Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

S's BackAuthor: Umezaki Haruo

Original Title	Ｓの背中
Author	梅崎春生
Genre	Detective & Mystery
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In a quiet postwar hamlet, two neighbors orbit each other in a dance of obsession and rivalry. Kanie Shiro, a reserved librarian haunted by loneliness, fixates on flamboyant Saruzawa Sasuke—a former circus ringmaster whose nightly drinking sprees and enigmatic charm mask unsettling secrets. When both men gravitate toward Kumiko, a gentle bar waitress, their fragile camaraderie fractures into jealousy and manipulation. Kanie’s desperate bid for domestic bliss collides with Saruzawa’s cunning games, culminating in a marriage built on debt and delusion. But Kumiko’s sudden death unearths a diary hinting at betrayal, her cryptic entries pointing to an "S" marked by a peculiar birthmark. Consumed by suspicion, Kanie spirals into obsession, convinced Saruzawa’s back holds the key to unraveling his shattered illusions. As winter tightens its grip, their tense encounters blur reality and paranoia, leaving Kanie trapped between the agony of truth and the torment of not knowing. What begins as neighborly envy becomes a haunting quest for closure—one that threatens to expose more than flesh beneath the surface.