A Dark Night's Passing - Synopsis

Synopsis

A Dark Night's Passing is divided into four parts. Its protagonist is Tokitō Kensaku, a young, aspiring writer who have a dark secret in his family's closet. As a young boy he is sent to live with his paternal grandfather and his mistress Oei. His grandfather and his mother dies soon after from illness.

In Part One, Kensaku, who resides in Tokyo with Oei, goes with his friends to visit geishas (as well as prostitutes) day in and day out, and finds it difficult to maintain a disciplined lifestyle of writing. He develops interest in a few geishas and bargirls, but his interest comes to nothing.

Part Two concerns Kensaku's trip to the seaside town of Onomichi. Kensaku goes there to do some serious writing, but instead find himself proposing to Oei, about twenty years his senior, in letters while asking his elder brother Nobuyuki to act as their intermediary. In their correspondences Nobuyuki tells him a dark secret: Kensaku was conceived as the result of a brief affair between their mother and their paternal grandfather. During this affair their father was studying in Germany, and he chose to forgive his late mother over it. This explains the somewhat cold attitude their father had always with him. Oei turns down Kensaku's proposal, and Kensaku returns to Tokyo.

In Part Three Kensaku visits Kyoto, Japan's ancient capital, and decides to make the place his home. He meets a young lady there, Naoko, of whom he takes a fancy, and writes to his brother to ask him to act as a go-between. Oei decides to go overseas to Tianjin, China, to help a kin in her business. Kensaku and Naoko marry, and the first year of their marriage is blissful. However, Naoko gives birth to a baby boy who dies in his infancy from cellulitis.

In the final part, Kensaku and Naoko's relations become strained. Naoko mourns her dead baby but becomes pregnant again. Kensaku's feelings toward Naoko change when he realizes she was raped by a cousin when Kensaku goes over to Korea to pick up Oei. Oei now lives with the couple, and Naoko gives birth to a baby girl. Kensaku decides to go for another trip to the secluded countryside after realizing his temper has caused estrangement between him and his wife. During the trip he suffers from a case of cholera whilst his wife rushes down to see him after he falls ill. The novel ends on a cliffhanging style, with the reader uncertain whether Kensaku would ever make it from his feverish state.