Final Reflection

I was glad to get an insight about the Japanese culture, but at the same time I never knew how disturbing it really is. There was not one happy story in my half of the book. These people treat marriage like it is a joke and end up falling in love with guns. A mother does not even accept her child because he is not what she hoped for. Some of these people did really awful things to people who they are supposed to be close to.



I would have to say my favorite one was Unzen because although it was really sad, it was the only one that I felt I could relate to. Everyday people are faced with religious challenges and it really amazed me that those seven people went through all of that. That is some serious faith. But then there were other characters that have love affairs, at least three of the stories I read had liars and cheaters. I did enjoy the rage of stories, and it made me thankful to live in America. I know I take freedom for granted and when I was reading about living conditions and how women are treated, it made me thankful for the opportunities I have.

I don't know if I would strongly recommend this, because I think there may only be a few stories I truly enjoyed. This book is for people who are mature since most of it is about sex and brutal deaths. There were some interesting facts about the Tokyo culture though. It was really easy to understand, but I'm not so sure that is a good thing. I do like reading short stories because of the wide rage of characters and plots, but they are not meant for everyone.

The Rifle

After reading the first three paragraphs of this story I am a little concerned. The man is very much in love with his rifle, which is okay. He goes on to detail about how he cleans it, and he pretends it is a ladies "secret place" and clean it how she may like it?!..creep. He then went on to explain the satisfactions of cleaning his butt-plate screw. So the fourth paragraph is even creepier. He explains that at the age of 21 he wanted something from a 26 year old woman she could not offer. Let me explain that this woman is pregnant with her husband and she already has had one child. I guess she let him touch her, but he could "not have his way." He said he could no more than bury his face in her body's hollows and undulations.........???
Now apparently they had a thing before she was prego with her actually husband, and grabs his Meiji rifle like it is her slender body; this saddens him. Then he goes to explain that he pretty much rapes her because he was strong and could hold her down for a long period of time. In the sixth paragraph he proclaims, "The rifle has become my woman, and older woman." He receives a letter from his lover saying the baby is not her husbands, but his. Him name is Shin, so she will name the baby that as well. Shin is training for the Opium wars and he is glad he has his woman, a rifle, to cheer him on with his hard work. He had to dig a pit to put dead bodies in, and once the Chinese prisoners arrived, he was silenced by a beautiful woman. His captain saw this and told him he had to be the one who shot her. When it came down to shooting her he had no problem because he is part of the rifle, and the rifle wants to shoot. After this incident the woman from china had died within him, and he was now only chasing Korean women. He was hospitalized after falling ill, and his rifle had been taken away and given to someone else. He then worked in the kitchen and had to deliver food to the squad leader. He saw how hard Shin had been working so he found whoever had his rifle and gave it back to him. Shin refused the weapon and threw it on the ground and declared he would not do the marksmanship competition. The squad leader threatened to kill himself if he didn't, so he did. Shin shot off his rounds without even aiming. He was on patrol with the other men when his fever got the best of him. Breaking ranks can lead to a lot of trouble, and he felt something behind him boosting him forward; it was his gun. The squad leader was behind him pushing him with the gun. Shin begged him to kill him. He was sentenced to 17 years in military prison. One night he tried to destroy his rifle by burning it, but the squad leader who had been watching him went to stop him. He grabbed his gun and accidentally shot the man in the stomach. He was then taken to Nanjing where he did forced labor for Chinese. Truckloads of old Meiji rifles were taken in the disarming of Japanese troops. He was one of the people who had to unload them and as soon as he touched on, Shin knew it was his rifle. The Chinese guard saw him eagerly looking at this gun and whipped him.


I was insanely creeped out by Shin. There is seriously something wrong with him. When he saw his gun for the last time it was all rusted. He thought this was a sign that his woman was back in Japan with her husband. No man should touch his rifle in that way because it is so sick on so many different levels. I don't really have much to say about this story. It was really weird.

Dreaming of Kimchee

This story starts with a single woman reminiscing on her past affair with a married man. She called him her boyfriend and he would call her precisely at 10:00 p.m. At night she would read magazine articles about having affairs and how they are really only temporary. She read only 5 percent of people like her end up getting married, thankfully she was a lucky one. He left his wife and family for her, but it was not what she had expected. They have been married for 2 years and she had lost the excitement. He didn't eat breakfast or talk much, just walk out the front door for work and leave her at home. During the last part of the affair, she bought a bigger apartment with her sister to test her and her lovers love. She did not want to buy a hotel to fool around in just because of her sister and everything worked out, as if her sister was not there. She liked living with her sister because she helped her not be so stressed. All she was longing for was a routine relationship, someone to sit down and chat with after a long hard day, but was virtually impossible to do with a married man. He missed dinner a lot, but he was always considerate about it. He would tell her to go out and have fun with her sister, but this feeling would come over her and she was unable to react to anything. She missed her simple life with her sister, but she chose this life. One day she ran into his ex-wife. She told her that once a cheater, always a cheater because he cannot resist. The new wife told her to stop obsessing and the ex-wife slapped very hard across the face. This is causing her to have a lot of guilt. He husband came home one day after a long day of work and brought her some kimchee to help her with her headache. They sat down on the couch together and instantly her headache was gone, she said it was true love that had made the fogginess go away. The phone rang and her husband answered it, she assumed it was for him so she went to grab a few more beers. It was his ex-wife who called to tell him she is marring a man younger than she is. His new wife was relieved because she feels they can finally start to live their life. They went to bed together, and she had taken an icepack to help with her fever. He complained that it smelled of kimchee. The two realized it was her icepack and didn't much mind. She had gotten up to pee from all the beer and when she came back into the room he was wide awake. When she asked him what was wrong, he replied he had just had a weird dream about kimchee. The two laughed because she had had the same dream.


I'm not proud of either one of them for having an affair, but they are kind of a cute couple. I thought he wife was a little crazy, but I would be too if my husband left me for a much younger woman. I found it interesting that his ex-wife knew he was having an affair but did not do anything about it. I'm guessing it is not the woman's right to ask for a divorce in Tokyo, since they are still sexists. I would not trust someone who has already cheated on his wife even if it was with yourself. Who's to say he won't do it again, because chances are he already has another in mind. Tokyo is teaching me a lot of good life lessons.

A Very Strange, Enchanted Boy

Michie is the mother of a strange little boy who seems to question everything society has to offer. At the beginning of the story he is stuck on the term infinity, which is something that tends to have a grey area. He first discovered it with mirrors when two are located on either side and the person seems to go on forever. He explains infinity to his mother with "infinity is where numbers end, but it also means going on forever so it is not the end. You just cannot get any higher." This boy in only six years old when he tries to figure out the meaning of the word infinity and explain it to his mother. The boy continues to question life and the afterlife. He became obsessed with monsters and ghost; making his mom read him books causing her to be an expert as well. If Michie would ask him to eat quickly or get a bath he would replay I am going to die soon anyway. After a few days of this response, she broke out into tears and demanded him to stop because she would never let him die. He obeyed his mother and stopped at that very moment. School and day-care were impossible for the boy to grasp. He still could not write and was cruel to the other students. Textbooks, notebooks, class time, and play time were all the same to him. He was obsessed with outer space and learned about gai. His mother had explained to him oku, cho, and kei, but not gai which was higher up. Michie had given up on her son in school, and eventually let him do what he wanted and followed along because it made him happy. She met up with the father of her child, who is married with a family of his own now. They meet once a year to go somewhere the strange boy may like; this year is a haunted house. The father and mother chitchat about his eccentric behavior. He scolds her for thinking their son is not normal, but he does not truly understand the extent of this child. She had a dream baby, one that would grow up being normal, like to play with other children, and live out her expectations. The father would give her a large sum of money, without her asking, and she would not hear back from here for another year or so. At the end the boy states he now knows three infinities: numbers, space, and mirrors.


I'm obviously not a parent, but I could see why Michie was very anxious about her son. He is certainly a hand full but I think she is doing her best. I'm actually quite impressed with his intelligence and his ability to question infinity and unknowns. Mothers in Tokyo have it pretty rough because having a baby without a father is really frowned upon. He may not be the dream baby, but I think he is pretty cool.

The Duel

This story was interesting as well. The nature of animals is very peculiar and some would rather die with pride and stay true to themselves. It started off with two men sitting at the beach, an older one and a younger one. The older one, who was obviously wiser was completely sober while the younger one drank the entire day. The story went into detail about the clean beach and clear water. It painted this beautiful picture and I thought about what it must have been like to land on a beach without a high rise, hundreds of people, and dirty sand. Then the older man begins to tell the other about the bloody battles between mongooses and the habu snake. I guess it could be best described as a dog/chicken fight but with a mongoose and snake. The younger man assumed the mongoose would win because of size but every once in awhile it will loose. He explains that the mongoose's instincts tell it where the fangs are located in the mouth so it will bite and chew on the snakes head until it bleeds to death. If the mongoose's mouth is hurt by the snake in the process, it is really impossible to tell who the real winner is since the mongoose may die later that night. The habu snake is very astigmatic, so once it bites its enemy, it delivers one gram of venom and slithers away. Something else interesting about this snake is that it is half blind and strikes only from noises and heat radiation. One gram of it's venom is said to kill thousands of rabbits, a human being, its own kind, dogs, and eels. This snake's parent leave as soon as the eggs are laid so from day one they learn to fend for themselves. Once captured and put in a box, it will refuse to eat or drink. It is said they will refuse to eat a rat even if it is in it's box for up to a year. The snake will hold it's head high and die of starvation. This snake will only use it fangs and will refuse to suffocate an animal; such as a mongoose, to win the fight. The two men arrived at a vacant lot to see the fight. The snakeman took out one of the snakes to show it would not wrap itself around him, but it ferociously attacked the box and venom dripped the whole way down. The man lifted the gate between the mongoose and the snake. Right away the mongoose jumped on the jaw of the snake and viciously broke and chewed up the snake's face. The two rolled and battled but the snakes head was bloody and half gone. The fangs fell out onto the ground as the snake laid in a puddle of its own blood. The mongoose continued to eat the snake. The young man commented that the two do not even wrestle; the elder replied no mercy allowed as they walked away.


I thought this story was kind of sad. I am not a fan of snakes but I really felt bad for this one. Although it is very lethal, it did not kill for pleasure and refused to make human captivity work. I was hoping the snake would win just to see if it would eat the mongoose or slither back into its cage. The mongoose seemed thirsty for blood so I was not a fan of him. People who make animals do those kinds of things are sick. How could you watch two animals kill each other and view it as a good way to make some extra money?

Mr. Carp

This story starts off the Mayumi telling her father, Shiomura, that someone is breaking into their house while they are eating breakfast. Mayumi can hear extremely well because of playing the piano and from being intelligent. Shiomura and his wife, Miwako, tell her she is just hearing things in her head. This family seems to be the typical family, one boy, one girl, with two loving parents. Things take a turn for the worst when they walk into the kitchen and someone had actually broken into their house and dropped off a carp. Miwako blamed her husband for the fish, thinking he made fun of someone. Shiomura began to tremble thinking that his wife may have found out; thankfully she didn't. The young boy, Mamoru begged his father if he could keep the fish because he has never had a pet. Both Miwako and Shiomura agree to let him keep the fish. They did not have a fish tank big enough to their son ran to the fish store to buy on while Shiomura contemplated with himself. He knew the fish was Mr. Carp because of the cut on its fin. This carp belonged to his secret lover Tsuyuko. She was a divorced 35 year old women. They met when he threw up all over the floor at a restaurant he was at, to forgive her he bought her a purse. Tsuyuko and him met 40-50 times in the past year, but decided he couldn't destroy his family anymore so he broke it off. He thought maybe this was a sign of revenge or anger. The fish was originally in the front entry way of the house but moved to right beside the TV a week later. The fish and Shiomura would just stare at each other, at first he thought the fish remembered him from her house where it was located right above the bed. His daughter suspected something with the fish and her father, and her attitude towards him became rude and snobby. A few days later, Shiomura took his son to Tsuyuko's town in Shiinamachi. He was torturing himself and really had no idea why he would bring his son to this place where people knew who he was. When he got to her apartment building, she had moved away. The two went to a diner where Tsuyuko and him used to go. He ordered a soda and coffee, just like her. The owner knew not to say anything and looked down in disgust. Shiomura talked to him in a code almost to figure out what happened to her. He said she was fine but needed to go somewhere new. When the boy and his father returned home, Mr. Carp was dead. Shiomura asked what had happened to the fish. Miwako told him the fish held its head above water to breathe in the air and it did not splash or anything, like it wanted to die. He stood there staring at the fish while his daughter told him the fish did not make any noise at all when it died. Mayumi asked her brother where they had gone and he didn't say a word; he just poked the fish.


I was really disappointed that Shiomura had an affair when he has a really nice family. I don't understand how people can do that to each other. This story was really ironic in a way. I think the fish remembered him and what he did to his owner. I also wondered if the fish committing suicide means that Tsuyuko did the same thing. The son may have in inkling of what his father has done and I think his daughter does as well, or they will all find out eventually.

Three Policemen

This story was a whole bunch of crazy awkward! There is a man with big breasts?! Named Miki?! Apparently him and this other girl go around to bars and put on a show for the people inside. The one girl would unbutton Miki's dress and then fondle her breasts just so they can get kicked out. It was very strange to read and I reread the story and I am still very confused. So after the episode, they go to a bar they normally go to and have drinks with some guys. Miki, the transvestite(?), talks about how she loves a man in uniform because its impressive and adds oomph. All the while the other guys are debating about spoons and if you can bend them with your mind. They bicker on until the wee hours of the morning until three policemen walk in and ask them if they are still drinking. The bartender told the officers that the people inside were just leaving. The cops, especially in wars times, arrested people for being out late because they might be planning attacks on the government. During this short story there was not a war so they policemen did not care so much. So right after the officers leave, the Miki person sinks into the couch and says she loves a man in uniform.

I did not get the message behind this story at all! In fact I'm not sure if the other person was a male or a female. Maybe it was supposed to be humorous because the other stories have been somewhat depressing. I'm not too sure. I guess it had a little history in it about the policemen.