''Futon'' (蒲団, also translated "The Quilt") is a 1907

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

written by

Katai Tayama Katai Tayama (田山花袋 ''Tayama Katai'', 22 January 1872 – 13 May 1930, born Rokuya Tayama) was a Japanese author. His most famous works include ''Inaka Kyōshi'' (田舎教師, "Rural Teacher," also translated "Country Teacher") and ...

, originally published in ''Shinshosetsu'' (新小説, translated "New novel") magazine. It is considered to be the first Japanese

I-novel The I-novel (, , ) is a literary genre in Japanese literature used to describe a type of confessional literature where the events in the story correspond to events in the author's life. This genre was founded based on the Japanese reception of n ...

, a genre of semi-autobiographical confessional literature.

Plot

''Futon'' recounts the memories of Tokio Takenaka, a 34 year old novelist in a loveless marriage, who hates his day job and finds nothing in life interesting besides fantasizing about younger women. One day, he receives a letter from Yoshiko Yokoyama, a young female student and admirer, asking to become Tokio's disciple. Hesitant at first, after exchanging multiple letters with the girl, he agrees to take her as his student, and Yoshiko moves to Tokyo. Tokio begins to fall in love with Yoshiko, but does not confess his feelings towards her due to his fear of societal consequences. Yoshiko starts dating a man, and Tokio decides to have her stay on the second floor to keep an eye on her. Tokio contacts Yoshiko's parents to inform them of the relationship. Upon learning the couple had sex, Tokio contacts her father in anger and jealousy, who calls her home. Tokio returns to his old life, and out of loneliness, buries his face in Yoshiko's futon and cries.

Writing

Unlike many I-novels, ''Futon'' is written in the third person. It is based on the relationship of the author with his pupil Michiyo Okada. It is regarded as the first I-novel and the model for future books in the genre, which would be based on the authors' lives. The novel was considered sensational at the time of publication, due to its exaggeration of desire and sexuality, specifically in the narrator's final actions of smelling the futon of his female student.

References

1907 novels 20th-century Japanese novels {{Japan-lit-stub