Well-written, intriguing, and rather insightful for a century-old work. The Story of Tomoda and Matsunaga can now finally be conveniently enjoyed by English readers within the Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories.
Told from the perspective of K, a Japanese novelist, the story concerns a strange and lively man, Tomoda Ginza, and a woman who believes the man to be her missing husband, Matsunaga. K, wanting to help the woman and armed only with her letter and a photograph of a man who looks nothing like Tomoda, seeks to wrangle out the truth from clues and confrontations with the pudgy man whom he stumbles upon every few years.
Given the shorter nature of this story, that’s all I can really discuss without spoiling everything about it. The story itself is written extremely well, with Tomoda being a very amusing and impassioned character. He is the highlight of the entire story, I’d say.
Ultimately, this short story seeks to explore the allures of the western world — the food, the enchanting white women, and the care-free nature — versus the more simple and restrained culture of the east. It highlights the various contrasts, whilst shedding light on what is good and bad about both ends of the spectrum.
For a story written in 1926, it is somewhat bold of it to criticise Japan and its cultures. In his defence, Tanizaki does acknowledge the shallowness of European lifestyles when compared to the quieter, more intimate nature of living within the Japanese countryside. Overall, it comes out quite balanced in the end.
I’d recommend you pick up the Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories if you’re interested in reading this tale. After all, it is (one of) the first official English release(s) of Tanizaki’s short story, and you get plenty of other stories included within it.
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