The Broken Ring and Other Stories

A woman wears a ring whose stone she has deliberately removed. To others it looks broken; to her it holds the memory of an unhappy marriage and the determination to protect other young women from the same fate.

The Broken Ring and Other Stories gathers six complete works by Shimizu Shikin. A night meeting beside Shinobazu Pond reveals the tangled loyalties of former lovers. A learned wife discovers how quickly equality can vanish when household expenses rise. A neglected girl struggles to care for her dying father, while two school friends encounter the same polished, deceptive suitor.

Moving between intimate confession, social satire, and compassionate observation, these stories examine education, money, parental authority, and the precarious promises of marriage in Meiji Japan. This new English edition retains the original endings, prefaces, dialogue, and publication statements, with concise notes on difficult readings and period references. AI-assisted translation.