Tag Archives: Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro

RKS Japanese Literature: The Merest Whiff of the West Makes Tomada Gag (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)

“I did everything I could to resist the voice. But I could do nothing about the fear that gripped me tighter with each day that passed. By now, every aspect of my life in the West revolted me. I shuddered every time I had to walk past a high-rise building or get in a liftContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: The Merest Whiff of the West Makes Tomada Gag (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)”

RKS Japanese Literature: Tomada’s Transformation into a Westerner (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)

‘I was Japanese no longer! I had been transformed into a Westerner! To get there (Japan) you’d have to travel down to Marseilles and board a ship for the Orient. Eastward and eastward you’d sail crossing the seas for six weeks or more until you’d finally reached a small island country called Japan, where theContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Tomada’s Transformation into a Westerner (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)”

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

‘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’dContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Tomada’s Increasing Intoxication and Infatuation with the West (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)”

RKS Japanese Literature: The Failure of Orientals to Deal With a Full Dose of Excitement (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)

‘Subtle they call it. Suggestive. Refined. What a lot of nonsense. It’s a question of aptitude. Orientals just can’t deal with a full dose of excitement. Take singing. Here in the East, no one would dream of really opening up and belting out the loudest voice they can produce. It’s more refined you see toContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: The Failure of Orientals to Deal With a Full Dose of Excitement (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)”

RKS Japanese Literature: Tomoda Begins to Reject Japanese Culture (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)

‘A friend during my student days in Yokohama was another bad influence. He took me to Yokohama a couple of times, where I entered a dream world that few Japanese in those days had seen. It was my first glimpse into the world of the white man’s pleasures. From that moment, I had nothing butContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Tomoda Begins to Reject Japanese Culture (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)”