Japanese Literature Summaries
日本語

Beyond the Pale of Vengeance — Summary and Characters

A chisel of atonement, and a vendetta

Author
Kikuchi Kan
Published
January 1919
First appeared in
Chūō Kōron
Form
Novel
Genres
  • Psychological
  • Historical
Setting
  • Oita
Length
22,793 characters
Reading time
About 46 min
Orthography
Modern script and kana

About this work

A short story published in the magazine Chūō Kōron in 1919. Taking up the story of the monk Zenkai, who really did cut the Ao-no-Dōmon tunnel through a dangerous stretch of the Yamakuni River in Buzen, it sets a man's lifelong labour of atonement for a crime against the vendetta that comes to find him. Known for an ending in which gratitude and enmity melt into one, and widely read as Kikuchi Kan's central work on the salvation of a human soul beyond simple reward and punishment.

Summary

Suspected of an affair with a woman of his master's house, Ichikurō kills his master, runs away with the woman and sinks into life as a bandit. One day, seeing the grief of the small child left by a man he had cut down for his money, Ichikurō understands the depth of his sin; he leaves the woman, takes vows, and after a pilgrimage through the provinces takes the name Ryōkai. On his travels he sees how many travellers lose their lives on the chain crossing along the cliffs of the Yamakuni River, and he vows to spend everything he has on cutting a tunnel through that rock wall for people to pass, and sets about that enormous work alone. Meanwhile Jitsunosuke, the son of the man Ryōkai had killed, grows up to avenge his father, travels the provinces, and at last learns where Ryōkai is. Coming face to face with his enemy, Jitsunosuke is asked to wait until the tunnel is finished; struck by Ryōkai's tenacity, he decides to help with the work and bide his time. Year upon year goes by, and on the night when, after one and twenty years, the tunnel breaks through to the far side of the Yamakuni River, Ryōkai asks to be killed by Jitsunosuke's own hand; but Jitsunosuke, overcome with wonder and emotion at what has been achieved, has lost the will to take his revenge, and the two take each other's hands and weep for joy.

Characters

Chapter-by-chapter synopsis

The app covers this work chapter by chapter (full text in the app).

  1. 1. About This Work
  2. 2. Main Characters
  3. 3. Major Supporting Characters
  4. 4. The Beginning — The Night of the Master's Murder
  5. 5. The Fall — The Teahouse on Torii Pass and the Years of Crime
  6. 6. Remorse — The Death of the Young Couple and “the Things in Her Hair”
  7. 7. Awakening — Ordination at Jōganji and the Pilgrimage
  8. 8. The Great Vow — The Chain Crossing and the First Blow
  9. 9. The Solitary Years — From Mockery to Wonder
  10. 10. The Avenger — Jitsunosuke's Wanderings and the Meeting
  11. 11. The Ending — The Breakthrough in the Twenty-First Year
  12. 12. Key Motifs and Foreshadowing

The opening (original text)

Ichikurō failed to parry the sword his master swung at him, and took a cut, slight though it was, from his left cheek down to his jaw. Conscious of his own crime — the fatal crime of a monstrous love with his master's favourite concubine, provoked though it had been from her side — Ichikurō took the sword his master raised as the punishment that must come, and, even while he tried to keep clear of its point, had not the least thought of resisting it.

Beyond the Pale of Vengeance by Kikuchi Kan (Aozora Bunko)

The ending (original text)

"Jitsunosuke. Look here. The great vow of one and twenty years is fulfilled tonight, and unlooked for." So saying, Ryōkai took Jitsunosuke's hand and showed him the flow of the Yamakuni River through the small opening. The blackish earth visible directly below the opening was unmistakably the highway that ran along the bank. There, enemy and enemy took each other's hands and choked with tears of great joy. But after a while Ryōkai drew back and said, "Now, Jitsunosuke, this is the day of our promise. Cut me down. If I die in the midst of such bliss as this, my birth in the Pure Land is certain and beyond doubt. Come, cut me down" — and his hoarse voice rang in the night air of the cave. But Jitsunosuke only sat before Ryōkai with his hands folded, choking with tears.

Beyond the Pale of Vengeance by Kikuchi Kan (Aozora Bunko)

Read the original

The original Japanese text is available at Aozora Bunko, and the app downloads the same text for its vertical-text reader.

Aozora Bunko library card

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