Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

Ceremonial Occasions ExpertAuthor: Sasaki Kuni

Original Title	冠婚葬祭博士
Author	佐々木邦
Genre	Popular Fiction
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	A fresh corporate recruit navigates the labyrinth of office politics in a prestigious Tokyo firm, where every glance holds unspoken rules. On his first week, a chance detour leads him to witness a colleague’s secret rendezvous with a wife he’d concealed—a misstep that sparks whispered rumors of stalking. As colleagues compete to mentor him, their eccentricities unfold: one flaunts domestic bliss while his wife dons a borrowed wig, another weaponizes marital gossip to assert seniority. Amidst cafeteria debates about the bald, map-like scalp of their polar bear-esque CEO, alliances form over shared childhood memories of a dog spinning wildly in a school auditorium. The true linchpin is Mr. Dan, the company’s aging “Master of Ceremonial Rites,” who orchestrates marriages and funerals with equal gravitas. But when Dan announces his retirement, the fragile social order trembles. Through sly humor and subtle power plays, the newcomer learns that in this world of performative harmony, trust is as precarious as a wig—and everyone’s scrambling to keep theirs intact.