and orangutan hunts. Yet beneath his delicate facade simmers a haunted restlessness: compulsive handwashing, a garden stripped of flowers, and midnight encounters with a caged primate that mirrors his unraveling psyche. The arrival of Lina—a gravely ill woman from his past—hints at deeper secrets, while his family’s suffocating devotion veils a legacy of privilege and moral evasion. As fragments of guilt and trauma surface, Yamakawa’s meticulously curated life begins to fracture, leaving others to wonder what specters lurk behind his unblemished veneer. A haunting exploration of identity, complicity, and the scars war etches beyond battlefields. |
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