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Cold Rice TaleAuthor: Yamamoto Shūgorō
| Original Title | ひやめし物語 |
|---|---|
| Author | 山本 周五郎 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a feudal Japanese castle town, Daishirō, the overlooked fourth son of a samurai family, drifts through life as a "room-dweller"—a man with no inheritance, content to mend old books and savor sweets from his mother’s tea chest. His carefree existence unravels when he encounters a mysterious girl with bellflower-like grace, her piercing eyes haunting him during their fleeting street crossings. Though dismissed by his family as destined for a life of dependency ("cold rice"), Daishirō’s quiet world shifts after an accidental discovery at an upscale teahouse entangles him with a powerful lord. Suddenly, his bookish hobby attracts unexpected prestige, while cryptic marriage proposals and buried desires surface. As fate intertwines chance meetings, lost purses, and folded paper cranes, Daishirō confronts rigid social hierarchies and the possibility of rewriting his future. Will his gentle resilience and unspoken yearnings bloom like autumn bellflowers, or will tradition crush his fragile hopes? A delicate tale of quiet rebellion and serendipity unfolds beneath Edo-period constraints. |
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