Turning Point

Two travelers set out for the remnants of Yanaka Village, where a few residents still live among marshes, abandoned graves, and the works of a vast reservoir. Their difficult journey brings the narrator face to face with people whose hardship she has long imagined.

Years earlier, an account of the villagers’ plight had unsettled her belief that perfecting her own life must always come first. Arguments with her companion led her to ask whether personal independence could be separated from the freedom of others. Her search drew her toward political work and a new relationship, exposing her to hostility, jealousy, and painful choices.

Published in 1918, Turning Point moves between a vividly observed landscape and the narrator’s changing inner world. Conversations resist easy conclusions: sympathy may fade, resolve may harden, and an encounter may reveal more than questions can. This complete English translation preserves all eight numbered sections, the source’s anonymous initials, and its original ending, with brief notes on historical terms and textual details. AI-assisted translation.