SASAMEYUKI

When novelist Tanizaki Jun’ichiro first began publishing his long novel Sasameyuki (1943–48; tr. The Makioka Sisters, 1957) in serialized form, the wartime censors took issue with its portrayal of the affluence of a wealthy family and suspended its publication. Once the war was over, it was finally completed and became Tanizaki’s most famous work. The Jane Austen–like novel portrays the Makioka sisters, four daughters of a once-wealthy family in decline. The plot focuses on the family’s attempts to marry off the third daughter, and the fourth daughter’s unseemly behavior as she impatiently waits to be the next in line for marriage. Less overtly sensual than many of Tanizaki’s works, this novel contains elaborate character development and a nostalgic, melancholy description of the fading glories of Japanese tradition as it is increasingly eclipsed by Westernization. The Makioka family, despite the crumbling of their fortunes in the face of social change, clings tightly to Japanese values and aesthetics, typifying traditional aristocratic culture. The popular novel has been made into a film three times.

See also WOMEN IN LITERATURE.