Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

ItinerantAuthor: Oguri Fūyō

Original Title	世間師
Author	小栗風葉
Genre	Modern Short Fiction
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	A young wanderer, barely twenty and penniless, finds himself stranded in a desolate port town as autumn's chill deepens. Desperation drives him to a squalid lodging house where outcasts cling to survival—day laborers, peddlers hawking trinkets, and fortune-tellers peddling hope. Among them emerges Senuraiya, a charismatic drifter whose coin divinations fund both generosity and recklessness. Through his sardonic wisdom and flawed humanity, he becomes the youth’s unlikely lifeline in this transient world of frayed futons and gnawing hunger. \nThe lodging house breathes with stories: couples bound by shared ruin, men numbed by futility, and fleeting alliances forged over meager meals. Yet beneath the camaraderie lies an unspoken truth—every soul here is rootless, adrift between unforgiving labor and vices that offer momentary escape. As winter looms, the youth confronts the fragility of trust and the cruel arithmetic of survival, where a single coin might mean salvation or starvation. \nAmidst salt-stained winds and the sea’s relentless roar, bonds form and fracture like waves against stone. But in this liminal space between despair and resilience, even the briefest connection can illuminate the darkness—if only until dawn breaks anew.