Tattoo

Tanizaki, Jun‘ichiro, 1886-1965Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.4

Word count: 183K words
Chapters: 19

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Tattoo (Shisei) by Jun'ichiro TanizakiAuthor: Tanizaki, Jun'ichiro, 1886-1965,Language: Japanese, Class: PL: Language and Literatures: Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania, Release Date: Mar 13, 2010

Editor's review

"Shisei" (Tattoo) is one of Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's early short-story masterpieces—brief in length yet a concentrated expression of his fascination with sensual beauty and female power. The story centers on a tattoo artist and a young girl, and within a very short span the narrative completes a reversal from gaze and seduction to mastery, in language lush yet restrained. Tanizaki's original Japanese is fastidiously worded and dense with imagery; his descriptions of skin, color, pain, and beauty carry an almost tactile effect, rewarding readers who wish to savor the rhythm of his style. As a public-domain ebook, it is convenient for on-screen searching and comparison with the original text, and serves well as an entry point for thematic reading in modern Japanese literature. Note that the body text of this edition is in Japanese, and the subject matter involves tattooing, bodily transformation, and power relations; it is best understood in light of late Meiji aesthetic sensibilities and Tanizaki's aestheticist leanings, rather than judged by simple moral standards out of context.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in modern Japanese literature and aestheticism
Readers who want a short story as an entry into Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's style
Those with basic Japanese reading ability who want to practice close reading of the original
Literature students studying body writing and sensory narrative

Not a good fit for

General readers with no Japanese who only want a Chinese translation
Readers uncomfortable with depictions of tattooing and bodily transformation
Readers expecting a full-length plot with character growth

Reading tips

First read straight through to grasp the story's turn, then revisit the key sentences of the tattooing process and note shifts in narrative perspective.
Mark the adjectives of color and skin, and compare how their meaning shifts from resistance to submission.
If the Japanese is difficult, check paragraph by paragraph against a reliable Chinese translation, focusing on the rhythm and word choice of the original.
After finishing, read Tanizaki's works from the same period and reflect on the female figures and the aesthetic power relations he returns to.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this version in Chinese or Japanese?

According to the project data, the ebook's language is Japanese and it is a public-domain text from Project Gutenberg. It suits readers who can read the Japanese original or who want to use it for close reading alongside a Chinese translation; if you only want the story in Chinese, you will need to find a Chinese translation.

Can I read this book without any Japanese?

It is not really advisable to read the original directly. The story is short, but Tanizaki's wording is dense and his imagery leaps about; beginners may recognize the words yet miss the tone and beauty. Read a reliable Chinese translation first, then compare passages that interest you with the original.

Is the story long? How long does it take to finish?

It is a short story, not long in the original; an hour or two of focused reading will get you through it once. But for close reading of language and imagery, it is better to go in two or three sessions, each focusing on one layer—plot first, then sensory description.

What should I keep in mind while reading?

The subject matter involves tattooing, bodily pain, and domination, and the descriptions carry an aestheticized sensory quality. It is best understood in the aesthetic context of the late Meiji to early Taisho period, focusing on how the narrator creates beauty and reverses power, rather than treating the story as a guide to real behavior.

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About the author

Tanizaki, Jun‘ichiro, 1886-1965 Author

Tanizaki, Jun'ichiro, 1886-1965, was a major modern Japanese novelist. Four of his works are held in this collection: Shisei (The Tattooer), Akuma (The Devil), Zoku Akuma (The Devil, Continued), and Atsumono (Soup), commonly classified under inspirational growth. Public information is limited, and reliable in-collection records for biographical details such as nationality, education, and awards are unavailable, so they are not elaborated here. Judging from these four works, his subjects often concern the subtle recesses of human nature and the boundaries of desire; his touch is delicate, and he advances narrative through sensory description and psychological portrayal, creating a tense yet restrained atmosphere in short and medium-length forms. Titles such as Shisei, Akuma, and Zoku Akuma themselves reveal an attention to abnormal psychology and sensory experience, while Atsumono shows that he could also write with fine observation in everyday subjects. This method of carrying complex humanity in compressed length leads Chinese readers to place his works within the context of modern Japanese literature, offering reference value for understanding the aesthetic shifts in the fiction of that period.