Imado Shinju - Imado Shinju

A short story by Hirotsu Ryuro. Published in the Literary Club in July 1896 (Meiji 29), and later included in the first part of the Ryuro Collection (1909). In 1896, Ryuro published a number of stories about double suicides, including Kawachiya, Shinanoya, and Shallow Waves, in a complete departure from the serious (tragic) novels of 1895. Among his works, Imado Shinju, which explores the motive behind the double suicide of Yoshizato, a prostitute living in a red-light district, is considered a masterpiece. The honesty of Yoshiri's lover, the good-looking Hirata, the second-hand clothing store owner Minoya Zenkichi, who keeps visiting Yoshiri even after giving up his shop and separating from his wife and children, and Yoshiri's feminine heart, which is strangely torn between chastity and sympathy, all directly touch on the subtleties of human emotion in the brothel, and combined with the skillful depiction of the customs of the Yoshiwara neighborhood, make for a magnificent scene.

[Kuniharu Ogata]

"Complete Collection of Meiji Literature 19: Hirotsu Ryuro Collection" (1965, Chikuma Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

広津柳浪(りゅうろう)の短編小説。1896年（明治29）7月、『文芸倶楽部(くらぶ)』に発表、のち「柳浪叢書(そうしょ)」前編（1909）所収。1895年の深刻（悲惨）小説から一転、96年柳浪は『河内屋(かわちや)』『信濃屋(しなのや)』『浅瀬の波』などの心中物を多く発表した。なかでも遊里に生きる娼妓(しょうぎ)吉里(よしざと)の心中の動機を主題とした『今戸心中』は傑作といわれる。吉里の情人で好男子の平田、店を手放し、妻子と別れてまでも吉里に通いつめる古着屋美濃屋(みのや)善吉の実直さ、そしてその貞操と同情のはざまにあやしく揺れ動く吉里の女心は、遊廓(ゆうかく)における人情の機微に直接触れていて、また吉原(よしわら)界隈(かいわい)の風俗描写の巧みさと相まって、みごとな一場を結んでいる。

［尾形国治］

『『明治文学全集19　広津柳浪集』（1965・筑摩書房）』

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