Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

Unpleasant FeelingAuthor: Takami Jun

Original Title	いやな感じ
Author	高見順
Genre	War & Social Literature
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In a shadowy suburb at Tokyo’s ragged edge, two men navigate a labyrinth of vice. Sunauma, brash and domineering, leads his younger companion through alleys thick with the stench of semen and smoke, where women beckon from dim windows like ghosts of desire. Street stalls cling to the sidewalks like parasites, their patchwork curtains weighted with stones. Here, in this den of desperation, transactions are blunt—bodies bartered for yen, dignity stripped with each transaction. \nThe narrator, torn between Sunauma’s crude bravado and his own flickering conscience, fixates on Clara—a prostitute whose delicate features and whispered real name, Teruko, hint at fractured innocence. Her reluctant kisses and guarded vulnerability unravel him, clashing with the grime of their surroundings. As Sunauma pursues increasingly degrading escapades, the narrator’s obsession deepens, blurring lines between exploitation and yearning. \nAmidst geisha houses and brothels, a toxic dance unfolds: power games with madams, fumbled negotiations, and the haunting specter of Clara’s dual identity—both commodity and enigma. The narrator’s descent into conflicted desire mirrors the decay around them, where every touch carries the weight of shame and every glance threatens to expose fragile humanity beneath the filth.