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Cover of 高瀬舟 (Takasebune)

Upper intermediate · JLPT N2

高瀬舟Takasebune — Night Boat on the Takase River

by Mori Ōgai (森鴎外, 1862–1922)

  • JLPT N2
  • 8,723 characters
  • 6 parts
  • about 73 minutes

高瀬舟 is a short historical story by Mori Ōgai, first published in 1916. It is set in Kyōto during the Tokugawa period, when criminals sentenced to exile were sent downriver to Ōsaka by boat. On one hazy spring night, the constable Haneda Shōbē escorts a prisoner named Kisuke, who has been convicted of killing his own brother. Shōbē is unsettled because Kisuke seems calm, even content. The story is mostly a quiet conversation between the two men on the drifting boat. Through it, Ōgai raises two questions he also discussed in a separate essay: what it means to be satisfied with what one has, and whether ending the suffering of a dying person is a crime. The narration is restrained and formal, with classical negatives in -ぬ and some kanbun-style phrasing. The two speakers sound very different: Shōbē's speech is plain and authoritative, while Kisuke's is humble and old-fashioned. For a learner, the long, carefully built sentences and the period vocabulary are the main challenge. In return, the story is short, has only two characters and a single setting, and is a widely read classic of modern Japanese literature.

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Contents

  1. An Unusual Prisoner on the Takase BoatThe narrator explains the Takase boat, which took Kyōto criminals sentenced to exile down to Ōsaka. Their relatives could ride with them, and the escorting constables often heard their sad stories. One spring evening, the constable Haneda Shōbē escorts Kisuke, a man with no relatives who has killed his younger brother, and is puzzled by his calm and humble manner.
  2. A Prisoner Who Seems ContentOn the night boat, Shōbē cannot understand why Kisuke, a man convicted of killing his brother, looks so calm and almost cheerful. At last Shōbē asks him how he feels about exile. Kisuke politely explains that his life in Kyōto was so hard that being sent to the island, with a place he is allowed to stay and two hundred mon from the authorities, feels like a blessing.
  3. Two Hundred Mon and a Constable's PurseKisuke explains that he has never before had money of his own, and that he plans to use the two hundred mon given to him on leaving gaol to start work on the island. His words make Shōbē reflect on his own household, where a wife raised in a wealthy home secretly covers their shortfalls with money from her parents. Shōbē realises that he too only passes his stipend from hand to hand, and that he has less savings than this prisoner.
  4. The Contented Prisoner and His ConfessionShōbē compares his own anxious, never-satisfied life with Kisuke's contentment. He realizes that Kisuke can stop wanting more in a way most people cannot, and is filled with awe. Without quite meaning to, he addresses Kisuke politely and asks him to explain the killing. Kisuke begins his story: he and his brother were orphans, and one day he came home to find his sick brother covered in blood, begging forgiveness for trying to die so as to ease Kisuke's burden.
  5. The Razor in His Brother's ThroatKisuke describes finding his brother with a razor lodged in his throat after a failed suicide. His brother begs him to pull it out, and his eyes grow more and more desperate until Kisuke gives in. As Kisuke draws the blade out, a neighbour woman walks in, sees them and runs off, and his brother dies while Kisuke sits staring at him until the authorities arrive.
  6. A Doubt That Will Not Be ResolvedKisuke finishes his story, which is almost too orderly after months of retelling. Shōbē wonders whether ending a dying brother's suffering is truly murder, and he cannot settle the question. He decides to defer to the magistrate's judgement, yet some unease remains as the boat glides on into the night.

Before you read

  • Learn Kisuke's speech patterns early. He uses わたくし, ございます and the old negative ませぬ (= ません) almost every time he speaks. Once these feel familiar, his long explanations in Parts 2–5 become much easier to follow.
  • The narrator uses classical negatives such as 〜ぬ and 禁じ得ぬ (= 禁じ得ない, 'cannot help but…'). Read 〜ぬ as 〜ない. Watch for 〜てならない ('cannot help feeling…'), which marks Shōbē's growing unease and wonder.
  • Pre-learn the period vocabulary of crime and money: 罪人 (criminal), 遠島 (exile to an island), 同心 (constable), お上 (the authorities), and 文 (a small coin, as in 二百文). In Part 5, 剃刀 (razor) is the key word.
  • Track the point of view. The story is told largely through Shōbē's thoughts. Many sentences ending in 〜のではあるまいか or 〜かと思えば show him reasoning with himself rather than reporting facts.
  • Expect long sentences linked by 〜つつ, 〜ばかりでなく and 〜ば〜ほど. Before translating, find the main verb at the end, then work backwards through the clauses.

Words to know

The most useful words from the notes across the story.

WordMeaningJLPT
剃刀かみそりrazorA special reading. The two kanji are read together as one word.N2
遠島えんとうexile to a distant island (an Edo-period punishment)Literally 'far island'. Here it is used with 申し渡す, 'to sentence'.—
心得違いこころえちがいerror of judgement; misguided actFrom 心得 'understanding' and 違い 'mistake'.—
お上おかみthe authorities, the governmentA respectful old term for those in power.—
扶持米ふちまいrice stipend paid to retainersSamurai and officials were paid in rice rather than in coin.—
留守るすabsence from home留守の間 means 'while (I was) out'.N4
笛ふえwindpipeNormally 'flute' or 'whistle'. Here it is short for 喉笛 (のどぶえ), the windpipe.N3
柄えhandle (of a blade or tool)The same kanji read がら means 'pattern' or 'build'. When it means 'handle', it is read え.N3
用心ようじんcare, cautionN3
境界きょうがいcircumstances, one's lot in lifeIn this Buddhist-derived sense it is read きょうがい; read きょうかい it means 'boundary'.N2
催促さいそくurging, pressing (someone to act)Often used for demanding payment or a reply.N2
険しくけわしいharsh, fierce (of a look); steepdictionary form: 険しいUsed for steep mountains as well as stern faces.N2
ふけてふける(of night) to grow late, to deependictionary form: 更ける夜が更ける: the night wears on.N2
科とがoffence; crime; faultOld-fashioned. In modern Japanese this kanji is usually read か, as in 科学.N1
仰いであおぐto look up atdictionary form: 仰ぐAlso means 'to look up to' or 'to respect'. The same kanji appears in 仰せ, 'a command from a superior'.N1

Plot summary

Show the full summary (contains spoilers)

The constable Haneda Shōbē escorts the prisoner Kisuke, who has no family, on the night boat from Kyōto toward Ōsaka. Puzzled by his calm, Shōbē asks how he feels. Kisuke explains that life in Kyōto was so hard that exile, with a place he may live and two hundred mon from the authorities, seems a blessing. He has never had money of his own before. Shōbē compares this with his own anxious household and realises Kisuke knows how to be content, which fills him with awe. Kisuke then tells his story. His sick younger brother tried to kill himself with a razor so he would no longer be a burden, but failed. He begged Kisuke to pull the blade out, and when Kisuke did, he died. Shōbē wonders whether this was truly murder. He finally defers to the magistrate's judgement, though some doubt remains as the boat glides on.

About the author

Mori Ōgai was one of the leading writers of Meiji and Taishō Japan. As a young doctor he studied in Germany, and that experience shaped his early fiction, including 舞姫 (The Dancing Girl). He was an important translator of European literature; his translations include Goethe's Faust and Andersen's The Improvisatore. In his later years he turned to historical fiction and biography based on Edo-period sources. Works such as 阿部一族 and 山椒大夫 belong to this period, as does 高瀬舟. His other well-known works include 雁 (The Wild Geese).

More stories by Mori Ōgai →