Original language:
Japanese Translated from: Japanese
Authors: Endo, Shusaku
Translated by: Bufas, Viktoras
Published in: Kaunas
Published on: 1970
Publisher: V. Kapsuko-Mickevičiaus spaustuvė
This book contains two short stories. In the first story “Family Life” author presents a strong and cohesive family as a morally healthy society. The second short story, “The woman that I lost” is about modern Japanese society condemns selfishness steals.
Japanese writer Shusaku Endo his first short story divides into novels. Each novel tells the stories of individual families, examining the family stories. The writer describes a very subtle man and woman dreams of marital happiness.
Novel begins with searches of a young man for a wife. His mom suggests him various girls pictures, but he feels too low to choosing a life partner from the photo. At work all colleagues are jealous of his singlehood, but for Kenkichi Kusunoki seems that they are all lying, because no one leaves his wife and family and continue to live their lifes. Kenkichi saw in television lovely girl whose picture showed his mother to him and he falls in love with her. Each novel tells the story of young married couples married life. While Kenkichi seeing his love Michiko, he hears his friends love stories that begins beautifully, and then faced with the challenges of married life. Kenkichi decided to listen to his heart voice. He leads his beloved girl, determined to fight for his and his wife’s fortune. Siusaku Endo shows that every family faces a series of challenges, but with a great desire to marriage can be saved. In family has to be a person who know how to forgive for other’s weakness. Only the strong people can keep strong and cohesive family.
The second story, “The woman that I lost” was about a Japanese student Yashioka Tsutomu and school girl Micu. Student wanted to satisfy the lust and invited a girl on a date. Seeing that she is not attractive, student felt lost, but the lust was stronger than humanity. He said nice things about her, manipulated and dragged her to the hotel of poor quality. Satisfied his lust he left the girl, and she was naive and fell in love with him. Her feelings were not important to him, he was an egoist. Later, the guy finished his studies, and began to work, than he tried to seduce chief’s daughter. That time Mitsu was the poor girl could not forget her first love, even if she knew that she is suffering from a serious illness, there is regret that she is unable to be with her boyfriend at the time. Yashoka Tsutomu enjoyed another woman company. Sometimes he remembered Mitsu and thought about her fate, but he did not care about the feelings of women, he was just looking for benefits. From Mitsu he wanted a one night stand, and from second wife he wanted her father – useful communications. In this short story Endo wanted to show how modern Japanese society do not appreciate family values and does not cherish and think only about themselves.
Shusaku Endo (1923-1996) was born in Tokyo, graduated from Keio University, then studied in Lyon, France. He is a famous contemporary Japanese writer, he won many major literary awards. Endo was among the war generation that witnessed the brutal militarism within and without Japan, left to deal with his nation’s defeat at the hands of the Allied Forces in World War II. Japanese writer Shusaku Endo began to press immediately after the World War II .He wrote many short stories and novels. Almost all his writings is against violence, war, moral degeneration and all kinds of other evil.