is a 1929 novel by
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
was a Japanese author who is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in modern Japanese literature. The tone and subject matter of his work ranges from shocking depictions of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions to subtle por ...
. It was first published in 1928–9 as a newspaper serial. The novel is often regarded as the most
autobiographical
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
of Tanizaki's works and one of his finest novels.
The Japanese title of the novel is literally ''
water pepper-eating bugs,'' and is the first half of the Japanese saying , or "Water pepper-eating bugs eat it willingly", equivalent to the English "Each to his own." The translation as ''Some Prefer Nettles'' was chosen by
Edward Seidensticker
Edward George Seidensticker (February 11, 1921 – August 26, 2007) was an American noted post-World War II scholar, historian, and preeminent translator of classical and contemporary Japanese literature. His English translation of the epic '' Th ...
. He considered it one of his most noted translations, and it has been included as a translation of the original saying in the authoritative
Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary
First published in 1918, has long been the largest and most authoritative Japanese-English dictionary. Translators, scholars, and specialists who use the Japanese language affectionately refer to this dictionary as the ''Green Goddess'' or ('' ...
.
[Edward Seidensticker, ''Tokyo Central: A Memoir,']
p. 117
/ref>
Plot
Kaname and Misako's marriage is drifting towards separation and divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
, and Misako has taken a lover, Aso, with Kaname's approval. Their young son, Hiroshi, does not yet know anything about their plans. Both are procrastinating over their decision. Kaname realizes that he is fascinated by his father-in-law's obsessions with the bunraku
(also known as ) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or ( puppeteers ...
theater and with young mistress, O-hisa. Misako's father is a traditionalist who attempts to keep the couple engaged in the arts of Japan in order to purge the negative influence from the West.
Themes
Performance
The theme that structures the novel is that of performance. As the book opens, Kaname is gently pressuring his wife, Misako, into meeting her father and his mistress at a bunraku performance. The "old man" (he is fifty-six or fifty-seven) has a deep interest in many forms of traditional Japanese performance, from samisen
The , also known as the or
(all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi.
The Japanese pronunciation is usual ...
and song to rustic puppets. But these are only the framing performances, as the life being led by Kaname and Misako is itself a performance, as Tanizaki reminds us several times. Even their son, Hiroshi, becomes a performer. The closing words of the novel transform a wooden doll into a woman. In many ways, from local accent to clothing, the central characters assume roles they need and can hardly bear, making the story a series of mirrors in which artifice and reality become interwoven.
East vs West
The dissonance between Japanese tradition and Western modernity is present throughout the novel. Kaname's aesthetic
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...
tastes lean more toward the West. His romanticized version of it is manifested in the western wing of his house, in particular the veranda
A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure.
Although the form ''veran ...
on which he likes to sit, in his fascination with American movie star
A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and w ...
s, and in his skimming through an English translation
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
of the ''Arabian Nights
''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'' for lewd passages. However, after a visit to the bunraku
(also known as ) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or ( puppeteers ...
theater with his wife, his father-in-law, and his father-in-law's mistress in Chapter Two, Kaname's interest in traditional
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
aesthetics is piqued, and he even becomes envious of the "old man" and his lifestyle: watching an old play, pipe
Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to:
Objects
* Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules
** Piping, the use of pipes in industry
* Smoking pipe
** Tobacco pipe
* Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circula ...
in hand, sake
Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...
and a young mistress at his side. This is the beginning of Kaname's divergent interest in the East, his preference for the past.
Madonna vs Harlot
Tanizaki is notorious for his use of the tropes of Madonna and Harlot. In speaking with his cousin Takanatsu, Kaname reveals that he's interested in only two types of women: the motherly type and the whore type (''bofugata'' and ''shoufugata'', respectively). What he looks for in a woman oscillates between the two, and the fact that his wife is neither one nor the other, but a mix of both, is largely the impetus behind his waning interest in her. Kaname prefers extremes, which will become more and more apparent as the novel progresses.
There is some sort of reconciliation between these two extremes, however, and it is found in the “Eternal Woman” (''eien josei''), a woman to be worshiped.
Food
One scene in Tanizaki's novel takes place between the protagonist's father in law, an old man, and his young mistress O-Hisa, described as "doll-like". (O-Hisa herself is a symbol of the Kansai
The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...
Japanese culture of Kyoto.) His daughter, Misako, and her husband have come to his home to discuss their divorce. He asks O-Hisa to look after Kaname in his home while he takes his daughter, Misako, to a restaurant. The restaurant, Hyotei, is a traditional Japanese-style restaurant (和食処, ''washokudokoro'') in the well-to-do Nanzen-ji
, or Zuiryusan Nanzen-ji, formerly , is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. Emperor Kameyama established it in 1291 on the site of his previous detached palace. It is also the headquarters of the Nanzen-ji branch of Rinzai Zen. The precincts o ...
neighborhood of Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
where the eponymous Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
Temple is located.
When questioned about the food available to serve Kaname, O-Hisa replies she has "only" salmon roe
Red caviar is a caviar made from the roe of salmonid fishes (various species of salmon and trout), which has intense reddish hue. It is distinct from black caviar, which is made from the roe of sturgeon.Nichola Fletcher, ''Caviar: A Global Hi ...
, baked trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...
and salad
A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...
. When his father in law makes some disparaging remarks about the humble offerings, Kaname compares O-Hisa's cooking favorably to the restaurant Hyotei where the old man will be dining with his daughter. "I'll have a feast" Kaname concludes. It's clear that O-Hisa is simply being modest in her description of the food, comparing it humbly to the upscale dining at Hyotei.
Other scenes in the book detail how O-Hisa was trained by Misako's father to prepare food catered to his preference for traditional Kyoto-style cuisine. Some of the particular nuances of Tanizaki's cultural references and imagery are obfuscated by the English translation. In a passage describing the challenges of "boiling an egg", for instance, the reader is not given any clue that the original Japanese text was discussed a speciality of Kyoto-style cuisine called ''koya dofu'' (高野豆腐), a freeze dried tofu
Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super firm ...
dish named after the Koyasan region from which it originates.
In contrast to the symbolism of Kyoto-style cuisine as authentic Japanese fare, Tanizaki disparages Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
as "foreign" including items like liver sausage
Liverwurst, leberwurst, or liver sausage is a kind of sausage made from liver. It is eaten in many parts of Europe, including Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Polan ...
from a German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
butcher. Of Tanazaki's characters, Louise, a prostitute involved with Kaname, is the most strongly associated with Kobe fare. Though Misako's consumption of the Kobe style food is alluded to from time to time, Misako herself is more clearly associated with the eastern Japanese fare of Tokyo.
Dolls
While watching ''Shinjuuten no Amijima'', Kaname takes particular notice of the character Koharu—the doll that becomes the very Form of what Kaname thinks women should be (later to be replaced by Ohisa). The conception of womanliness that Koharu inspires in Kaname is what lies at the heart of his Madonna-Harlot conflict, what makes him attracted both to an image of the Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
and to Hollywood movie stars: he isn’t interested in real women at all, but in idealized forms of them: women who can be appreciated from afar for what they represent, not for who they are. And dolls encapsulate this perfectly, being masterfully sculpted, subtle in their beauty, and silently manipulated by men.
Fantasy vs Reality
Kaname has an active fantasy life that he seemingly prefers to interact with more than he does reality. His interest in the West is rooted more in its fantastical (not necessarily accurate) elements. The same can be said for his interest in the traditional East.
An example of the former is evidenced in his preference for what he thinks is the Western concept of rapid and easy divorce. He is also fascinated with the colorfulness of western sexuality and, in particular, the way in which American films continually find new and more poignant ways of exhibiting women's beauty
Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...
.
In Chapter Ten, Kaname, walking alongside O-hisa with the Old Man toddling behind, is struck by the image of a dark old house. The passage that follows provides enchanting musings as to what might actually be going on behind the house's curtain
A curtain is a piece of cloth or other material intended to block or obscure light, air drafts, or (in the case of a shower curtain), water. A curtain is also the movable screen or drape in a theatre that separates the stage from the auditorium ...
s, deep in the shadows beyond its latticework
__NOTOC__
Latticework is an openwork framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern of strips of building material, typically wood or metal. The design is created by crossing the strips to form a grid or weave.
Latticework may be functional &nda ...
, as readers are given the opportunity to glance briefly into Kaname's world of fantasy.
References
* Tanizaki Jun’ichirō. ''Tade kuu mushi'' (). Tokyo: Shinchō Bunko (), 2004.
* Seidensticker, Edward G., trans. ''Some Prefer Nettles''. Tanizaki Jun’ichirō. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.
Further reading
* Gessel, Van C. ''Three Modern Novelists: Sōseki, Tanizaki, Kawabata''. New York: Kodansha International, 1993.
* Ito, Ken Kenneth. ''Visions of Desire: Tanizaki’s Fictional Worlds''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991.
* Keene, Donald. ''Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature of the Modern Era''. New York: Hold, Rinehart, and Winston, 1984.
* Pollack, David. ''Reading Against Culture: Ideology and Narrative in the Japanese Novel''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992.
{{Junichiro Tanizaki
1929 novels
Novels by Junichiro Tanizaki
Japanese serial novels