EPISODE 42: Futabatei Shimei, "Ukigumo" ["Drifting Clouds"] (1889), Part Two

Chapters 2-3: 56:20— Bunzō’s background. 6:32—Office work. 8:22—Point of view. 9:40— Bunzō & Osei. 13:03—The question of point-of-view. 14:02—Breeding worms. 16:15—The moment of truth. 21:49—New romance. 25:30—A ticklish situation. 27:19—What’s going on. 29:24—Marriage plots. 31:13—A new development. 31:49—Interlude.

Chapters 4-6: 32:25—The elements of romance. 34:37—What a mess. 36:10—All mixed up. 39:07—Pure Osei. 42:01—Gaudy geisha. 46:29—Bunzō dreams. 50:55— Bunzō confesses, Omasa tortures. 56:07—Osei vs. Omasa. 58:22—Successful Noboru. 1:00:38—The bureaucracy. 1:05:34—Office literature. 1:07:41—Mom & mums. 1:10:30—Closing.

Text: Futabatei Shimei. Ukigumo. Translated by Marleigh Grayer Ryan. Japan’s First Modern Novel, “Ukigumo” of Futabatei Shimei. 1965. Center for Japanese Studies, Univ. of Michigan, 1990.

Interlude: Yūgure,” performed by Ensemble Hijiri-Kaï , Urban Music of the Edo Period , 2005, Ocora Records, Paris, Internet Archive.

Illustration: Society of Friends of the Cernuschi Museum, Paris.

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