The Plundered Man

Yamada Tatsuji is a young man with literary ambitions and carefully cultivated ideas about art, pleasure, and life. Hideko listens to him, borrows his books, and takes up his tastes. What ought to flatter him begins to feel like a theft: even his thoughts no longer seem securely his own.

Their walks and conversations lead through city streets, a café, and Hideko’s elegantly furnished rooms. A beggar, Tolstoy’s stories, a storm, rising rice prices, and a warning from her patron become part of Yamada’s increasingly troubled understanding of their relationship. An unexpected military order brings his uncertainty to a crisis.

First published in 1918, Toyoshima Yoshio’s story explores desire, dependence, and the instability of another person’s interpretation. This complete English translation preserves its unresolved ending and includes notes on period clothing, literary references, source corrections, and the distinction between a character’s accusation and an established fact. AI-assisted translation.