Diary of a Vagabond Horoki‘Translator’s Introduction Diary ofa Vagabond (rahi was fast stlied from October 1928 through October 1930 in the journal Nyon gets (Women's rt). ‘What became the prologue tothe book was published in the ourmal Kaleb {Recoustuction) in October 1929. The whole appeared a a separate vol ‘ume in July 1930 issued by Kaizésha and became an immediate bet ele, Hlayashi made a numberof small evsons in the text for Horo publi ‘ation aa book by Shinchsha in 1939, Tis rasation follows the Shin thosta edition, 1979. “Hor parpors co be excerps frm a diary kept in the mid-1920s Biographer and literary historians, Tanaka (1987) sruong many other have treted these os “clearly aurcbiographical." An unsigned entry in Kesdansha's Nibon kinda bgt da item (Encyclopedia of Japanese Iteature) takes 2 more qualified stance in observing that the Work was “halFautobiographical"s unfortunately, we don’ know, and the entry doesnt ell ws, which hall, Diary ofa Vagabond shouldbe red as fiom, ‘though many ofthe deta, inthe persons and places presented take this “confessional ition” seem kt a roman & det [My choice for the te, Diary of « Vagabond sin par inspired by the srutae ofthe work, But also mean to underscore the work’ fag ‘mentary, dscontinaoussaretive. Hayashi wrote tha, unt ie puis tion as separate volume, she had flere toi ax her naa wk (poetic ay), and thar he ile Horak had been soggested by Mikami Otakich, the husband of her editor, Hasogawa Shigure, at Nyonin geen. The tanks poet Takuboks also clay inspired Hayashi, and a hall dozen of his poems appear in Ho In 1910 Taksboks advised, “A poem should bbe scr fepot of events taking place st one emotional he (ot the want of a better tern)—a srightorward diay, This mean it has tobe fragmentary, it can have unity or coherence” (Sesar 1966, 16) For Heyashi a diary could apie tobe like sucha poem. am Fecnow Hayashi published two sequels (ok), Zoku Horoki (Novernber 1930), and Hr dat and (HOroki, par duce; serie in the jormal [Nibow shosetsn Japanese lteratare, 1947-1948] and published 38a sep. arse volume in 1949). Elisabeth Hansoa (1987) misidentified hee fine ttanslacion of excerpts, Vagabond's Song, a coming from HOroki (1927 [sc when ie taken from the sequal published rwenry yeas later ‘Although translation in Chinese and Korean have long bees availabe, ‘sie fom a shot four-page Eagish tanslation (1951) of the prologue tnd an eighepage translation in Esperanto of one dey enty (1968), “HRorbtt has not been wazslated ico European languages. nan eater generation, eanlators often rendered items that ight have been presimed exotic oe unknown in terms more familar tothe Enlsh reader Burin order to retain the fe of te orginal, and in keeping, swith changing assumptions about readership, Phavekepr many temas that ‘may alzeady be common koowiedge for the contemporary reader in omaaized Japanese, such as “futon,” “mis,” samisen ata.” But | ‘havea lether ems uch ar he ingredients o odo, ke ck and oral a Japanese, and have provided glossary roalltecmsin spe «db. A Beef notes on the people and tls mentioned inthe text appa in ‘appendix B and other explanatory materials given in foomnozes Prologue 5 learned this verse at grammar schol in Kyssh Inthe deepening aucumm night, ‘Aveavale dstrered by desolate thoughts “eats for home, longs for fay. {was destined to be 2 wanderer. have na home, My father was an iineran peddle of cotton an linen cloth. He «ame from fy onthe island of Sikoks. My mother was the daughter of the owner ofa hot springs inn on the island of Sakurjima in Kyushu ‘People say tha since she tok up with an ousides, they Were cua out of Sakerajima. They seed for2tme in Shimonoset in Yamaguchi pref: ture and tha is where Iwas born "Because my paren were cast out by hee own fami, tavel i my ‘only real home Since Ie aed to wander, imemovized these ines about eating forhome witha seas of inescapable sorrow. "When Iwas sal young, my life taka tn forthe worse. After eap- nga windfall ac his Kimono auctions ia Wakamsts, my father browgit, home geisha. He name was Hama. She had ran avay fom Amaktsa sland off Nagssaki. Mocher let my father’s house on 3 snowy New Years Day, taking me with he. Iwas eight I recall that you could gto Wakamatsu ony by boat, ‘My preset father, ny stepfather, is from Okayama. Far to0 honest jn nature end abnormally willag to take risk, be spent bis ein pov ty, buriedin debs. hardly ever stayed anywhere you could call home ‘so Teagged along wich ny nother Ubi an wu We tse da wd Cheap rooming hontes wherever went “Papa, he docs like homes doesnt lik all he suffi rakes to set ‘them up,” my mother alway explained ro me. My mother and my ste: wanas Fienon father dragged me slong with them as they coamed Kyushu peng thee wares Asa result experienced only if of low-ret roams and rene ber nothing of che natural beauty of mountains oe sivers. I st entered School in Nagasaki. Dresedin a discarded muslin rock altered to ite Twould wall fom out rooming house, the Zakkoks Inn co the school near the Nankin precinct From tere, we moved onto Sasebo, Kurume, Shimonoseli, Moj,Tobsta nd Orso, in chat order. did not havea sine le lose fiend, since I changed schools seven times in our year. “Papa, [don't want to go to school no moze.” Discouraged, I quit 1 ‘hated i That would have Been wien Iwas about wel, when we were living i a coal-mining acea in Nogata, “How about having litle Fu try hee hand at hawking?” Since Twat satan age when Iwas #90 usealt be alowed simply to play, took wp Soorsodoor peddling. “Th sky in Nogata was det and smoky day and night It wo the kind of town where the water curled your tongue, even though and fl tere were suppored to femove the heavy iron, In July we seed into our lodgings the Uraya inthe Taisho neighborhood. My parents would jus: leave me behind, aural, a ce soming house and rent cart. Filling, their large raw containers with knitted goods, socks, malin, belly warmers and whaanot, they would head off for the coal mines and the pottery works my mother pushing the care rom behind. "To me, this was a new, unfamiliar place. would wind up my three sn of spending money in my waistand aad se off everyday fo town ‘The tacts were aot alive a5 they had been in Moji aor were they bea ‘iol ike thor of Nagasaki. There were no petty women atin Sabo, ‘ther, In this neighborhood, sooty eaves yaomed datkiy, sandwiching Alleys encrusted with coke. A cheap sweet shop, a noodle shop, junk ‘hop, «bedding rental—the random succession of shops made te town Took almost like a feght tain. Women wth ferocious eyes strode past the shop entrances, Theic unheskhy appearance wa completly diferent from te women you would find stoiing around a big ky. The women passing by under the hr July sun wore only dry belly bands and sleeve less under-kimonos. Coine evening, stall gangs of chattering women would retea tothe enements,sbovels on thee shoulders and straw bas kets dangling from thee wast. “The folksong "Osayo, the Mille’ Daughter” was popular. My thre sen disappeared on frozen sweets or miniature books ike ‘The Baul Taina. Inotnd of going vo shoe, Laon started working atte mille-eke fcrory in he Susaki distri fora daly wage of twenty= tives sen. About hatte my family paid eighteen sen forthe day's ce ‘we bought in our bamboo basket. At night I would rent Books from the Diary of Vagabod Bs local lending brary. I read 2 succession of romantic ttle: Sill Kaaburo, Againstthe-Grain Masanori of Putushima, Nightingale, No Blood Relation, and Whirlpool. Happily everafter selfish daydreams and Sentimental heros soaked ineo my head into a sponge. I was sr founded from morning to aight by talk of money. My highest ambition ‘yasto become ich. When irsined for days on end and drenched the cat sy stepfather rented, we ate oaly squash and ie groe for evry meal. I was depesting evn o pick up my bow ‘A Tanatie lived ia ot cheap rooming hour. He was a former mince who suffered from what was commonly called "nerves." The innkeeper tid be had gone crany afer being shall shocked by dynamite. He wat nildsmannered for madinan. Eanly every moraog he set off with the ‘women of the neighborhood to pushthe coal ear. Lofen ha Me Nerves pick out my ic, Helter went on make a carer out of etn up tan- ‘el beams in the mines. Besides him, there was a drifter from Shimane witha glass eye who sang Ballas, cwo mining couples racket selling Fg anda rosin mining ub, The goup wet moe dieing "She says chat che coal ear took hee thumb ight off, bu dn’t you go tnlieving efor one minut. Somebody probably juste tof," the wife of the Unaya innkeeper explsined to my mother with wih ‘One day the thumbles prostiuce and I went othe public bathhouse. “The oom wa all dak and sly with moss A snake etooed in ile all around her Selly was sticking a ved tongue out at the navel. This was ‘the fis time chat Thad ever seen each an impressive sight. I viewed the Tighe snake tatoo with childlike solnsiy, The prostvute usually id her owa cooking. Even her frends who didnot cook for theta ‘would bay rice and have her prepare ifr them, The billboards forthe movie Kachusha appeared about the time that the street comers of Nogatablistred under the heat. The posers showed, young foreign woman pounding agninst tun window ina station, « blanket draped over her head inthe fling snow Before long it becate al the age to have a Kachusha hairstyle with apart dow the middle ‘My dating Kechatba, parting i such aweet oro, Lets offer our prayer up to God Before the melting of his pomrdery snow Inno time a al the coal miness made tis song popula. il binge bck such wonderfal memories. did noe cally understand the power of this Rassin woman’ love by afte ecg the mvt ara ny ‘rcamy pie Thad been taken o theater only once before to listen the old folk ballads song co the mane ofthe samisen, Yee now I lipped away everyday co watch the Kachusha movie by mysell.Fr quitea while16 Freriox ‘1was ina trance under her spell. As I passed the open squae where the white oleanders blossomed, on my way to go bay ol 1 would reenact Kachusha, or even “coal ming,” withthe neighborhood children. When ‘ve played “coal mining," the ils would pretend to push the coal cas, ‘and the boys would pretend to dig while singing miner song ‘Ar the time, Iwas avery healthy cil I said goodbye to he twentythre-en salary fom the milleccake feo woke thee ul one nth Te bn aie ot ‘crossing the Onga River and going trough ce runnel tothe mining quar {ees and huts. There Tred to sell eh goods Thad ied up ina gray cock bundle on my beck, things Ike fans and cosmeccs my father stocked, ‘Maay peddlers went sight into che mines “Isso ot, How re you holding up?” L would call ota cheery gree- Jingo wo of my fends. “Matsuchan’ was cute iteen-yearold sweet shop gil who would walk all the way ftom Katsuki. But before long she ‘was sold olf to Tsingtao ass getha. "Hieo-chan” was poplar slesboy sara dried fh shop and, chough ony thirteen, he pu on the ais of ful. edged miner. le could slready drink sake and surprised people bythe sway he brandished his pickaxe high in the ait. Besides, be go in see plas and movies a town for fe. sed to wall home slong the edge of the Onga River after the moon hed rien, ening to his tories, “All fr one price” was a popula sles gimmick. My fans all went for en sen. They were decorated with drawings of carp, the seven Gods ‘of Fortine, or Mount Fuji There were exactly seven sturdy bamboo ribs fon each fan. On an average day, got rid of about ewenty of them, The {ag sold much beter when I went round tothe miners hovel rather than fo the wives in company housing. And then cere was the "barman fea tenement” where ten Korean families lived under one long roo, [Naked as peeled onions, their children used to pile playally on top of ‘each other on the rough saw mats. Under the blazing sky, you could hear the rumbling of coal cst sounding like thunder far inthe distance coming from the gaping mouth ‘of the torn earth. Aclunchtime, I waited for the miner eo spill ou ike foam from the dak tunel entrance witht scaffolding as intricate as an ‘anti. Young 25 I wes, would walk among them, selling my ans. The ‘miners sweat was black and syrupy. They would lp down onthe ney ‘dog coal and seep soundly all the while guing ai ike golds. They looked almost likes pack of motionless apes. “The only movement was the pinning of od fashioned saw busts dangling under the ridge poles. After hunch, the Kecbusha song aight ‘oat in from here and thse. Then, as the peting siren sounded hela teens—faint mooaflowerlights—would fle back inco the earth. "White Diary of Vagabond a7 skia when [left the country..." Ie was not a pacticulary remarkable ‘snging voice but amid the smoky mountain of coal sag i conveyed serneting poignant ever to cid. ‘When feould not sll any more fans, I began to pele sweet bean- Sted bans for one ven apie. Ir wes two and al miles tothe mine, and sed to make ie with los of res stops, nibbling an the buns, My sepa ther had got into fight over business with a miner and was holed up ‘in the rooming house wich 2 towel around his head. Mother worked 8 ‘banana stall near the Taga shrine. Countless gangs of miners world descend from the station. pile of bananas sold foes tle they went re atively fast, After selling the buns and leaving the Basket next $0 my ‘mother, Tofcen went 0 play in the shrine. Mixing with the lrg: crowed, ‘would pray atthe bonze horse taue for my wishes to come tue. "May [be blessed." Ir always rained on the shrine festival With an eye onthe reaching sky, stall operators would shure back and forth beween the aves ofthe ation ad the shrine grounds. J October there was a minecssrke. The streets were deserted, a8 ifererythin, even noses, had beea pinched shut. Only the alebrenk ing miners Brought any life or excvemeat. "A strike isa bitce thing, God knows.” I learned this song, t00, They said thar because ofthe strike, the miners would just have co move on to other mines, The tradespeople would rarely credit any miner's aecoun, since tanesction® between the two might abeupsiy come to an end. But even with thesis involved, those who traded with the miners said it was a easy and enjoyable business. _TXott ps fo, 50 you've ju goto ty hardest no way {was immersed in a French detective novel, reading by the light of a ‘ny lamp. Lying at the opposite end of my futon, my mother kept gram bling about my stepfather. Outside ce interminable rains continued You know, we've goto havea place to settle down so we don't have hese problems” “Stop complsiaing, will you!™ [Aer his rebuke, the sound of the rain eruned. Only the tumbles Prostitute wasin good spirits, always deinking sake “Thope theresa wat” “This promises pet theory was on he Benes of wat She said it ‘would be good if this world turned upside down, I would be great. Tons ‘of money would flow ino the mines. "You maschave been born under a lucky sta” my mother would tll hee. "How ean youeven imagine hat?"ms Fietiox the chumbles prostate would ep smiling sadly and tong something fut of the window. She claimed to be twenty-five, but ha the fesiness ofa new rere. Signs of November were in heat ‘My pares and I lt fice to talk: loudly om she zearn home fom Krozaki as we pl ight ear along the baak ofthe dark Ong "You wo get int the ert We've got a ways to go yet and the walk ing’shard... "My mother and Igo in, and my stepfather pulled us along, singing ary rer aman he ae cours shooting tar. “Hey mie” woke calle out hin! ae were almost othe shopping See entrance. ‘Semed tobe coming fom a cvple of mines ho had teen dowsing ws My sepfehec stoped: "What?" When they sd they had eaten 00 days aked wee hy bad unary. Tey wee both Koreans. They ‘wrong to Oro aad waned o borrow ancy. Tey brgencesann Send, puled out vo fy encoun ander tem each ab ove Acold ‘ind Ww ontop of te enbeknent and stars walled the vs sky “hove the Koreans Mother nd I sivered. Once they had he money, he ‘wos used our cart no town fom Behind. Some ne lax, when his father Ged my steplater rerrmed 0 ‘kay fo sl te sce els. His pial objective was to ge his ands ou some apt and ty bisack se scvoning Karts prey. But trenbery knows hatin a mining marketplace, te fxesling ems Ste food: With ny mothers ananar and my sweet bean buns a fong a Edit cain we cold sel enooghto fed two people, We pide Unaya Jee yen tem son each sont My moter cane twas caer thse reving ou own ouse, Bot no matter what we ech We Were ‘remely unlucky, That fl, ay mosher safleed fom ahs snd Stayed away fom het al for everday My pater eared wih Fanon ya from selling the land. He latin a stock of potery and rook Dif lone fo ty hacen Sabo. "send for both of you soon.” ‘Wi hese ocd my separ bouded he win, wearing his one sunbleated se of thick eon work clothe. [wa fo sll the seet ihms doy in and day nt Bren when rated, Ld round ot a eagle oor lng the Nogat sex el /never forget this period, Sales were not all that difficule for me. As plogded slong rom hose co howe tea ny buena ales (gev'a few sen ava time loved whet my moter pried my abies. Ted with ber and old ewee buns fr two months earned one day to fad my mothe sching a bail colored waistband Diary ofa Vagabond ns “here that come from?” Hooked on in wonder My mother ssid that my seal father over on sbikoku had sent i Thecame wondrousy elated, Before lng we cleared ‘out of Noga, accompanied by my sepfathe, who bad come co etch us, sod boarded tain bound for Oso. As the esi costed the eed bridge ‘ver the Onga River, [saw the street sed to walk down everyday. The road along the embankment was awash inthe pale sunset, Its sadness {efleced in my eyes. The memory ofa single white sil heading upsiver ‘rea now overwhelms me with 2 longing for home. Peddlers hawking sold chains, sng, balloons, and pierarebooks chatted nonstop inthe ‘Guin. My stepfather bought me a ring with aed glass stone December Alighting ata station at che end of nowhere, Inbright soow enter lonely oom, “Tae sno wa lig. This oem by Takaoka lf me tet home sick Topna the window ince oil, and cold mae cu dint ‘rein The bred ik teed hodoendzns ha oe omg fhe moznsins of hina. The gs were etary bana Ma come and take he ite mis™ lewis thewitsroce (bathe baby Yrko was sich a other Like he poe she wat highstrang and ced ews oie sing ob fal fon yor back Arles when | eeaped ote tole fie ti fe he Behe anata el pork et and oranges—the acting I wou cally like to eat.) * = " Forsome sang reason, wien el msrabl gt thugs scib- Ble rai enced pork eater snd Sana nthe wali ny fing. Toaced ap and down the hale bay on ny ack comer vas rend. Thought mis nly week se Thad comet Chaat ShkoS housed woo ifthe wa ny fore The pos lsorhere sored up a down the sips many tines day sno 2 mows: would never be blo sure nse condon, “Peekaboo! Sleeping well” Reassared by peting at his fant daughter over my shoulder, the profesor tuced up his Kurono and climbed upto the second floor “Today | plled Chaknov out ofthe book ae in the hall. My soul was sathome with Chekhov. His emotions and character all came alive, whi