The Second Kiss

菊池宽Jul 2026

3.0

Word count: 75K words
Chapters: 112

Summary

A classic tragic romance, a mistaken kiss born of a game of hide-and-seek sets a fatalistic puzzle in motion. Shizuko, a gentle girl living as a dependent in her relatives' home, and Murakawa, a young man also lodging there, develop a secret mutual affection. The domineering, spoiled cousin Kyoko has set her heart on Murakawa, yet in a darkened pavilion he mistakes her for the girl he loves and gives her an unexpected first kiss. Jealous Kyoko lays trap after trap: she forges a letter of rupture, tries to match Shizuko with another man, and arranges for the two to be isolated together at a villa in Hayama, creating a predicament of forced intimacy. Murakawa breaks through every obstacle and rushes to the seaside, where he finds Shizuko being harassed; in the struggle the two plunge into the raging waves, and the others' fate is left unknown. Misunderstanding, scheming, and surging love intertwine; the two vow to stay together and in the end choose to die together in the lake. The surviving Murakawa awakens to the second kiss Kyoko has longed for, but his heart has long lain buried with Shizuko. This tragedy of love ruined by a single mistake lays bare the cruel opposition between human possessiveness and pure love, and its open ending is steeped in the irony of fate and a lingering melancholy.

Editor's review

Kikuchi Kan uses a mistaken kiss in the dark as the trigger for a fatal tragedy woven from jealousy, scheming, and pure love. The work's strength lies in not attributing the tragedy to a single villain: Kyoko's possessiveness, Murakawa's hesitation, and Shizuko's forbearance together drive an accidental wrong kiss toward an inevitable end. The narrative is restrained in pace, with misunderstandings mounting layer by layer without feeling contrived; the isolation at the Hayama villa and the confrontation by the sea push the three-way relationship to the brink, and the final pact by the lake leaves a lingering sense of loss. Reading this book, one can appreciate both the tension of the plot and the author's calm dissection of the opposition between human possessiveness and pure love. It is suited to being read in one sitting in a quiet stretch of time, then revisited to trace the foreshadowing and psychological shifts in the first half, savoring the irony of "one mistake, a lifetime undone."

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy classic love tragedies and narratives of fate
Readers interested in modern Japanese popular literature and Kikuchi Kan's works
Writers interested in how misunderstanding and jealousy drive plot
Readers who prefer short, emotionally intense novellas

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting light, sweet romance
Those sensitive to tragic endings and death
Readers who prefer strong social critique or grand historical settings

Reading tips

Read through in chapter order, noting how each misunderstanding is exploited by Kyoko, then return to the opening hide-and-seek scene afterward.
Pause at the Hayama villa section and imagine how the ending might change if Murakawa revealed the truth earlier.
Keep pen and paper to map the information gaps each of the three characters holds, understanding that the tragedy does not rest on coincidence alone.
After finishing, compare with the author's other popular works to appreciate his restrained narration and open endings.

版权信息
捉迷藏
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
萌动的爱
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
初吻
一
二
三
四
两桩亲事
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
诘问
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
诅咒
一
二
三
四
飘零的花瓣
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
诡计
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
十
叶山的海
一
二
三
四
五
六
不速之客
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
结婚促进运动
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
无心之罪
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
一桩婚事
一
二
三
四
五
六
第二次接吻
一
二
三
四
五

FAQ

What is the core conflict of this book?

The core conflict is the opposition between pure love and possessiveness. Shizuko and Murakawa harbor mutual affection, but Kyoko, driven by jealousy, lays trap after trap—forging a breakup letter, matchmaking others, creating isolated situations—pushing an accidental wrong kiss toward an irreversible end.

Why is it called a tragedy of "one mistake, a lifetime undone"?

In the pavilion at night, Murakawa mistakes Kyoko for his beloved; this wrong kiss becomes the starting point of all misunderstandings. Thereafter jealousy continually amplifies the information gap; the two are separated and framed, and finally choose to die together in the lake. The surviving Murakawa receives Kyoko's second kiss, but his heart lies buried with Shizuko.

Are the characters clearly divided into good and evil?

Not at all. Kyoko is domineering and spoiled but not purely evil; her actions stem from possessiveness and jealousy. Murakawa has the courage to break through obstacles yet also hesitates. Shizuko is gentle and forbearing, living as a dependent. The author gives each character their own circumstances, making the tragedy more real.

Is it suitable to read in one sitting?

Compact in length and tightly paced, it suits concentrated reading in a quiet stretch of time to grasp the rhythm of accumulating misunderstandings. After finishing, revisiting the foreshadowing in the first half makes the author's careful arrangement of information gaps and psychology clearer.

Comments

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About the author

菊池宽 Author

Kikuchi Kan is a modern Japanese author. Publicly available information is limited, and details such as his dates of birth and death and his nationality have not been confirmed in our records. The collection holds six of his works, including Love of Tojuro, Madame Pearl, A Tale of Japanese Battles, Holiday Hobby Competition, The Second Kiss, and Excerpts from a 2,600-Year History. These titles range across foreign literature, documentary writing, essays and miscellaneous prose, modern romance, and world history. They suggest that he moved between emotional love stories, historical subjects, and familiar essays, showing considerable breadth in his choice of material. That his works are grouped under several categories indicates he found readers across different audiences. As reliable biographical sources are lacking, no inferences about his life are made here; readers may instead consider his themes and style through the individual works.