Pathway to Japanese Literature
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HumoresqueAuthor: Hisao Jūran
| Original Title | ユモレスク |
|---|---|
| Author | 久生 十蘭 |
| Genre | Popular Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a tale spanning decades and continents, an aging matriarch’s quiet resolve unravels a web of longing and buried truths. Yasu, a formidable woman rooted in Tokyo’s Fukagawa district, embarks on an unthinkable journey to 1930s Paris, defying her insular world to confront her estranged son Isaku—a restless soul adrift in Europe’s glittering excess. A cryptic telegram lures her across oceans, only to collide with indifference and a haunting encounter with a compassionate stranger in Marseille. Years later, as postwar Japan rebuilds, Yasu’s wait for Isaku’s return intertwines with the arrival of Toshōko, a enigmatic young woman whose elegance and sorrow mirror Europe’s faded glamour. Whispers of illicit affairs, wartime internment camps, and spectral resemblances blur past and present, while Yasu’s unwavering intuition hints at bonds deeper than blood. Amid autumn bush clover and lingering ghosts, unspoken tragedies surface—a mother’s love battles the pull of distant shores, and a daughter’s identity becomes the key to healing decades of silence. As fragile connections emerge between Tokyo’s traditions and Parisian boulevards, Yasu’s journey reveals that some voyages span generations, and home is a mosaic of sacrifices etched across seas. |
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