The Counterfeit

Kōkichi returns from Tokyo with literary ambitions, no reliable income, and the hope that country life will make him a new man. A chance encounter with a runaway boy and a book by Tolstoy seem to illuminate his path. His family, however, has already borne the cost of his promises.

In a dilapidated rural house, he tries to write while his wife measures the distance between his ideals and their children’s needs. His younger brother struggles to keep a business alive. When borrowed hanging scrolls offer a possible escape from financial disaster, Kōkichi carries them to Tokyo, convinced he can at last do something useful.

First published in 1917, Kasai Zenzō’s story turns the appraisal of paintings into an unsettling examination of sincerity, dependence, and self-deception. This complete English translation includes notes on rural measures, literary references, artists’ names, and the misread inscription behind its bitter comic reversal. AI-assisted translation.