Nails and Other Writings

A young man pretends to be on the verge of madness, hoping at last to disturb his self-possessed cousin. A boy waiting for his uncle finds his growing anger transformed into fear of a mysterious “temper worm.” In a seaside town, two idle friends talk about their futures while rain, blasting from a railway tunnel, and a remembered encounter unsettle their thoughts.

Makino Shin’ichi traces the gap between what people feel and the performances they make of those feelings. His narrators can be vain, tender, ridiculous, and suddenly lonely. In Foolish Thoughts, a sleepless night after a failed romance becomes a sequence of fantasies, experiments, and uncomfortable laughter.

The brief tribute Like a Jewel honors the writer Kasai Zenzō, bringing another perspective on art and suffering into this five-work collection. This complete English edition retains the original sections, quoted verse, and unresolved turns of thought, with concise notes on historical references and textual uncertainties. AI-assisted translation, prepared and edited by Valentin Sarić.