Description
Jiro Osaragi (Kiyohiko Nojiri, 1897-1973): THE JOURNEY (TABIJI)
Charles E. Tuttle, 1960. Paperback. 342 pp.
“The Journey” is a morality tale set in Japan just after the American Occupation in which American social influences — materialism and goal-oriented pursuits — are depicted as causing an abandonment of traditional Japanese values. The heroine, Taeko, is a young woman exemplifying certain traditional values while adapting to postwar Japan. She struggles financially, yet is happy with a simple life. She loves Ryosuke, a rakish spendthrift involved in vaguely shady business dealings with the Americans. The novel’s dispenser of moral certitude is Professor Segi, who insists that life’s journey, rather than the American obsession with objective goals, is the key to happiness
