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The Cape and Other Stories from the Japanese Ghetto
The fiction of Kenji Nakagami has no peer in contemporary Japan. Born into the burakumin -- an outcast class shunned in feudal Japan and still suffering discrimination today -- Nakagami depicts the lives of his people in powerful, sensual prose and stark, sometimes horrifying detail. The Cape is his breakthrough novella about a burakumin community in a small coastal city and their struggles with complicated family histories and troubled memories. Poverty, violence, suicide, and the harsh natural conditions of their home constantly disrupt their lives. Two more early stories, "The Burning House" and "Redhead, " continue these themes, relieved by small moments of profound tenderness.
192 pages, Paperback
First published May 19, 1976
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About the author
Kenji Nakagami
47 books48 followersSee 中上 健次.
Kenji Nakagami (中上健次 Nakagami Kenji, August 2, 1946 – August 12, 1992) was a Japanese novelist and essayist. He is well known as the first, and so far the only, post-war Japanese writer to identify himself publicly as a Burakumin, a member of one of Japan’s long-suffering outcaste groups. His works depict the intense life-experiences of men and women struggling to survive in a Burakumin community in western Japan. His most celebrated novels include “Misaki” (The Cape), which won the Akutagawa Prize in 1976, and “Karekinada” (The Sea of Withered Trees), which won both the Mainichi and Geijutsu Literary Prizes in 1977.
During the 1980s Nakagami was an active and controversial figure in the Japanese literary world, and his work was the subject of much debate among scholars and literary critics. As one reviewer put it, "Nakagami was the first writer from the ghetto to make it into the mainstream and to attempt to tell other Japanese, however fictively or even fantastically, about life at the rough end of the economic miracle." Nakagami was at the height of his fame when he died, of kidney cancer, at the age of 46.
(from Wikipedia)
Kenji Nakagami (中上健次 Nakagami Kenji, August 2, 1946 – August 12, 1992) was a Japanese novelist and essayist. He is well known as the first, and so far the only, post-war Japanese writer to identify himself publicly as a Burakumin, a member of one of Japan’s long-suffering outcaste groups. His works depict the intense life-experiences of men and women struggling to survive in a Burakumin community in western Japan. His most celebrated novels include “Misaki” (The Cape), which won the Akutagawa Prize in 1976, and “Karekinada” (The Sea of Withered Trees), which won both the Mainichi and Geijutsu Literary Prizes in 1977.
During the 1980s Nakagami was an active and controversial figure in the Japanese literary world, and his work was the subject of much debate among scholars and literary critics. As one reviewer put it, "Nakagami was the first writer from the ghetto to make it into the mainstream and to attempt to tell other Japanese, however fictively or even fantastically, about life at the rough end of the economic miracle." Nakagami was at the height of his fame when he died, of kidney cancer, at the age of 46.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 11, 2012
Kenji Nakagami's writing is not for the easily offended or sensitive-- his stories are dark and filled with brutality, crude language, detailed sex scenes and emotional and physical abuse. The characters are not likeable, have few (if any) redeeming qualities, live hard, poverty stricken lives and commit acts that stretch far beyond most of our moral boundaries. It's a depressing read and I admit to making wincing faces through much of it and just plain skipping over entire paragraphs containing explicit violence involving animals, and yet, I pushed through. Here's why.
The book is written by and about members of the Burakumin, which are Japan's outcast class. Ghettoized for centuries they were believed to be "tainted" with impure blood and even in today's contemporary society they are still discriminated against although ethnically they are one of the same.
I had hoped to gain insight into this little-known cultural secret through these stories, written by one of the few published authors of Burakumin background, but there was little to be learned here.
I am not certain if these are accurate portrayals of the community though their depravity and lack of basic humanity feels exaggerated and I can only wonder why Nakagami chose to depict them as such. To shock or outrage readers? I don't know, but do remain curious and so I will have to turn to non-fiction works for answers.
Though not the most enjoyable read, I give the work a 3 for opening my eyes to this hidden society and for creating an interest to learn more.
The book is written by and about members of the Burakumin, which are Japan's outcast class. Ghettoized for centuries they were believed to be "tainted" with impure blood and even in today's contemporary society they are still discriminated against although ethnically they are one of the same.
I had hoped to gain insight into this little-known cultural secret through these stories, written by one of the few published authors of Burakumin background, but there was little to be learned here.
I am not certain if these are accurate portrayals of the community though their depravity and lack of basic humanity feels exaggerated and I can only wonder why Nakagami chose to depict them as such. To shock or outrage readers? I don't know, but do remain curious and so I will have to turn to non-fiction works for answers.
Though not the most enjoyable read, I give the work a 3 for opening my eyes to this hidden society and for creating an interest to learn more.
January 10, 2015
"'The other day when I came to hang out with the boss at the Takada site, Akiyuki got a sweetfish,' said Yasuo. 'He got it in the rapids with a rock. Smashed in its head. There was another one dead without a mark on it. What'd ya do with that one?'
'Oh, I ate it. I took it to my sister's house and she said it gave her the creeps but she broiled it in salt for me.'
'A big one?' asked the woman.
'What else? Akiyuki caught it,' said Yasuo, winking in his direction.
'It was small. They were all babies,' Akiyuki said.
Yasuo shook his head gravely. 'I wonder,' he pretended to whisper to himself. Then, still bent over, he extended his hands between his thighs and mumbled, 'I bet it was about this long.'
'Ah, whenever Yasu opens his mouth, I forget what we're supposed to be talking about,' laughed the woman. Then everyone began to laugh. Akyuki smiled uncomfortably. A curious fact dawned on him. Wherever he went, all anybody talked about was sex. The boss was watching him with a gleam in his eyes. Akiyuki looked away."
I love a bit of working-class J lit. This was perfect. Akiyuki is macho, virginal and angry and he's on a vague sort of mission to take his vague sort of revenge on someone, somewhere for the awfulness of his complicated and unsatisfying life. Intense.
'Oh, I ate it. I took it to my sister's house and she said it gave her the creeps but she broiled it in salt for me.'
'A big one?' asked the woman.
'What else? Akiyuki caught it,' said Yasuo, winking in his direction.
'It was small. They were all babies,' Akiyuki said.
Yasuo shook his head gravely. 'I wonder,' he pretended to whisper to himself. Then, still bent over, he extended his hands between his thighs and mumbled, 'I bet it was about this long.'
'Ah, whenever Yasu opens his mouth, I forget what we're supposed to be talking about,' laughed the woman. Then everyone began to laugh. Akyuki smiled uncomfortably. A curious fact dawned on him. Wherever he went, all anybody talked about was sex. The boss was watching him with a gleam in his eyes. Akiyuki looked away."
I love a bit of working-class J lit. This was perfect. Akiyuki is macho, virginal and angry and he's on a vague sort of mission to take his vague sort of revenge on someone, somewhere for the awfulness of his complicated and unsatisfying life. Intense.
August 31, 2022
Kenji Nakagami’s novel Misaki/ De Kaap/ Le Cap/ The Cape is a successful example (the only I know) of a story set in an environment of ‘burakumin’, a low social class in Japan. The burakumin have a sad history of discrimination, that isn’t alltogether over yet.
The main character of this short novel is Akiyuki. He is a navvy, and he likes his work. It is a complicated family he belongs to. His boss is married to his stepsister Mie. Akiyuki has the same mother as Mie, but another father, who is called ‘the bloke’. Akiyuki despises his real father and on the other hand he secretly has some respect for him. Awful things happen in the family, and during the turmoil that it generates, the mother organises a memorial service for her twentyfive years ago diseased husband. In the finale Akiyuki, after a long hesitation, comes to an act from which he gets a clear idea of his own moral identity.
All of this sound vague and abstract and theory, but I can’t give away much more without ‘disturbing’ your own reader’s experience. For me, together with the excellent afterword of the translator Ad Blankestijn!, it has given a lively insight in the geographical region of Japan where the author spent his youth and foremost insight in some socio-cultural aspects of the burakumin class. That’s because the author was a buraku himself.
A very long time burakumin lived as outcasts in separate villages. Although their position officially has improved, nowadays still people are looking down upon those people.
The novel was first published in 1976; the same year it won the prestigious Akutagama prize. JM
The main character of this short novel is Akiyuki. He is a navvy, and he likes his work. It is a complicated family he belongs to. His boss is married to his stepsister Mie. Akiyuki has the same mother as Mie, but another father, who is called ‘the bloke’. Akiyuki despises his real father and on the other hand he secretly has some respect for him. Awful things happen in the family, and during the turmoil that it generates, the mother organises a memorial service for her twentyfive years ago diseased husband. In the finale Akiyuki, after a long hesitation, comes to an act from which he gets a clear idea of his own moral identity.
All of this sound vague and abstract and theory, but I can’t give away much more without ‘disturbing’ your own reader’s experience. For me, together with the excellent afterword of the translator Ad Blankestijn!, it has given a lively insight in the geographical region of Japan where the author spent his youth and foremost insight in some socio-cultural aspects of the burakumin class. That’s because the author was a buraku himself.
A very long time burakumin lived as outcasts in separate villages. Although their position officially has improved, nowadays still people are looking down upon those people.
The novel was first published in 1976; the same year it won the prestigious Akutagama prize. JM
April 2, 2012
This is a book of three stories that are more like novella length. It is a different type of Japan than I am used to reading about from authors like Murakami. I didn't know anything about the burakumin, which is an outcaste class in Japan, a background shared by the author. In fact, from what I read about Nakagami, he pulls from his own life for these stories.
The stories are memorable and disturbing, with themes of violence and complicated relationships. The end of the title story is uncomfortably so.
In Red Hair, I was regretful to be inside the character's head. I would have liked to know what the redheaded girl was thinking; she is often described as tearing up or acting slightly crazy, but I'm not sure I understand why. Kozo, on the other hand, is almost psychopathic in his impassivity towards the woman.
The stories are memorable and disturbing, with themes of violence and complicated relationships. The end of the title story is uncomfortably so.
In Red Hair, I was regretful to be inside the character's head. I would have liked to know what the redheaded girl was thinking; she is often described as tearing up or acting slightly crazy, but I'm not sure I understand why. Kozo, on the other hand, is almost psychopathic in his impassivity towards the woman.
October 4, 2019
I was drawn into ‘The Cape and Other Stories from the Japanese Ghetto’ thinking I would find out more about the Burakumin, an outcast class discriminated against in Japan. The stories were interesting enough, though never more than that, and they shed little light on the history or the present situation. At best, they got me searching the internet for more information about the Burakumin and their lives. That was a much more enlightening endeavor.
May 14, 2016
The perfect example of why book covers matter. When I glanced at the cover and read the title, I thought Nakagami's writing was going to be crappy pulp fiction that I would breeze through and quickly forget. Thank God I was wrong.
Kenji Nakagami was a burakamin, born into Japan's stigmatized undercaste, and a spectacular writer. Japanese fiction is often introspective, clear, and intellectual, one of the reasons why I love reading it. But Nakagami lets nature, sex, family and other outside forces drive his narrative, a technique that I never thought I would experience when reading Japanese fiction. And it works. The raw appeal of his stories, steeped in taboo and myth, had me hooked from the opening lines of "The Cape," a magnificent novella.
"The night insects were just beginning to hum. If he listened hard he could hear them far away, like a buzzing in his ears. All night long, the insects would hum. Akiyuki imagined the smell of the cold night earth.
His sister came in with a large plate of meat."
In these three stories, Nakagami constructs an oppressive atmosphere with simple sentences. He evokes a sense of inevitability: the past is the past, and it will continue to affect the future. Fathers beat and abandon, suicide and murder dominate, and sex is power.
"Red Hair" was incredible and terrifying. I was pulled into the red-haired woman's emotions, her constant need and insatiable demand for sexual pleasure, the man's psyche, and their intertwined bodies. Nakagami creates a sticky, wet aura that lingers even after the reader finishes the story. Sitting here writing this, I still feel the pull of his words.
Give Nakagami a chance, despite the horrible cover and its "ghettoization" of his stories. His writing deserves international recognition.
(The book has a fantastic afterword written by the book's translator, Eve Zimmerman, which adds context to the stories that made the experience even more enjoyable. I can't recommend it enough.)
Kenji Nakagami was a burakamin, born into Japan's stigmatized undercaste, and a spectacular writer. Japanese fiction is often introspective, clear, and intellectual, one of the reasons why I love reading it. But Nakagami lets nature, sex, family and other outside forces drive his narrative, a technique that I never thought I would experience when reading Japanese fiction. And it works. The raw appeal of his stories, steeped in taboo and myth, had me hooked from the opening lines of "The Cape," a magnificent novella.
"The night insects were just beginning to hum. If he listened hard he could hear them far away, like a buzzing in his ears. All night long, the insects would hum. Akiyuki imagined the smell of the cold night earth.
His sister came in with a large plate of meat."
In these three stories, Nakagami constructs an oppressive atmosphere with simple sentences. He evokes a sense of inevitability: the past is the past, and it will continue to affect the future. Fathers beat and abandon, suicide and murder dominate, and sex is power.
"Red Hair" was incredible and terrifying. I was pulled into the red-haired woman's emotions, her constant need and insatiable demand for sexual pleasure, the man's psyche, and their intertwined bodies. Nakagami creates a sticky, wet aura that lingers even after the reader finishes the story. Sitting here writing this, I still feel the pull of his words.
Give Nakagami a chance, despite the horrible cover and its "ghettoization" of his stories. His writing deserves international recognition.
(The book has a fantastic afterword written by the book's translator, Eve Zimmerman, which adds context to the stories that made the experience even more enjoyable. I can't recommend it enough.)
November 30, 2019
I loved having this glimpse of an alternate Japan than the one usually presented in fiction and movies. After Five Women Who Loved Love: Amorous Tales from 17th-Century Japan which also brings forth the emerging middle class or bourgeoisie, The Cape and Other Stories from the Japanese Ghetto brings to the front the figure of the poor and rejected outcasts.
I also find it very touching and impressive that the author is also one of the outcasts and the first to openly come out as one. The stories contain both tenderness and all the horrors of poverty, dirt, and ignorance: violence, poorly handled mental illness, tragedy, and depression, etc. Yet the tone of the stories is not hopeless and perhaps this is the most important thing about Nakagami's prose, and what sets it apart from what we could expect of it.
I also find it very touching and impressive that the author is also one of the outcasts and the first to openly come out as one. The stories contain both tenderness and all the horrors of poverty, dirt, and ignorance: violence, poorly handled mental illness, tragedy, and depression, etc. Yet the tone of the stories is not hopeless and perhaps this is the most important thing about Nakagami's prose, and what sets it apart from what we could expect of it.
April 15, 2015
“I’m exhausted. You’re not a bad person, I know that, it’s all this stuff you keep inside, when you drink too much it all comes out. You think people are insects, don’t you, and you’re the only human being in the world, but tell me, what is the difference between you and me? Just try and tell me. Give me one reason why a man should beat up a woman.”
May 8, 2012
The back cover of the volume says how the characters' lives of the Burakumin caste differ from other coherent groups:
The first story in this collection "The Cape" exemplifies the above description in the extended family, whose mother joins the offspring from three fathers, the offspring's spouses and children and some others. The major disruptions to family comes from its members themselves rather than from the outside. There is a history of one girl's pleurisy, one boy's suicide, one man's murder, and another boy's (protagonist) increasing alienation as he comes of age and wonders about his identity with his absent father or with nature. While many characters speak of their lives having improved, the protagonist Akiyuki maintains,
"House on Fire" partly occurs shortly before Akiyuki's birth, describing his biological father Yasu, through that man's relationship with Akiyuki's admiring older brother, who tagged along after him. Despite his violent tendencies on others and himself, he expressed gentleness with that brother. This story demystifies him, showing both his pleasure in violence and his surprising interest in the son and the brother. Another part of this story occurs when Akiyuki is married with two children, a heavy drinker who shows a dual nature of physically abusing his wife yet singing to his child . No longer is Akiyuki the virginal young man in "The Cape", though his intrigue with his distant, now hospitalized father, continues to haunt his sense of himself.
The third and last story "Red Hair" concerns two people who discover themselves in days and nights of animalistic lovemaking--a man whose traditional laborer's job is changing and a woman whose unrevealed past is uninteresting to him. After "Red Hair" is a very helpful Afterword, which explains the three stories as well as Nakagami's life and writings.
...marginal lives constantly interrupted, often with violence and usually for the worse.The story characters expend a lot of energy picking up the debris when events bring a tide of woe. The Preface presents something about the history of this caste as well as something about Nakagami's unique writing style and earthy language.
The first story in this collection "The Cape" exemplifies the above description in the extended family, whose mother joins the offspring from three fathers, the offspring's spouses and children and some others. The major disruptions to family comes from its members themselves rather than from the outside. There is a history of one girl's pleurisy, one boy's suicide, one man's murder, and another boy's (protagonist) increasing alienation as he comes of age and wonders about his identity with his absent father or with nature. While many characters speak of their lives having improved, the protagonist Akiyuki maintains,
Their family was like a house of cards that would topple at the first touch. The family defends itself against enemies. What a lie. And he didn't need a family based on lies. Basically, he didn't need a family at all.This story intermingles many characters, so the genealogy diagram aided identification of complex relationships among characters, two of whom reappear in the next story "House on Fire".
"House on Fire" partly occurs shortly before Akiyuki's birth, describing his biological father Yasu, through that man's relationship with Akiyuki's admiring older brother, who tagged along after him. Despite his violent tendencies on others and himself, he expressed gentleness with that brother. This story demystifies him, showing both his pleasure in violence and his surprising interest in the son and the brother. Another part of this story occurs when Akiyuki is married with two children, a heavy drinker who shows a dual nature of physically abusing his wife yet singing to his child . No longer is Akiyuki the virginal young man in "The Cape", though his intrigue with his distant, now hospitalized father, continues to haunt his sense of himself.
The third and last story "Red Hair" concerns two people who discover themselves in days and nights of animalistic lovemaking--a man whose traditional laborer's job is changing and a woman whose unrevealed past is uninteresting to him. After "Red Hair" is a very helpful Afterword, which explains the three stories as well as Nakagami's life and writings.
May 23, 2018
There were three stories in here The Cape, The Burning House, and Redhead.
The Cape 4/5
This is a story that is supposed to show the life of the outcast community known as Burakumin. No one really knows why exactly this community is seen as an outcast. They do not look any different nor is it for any religious/cultural reason. It's speculated that because members of this community had occupations that were seen as "impure" (ex. tanners, butchers, executioners etc.), they slowly became ostracized. For a long time, this community faced much oppression and hate. I'm sure today, members from his community have equal rights but it took efforts of many people.
One person was Kenji Nakagami. He grew up in the alleyways of the Burakumin community but was elevated in status do to the funding that the government provided at the time. Eventually he became a writer dedicated to telling the stories from this community in order to have their voices heard. In The Cape, we follow a very complicated path in regards to characters. Not everyone is given a set name. Some people are just referred to as The Mother or The brother or even, That Man. It can get a bit confusing but it adds to the story. The main purpose of this story is to show the conflicts members of this community face. They have physically tolling work days and don't have much to do in their rest time other than to drink and roam the red light district. Families can be made up to many step siblings that are doing their best to be together. In this we have our main character who feels different from his family because everyone (regardless of relation) has had some connection to their father while he did not. His father is a roamer and never tried to meet him. On top of that our main character has 2 half sisters he knows nothing about. He is in constant conflicts with the issues of his family, past, and anger towards his father. It's a good story but left me wondering how exactly it shows the conflicts between the Burakumin community and the general Japanese community. The problems seemed more a circumstantial one over a "ostracized community" one.
The Burning House 1/5
This is supposed to be another story involving the same MC from The Cape but the complete change in character made it hard to believe. Now we have an older MC who has a wife and 2 children. He drinks and basically behaves exactly how he didn't want to in The Cape. He becomes abusive and still remains in conflict with his absent father who has now passed away. I was not moved by this story and felt the MC needed to grow up and not take his frustration out on his family. Again, I was left wondering about the connection betweent he Burakumin community and the general Japanese community.
Redhead 1/5
To put it short, despite all the analysis given to this short story, it was basically intimate scenes on full display. There was no freaking plot! It was just 2 people who had nothing better to do because it was raining. Again, where is that connection between the Burakumin community and the general Japanese community?
The Cape 4/5
This is a story that is supposed to show the life of the outcast community known as Burakumin. No one really knows why exactly this community is seen as an outcast. They do not look any different nor is it for any religious/cultural reason. It's speculated that because members of this community had occupations that were seen as "impure" (ex. tanners, butchers, executioners etc.), they slowly became ostracized. For a long time, this community faced much oppression and hate. I'm sure today, members from his community have equal rights but it took efforts of many people.
One person was Kenji Nakagami. He grew up in the alleyways of the Burakumin community but was elevated in status do to the funding that the government provided at the time. Eventually he became a writer dedicated to telling the stories from this community in order to have their voices heard. In The Cape, we follow a very complicated path in regards to characters. Not everyone is given a set name. Some people are just referred to as The Mother or The brother or even, That Man. It can get a bit confusing but it adds to the story. The main purpose of this story is to show the conflicts members of this community face. They have physically tolling work days and don't have much to do in their rest time other than to drink and roam the red light district. Families can be made up to many step siblings that are doing their best to be together. In this we have our main character who feels different from his family because everyone (regardless of relation) has had some connection to their father while he did not. His father is a roamer and never tried to meet him. On top of that our main character has 2 half sisters he knows nothing about. He is in constant conflicts with the issues of his family, past, and anger towards his father. It's a good story but left me wondering how exactly it shows the conflicts between the Burakumin community and the general Japanese community. The problems seemed more a circumstantial one over a "ostracized community" one.
The Burning House 1/5
This is supposed to be another story involving the same MC from The Cape but the complete change in character made it hard to believe. Now we have an older MC who has a wife and 2 children. He drinks and basically behaves exactly how he didn't want to in The Cape. He becomes abusive and still remains in conflict with his absent father who has now passed away. I was not moved by this story and felt the MC needed to grow up and not take his frustration out on his family. Again, I was left wondering about the connection betweent he Burakumin community and the general Japanese community.
Redhead 1/5
To put it short, despite all the analysis given to this short story, it was basically intimate scenes on full display. There was no freaking plot! It was just 2 people who had nothing better to do because it was raining. Again, where is that connection between the Burakumin community and the general Japanese community?
November 8, 2021
Three confronting and intense novellas. Nakagami is incredibly subtle in the ways in which he portrays some of the challenges of burakumin life: unstable work; insecure living conditions; and the effects that the stress of the previous factors have on individuals. None of the characters are likeable, but how likeable can you be living on top of other dysfunctional people, broke, and worried about where your next meal is coming from?
January 23, 2022
Undeniably powerful and an excellent description of life on the margins - although Nakagami didn't admit he was a Burakumin until after The Cape was published, so it doesn't specifically mention this category, it is clear that these are largely uneducated people, struggling to make ends meet, and succumbing all too often to lust and violence. Although it is focused very much on the male characters, in its description of the social milieu, it reminded me of Elena Ferrante's Naples.
I wouldn't say I loved it, but I respected what the author was trying to convey. Full review: https://findingtimetowrite.wordpress....
I wouldn't say I loved it, but I respected what the author was trying to convey. Full review: https://findingtimetowrite.wordpress....
January 17, 2022
It must have been synchronicity which brought me to The Cape. First, I had just recently read a nonfiction book about outcastes in Japan, in which the burakumin were discussed. Then a Goodreads friend DJ shared that this was on his list of books to read.
The title novella and the two shorter pieces which accompany it offer powerful and at times distressing depictions of its characters’ struggles with their profound sense of alienation from mainstream society, their own community, and their relationships with each other. Whether based on his own personal experiences or the observations of others in the burakumin community in which he grew up Nakagami clearly had a very deep understanding of such issues as chronic poverty, alcohol abuse with its episodes of violent behavior, marital infidelity, and parental neglect of children. The profound impact which such tendencies have on children, teenagers, and young adults trying to develop a life for themselves is portrayed in heartfelt ways.
The translator deserves kudos for the use of English vernacular which probably accurately portrays the raw, uncensored emotions and at times crude and violent behavior which these people engage in.
Additionally, the preface and the afterword written by the translator enhanced my understanding of many elements of the book. For example, the translator opined in the afterword that Nakagami intended to rebel against raditional Japanese fiction in the thematic material depicted and with his prose. However, for me the lack of continuity in the narrations made them difficult to follow at times. Ie, rather than enhancing the stories this stylistic element detracted from their quality.
Unfortunately, Nakagami did not provide any explanation as to how and why the burakumin are discriminated against in Japan. Perhaps this was because he was writing for Japanese readers whom he assumed know about these issues. But non Japanese readers unfamiliar with this aspect of the country’s society could be left not understanding much about these characters and their lives. It would have been helpful if the translator had provided some background information about this in the preface. For those who wish to learn more about the burakumin I would recommend Peasants, Rebels, and Outcastes: The Underside of Modern Japan:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Given that its narrative style substantially detracted from my being able to really appreciate The Cape I would give it a 3 star rating. I would also warn any prospective readers that this book is intense. Those troubled by reading about violence should probably not read it.
The title novella and the two shorter pieces which accompany it offer powerful and at times distressing depictions of its characters’ struggles with their profound sense of alienation from mainstream society, their own community, and their relationships with each other. Whether based on his own personal experiences or the observations of others in the burakumin community in which he grew up Nakagami clearly had a very deep understanding of such issues as chronic poverty, alcohol abuse with its episodes of violent behavior, marital infidelity, and parental neglect of children. The profound impact which such tendencies have on children, teenagers, and young adults trying to develop a life for themselves is portrayed in heartfelt ways.
The translator deserves kudos for the use of English vernacular which probably accurately portrays the raw, uncensored emotions and at times crude and violent behavior which these people engage in.
Additionally, the preface and the afterword written by the translator enhanced my understanding of many elements of the book. For example, the translator opined in the afterword that Nakagami intended to rebel against raditional Japanese fiction in the thematic material depicted and with his prose. However, for me the lack of continuity in the narrations made them difficult to follow at times. Ie, rather than enhancing the stories this stylistic element detracted from their quality.
Unfortunately, Nakagami did not provide any explanation as to how and why the burakumin are discriminated against in Japan. Perhaps this was because he was writing for Japanese readers whom he assumed know about these issues. But non Japanese readers unfamiliar with this aspect of the country’s society could be left not understanding much about these characters and their lives. It would have been helpful if the translator had provided some background information about this in the preface. For those who wish to learn more about the burakumin I would recommend Peasants, Rebels, and Outcastes: The Underside of Modern Japan:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Given that its narrative style substantially detracted from my being able to really appreciate The Cape I would give it a 3 star rating. I would also warn any prospective readers that this book is intense. Those troubled by reading about violence should probably not read it.
March 3, 2008
I read the first two (of three) stories in this book. Even though I've only read a few Japanese authors so far, it's interesting to me that there is a totally clear style of short, factual sentences and understated dialogue that lets you infer relationships and meanings on your own.
In the beginning there's a family tree to help clarify the relationships between the characters. I like this. Though it made me feel a little dumb - I'm not sure if it was included by the English translator, or was part of the original release.
He uses the same characters in slightly different ways in the stories. I like that.
In the beginning there's a family tree to help clarify the relationships between the characters. I like this. Though it made me feel a little dumb - I'm not sure if it was included by the English translator, or was part of the original release.
He uses the same characters in slightly different ways in the stories. I like that.
March 31, 2008
i have immense respect for nakagami - this cover is an insult, but if you get past it, there is some really amazing stuff. very macho, but nevertheless, his project of challenging the nationalist/imperialist mythology of japanese identity is brilliant, if a little anthropological at times. unfortunately for those who only read translations, it is much better in japanese.
July 2, 2009
I read this back in 2000 and cannot recall much but I do remember the feeling. This guy rocks my socks like Mishima.
August 17, 2025
I've been really curious about the status of burakumin (and zainichi) as the Japanese "underclass," especially having lived in Higashi-Osaka in a year abroad as a teenager--it's an area that is known for having a large population of both groups. There's no visual difference between "yamato" Japanese and those in these two groups. I was told that many are involved in yakuza and other organized crime operations and that sometimes a zainichi family name will have an "aspirational" character like that for "gold" in their family name--but coming from my yamato friends, I now realize that prejudices engrained in the Japanese educational system influence these sorts of assertions. Anyway, I read this with the hope of getting a better understanding of burakumin: Nakagami is the foremost Japanese author that was openly burakumin.
There wasn't much in here about prejudice, which was surprising to me. No mention of class difference or awareness of such. Instead, it was--especially given its time--just very, very raw: violent, guttural, and sexual in a way that I find difficult to imagine in the native Japanese (they just don't have words for this stuff--or not at least the multitude of different words for different obscenities that we have in English).
The first two stories were good. The first, especially, reminded me of Quentin's internal monologue in The Sound and the Fury (and indeed, in the afterward, his "Faulknerian" concerns about family scandal are noted). The stories paint a picture of a man at multiple points in his life--and the way that his genetic inheritance dooms him.
The third story had nothing to do with the first two and was just gratuitous, in my opinion. It went nowhere and was largely repetitive descriptions of sex. No insight, nothing interesting, really--other than, perhaps, the female actor's manifest shame.
I know that a lot of any literature in translation relies greatly on the quality of the translation (and in the case of Japanese, the Japanese itself because if it is particularly difficult prose, it is that much more difficult to put into English in a way that works). So I would hesitate to say that this was per se bad--indeed, the first two stories were interesting.
But the whole thing was very Hubert Selby Jr. Goes to Wakayama. I was disappointed that it told me nothing new about buraku--other than that they were clearly, at least in Nakagami's articulation of their lives in the 20th century--living more akin to the way the blue class of the USA than to the largely mannered, disciplined 98% of the rest of Japan.
There wasn't much in here about prejudice, which was surprising to me. No mention of class difference or awareness of such. Instead, it was--especially given its time--just very, very raw: violent, guttural, and sexual in a way that I find difficult to imagine in the native Japanese (they just don't have words for this stuff--or not at least the multitude of different words for different obscenities that we have in English).
The first two stories were good. The first, especially, reminded me of Quentin's internal monologue in The Sound and the Fury (and indeed, in the afterward, his "Faulknerian" concerns about family scandal are noted). The stories paint a picture of a man at multiple points in his life--and the way that his genetic inheritance dooms him.
The third story had nothing to do with the first two and was just gratuitous, in my opinion. It went nowhere and was largely repetitive descriptions of sex. No insight, nothing interesting, really--other than, perhaps, the female actor's manifest shame.
I know that a lot of any literature in translation relies greatly on the quality of the translation (and in the case of Japanese, the Japanese itself because if it is particularly difficult prose, it is that much more difficult to put into English in a way that works). So I would hesitate to say that this was per se bad--indeed, the first two stories were interesting.
But the whole thing was very Hubert Selby Jr. Goes to Wakayama. I was disappointed that it told me nothing new about buraku--other than that they were clearly, at least in Nakagami's articulation of their lives in the 20th century--living more akin to the way the blue class of the USA than to the largely mannered, disciplined 98% of the rest of Japan.
April 6, 2022
Misaki ("The Cape") by Nakagami Kenji is a novella set in the rough milieu of the burakumin outcast society in southern Wakayama. It won the 74th Akutagawa Prize.
The protagonist, Akiyuki, grew up under poor circumstances in a harsh environment and is part of a bizarre family in which kinship relationships are very confused: he has nothing but half-brothers, step-brothers and half-sisters, with whom he has no real connection. His real father is an outsider, a figure with a dark past and a bad reputation, from whom no woman is safe, not even his own daughter. Akiyuki hates his father but also secretly fears him. After a number of violent conflicts, Akiyuki also feels more and more of an outsider and increasingly asks himself the question about his origins: who is he? Finally, the inescapable realization dawns on him that the blood of his father indeed flows in his veins: during a visit to the red light district, he violates his half-sister who works there as a prostitute. A compact novel of great eloquence.
Nakagami Kenji (1946-1992) is known for identifying himself publicly as a "burakumin," a member of Japan’s outcast group. His works depict the experiences of men and women struggling to survive in a Burakumin community in Shingu, in the southern part of Wakayama Prefecture. Nakagami was the first writer from the ghetto to make it into the mainstream and - in the heydays of the "Bubble Economy" - to tell about life at the rough edges of society. Nakagami was an active and controversial figure in the Japanese literary world when he died of an illness, at the height of his fame, in 1992. His most celebrated novels include Misaki ("The Cape"), which won the Akutagawa Prize in 1976, and Karekinada ("The Sea of Withered Trees"), which won both the Mainichi and Geijutsu Literary Prizes in 1977. A number of Nakagami's books have been made into films; he himself wrote the screenplay for the remarkable film Himatsuri ("The Fire Festival").
The protagonist, Akiyuki, grew up under poor circumstances in a harsh environment and is part of a bizarre family in which kinship relationships are very confused: he has nothing but half-brothers, step-brothers and half-sisters, with whom he has no real connection. His real father is an outsider, a figure with a dark past and a bad reputation, from whom no woman is safe, not even his own daughter. Akiyuki hates his father but also secretly fears him. After a number of violent conflicts, Akiyuki also feels more and more of an outsider and increasingly asks himself the question about his origins: who is he? Finally, the inescapable realization dawns on him that the blood of his father indeed flows in his veins: during a visit to the red light district, he violates his half-sister who works there as a prostitute. A compact novel of great eloquence.
Nakagami Kenji (1946-1992) is known for identifying himself publicly as a "burakumin," a member of Japan’s outcast group. His works depict the experiences of men and women struggling to survive in a Burakumin community in Shingu, in the southern part of Wakayama Prefecture. Nakagami was the first writer from the ghetto to make it into the mainstream and - in the heydays of the "Bubble Economy" - to tell about life at the rough edges of society. Nakagami was an active and controversial figure in the Japanese literary world when he died of an illness, at the height of his fame, in 1992. His most celebrated novels include Misaki ("The Cape"), which won the Akutagawa Prize in 1976, and Karekinada ("The Sea of Withered Trees"), which won both the Mainichi and Geijutsu Literary Prizes in 1977. A number of Nakagami's books have been made into films; he himself wrote the screenplay for the remarkable film Himatsuri ("The Fire Festival").
March 18, 2021
Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of the term burakumin. It is used to refer to outcasts/outcastes of Japanese society with those identifying as burakumin often being limited to low-skilled jobs and housing on the wrong side of the tracks.
The book caused quite a stir when it came out in 1975 because it was the first time the major part of Japanese society was introduced to burakumin lifestyle and the many ways it is different from that of an otherwise largely homogenous population.
Two of the three stories revolve around Akiyuki and the patchwork family environment he grew up in but felt feels he doesn't fit in.
The first story is "Cape". The number of characters is considerable, so I would have been lost without the family tree provided by the translator. The general plot revolves around the run-up to a memorial service as well as the actual memorial service. Side plots follow Akiyuki's search for his father and his obsession with his half-sister, who works as a prostitute.
I did not read the second story "House on Fire" because the Afterword mentions the violence in real life being at one point replaced by the violence of a cock fight with one of the cocks dying. Thank you, but no, thank you!
The third story, "Red Hair" is about a 28-year-old construction worker who hooks up with a red haired woman and over a number of days has sex with her until their privat parts hurt from overuse. Descriptions are pretty explicit without turning the reader on.
The stories are not easy reads, I have to say, but the translator's note, the family tree and the afterword are very helpful in giving you an idea of what's going on.
The book caused quite a stir when it came out in 1975 because it was the first time the major part of Japanese society was introduced to burakumin lifestyle and the many ways it is different from that of an otherwise largely homogenous population.
Two of the three stories revolve around Akiyuki and the patchwork family environment he grew up in but felt feels he doesn't fit in.
The first story is "Cape". The number of characters is considerable, so I would have been lost without the family tree provided by the translator. The general plot revolves around the run-up to a memorial service as well as the actual memorial service. Side plots follow Akiyuki's search for his father and his obsession with his half-sister, who works as a prostitute.
I did not read the second story "House on Fire" because the Afterword mentions the violence in real life being at one point replaced by the violence of a cock fight with one of the cocks dying. Thank you, but no, thank you!
The third story, "Red Hair" is about a 28-year-old construction worker who hooks up with a red haired woman and over a number of days has sex with her until their privat parts hurt from overuse. Descriptions are pretty explicit without turning the reader on.
The stories are not easy reads, I have to say, but the translator's note, the family tree and the afterword are very helpful in giving you an idea of what's going on.
June 17, 2019
Three short-stories by the late 20th century writer Nakagami Kenji. Tough tales of working-class life. Nakagami was about the first writer to identify as a member of the burakumin caste, deeply discriminated against in Japan. The stories also may be about burakumin people, although that wouldn't be clear without the very informative essays that accompany this collection.
March 22, 2019
Strong confident prose with a visceral intensity that is at once both riveting and disturbing.
The third story ventures very close to being pornographic. But the minute details make his point quite clear.
Earthy, brutal with little to no sentimentality, this collection is a compelling read.
The third story ventures very close to being pornographic. But the minute details make his point quite clear.
Earthy, brutal with little to no sentimentality, this collection is a compelling read.
August 26, 2020
En algún lugar entre ‘La estación del sol’ de Ishihara y ‘Azul casi transparente’ de Ryu Murakami. Sin duda los tres forman un buen pack de lectura. Violencia, drogas y sexo en el Japón de los años 50 a 70.
March 7, 2022
An unpleasant reading experience due to so much toxic masculinity and a bevy of nameless characters. I believe that Nakagami was capturing how one society produces angry misogynists, but it was a chore to get through this book.
February 8, 2023
I’m not actually currently reading this collection, but I did read two stories from it, and want to come back to it eventually. I read the connected stories ‘The Cape’ and ‘House on Fire,’ both of which will haunt me for a long time.
January 15, 2026
One of those writers you go into wanting to really love but try as you might! it’s not bringing you to that emulation :( But I loved the ozone the stories lived inside—a bit less so the stories themselves. Overall still enjoyable!
June 19, 2023
These stories offer a look at a different Japan than we usually see. Working class, on the fringes of society. Worth a read just for the contrast.
November 11, 2023
im a sucker for dysfunctional family dynamics
November 11, 2025
Quite abrasive at times, but it's just the kind of thing people who like Édouard Louis and those kinds of authors should read!
June 28, 2022
A short anthology of Japanese stories from the ghetto which of course is not for the faint-hearted had me at “if the writing is uncomfortable for the reader, then it’s pretty much very good and [not boring].”
August 14, 2024
[Parts of this review was first published in an edition of Kansai Scene in 2002.]
Kenji Nakagami is a writer whose work opens up a side of Japan usually well-hidden from the foreign eye. And for that matter, from many other Japanese people.
He once said that his gutsy, earthy style “pisses on language” in order to make it it new again. His work presents Japanese lives in a world apart from the typical ‘cultural’ fare of colourful festivals or ‘exotic’ temples.
In his writings about the burakumin he often wades into the darker aspects of human nature.The Cape is possibly his most famous story and in it there are striking passages where he explores the dull, animalistic mind of a simpleton. There is little in literature that does this in such a penetrating way.
Major credit must be given also to the brilliant and subtle translation work of Eve Zimmerman, who has made the gruff grunts and mumbles of Nakagami’s characters comprehensible to the non-Japanese reader.
For a more detailed look at the burakumin people, see my original article: "Japan's untouchables" here:
[https://bretthetherington.net/2009/02...]
Kenji Nakagami is a writer whose work opens up a side of Japan usually well-hidden from the foreign eye. And for that matter, from many other Japanese people.
He once said that his gutsy, earthy style “pisses on language” in order to make it it new again. His work presents Japanese lives in a world apart from the typical ‘cultural’ fare of colourful festivals or ‘exotic’ temples.
In his writings about the burakumin he often wades into the darker aspects of human nature.The Cape is possibly his most famous story and in it there are striking passages where he explores the dull, animalistic mind of a simpleton. There is little in literature that does this in such a penetrating way.
Major credit must be given also to the brilliant and subtle translation work of Eve Zimmerman, who has made the gruff grunts and mumbles of Nakagami’s characters comprehensible to the non-Japanese reader.
For a more detailed look at the burakumin people, see my original article: "Japan's untouchables" here:
[https://bretthetherington.net/2009/02...]
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