is a Japanese novel written in 1955 by

Shintaro Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer, who served as the Governor of Tokyo Metropolis, Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the Far-right politics, radical right Sunrise Party, later merged with Toru Hashimoto's Japan ...

, who later became a politician and was

governor of Tokyo The is the head of government of Tokyo. In 1943, upon the unification of Tokyo City and Tokyo Prefecture (1868–1943), Tokyo Prefecture into Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the position of Governor was created. Previously, the prefecture had a ...

for 13 years from 1999 to 2012. It is the source of the name of the rebellious taiyōzoku () youth culture which emerged after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The novel won the 1956

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History Th ...

. In 2012, it inspired the name of Ishihara's short-lived national political party, the

Sunrise Party The , formerly known as the , was a conservative and nationalist political party in Japan. The SPJ was formed on 10 April 2010 by five Japanese lawmakers and parliamentarians, four former members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and an ind ...

(''Taiyō no Tō'').

Daily Yomiuri The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', ...

br>Party named after Ishihara's novel November 15, 2012

Plot

Tatsuya Tsugawa, a college student who enjoys boxing, meets Eiko when he and his friends pick up some girls. Tatsuya and Eiko start casually dating, and he finds himself emotionally attracted to her, declaring his love by poking a hole through a

shoji A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque '' fusuma'' is used (/close ...

screen with his penis. Eiko, who is "determined to take from men and give nothing in return", reacts to his love with reticence. One night, while sailing on Tatsuya's boat, the couple makes passionate love, awakening Eiko's feelings for him. After this, Eiko becomes devoted to Tatsuya, resulting in her being jealous of his other casual relationships. Tatsuya starts taking advantage of this to be cruel to her. One day, while sailing with friends, Tatsuya takes the virginity of a university student, while Eiko has sex with Tatsuya's brother, Michihisa. Michihisa informs Tatsuya that he will "take over" Eiko for him because she does not love him anymore, and Tatsuya sells her to him for five thousand yen. When Eiko discovers this arrangement, she pays the money back to Michihisa, as well as three other times when Tatsuya renews it. After a few months, Eiko meets Tatsuya to inform him that she is pregnant with his baby, and he tells her on a whim that it is not a bad idea to have a baby. However, after seeing a newspaper photograph of a boxer holding a baby, he changes his mind and tells her to have an abortion. Because she is already four months pregnant, Eiko has to have a Caesarean operation, and dies four days later from

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and covering of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One pa ...

. After seeing Eiko's photograph at her funeral, Tatsuya interprets her smile as a challenge and angrily throws a container of incense at it. He then goes to his college gymnasium to box and recalls Eiko asking: "why can't you love me in a more straightforward manner?".

Adaptations

Adaptations of the novel include: * ''Season of the Sun'' (1956 film) * ''Taiyō no Kiseki: Kiken na Seishun'', a 1986 animated film * ''Taiyō no Kisetsu'', a 2002 TV miniseries * ''Shouji Ch**ko Man no Kisetsu'', a 2011

eroge An ''eroge'' (, ''eroge'', or , ''erogē'', ), also called an H-game, is a Japanese genre of erotic video game. The term encompasses a wide variety of Japanese games containing erotic content across multiple genres. The first ''eroge'' were crea ...

References

1955 novels Central Park Media 20th-century Japanese novels Shintaro Ishihara Works originally published in Bungakukai Akutagawa Prize–winning works {{Japan-lit-stub