Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

Funeral MarchAuthor: Nomura Kodō

Original Title	葬送行進曲
Author	野村胡堂
Genre	Detective & Mystery
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In an opulent Tokyo theater, businessman Sannosuke Tanahashi flees a performance of Chopin’s Funeral March, haunted by a chilling superstition tied to the piece. His young wife, Kimiko, indulges his fears, unaware their lives will soon unravel. Days later, their frail son Takashi dies mysteriously in his sleep. Authorities dismiss it as natural, but anonymous letters insist it’s murder. The family’s enigmatic tutor, Michiko Yamakita—a woman with an unsettling devotion to the boy—becomes entangled in suspicion when sedatives are found in her room. \nAs grief fades, Michiko’s strange behavior crescendos: on the eve of her departure, she plays the cursed Funeral March with unnerving skill, awakening buried secrets in Sannosuke. Her transformed appearance and cryptic remarks hint at a decades-old betrayal, blurring past and present. Whispers of plastic surgery, disguised identities, and a mother’s vengeance seep through the household’s veneer of normalcy. When Kimiko is found dead under eerie circumstances, the line between victim and avenger dissolves. \nA tale of obsession and retribution unfolds, where love curdles into madness, and every note of the Funeral March tolls closer to a truth more horrifying than any curse.