A Man’s Memorandum

A married man who translates English novels begins writing down the events that have unsettled his life. An unexpected telephone call from Mitsuko, a young woman once sheltered in his household, leads to a walk around Inokashira’s pond and an encounter whose consequences spread through a web of friendship, patronage and marriage.

Mitsuko describes coercion in the home where she works and disappointment in the man who professes to love her. The narrator listens, but his own motives become increasingly difficult to separate from resentment and self-deception. His wife’s questions and his friend’s ideals expose the weakness beneath his comfortable domestic life. Different accounts collide without forming a simple verdict.

First published in 1924, A Man’s Memorandum follows a troubled consciousness through confession, evasion and an unresolved ending. This complete English translation retains the embedded letter and the narrator’s contradictory reasoning, with notes identifying historical terms, unusual printed forms and fictional medical misconceptions. AI-assisted translation.