Pathway to Japanese Literature
Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.
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| Original Title | 父の婚礼 |
|---|---|
| Author | 上司 小剣 |
| Genre | War & Social Literature |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a rural Japanese village steeped in tradition, a twelve-year-old boy grapples with loss and bewildering change after his mother’s death. His aging father, a priest clinging to youth, avoids questions about his age while courting younger women—a spectacle that humiliates the child. The boy clings to his father’s side during raucous gatherings where villagers gossip and mock, yet feels increasingly alienated as whispers of an impending wedding swirl. When O-Toki, a girl barely older than himself, is chosen as his stepmother, the boy’s fragile world fractures further. Amidst rituals of tea ceremonies and simmering village scandals, he navigates a web of adult secrets—his father’s vanity, the maid Otsume’s ambiguous role, and matchmakers like Heishichi, whose crude humor masks darker intentions. As lanterns glow for the Inoko festival, the boy’s loneliness sharpens: his father’s new bride approaches in white tabi socks, while his mother’s ghost lingers in untouched rooms. A poignant tale of innocence eroded by adult desires unfolds, where cultural rites clash with raw emotion, leaving a child to reconcile reverence and resentment in a home where hearth fires burn cold. |
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