Pathway to Japanese Literature
Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.
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| Original Title | かへらじと |
|---|---|
| Author | 岸田 国士 |
| Genre | Popular Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a quiet Japanese town during the turbulent summer of 1939, young Shiki Koichi grapples with the weight of conscription as his draft notice arrives. Bound by guilt over a childhood accident that left his closest friend, Otsubo Sanji, partially blinded and unfit for military service, Shiki’s impending departure strains their fractured bond. While the community busily prepares for a patriotic festival—building stages, planning ceremonies—the shadow of war looms over their camaraderie. Otsubo, ostracized and resentful, hides his anguish behind gruff defiance, while Shiki’s sister Fuku quietly harbors unspoken feelings for him. \nAs tensions simmer, Shiki confesses his desire to atone through sacrifice on the battlefield, igniting raw confrontations about duty, fate, and unhealed wounds. The town’s bustling preparations contrast sharply with intimate struggles: secret petitions, whispered regrets, and a haunting sense of impermanence. When a military officer later recounts Shiki’s heroic yet tragic end, grief fractures facades, exposing buried loyalties and unresolved yearnings. \nAmidst cedar groves and fading steam whistles, relationships unravel and rebuild, asking what it means to live—or die—for honor, love, and a nation hurtling toward an uncertain future. Will bonds forged in guilt and silence withstand the echoes of war? |
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