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Okitsu Yagoemon no isho
明治・大正期の文学者、森鴎外の史伝短編小説。初出は「中央公論」［1912（大正元）年］。興津は細川忠興の名によって、茶儀にもちいる珍品を求めて長崎へ。そこで、香木を買い求める。高価であっても君命を重んじ本木をと主張する興津。しかし、相役は無用の翫物だからと末木を主張し口論となり、興津は相役を討ち果たす。興津は切腹を願い出るが、主君から許される。それから三十余年。主君の十三回忌まで行きながられてきた恩に報いるために、興津は切腹する。
15 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 13, 2012
5 people want to read
About the author
Ōgai Mori
350 books220 followersMori Ōgai, pseudonym of Mori Rintarō (born February 17, 1862, Tsuwano, Japan—died July 9, 1922, Tokyo), one of the creators of modern Japanese literature.
The son of a physician of the aristocratic warrior (samurai) class, Mori Ōgai studied medicine, at first in Tokyo and from 1884 to 1888 in Germany. In 1890 he published the story “Maihime” (“The Dancing Girl”), an account closely based on his own experience of an unhappy attachment between a German girl and a Japanese student in Berlin. It represented a marked departure from the impersonal fiction of preceding generations and initiated a vogue for autobiographical revelations among Japanese writers. Ōgai’s most popular novel, Gan (1911–13; part translation: The Wild Goose), is the story of the undeclared love of a moneylender’s mistress for a medical student who passes by her house each day. Ōgai also translated Hans Christian Andersen’s autobiographical novel Improvisatoren.
In 1912 Ōgai was profoundly moved by the suicide of General Nogi Maresuke, following the death of the emperor Meiji, and he turned to historical fiction depicting the samurai code. The heroes of several works are warriors who, like General Nogi, commit suicide in order to follow their masters to the grave. Despite his early confessional writings, Ōgai came to share with his samurai heroes a reluctance to dwell on emotions. His detachment made his later works seem cold, but their strength and integrity were strikingly close to the samurai ideals he so admired.
The son of a physician of the aristocratic warrior (samurai) class, Mori Ōgai studied medicine, at first in Tokyo and from 1884 to 1888 in Germany. In 1890 he published the story “Maihime” (“The Dancing Girl”), an account closely based on his own experience of an unhappy attachment between a German girl and a Japanese student in Berlin. It represented a marked departure from the impersonal fiction of preceding generations and initiated a vogue for autobiographical revelations among Japanese writers. Ōgai’s most popular novel, Gan (1911–13; part translation: The Wild Goose), is the story of the undeclared love of a moneylender’s mistress for a medical student who passes by her house each day. Ōgai also translated Hans Christian Andersen’s autobiographical novel Improvisatoren.
In 1912 Ōgai was profoundly moved by the suicide of General Nogi Maresuke, following the death of the emperor Meiji, and he turned to historical fiction depicting the samurai code. The heroes of several works are warriors who, like General Nogi, commit suicide in order to follow their masters to the grave. Despite his early confessional writings, Ōgai came to share with his samurai heroes a reluctance to dwell on emotions. His detachment made his later works seem cold, but their strength and integrity were strikingly close to the samurai ideals he so admired.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 6, 2021
to be honest the detached manner that this was written in didn’t work too well for me + it’s exceptionally short so I didn’t rlly connect to it sadly
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September 2, 20232/9 The Last Testament of Okitsu Yagoemon, Mori Ogai
April 28, 2024
An interesting short story giving a glimpse into the mentality of a warrior in 17th century Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews