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Cover of セメント樽の中の手紙 (Sementodaru no Naka no Tegami)

Upper intermediate · JLPT N2

セメント樽の中の手紙Sementodaru no Naka no Tegami — The Note in the Cement Cask

by Hayama Yoshiki (葉山嘉樹, 1894–1945)

  • JLPT N2
  • 2,510 characters
  • 2 parts
  • about 21 minutes

This is a short piece of Japanese proletarian fiction, built around a story within a story. Matsudo Yozō is a cement labourer at a power-station site by the Kiso River, grey with dust and worn out by long shifts. Near quitting time he finds a small nailed-shut box in a cement cask. Inside is a letter from a stranger, a woman who sews cement sacks. What she writes is harrowing, and the story then turns back to Yozō's own cramped home. The narration is terse, plain past tense, with gritty physical detail and rough working-class speech. The letter switches into a gentle, polite, old-fashioned feminine voice. This contrast is the main challenge for a learner and also the main reward. You will practise reading coarse colloquial male speech and soft, formal epistolary Japanese side by side. Because the text is only about 2,500 characters in two parts, an N2-level reader can finish it in a sitting or two. The emotional weight of the letter makes the effort memorable.

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Contents

  1. A Box Found in the Cement CaskMatsudo Yozō, a cement labourer covered in grey dust, works an eleven-hour shift at a power-station site. Near quitting time he finds a small nailed-shut box in a cement cask. On his way home, sunk in gloom about his wages and his growing family, he stamps the box open and finds a note. In it a woman who sews cement sacks says her lover fell into a crusher and was ground into cement.
  2. A Dead Man's Lover Pleads, Yozō DrinksThe letter goes on. The young woman who sews cement sacks asks whoever finds it, if he is a fellow worker, to tell her where the cement made from her sweetheart's body was used. She sends him a scrap of the dead man's work clothes in return. Yozō gulps down his saké and shouts that he wants to get blind drunk and smash everything, but his heavily pregnant wife scolds him, and he sees their seventh child in her belly.

Before you read

  • Learn the core vocabulary before you start: セメント (cement), 樽 (cask), 箱 (box), 袋 (sack), 恋人 (lover), 手紙 (letter). Read 松戸与三 as まつどよぞう, 恵那山 as えなさん and 木曾川 as きそがわ, so the place names in the opening don't slow you down.
  • Expect rough male speech in Yozō's lines and in the narration close to him. 〜やがる attached to a verb adds the speaker's contempt or irritation toward the action, roughly 'the damn thing goes and…'. 〜てえ is a colloquial contraction of 〜たい (want to). 箆棒奴 is a coarse curse.
  • The letter uses polite desu/masu with old-fashioned forms in which an adjective or 〜たい becomes 〜う + ございます. For example, 若うございました = 若かったです, and 知りとう御座います = 知りたいです. Mentally converting these to modern polite forms makes the letter much easier to follow.
  • Watch for the strong, emotional judgement patterns in the letter. 〜という法はない means 'it is unreasonable that…' or 'there is no rule that says…'. 〜に忍びない means 'cannot bear to…'. 〜ねばならない is a written form of 'must'. どんなに〜か知れない means 'there's no telling how…'.
  • The narration relies on similes with 〜ように, and on paired actions with 〜たり〜たりする, to build its physical descriptions. When a sentence feels long, find the ように or たり and split the sentence there.

Words to know

The most useful words from the notes across the story.

WordMeaningJLPT
構ってかまうto bother with, to pay attention todictionary form: 構うVery common in the negative: 構わない (it doesn't matter).N4
蔽われておおうto cover, to coatdictionary form: 蔽うUsually written 覆う today.N3
怒鳴ったどなるto shout, to bellowdictionary form: 怒鳴るN2
不審ふしんdoubt, suspicion不審に思う: to find something odd or suspicious.N1
聳えるそびえるto tower, to rise highN1
日当にっとうdaily wageN1
頑丈がんじょうsturdy, solid, firmN1
粉々こなごなinto tiny pieces, to powderUsually used with になる or にする. 々 repeats the previous kanji.N1
一切いっさいall, everythingWith a negative it means 'not at all' (一切ない).N1
邸宅ていたくmansion, residenceA large house of the wealthy, which stresses the class contrast.N1
葬られてほうむるto bury (the dead)dictionary form: 葬るN1
鉄筋てっきんreinforcing steel bar鉄筋コンクリート means reinforced concrete.—
遂々とうとうin the end, finallyOld kanji spelling. Usually written in kana today.—
桝ますmeasuring boxA square wooden box for measuring volume. Also written 升 or 枡.—
長屋ながやrow house, tenementA long building split into cramped units, typical housing for poor workers.—

Plot summary

Show the full summary (contains spoilers)

Matsudo Yozō, a cement labourer covered in grey dust, works an eleven-hour shift at a power-station construction site. Near quitting time he finds a small nailed-shut box in a cement cask. Walking home, brooding over his low wages and his growing family, he stamps the box open and finds a note. A young woman who sews cement sacks writes that her lover fell into a crusher and was ground into cement. She asks the finder, if he is a fellow worker, to tell her where the cement made from her sweetheart's body was used. She encloses a scrap of the dead man's work clothes. At home Yozō gulps down saké and shouts that he wants to get blind drunk and smash everything. His heavily pregnant wife scolds him, and he looks at the seventh child in her belly.

About the author

Hayama Yoshiki (1894–1945) was a leading writer of Japanese proletarian literature. Before becoming a writer, he worked as a sailor and in a series of labouring jobs, and he became active in the labour movement. Together with 'The Note in the Cement Cask', these works established him as a central figure of the proletarian literary movement of the 1920s.

More stories by Hayama Yoshiki →