Tea Talk - 1917, Volume 1

A court-robed musician convinces a ferryman that he has come to confer an imperial rank. A millionaire tests prospective clerks with a parcel and a piece of string. A painter discovers that a priest’s friendship can depend on the smallest change in a greeting.

In these 1917 newspaper columns, Susukida Kyūkin follows the small gestures that reveal human vanity. Japanese politicians, artists, and scholars share the stage with American presidents, European writers, merchants, actors, and unnamed people whose practical calculations lead to unexpected conclusions. A watch theft becomes a lesson in educational logic; a treasured beard unsettles a proud scholar; even a bag of money attracts advice from mosquitoes and sparrows.

Kyūkin, a Japanese poet and essayist, brings literary curiosity and a conversational satirical voice to this lively collection. This first volume covers the supplied January-to-August portion of the year’s work, preserving its dated headings and the interruption of its final column. Explanatory notes clarify names, customs, quotations, and uncertain reports while keeping the author’s historical contradictions intact.