Three Japanese Short Stories Quotes

“Heroes have always been monsters who crushed sentimentalism underfoot.”
― Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Three Japanese Short Stories

“No, nothing in this world is as oppressive and debilitating as blood ties. Any other relationship – be it friend, lover, wife; be it obligatory or constraining or difficult – is something one has consciously entered into at some point. Only one's ties with parents and siblings are formed at birth and are unbreakable.”
― Kafū Nagai, Three Japanese Short Stories

“Oh, but once one has returned to the land of one's birth – there is no place more constricting – one's surroundings no longer permit such freedom, and one can no longer simply transcend the demands of social position.”
― Kafū Nagai, Three Japanese Short Stories

“For her I would gladly ferry across the Sumida on the coldest winter day to buy her those sakura-mochi sweets from old Edo that she loved so much. But medicine? That is another matter. Not even on the warmest day would I want to go buy her medicine.”
― Kafū Nagai, Three Japanese Short Stories

“Excellency! Please come visit me once before the onset of winter. I am lonely.”
― Kafū Nagai, Three Japanese Short Stories