A compassionate and gracious heart - Tajobushin

A full-length novel by Satomi Ton. It was serialized in the Jiji Shimpo from December 1922 (Taisho 11) to December of the following year, and published by Shinchosha in April (part 1) and August 1921 (part 2). The protagonist is lawyer Fujishiro Nobuyuki, who is convinced that his "life's work" was "to fall in love for real and to make women fall in love for him for real." Despite his many relationships with women, he prides himself on living life with sincerity, and at dawn on the day of the Great Kanto Earthquake, he passes away peacefully, leaving behind the words, "As long as you do what you want to do from your heart, it doesn't matter what you do." Inspired by the poem "Many emotions are expressed by the Buddha's heart," this work embodies the author's so-called "philosophy of sincerity" = "sincerity above all else," and unfolds in a way that may seem forced. This masterpiece, spanning 2,000 pages, is a vivid depiction of the hedonistic customs of the late Taisho period.

[Munakata Kazushige]

"'Massyo Butsushin' (Shincho Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

里見弴(とん)の長編小説。1922年（大正11）12月から翌年12月まで『時事新報』に連載、24年4月（前編）および8月（後編）新潮社刊。自分の「一生の仕事」を、「本気で惚(ほ)れ、女にも本気で惚れさせることだつた」と確信する弁護士藤代信之(ふじしろのぶゆき)が主人公。多彩な女性遍歴を重ねながらも、真心を尽くして生きてきたと自負する彼は、関東大震災の日の明け方に、「心からしたいことをする分には、何をしたつていゝのだ」と言い遺(のこ)して安らかな臨終を迎える。「多情乃(すなはち)仏心」という句に想を得て、作者のいわゆる「まごころ哲学」＝「誠実至上主義」を具象化し、強引と思われるほど縦横に展開した作品。2000枚に及ぶ大作で、大正末年の享楽的な風俗描写が生彩を放っている。

［宗像和重］

『『多情仏心』（新潮文庫）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例