RKS Japanese Literature: Tomada’s Increasing Intoxication and Infatuation with the West (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)

Posted byRobert K Stephen (CSW)Posted inliteratureTags:, , , , ,

‘My infatuation and intoxication grew deeper with every mile we travelled. When I reached Paris I threw myself wholeheartedly into a life of decadence. The bashful Oriental mind can hardly imagine the things I found there. Paris was a whirlpool of lust and desire-a dizzying vortex of excess, debauchery and sick perversions. It’s everything I’d dreamed it would be-a paradise of sensual pleasures. I leaped in headfirst, desperate to be sucked into the whirlpool. I gave myself up to it body and soul. A true hedonist is quite happy to pay with his life for pleasure. Alcohol, tobacco, gourmandizing and women; a hedonist would happily sacrifice his health and life to satisfy his appetite for these toxic pleasures. I lived in the moment, resigned to the knowledge that each wave of pleasure might be my last.’

Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro, “The Story of Tomada and Matsunaga”

Published by Robert K Stephen (CSW)

Robert K Stephen writes about food ,drink, travel, film, and lifestyle issues. He also has published serialized novels "Life at Megacorp", "Virus # 26, "Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog" and "The Penniless Pensioner" Robert was the first associate member of the Wine Writers’ Circle of Canada. He also holds a Mindfulness Certification from the University of Leiden and the University of Toronto. Be it Spanish cured meat, dried fruit, BBQ, or recycled bamboo place mats, Robert endeavours to escape the mundane, which is why he has established this publication. His motto is, "Have Story, Will Write."

Leave a comment