The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki was published in a serialized format between 1943 and 1948. The novel is about the Makioka family, particularly the four sisters Tsuruko, Sachiko, Yukiko, and Taeko, in order from oldest to youngest. The principal plot deals with the declining status and wealth of the Makiokas from Osaka whilst they attempt to find a husband for Yukiko. The entire novel consists of three books.
Tanizaki was a Japanese author known for his depictions of a rapidly changing Japanese society in which themes such as sexuality, social hierarchy, class distinction, and family dynamics were most prominent. He was on the shortlist for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964.
This novel has to be one of my favorites of the year so far. It reads a lot like a sophisticated and far less shallow version of reality TV. As we follow the Makioka family, we are immediately drawn into their somewhat tame, though at times dramatic family tensions. I must stress that the plot is never dramatized to an extent that the reader feels that what is happening is exaggerated. It is thoroughly realistic and convincing in its entirety.
Each of the sisters has their own set of problems and traits. They each represent a gradient on the spectrum, modern on the one end, and tradition on the other. The youngest, Taeko, is a bit of a loose cannon. She is the embodiment of modern Japan, in which world war two encroaches. She dispenses with traditions she sees as below her and perhaps useless; things as simple as sitting in the right position at the dinner table, or behaving more prude. Incredulous and individual, she’s determined to become a “working woman”; her ambitions are seemingly boundless as a talented seamstress and doll maker.
Tsuruko is the oldest but doesn’t make many appearances in the novel. She is more militant and strict than the mistress of the main house. She and her husband Tatsuo have authority over the members of the Ashiya house, specifically when it comes to Yukiko’s blunderous marriage proposals. Her sympathy is often lacking for Taeko when she finds herself in compromising situations due to her hard-headedness and refusal to comply with the family’s boundaries, as they are often concerned with maintaining a spurious appearance of influence and prestige, however fleeting. With their parents long dead, she and her husband’s duties are essentially that of parents.
Sachiko is the second-oldest. She is the main protagonist of the story. A competent mediator, she’s often caught between the demands of the main house and the whims of Taeko. Wanting to please both, she often looks to Yukiko, a meek and introverted character, to help her find a compromise. Sachiko is also most adept at handling Yukiko’s marriage prospects; the main trouble is that having rejected so many thinking the Makioka name was enough to yield the highest and most potential suitors from the upper classes, they are forced to reckon with their declining reputation and Yukiko’s dropping stocks.
The Makioka Sisters is above all a portrait of a changing society, zoned in on the affairs of a once prestigious family, which soon means nothing as Tsuruko and Tatsuo move the main house to Tokyo. World War two looms over the novel, in which a future as uncertain as theirs seemingly adds to the family’s rejection of a modern Japan, pressuring them to adapt and plunge forward.
What did I think of it?
I particularly enjoyed witnessing the contrast between the sisters. The dynamic was engaging and the author injects subtle meanings into their interactions relating to society’s evolution. Taeko’s proclivity for Western clothes, and Yukiko’s docile virtue, each of them occupy different parts of the spectrum at different points.
I don’t know when it was translated, but I found it interesting that there was a footnote for the term sushi. Most people in the West know what sushi is, and it’s so much enjoyed by so many people that I found it amusing to think about how there was a time when readers perhaps wouldn’t know what sushi was.
For all its focus on family dynamics, one might be concerned that there isn’t much action. But, I found there to be plenty of suspense and excitement, and I’m not typically drawn into stories with a heavy focus on family. This one is different; it offers an interesting perspective on a changing society, Japan on the brink of world war two facing an ever-increasing Western influence. Highly recommended for anyone interested in exploring international literature.
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