The Household Shrine

With the New Year approaching, an unemployed printer wanders the cold streets of Tokyo, trying to borrow enough money to keep his family afloat. A promised job will not begin until January, his wife’s holiday clothes are close to being forfeited at the pawnshop, and the household bills keep growing.

At home, O-Hisa turns to the shrine inherited from her dead mother. Her husband meets old workmates whose suspicions about a failed printing venture offer another outlet for their frustration. As resentment, loyalty, and fear collide, an ordinary domestic quarrel moves toward a startling final discovery.

First published in 1923, Toyoshima Yoshio’s compact story follows poverty through streets, a zoo, a silent-film theater, and the intimate space of a family home. This complete English translation preserves its rough first-person voice, unsettling dream, uncertain accusations, and open final image. Notes explain ritual objects, period money, clothing, and printed textual details. AI-assisted translation.