Pathway to Japanese Literature

Author: Kishida Kunio

Characters

Tashiro Mitsuo

Nuiko

Liu Kun

Yōhō

The stage was the reception room of Tashiro Mitsuo’s house in the Yokohama suburbs.

Tashiro—who had rented this elegant villa designed by a foreigner at low cost under special circumstances, and who even now, three years into his marriage, still enjoyed a honeymoon-like life alone with his beloved wife Nuiko—possessed a certain bluntness of nerves uncharacteristic of Japanese sensibilities after his long years abroad, offset by an emotional richness that compensated for it.

His wife Nuiko was a purebred Yokohama native whose parents had run a souvenir shop catering to foreigners; after her marriage, they had handed over the shop to others, built a retirement home near Tsurumi, and were enjoying a comfortable life in their later years.

Tashiro Mitsuo was currently a general affairs section chief at a certain trading company specializing in South Seas trade; at thirty-six, he had already lost half his hair, while Nuiko—twelve years his junior—found her only regret in being unable to commit to a bold, youthful styling because of this.

An afternoon in early January.

Tashiro was reading a newspaper on the veranda but soon entered the reception room.

Tashiro: "I think I'll stay home after all."
"It seems urgent business has come up somehow."
"Under normal circumstances, I'd just briefly stop by the office, but if I'm not at home either, it would be troublesome if something happens."

Nuiko (sticking out the upper half of her body in only underwear from the adjacent room): “Oh? Then what about me…?”
“I’ve already gone to the trouble of getting ready.”

Tashiro: So why don’t you just go by yourself?
“Let’s do that. Okay?”
“Your father and mother ultimately just want to see your face.”
“Since New Year’s visits are already over, tell them we’ll go play when things are calmer.”

Nuiko: How boring!
“It’s not like I got all dressed up like this just because I thought I’d be with you.”

Tashiro: “You shouldn’t throw a tantrum like that. There’s never been a case where a woman lost out by dressing up.”

Nuiko: “Instead of that, why don’t you try calling to check on the office?”

Tashiro: “There’s no telling when business might come up. After a holiday, you see, there tend to be a lot of temporary matters.”

Nuiko: “If you had properly gone to the office since morning, there’d be no complaints. It was you who suggested going to Tsurumi today.”

“I know that,” said Tashiro. “Since we received that invitation and you were looking forward to it, I thought we should go through with it if possible. But upon reflection, I realize I’ve been rather negligent with work lately.”

“In that case,” Nuiko retorted, “I’ll cancel my plans too and go to the office right now.”

Tashiro: “You don’t need to do that. You go on ahead. I’ll manage on my own…”

Nuiko: “Instead of that, you should be the one to go out first. I’ll do as I please on my end…”

Tashiro got angry. “Alright then, alright…”

“What’s so ‘alright’ about that?” (Grabbing her coat and coming out) “You’re acting a bit strange. You’re driving me out—what on earth do you plan to do afterward?”

Tashiro: “What will you do afterward?”
“I won’t do a thing.”
“You shouldn’t stare so much at someone’s face.”
“First of all—there’s nothing written on this face.”

“It’s written.”
“It’s written.”
“I can see it clearly.”

“What does it say?”

A long silence.

“After I leave... You’re planning to go somewhere other than your office... aren’t you?”
“You made a promise to meet someone somewhere... didn’t you?”

“If that’s how it is, I’ll go to the office and then head straight to meet them.”

“You think leaving me at home is dangerous, so you’re planning to send me off to Tsurumi or some faraway place, aren’t you? You thought that unless you put on an act of going along yourself, people would refuse…”

Tashiro: “In that case, I’ll take you as far as Tsurumi and come back alone.”

Nuiko: “I intend to avoid that much trouble, you know.”

“If you’re that worried, then put my hat and shoes in the cupboard, lock it, and go.”

“I can go even wearing slippers.”

“You don’t mention my hat.”

“Isn’t that fine?”

“You’re an expert at baldness…”

“I’m not particularly skilled at it,” said Tashiro. “I just don’t mind it as much as you do.”

“Well then,” said Nuiko, “since I went to all the trouble of having my hair done up, I’ll just go by myself.”

“Ah, go on then…” said Tashiro.

Nuiko resignedly entered the room.

Tashiro: “Try calling from there to see if I’m at home.”
“You’d recognize my voice, wouldn’t you?”

(As he says this, he begins growing increasingly restless.)
(He walks around the room, occasionally pressing a hand to his forehead and pondering deeply.)

Nuiko suddenly rushed out.
This time without wearing a coat, she bared both arms and pressed them to her chest, assuming a threatening stance.

“You’re waiting for someone, aren’t you?”
“Who...?”

A long silence.

Nuiko slipped into the room, glancing sidelong at her husband’s clueless face.
Before long, she suddenly showed her face again.

Tashiro—what now?

“It’s nothing,” said Nuiko.
(She pulled her head back.)

This time, Tashiro went to open the room door.

Nuiko: “Oh! How rude!”
Tashiro: “Hurry up already!”
“The days are short, you know.”

Nuiko (adjusting the folds of the Western dress as she appears)

“Shall I call Tashiro Automobile?”

Nuiko (sitting on the sofa): "If you want to hide it, fine. Go ahead and hide it... But... but..."

Tashiro: "Who'd cry over this? What exactly are you claiming I'm hiding?"

Nuiko: "I'm saying you're hiding something because you are hiding something! If you can't even grasp that much, what use are you?"

Tashiro: "You're a frightening woman. Or maybe I'm just transparent as glass?"

Nuiko: “You’re the one.”
Tashiro: “I’m not hiding anything at all.”
Tashiro: “I just thought it would be better if you didn’t know about this one thing.”

“Look at that.”

“Fine then, if you’re going to keep saying that, I’ll tell you,” said Tashiro.
“Just don’t go getting startled.”

“Wait…,” Nuiko interjected.
“Is it really something that would shock me so much?”

“You’d be surprised, I think,” he replied.
“It’s more natural to be surprised, isn’t it?”

“Are you really okay with this?” she pressed.

Tashiro: “That’s just it—it won’t go that way.”

Nuiko: “That’s how it is，isn’t it?”
“You’ve been acting strange since last night.”

Tashiro: “I must appear quite discomposed.”

Nuiko was fidgeting.

Before going to bed, he had gone out of his way to retie his shoelaces—last night had been the first time since he was born. Only half of what Nuiko said reached his ears.

Nuiko’s ear—I didn’t know about that—but there was a completely different look in those eyes.

“That must be so,” said Tashiro.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a matter of life or death.

“Is it really such a major crisis?” asked Nuiko.

Tashiro: “Yeah, it’s a major crisis.”

Nuiko: “Are you worrying about that all by yourself? Won’t you discuss it with me?”

Tashiro: “I appreciate you saying that. But this one thing—as I said earlier—I thought I could manage without letting it reach your ears.”

Nuiko: “Did something go wrong at the store?”

Tashiro: “If it were something like that, it’d be nothing. It’d just mean I quit the store.”

“So it’s about money or something…”

Tashiro: “That’s not it.”
“In that case—instead of loitering around here—you should be running all over outside.”

Nuiko knew someone was coming—people were bound to arrive.

Tashiro had no choice but to accept things as they were.
"I'll at least say what I have to say."
"Leave it to me."
"In any case, you shouldn't be at home."
"Go to Tsurumi quickly."

Nuiko (overcome by extreme anxiety): “Understood.”

Tashiro: “Did you understand?”

Nuiko: “That person has come.”

“That’s right,” Tashiro said.
“Liu has come to Japan.”

Nuiko (rose abruptly in shock) “Ah—!”

Tashiro: “See there?”
“There’s no need to be so shocked.”

Nuiko (suddenly clinging to Tashiro’s arm): “What are we going to do…?”
“What are we really going to do?”

“It can’t be helped,” said Tashiro. “We’ll just have to face it head-on.”

“How did you know that?”

“There was a call to the store yesterday,” said Tashiro. “I didn’t answer, but apparently the intermediary told them, ‘I’ll come tomorrow evening, so wait at home.’”

Nuiko’s voice trembled. “Could it be a case of mistaken identity?”

Tashiro: “If we’re talking about Liu Kun from Nanjing, who else could there be?”

Nuiko: “What could he have come for?”

Tashiro: “Him coming to Japan isn’t particularly strange. Given how things were back then, I never thought he’d be able to come out again—but with us being out of touch since then, there’s no way to know how circumstances might have changed.”

Nuiko: “If he’s coming here… it must be about that issue.”

Tashiro: “The real problem lies in how that will be framed as an issue. Mr. Liu has been in Japan for a long time, so I don’t think he could possibly fail to understand our feelings, but there’s something tenacious about Chinese people, and I can’t help wondering if he might be plotting some drastic resolution.”

“That’s right. He usually seems calm enough, but whenever he says something, there’s always this unsettling tone to it. When he first demanded they hand me over, I felt like if we refused, we had no idea what he might do.”

“If we’d refused back then, none of this would’ve happened.”

“But Mother was so enthusiastic about it. After all, he had money to spare, his family lineage was considered good even over there, he’d graduated from a Japanese university—and on top of that, Father was completely won over precisely because he didn’t bring the matter up to me directly.”

Tashiro: “Well, you ended up agreeing too—there’s no point talking about it now.”

Nuiko: “That’s why I didn’t say yes right away, you know.”

Tashiro: “When I first became close to Mr. Liu in Nanjing, I had no idea about any of that.”
“But it was the night before I was set to return to Japan.”
“Mr. Liu invited me to dinner and said there was something he urgently needed to ask of me.”

Nuiko (lowering her eyes)

Tashiro: “When I asked what it was about, he said there was actually a betrothed in Japan. He had returned under a three-month agreement to settle the inheritance, but just gathering the land managers took a month, and on top of that he got entangled in a lawsuit—so the three-month deadline had already passed. Since letters alone would leave them uneasy, he asked that when I returned, I meet with them—starting with the man himself—and his parents to properly explain the circumstances. He absolutely did not intend to break the promise. On the contrary, he said he wanted to return as soon as possible to hold the wedding ceremony. ‘Please wait three more months,’ he told me.”

“And those three months didn’t work out again, you know.”

“No—but if I had simply conveyed Mr. Liu’s message when I first went to your house and been content with that, none of this would have happened. The problem was that I kept finding trivial excuses to visit frequently afterward. When the news came that his return would be delayed by another three months, we were inwardly relieved.”

After all, I didn’t love that person.

Even so, as a man, I couldn’t bring myself to betray a friend’s trust.
I resolved to leave Yokohama.
No—rather, I tried to distance myself from your side.

Nuiko: “It was me who didn’t permit it, wasn’t it.”

Tashiro Mitsuo: “I am, therefore, practically a captive.
But the blame wasn’t yours alone.”

Nuiko: “Of course I am.
But you did read the letter I sent to Mr. Liu, didn’t you?”

Tashiro—that reply never came.
Taking silence as a sign of consent and pushing matters forward—looking back now—was somewhat reckless.

Nuiko: “Who was it that told us he resents us for that…?”

“It was Ochiai from the Nanjing Consulate,” said Tashiro. “He stormed into Mr. Liu’s place with your letter, they say.” “He’s said to have declared, ‘The Japanese are a thoroughly despicable race.’”

“I’ll say this now that we’re at this point—I can’t even count how many times I dreamed he came to kill me.”

“I’ll say this now that we’ve come to this point—but living like this, there hasn’t been a single carefree day.”
“That man, according to the story, dueled an Italian officer in Hong Kong—before coming to Japan.”
“He was a middle school student back then.”

“Huh, I had no idea at all.”

“The opponent had a pistol—Mr. Liu had a dagger.”
“So he stabbed him right in the throat.”
“A clean thrust… you see…”

At that moment, the entrance doorbell rang.
Both of them started and exchanged a look.
Tashiro Mitsuo signaled Nuiko to go inside.
Nuiko, with visible unease, opened the adjacent room’s door and disappeared from view.

Again, the doorbell rang.
Tashiro, having steeled himself, headed in that direction.

Presently, Liu Kun appeared in Chinese attire.

His face was of a pure East Asian type, but his complexion was pale, his eyes sharp, and on his distinctive lips played a meaningful smile—altogether, he was sufficiently intimidating. Tashiro entered from behind him. He tried to say something, but his tongue must have stiffened. Only his vacant eyes kept darting about restlessly.

“This house feels somehow familiar.”
“Have you been living here long?”

“No—well, yes, exactly three years now.”
“It’s around the same time as your marriage, isn’t it? Is your wife here?”

“Yeah—no… right now, just…”

Liu: “Isn’t she here?”

“She’s here, but… right now, you see…”

“Let me meet your wife first.”

Tashiro: “I see.”
(He reluctantly entered the adjacent room.)
Presently, he reappeared, shielding Nuiko.
(Nuiko kept her face bowed down.)

Liu: “Oh, Ms. Nuiko—it’s been some time….”

Nuiko: ….

“Do you find my coming here like this unexpected, Ms. Nuiko?”

“No…” she replied in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Yet you must have been startled.”

“No…”

“More than startled—you must have been terrified.”

“…”

“You,” Liu turned to Tashiro, “must withdraw for a time.”

“Me?”

“I wish to speak with your wife in your absence.”

Tashiro (after hesitating, attempted to enter the adjacent room).

Liu: “If you stay there, you’d probably hear our voices. I’m sorry, but go outside and wait there.”

Tashiro reluctantly walked toward the back, watched by Liu and Nuiko.

Liu: “You must have been prepared for the fact that I would appear before you someday.”

“Yes….”

“And so, here I stand before you now.”
“What purpose do you imagine brings me here?”

Nuiko: ….

Liu: "Do you have anything to say to me?"

"I have nothing to say. You must already understand everything."

"That is a separate matter. Since parting with you, I have yet to express a single opinion regarding your change of heart."

"But that…"

"If you had not forgotten our promise, you should understand what I am asking of you."

“But…”

Liu: “What has passed shall remain in the past.”
“What has passed cannot be undone, no matter how you put it.”
“However.”
“Now, I would like you to become fully calm.”
“Whatever I may say from now on, you must not panic.”

Nuiko (raised her face again.)

Liu: “That’s correct. Please look into my eyes. I demand of you—by a man’s honor and my own passion—fulfill the promise you made to me.”

Nuiko…

Liu: “Don’t you understand? Marry me. Then tomorrow, let us depart for China together.”

Nuiko: “Such a thing…”

“Are you saying you cannot do it?”
“Why?” (Pause)

“Why…?”

“Because you have a husband named Mr. Tashiro…”
“That’s right.”

Nuiko (silently lowers eyes).

“That should pose no difficulty whatsoever. Fortunately, Japanese law had anticipated such eventualities.”

Nuiko raised her eyes again.

Liu: "Divorce him."

Nuiko gasped: "What?"

Liu: "Leave Mr. Tashiro."

“No, I can’t do that.”

“There’s no reason you can’t do it. Japanese women undoubtedly possess such discretion.”

“No, I can’t do that. No matter what you say… I cannot do that.”

“Very well. Then I will take you from Mr. Tashiro’s grasp.”

Nuiko (sharply): “How exactly do you mean to do that?”
“Do you think that man would ever let such a thing happen?”

Hearing this voice, Tashiro came running in.

Tashiro: “What do you think you’re doing?”
(But, pierced by Liu’s burning gaze, he took two or three steps back.)

Liu (suddenly softening his tone): “I have just made a proposal to your wife.”
“Your wife refuses.”
“Under these circumstances, there is no other choice.”
“I demand of you—”
“Give Ms. Nuiko back to me.”
“Set Ms. Nuiko free from your grasp.”

“I am prepared to accept without complaint any punishment you might inflict upon me,” said Tashiro. “But spare me that one demand.”

Liu: “However, do you think I came all the way to Japan for any purpose other than that? You were supposed to have been waiting for my arrival today, weren’t you? Did you think I was going to make some other demand?”

Tashiro: “I had, on my own, imagined your course of action—there was that. That was one of two possibilities I had considered.”

Liu: “Go ahead and say it.”

Tashiro: “First and foremost, based on your character—and at the same time, this was my only wish—that you would laugh and extend your hand to me.”

Liu: “After all that long suffering?”
“I absolutely do not have such feelings—none at all.”
“And what of the other one you mentioned?”

Tashiro: “The other—though this is a regrettable matter—is that you would demand my life.”

Liu: “Your life…?
“I don’t want such a thing.
“First of all, what would I do with your life even if I took it?
“But here’s the thing.
“If you absolutely refuse to let go of Ms. Nuiko, then this is the only way.”

Tashiro braced himself.

Liu: “Wait.
“Three years ago, on that sweltering summer night while grasping your hand, I had earnestly pleaded with you about that resolve of mine—if I can demonstrate it here once more, I will do so.
“Ms. Nuiko’s letter drove me mad.
“No—in truth, I even thought of killing you both.
“Stay your hand.
“I too, however, am a man who has received some education.
“You too must possess your own morals.
“Until today, I restrained myself and observed your conduct.
“But I can no longer remain silent.
“I must show you that I still live.
“Here before your eyes—the man standing now—I remain unchanged from three years past.
“Who Ms. Nuiko loves now, or whom she may not love—there’s no need to inquire. Tomorrow, I shall take Ms. Nuiko and cross that sea once more.”

Tashiro: “I will stake my life to protect Nuiko.”

Liu: “Staking your life…?”
“Interesting.”
“If you’re going to take that stance—”
“Then I too have a proposal.”
“You mean to duel me?”

“Huh?”
“You intend to duel, I suppose?”

“Well, I suppose so.”

“You’re challenging me to a duel, then.”

“I won’t challenge you.”

“Having challenged me amounts to the same thing.
Very well—I accept.”

Nuiko clung to Tashiro’s sleeve. “You…”

He had no choice.
There was no other way to resolve this.

Nuiko: “You can’t!”
“I won’t accept this!”

Liu: “You’ve lost all right to speak.”
“Leave this matter to be settled between men.”
“Where shall we do this?”

Tashiro: “Anywhere suits me.”

Liu: “Shall we step outside?”

Tashiro: “Right now?”

Liu: “There’ll be no witnesses.”

Tashiro: “Let’s do it tomorrow.”
“Make it tomorrow morning.”

Liu: “Unnecessary.”
“Now prepare yourself.”
(Looking at his watch) “It’s five minutes to three...”
“I’ll wait five more minutes.”
“I have a dagger.”
“Choose whatever weapon you like.”

“Hey, Nuiko, go get my hat and pistol from my room.”

Liu: “You probably don’t need the hat.”

Tashiro: “Forget the hat; bring the pistol.”
“Fine, I’ll go get it myself.”

Nuiko (grabbing Tashiro’s suit): “You mustn’t!”
“Please, Mr. Liu.”
“Instead of taking this person’s life, please kill me.”
“It doesn’t matter what happens to me.”
“Hey, I beg you—kill me instead…” (while crying, this time kneels at Liu’s feet)

At that moment, the entrance doorbell rang out shrilly.

While Tashiro and Nuiko were exchanging glances, Liu calmly made his way to the entrance.

Soon, he returned, bringing a Chinese woman with him.

Liu: First, let me introduce [someone].
“This is Yōhō—my wife.”

Tashiro: Huh?
“You… have… a wife…?”

So you see—even if you two were to divorce and Ms. Nuiko were to come to me—on my end, I would have to dismiss this teacher.
“However, this poses quite a difficult problem.”

瑩芳シヤーオー ピンハオメイユーフーリヨー

“What was that?” Tashiro asked.

“To be precise,” Liu replied, “it’s what you might call an intractable problem.” He glanced at Yōhō before continuing. “Of course, you wouldn’t understand without explanation. When I heard Ms. Nuiko was to marry you, I was plunged into ceaseless anguish day and night. The one who truly comforted me during that dark period was Yōhō here—she worked as my secretary at the time.”

(Glancing aside) “Uwanniyoipū.”

“Rian’yao,” Yōhō murmured.

“She doesn’t comprehend a single word of Japanese,” Liu explained. “At this moment, she believes we’re old acquaintances enjoying a most cordial reunion.” His voice softened slightly. “Gradually, Ms. Yōhō’s sincerity mended my wounded heart, and I began rediscovering life’s joys through her.” A faint smile touched his lips. “We entered matrimony two years ago.”

Tashiro: “Hmph.”

Liu: “There’s no reason mutual love should bring unhappiness.”

Tashiro: “Much obliged.”

Liu: “The two years passed like a dream.”
Liu: “Mrs. Liu is currently pregnant.”

Tashiro: “Well, well…”

Liu: “As you know, Nanjing’s climate leaves much to be desired. So on this occasion, I resolved to tour Japan’s hot springs—combining recuperation with sightseeing.”
“That made me recall you two.”
“As I deeply savor my own contented married life, I find myself wondering—what state of mind might you two be living in now?”
“No doubt you’ve been dwelling on my affairs, remaining perpetually ill at ease.”
“If possible—though this may sound sentimental—I thought we might mutually erase those disagreeable memories and even reclaim our former friendship… To speak plainly, such were my motives in coming here.”

Yōhō Shinfuōraichiyūtaomiyannā・Tōrennankin.

“She insists you two come to Nanjing.”

“Tashiro—oh—thank you.”

Liu: “However, when I think about it, even if I were to suddenly appear before you and declare that we should wash away all of the past, I imagine it wouldn’t be particularly welcome from your perspective. Moreover—whether you call this my brand of fastidiousness or superstition—I wanted to show you two the entire path that led me to my current state of mind. Yet that result reassured me twice over. To say it exceeded my expectations would be rude, but in truth, it’s because I’ve learned that you two love each other unreservedly. This settles everything.”

Tashiro: “So you were testing us then.”

Liu: “In terms of result, yes. But let’s have no anger about it. There are various types of friends in this world.” His tone shifted to something resembling mentorship. “I hope you’ll keep at least one friend of this sort.”

Tashiro rubbed his temples. “Well—we’ll settle down and think this through properly later.” His voice carried the weight of emotional whiplash. “Not that gratitude would be misplaced... but when matters rush in like this torrent, joy and sorrow lose their boundaries.”

Nuiko suddenly threw herself onto the sofa, weeping loudly.

Yōhō (approaching close and peering in) Chiyonmaihō, chiyonmaihō.

Liu: She’s asking if you’re really that happy.

――Curtain――