The Underside of Kudzu Leaves and Other Stories

A woman who once trusted a promising young student recounts the love that has become both her refuge and her torment. Her mother’s sacrifices, a secret marriage, and the promise of a better future draw her into a household whose apparent happiness conceals a betrayal. When she discovers the truth, devotion takes a dangerous turn.

In the second story, a wealthy Osaka merchant lets his mistress govern the household while his wife withdraws into anxious deference. Servants gossip, a young girl longs for kindness, and a son studies far away. Financial disaster changes the balance of power, revealing which attachments depended on money and which might survive without it.

Shimizu Shikin was a pioneering Japanese woman writer whose fiction addressed women’s lives and the pressures of marriage and family. These two complete stories combine intimate confession with social irony, keeping their moral tensions and uncertain endings alive. This new English translation includes brief notes on historical customs, literary allusions, and difficult expressions. AI-assisted translation, prepared and edited by Valentin Sarić.