Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.

| Original Title | おふさ |
|---|---|
| Author | 長塚 節 |
| Genre | Popular Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | Amidst the sun-drenched plains along the Kinu River, a young hairdresser moves with quiet purpose. Ofusa, mute yet radiant, navigates her world with childlike cheerfulness, her crisp white garments contrasting the earthy tones of rice fields and wheat-laden horizons. Each day, she travels the embankment to a bustling barbershop, where boatmen and laborers exchange rough banter beneath skylark songs. Her deft hands style hair and scrub floors, her smiles masking a deeper yearning—for Shō-san, the elusive husband who drifts in and out of her life, leaving whispers of betrayal and stolen coins in his wake. The shop’s women gossip about her tragic past: a mother lost to drink, a lover’s abandonment, a fragile hope that binds her to a man others deem unworthy. Yet Ofusa’s heart remains a sealed box, its contents known only to her. As wild roses bloom and river sparrows dart, she clings to kintsuba sweets and fleeting reflections in the mirror, a figure both pitied and enigmatic, dancing on the edge of a world that watches, laughs, and wonders. |