Silk and Insight
{{short description|1964 novel by Yukio Mishima}}
{{Expand Japanese|topic=cult|絹と明察|date=July 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Silk and Insight
| image = SilkAndInsight.jpg
| border =
| alt =
| caption = First edition (publ. Kodansha)
| author = Yukio Mishima
| title_orig = {{nihongo|絹と明察|Kinu to meisatsu|}}
| orig_lang_code = ja
| translator = Hiroaki Sato
| cover_artist =
| country = Japan
| language = Japanese
| genre =
| set_in =
| publisher = Kodansha
| pub_date = 15 October 1964
| english_pub_date = 1998
| published = January–October 1964 in Gunzo
| media_type = Print (hardcover)
| pages = 299{{Cite web |url=https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BN04558033/ |title=絹と明察 |website=CiNii |access-date=31 July 2020}}
| awards =
| oclc = 672529106
| dewey = 895.6/35
| congress = PL833.I7 K55213 1998
}}
{{nihongo|Silk and Insight|絹と明察|Kinu to meisatsu|lead=yes}} is a 1964 novel by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. The subject of the novel is taken from an actual strike in Japan in 1954 at Omi Kenshi, a silk thread and fabric manufacturer, which lasted for 106 days.Sato, Hiroaki. "Introduction" Silk and Insight. M.E. Sharp: 1998. p. xv. The novel was first serialised in the monthly magazine Gunzo between January–October 1964. It was published in hardcover format by Kodansha on 15 October 1964. It was translated into English in 1998 by Hiroaki Sato.
Although a commercial failure, the novel was awarded the Mainichi Prize from Mainichi Shimbun.{{cite book|author=Damian Flanagan|title=Yukio Mishima|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DSUmCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA180|date=15 August 2014|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-78023-419-9|page=180}}
Plot
Komazawa Zenjiro runs his silk factory like a family and feels like a "father" to his workers. Through various intrigues initiated by the trade unionist Okano, the company's workers are instigated into a strike, which escalates to such an extent that Komazawa dies of a stroke. Okano takes over his position, but comes to understand the philosophy of his predecessor.
Publication
Silk and Insight was first serialised ten times in the monthly magazine Gunzo between January 1964 and October 1964. It was published in hardcover format by Kodansha on 15 October 1964.{{cite book|author1=佐藤秀明|author2=三島由紀夫|author3=井上隆史|author4=山中剛史|title=決定版三島由紀夫全集|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnTWPQAACAAJ|date=August 2005|publisher=新潮社|isbn=978-4-10-642582-0|pages=433–437}}{{cite book|author1=佐藤秀明|author2=三島由紀夫|author3=井上隆史|author4=山中剛史|title=決定版三島由紀夫全集|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnTWPQAACAAJ|date=August 2005|publisher=新潮社|isbn=978-4-10-642582-0|pages=540–561}} It was published in paperback by Kodansha Bunko on 1 July 1971.
The novel was a commercial failure, with only 18,000 copies published. In comparison, Mishima's novel Kyōko no Ie (1959) sold 150,000 copies in its first month.
=Translation=
Mishima originally intended for the novel to be translated into English by John Nathan, who Mishima first met in 1963.{{Cite web |last=Marshall |first=Colin |date=26 April 2010 |title=Unceasing fascination with Japan, immersion in literary culture and the pleasures and sorrows of the "thrown" life: Colin Marshall talks to writer, translator, filmmaker and teacher John Nathan |url=https://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2010/04/unceasing-fascination-with-japan-immersion-in-literary-culture-and-the-pleasures-and-sorrows-of-the.html |access-date=30 July 2020 |website=3 Quarks Daily}} In 1965, Nathan translated Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. Impressed by Nathan's translation, Mishima requested Nathan sign on as his translator and help Mishima in his quest in being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Nathan was more interested in translating the work of Kenzaburō Ōe. Nathan initially agreed to translate Silk and Insight, but was unimpressed with it upon his first reading. He ultimately refused to translate the novel, opting instead to translate Kenzaburō Ōe's A Personal Matter. Mishima, who was considered an "arch-rival" of Ōe, abruptly severed ties with Nathan afterwards.{{Cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2015/09/05/books/literature-critic-john-nathan-dissects-japans-nobel-prize-laureates/#.Wv5yH62ZNE4|title=Literature critic John Nathan dissects Japan's Nobel Prize laureates {{!}} The Japan Times|work=The Japan Times|access-date=2018-05-18|language=en-US}}{{Cite web |url=http://movies2.nytimes.com/books/98/10/25/reviews/981025.25morrist.html |title=Raw Material |last=Morris |first=Mark |date=October 25, 1998 |website=The New York Times |access-date=April 14, 2020}}
Silk and Insight was later translated into English in 1998 by Hiroaki Sato and edited by Frank Gibney as the seventh volume in The Library of Japan series, produced by the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College.
Reception
The novel was awarded the Mainichi Prize from Mainichi Shimbun.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{NCID|BN04558033}}
{{Yukio Mishima}}
Category:20th-century Japanese novels
Category:Japanese-language novels
Category:Novels by Yukio Mishima
Category:Works originally published in Gunzo (magazine)
Category:Novels set in factories
Category:Books about the labor movement
{{1960s-novel-stub}}