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Ｋの昇天梶井基次郎

Upper intermediate · JLPT N2

Ｋの昇天Kē no Shōten — K on the Moonlit Shore

by Kajii Motojirō (梶井基次郎, 1901–1932)

  • JLPT N2
  • 5,502 characters
  • 4 parts
  • about 46 minutes

Ｋの昇天 is a short story by Kajii Motojirō, best known for 檸檬 (Lemon). It is written as a letter. The narrator replies to someone grieving the drowning of a young man called K, and offers his own strange explanation of the death. He met K while both were convalescing at a seaside resort called N. One full-moon night he found K walking back and forth on the beach with his head bowed, as if he had lost something. In fact, K was studying his own shadow. Over moonlit conversations, K describes what his shadow does to him and where his soul seems to go. The tone is quiet, reflective and dreamlike, yet the narrator reasons carefully, even consulting an almanac. References to Schubert, Heine, Cyrano, Laforgue and Icarus add to the atmosphere. For learners, the story is short and has a clear frame, but the prose is N2-level and fairly demanding: courteous desu/masu sentences mixed with formal である, dense literary kanji, and long, hedged reasoning. It rewards slow reading. The images are vivid, and the logic of the letter holds the pieces together.

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Contents

  1. A Stranger Pacing the Moonlit SandReplying to a letter from someone troubled by K's drowning, the narrator says that on hearing of it he at once thought, 'K has finally gone to the world of the moon.' He recalls the night of the first full moon at N, when, unable to sleep, he went to the beach and saw a lone figure moving back and forth with head bowed. Taking the man to be searching for a lost object, he walked over with matches, until he suddenly realised the man was treading on his own shadow.
  2. Meeting K and His ShadowThe narrator calls out to the mysterious figure on the moonlit beach, and the young man, K, turns to him with an embarrassed smile and says it is nothing. This odd encounter begins their friendship. Sitting on a fishing boat, K explains that he was gazing at his own moonlit shadow, which works on him like opium: if he stares long enough and lets it sway, he begins to see himself appear within it.
  3. Climbing the Moonlight, and the DrowningK explains that on moonlit nights his shadow seems to take on a life of its own while his soul climbs the moonbeams towards the moon, though, like Icarus, he always falls back. The two men become friends, and K shows a lasting fascination with silhouettes and shadow-pictures. Learning of K's drowning, the narrator feels at once that K has gone up to the moon, and he confirms that the day before the body washed ashore was a full moon.
  4. The Night K Rose to the MoonThe narrator says his explanation of K's death rests only on intuition, then reconstructs that night from the almanac's times for moonrise, the moon's highest point and low tide. He imagines K following his shadow into the sea while his soul climbed towards the moon. He suggests that K, a swimmer, drowned because his body never regained feeling as the waves tossed it back and forth.

Before you read

  • Keep the frame in mind: the whole text is the narrator's letter to an unnamed あなた, in polite desu/masu with formal である/であります touches. K's own words appear as quoted speech inside the letter, and they are polite but warmer in tone.
  • Learn the core image vocabulary first, because it carries the story: 影 (かげ, shadow), 月光 (げっこう, moonlight), 満月 (まんげつ, full moon), 魂 (たましい, soul), 昇天 (しょうてん, ascension), 溺死 (できし, drowning), 干潮 (かんちょう, low tide).
  • The narrator hedges constantly, because his account rests on intuition. Watch for 〜のではなかろうか (might it not be that…), 〜はずだ (should / must be), 〜に過ぎない (is nothing more than) and 〜にしたところで (even granting that…). These mark how sure he is of each step.
  • The letter opens with 〜によりますと, which here refers to what the correspondent wrote. Once you see that, the reply structure is easy to follow. Also note 〜以上(は) (since / given that), which is used for reasoning from premises.
  • Western names appear in katakana. Some use older or non-English forms, so sound them out: シラノ (Cyrano), ジュール・ラフォルグ (Jules Laforgue), イカルス (Icarus), ハイネ (Heine), シューベルト (Schubert).

Words to know

The most useful words from the notes across the story.

WordMeaningJLPT
気配けはいsign; presence; a sense that something is thereSomething felt rather than clearly seen, set against 見えるもの later in the passage.N2
溺死できしdeath by drowning溺 = drown, as in 溺れる (おぼれる).—
奇異きいstrange; odd奇異の念 = a feeling of strangeness, a key phrase in this passage.—
ともともstern (of a boat)dictionary form: 艫Opposite of へさき 'bow'.—
昇天しょうてんascension to heavenKey word of the title; also a polite euphemism for death.—
仆しますたおすto knock down, throw downdictionary form: 仆すAn old kanji; the modern spelling is 倒す.N3
過失かしつaccident; mishap (as opposed to a deliberate act)Also used legally for 'negligence'.N2
更けてふける(of night, or a season) to grow late; to deependictionary form: 更けるFixed with 夜: 夜が更ける.N2
溯ってさかのぼるto go back up (a stream), to trace backdictionary form: 溯るUsually written 遡る; also used for going back in time.N2
蘇えってよみがえるto revive, come back (of feeling or life)dictionary form: 蘇るThe okurigana 蘇える is old-fashioned; it is usually written 蘇る or 甦る today.N2
募ってつのるto grow stronger; to intensifydictionary form: 募るUsed of feelings; also means 'to recruit, to collect' (募集).N1
悟ったさとるto realise; to graspdictionary form: 悟るSuggests a sudden intuitive understanding.N1
間柄あいだがらrelationship; terms between people親しい間柄 means close friends.N1
はかなんではかなむto despair of; to lose all hope indictionary form: はかなむLiterary verb related to はかない 'fleeting, vain'; often in 世をはかなむ 'to despair of life'.—
療養りょうようconvalescence; medical rest療養地 = a place for recuperation, such as a seaside or mountain resort.—

Plot summary

Show the full summary (contains spoilers)

Replying to a correspondent troubled by K's drowning, the narrator says his first thought on hearing the news was that K had gone to the moon. He recalls the first full-moon night at N. Unable to sleep, he went to the beach and saw a man pacing with bowed head. He assumed the man was searching for something, then realised he was treading on his own shadow. The man was K, and they became friends. K explained that staring at his moonlit shadow worked on him like opium. He would begin to see himself in it, while his soul climbed the moonbeams towards the moon, only to fall back like Icarus. Learning that the day before K's body washed ashore was a full moon, the narrator uses the almanac's times for moonrise, the moon's height and low tide to imagine K following his shadow into the sea as his soul rose. He suggests that K, a swimmer, drowned because his body never regained feeling.

About the author

Kajii Motojirō was born in Ōsaka and studied at the Third Higher School in Kyōto before entering Tokyo Imperial University to study English literature, which he did not complete. With friends he helped found the coterie magazine Aozora (Blue Sky), where "Lemon" first appeared. His precise, sensuous style later won him a lasting place in modern Japanese literature.

More stories by Kajii Motojirō →