What do you think?
Rate this book
The Buffoon: Houkan
This is a famous short story by Japanese author named Junichiro Tanizaki on the buffoon named Sanpei
and a geisha girl called Umekichi.
The Russo-Japanese War which caused trouble in the world from the spring of the 37th year in 1904 of the Meiji era to the fall of the 38th in 1905 ended finally by the Treaty of Portsmouth. In the name of promoting Japanese national wealth many new companies were founded. It was in the middle of April in the 40th year in 1907 of the Meiji era when new noble families and the new rich came into existence and the whole nation seemed to be in the festive mode. Opportunely cherry trees on the embankment of Mukojima were in full bloom. The weather was fine in one Sunday morning. Trains and steamships to Asakusa were full of passengers. The sky over Azumabashi bridge where was filled with many walking people like a column of ants was covered with mist, mantling from Yaomatsu to the boathouse at Kototoi. On the other side Prince Komatsu villa and villages of Hashiba, Imado, and Hanakawato seemed like sleeping in the indigo colored fog, and in the distance the 12th-story Ryounkaku was seen standing dimly in the humid chocking deep blue sky.
The Sumida River which flowed from Senju under a deep mist had a bend at the corner of Komatsujima and rolled grandly and became a wide river and its water became lukewarm as if to be drunk by spring atmosphere on the both sides. Its river surface was shone by reflecting the sun and reached the Azumabashi Bridge. Over the river surface which had gentle waves as if to have a touch of a futon, a comforter, several boats, cherry blossom viewing boats, and a ferry with overflowing passengers periodically leaving the mouth of Sanyabori by crossing lines of the up and down boats carried people to the embankment.
It was around ten in that morning. One cherry blossom viewing boat left the river mouth of Kandagawa and was rowed into the middle of the river from behind the stone fence of Kameseiro restaurant. The big lighter was decorated with a celebratory curtain of red and white stripes and loaded with buffoons and geisha girls from the substitute plot. Then famous new rich named Sakakibara was in the center of the boat. He was looking around the men and women, surrounded by five to six buffoons and drinking sake from a goblet. His fat face became red and he was about one-third drunk. When the lighter floating in the center of the river was about to move alongside the fence of the house of Count Toudo, suddenly the sound of shamisen playing and song singing from the curtain rose up. The cheerful sound vibrated the river surface and the waves moved toward Hyappongui breakwater and a shore of the substitute plot. All the people on Ryogoku Bridge and on the riverbank street in Honjo Asakusa looked at the great cheer coming from the lighter by stretching their necks. People could easily judge the inside atmosphere of the lighter. Even luscious geisha talks were carried over by the breeze crossing the river and heard from afar.
By the time the lighter was about to pass by Yokoami riverbank, suddenly at the stern, a disguised monstrous person with an extraordinary long neck appeared and started to dance a very comical dance to the shamisen play. Over its head, the person was wearing a neck made of a very long paper bag attached to the big balloon painted with a woman's eyes and nose. The person was wearing a loud long-sleeved kimono named yuzen and white split-toe socks, but when the person danced with raised hands, manly wrists with knotty fingers clearly showed up from the sleeves. The woman's neck made of the balloon was blown off to along the eaves of the houses, passing close to the skipper's head of the upcoming boat. Every time something about the woman’s neck happened, spectators cheered loudly by clapping hands and a round of laughter’s.
and a geisha girl called Umekichi.
The Russo-Japanese War which caused trouble in the world from the spring of the 37th year in 1904 of the Meiji era to the fall of the 38th in 1905 ended finally by the Treaty of Portsmouth. In the name of promoting Japanese national wealth many new companies were founded. It was in the middle of April in the 40th year in 1907 of the Meiji era when new noble families and the new rich came into existence and the whole nation seemed to be in the festive mode. Opportunely cherry trees on the embankment of Mukojima were in full bloom. The weather was fine in one Sunday morning. Trains and steamships to Asakusa were full of passengers. The sky over Azumabashi bridge where was filled with many walking people like a column of ants was covered with mist, mantling from Yaomatsu to the boathouse at Kototoi. On the other side Prince Komatsu villa and villages of Hashiba, Imado, and Hanakawato seemed like sleeping in the indigo colored fog, and in the distance the 12th-story Ryounkaku was seen standing dimly in the humid chocking deep blue sky.
The Sumida River which flowed from Senju under a deep mist had a bend at the corner of Komatsujima and rolled grandly and became a wide river and its water became lukewarm as if to be drunk by spring atmosphere on the both sides. Its river surface was shone by reflecting the sun and reached the Azumabashi Bridge. Over the river surface which had gentle waves as if to have a touch of a futon, a comforter, several boats, cherry blossom viewing boats, and a ferry with overflowing passengers periodically leaving the mouth of Sanyabori by crossing lines of the up and down boats carried people to the embankment.
It was around ten in that morning. One cherry blossom viewing boat left the river mouth of Kandagawa and was rowed into the middle of the river from behind the stone fence of Kameseiro restaurant. The big lighter was decorated with a celebratory curtain of red and white stripes and loaded with buffoons and geisha girls from the substitute plot. Then famous new rich named Sakakibara was in the center of the boat. He was looking around the men and women, surrounded by five to six buffoons and drinking sake from a goblet. His fat face became red and he was about one-third drunk. When the lighter floating in the center of the river was about to move alongside the fence of the house of Count Toudo, suddenly the sound of shamisen playing and song singing from the curtain rose up. The cheerful sound vibrated the river surface and the waves moved toward Hyappongui breakwater and a shore of the substitute plot. All the people on Ryogoku Bridge and on the riverbank street in Honjo Asakusa looked at the great cheer coming from the lighter by stretching their necks. People could easily judge the inside atmosphere of the lighter. Even luscious geisha talks were carried over by the breeze crossing the river and heard from afar.
By the time the lighter was about to pass by Yokoami riverbank, suddenly at the stern, a disguised monstrous person with an extraordinary long neck appeared and started to dance a very comical dance to the shamisen play. Over its head, the person was wearing a neck made of a very long paper bag attached to the big balloon painted with a woman's eyes and nose. The person was wearing a loud long-sleeved kimono named yuzen and white split-toe socks, but when the person danced with raised hands, manly wrists with knotty fingers clearly showed up from the sleeves. The woman's neck made of the balloon was blown off to along the eaves of the houses, passing close to the skipper's head of the upcoming boat. Every time something about the woman’s neck happened, spectators cheered loudly by clapping hands and a round of laughter’s.
36 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 1911
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
600 books2,196 followersJun'ichirō Tanizaki (谷崎 潤一郎) was a Japanese author, and one of the major writers of modern Japanese literature, perhaps the most popular Japanese novelist after Natsume Sōseki.
Some of his works present a rather shocking world of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions; others, less sensational, subtly portray the dynamics of family life in the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society.
Frequently his stories are narrated in the context of a search for cultural identity in which constructions of "the West" and "Japanese tradition" are juxtaposed. The results are complex, ironic, demure, and provocative.
Some of his works present a rather shocking world of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions; others, less sensational, subtly portray the dynamics of family life in the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society.
Frequently his stories are narrated in the context of a search for cultural identity in which constructions of "the West" and "Japanese tradition" are juxtaposed. The results are complex, ironic, demure, and provocative.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.