Mr. Tahara’s Crime

Why does a seemingly composed father trouble his own son? Shigeo watches Mr. Tahara with growing concern, unable to understand his sympathy for people whose weakness or misconduct appears plain. A drinking former servant, a boy studying at night and a young girl delivering milk bring the family’s private judgments into uneasy contact with poverty and dependence.

As conversations circle around kindness, danger and responsibility, fire becomes an insistent image: a blaze in the city, a burning sunset, an inward flame that people may need and fear. Quiet domestic details gradually give way to a night in which perception and suspicion become inseparable.

First published in 1917, this story by Toyoshima Yoshio explores the uncertain distance between understanding another person and imposing an explanation upon them. This complete English translation preserves all six sections and the abrupt ending, with notes on historical terms, names and the annotated Japanese source. AI-assisted translation.