Pathway to Japanese Literature
Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.
← Back
Half a DayAuthor: Mori Ōgai
| Original Title | 半日 |
|---|---|
| Author | 森 鴎外 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a traditional Tokyo home, dawn breaks over a household simmering with unspoken tensions. Professor Takayama Shunzō navigates a delicate balance between his aging mother’s unwavering devotion and his wife’s simmering resentment. The mother, a formidable matriarch raised in Meiji-era austerity, clings to control of the household finances and routines, her voice a grating presence to her daughter-in-law. The wife—pale, beautiful, and raised in privilege—rebels against this authority, her disdain manifesting in icy silences and veiled threats to flee with their young daughter, Tamako. Caught between duty and domestic strife, the Professor endures their clashes with weary resignation, finding solace only in Tamako’s innocence. Rituals of morning ablutions and shared meals become battlegrounds, where generational divides and clashing values fray the edges of familial bonds. As winter winds rattle the shutters, unhealed wounds fester beneath surface civility, hinting at deeper fissures in loyalty and tradition. Will fragile compromises hold, or will buried grievances unravel this fragile coexistence? |
← Return to List← Return to TOP