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the complete review - fiction

Semishigure

by
Fujisawa Shuhei

general information | our review | links | about the author

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Our Assessment:

B+ : surprisingly effective (impossible-)love story

See our review for fuller assessment.

The complete review's Review:

       When Semishigure opens, Maki Bunshirō is just fifteen. He is the adopted son of Toyo and Sukezaemon, his father a samurai of the Defense Works Unit in the castle town of Unsaka, located some 210 leagues from Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Bunshirō studies the Chinese Classics at a local academy, and spends his afternoons "practicing swordsmanship of the Kūdon school" at a local dojo.
       The opening scenes have Bunshirō encounter his twelve-year-old neighbor, Fuku, twice. The quiet but generally friendly girl had grown shier around him recently, and at first avoids him, but he comes to her aid when she is bitten by a snake -- taking her finger in his mouth and sucking the venom from it. The impulsive, almost rash (re)action -- intimate; drawing blood; a rescue from danger -- sets the stage for much of the novel. There are, however, only a few interactions between Bunshirō and Fuku before both their lives are upended; still, it's clear that Bunshirō has developed some feelings for the girl -- and that he is wrong to think that: "Fuku was still too young to be 'becoming a woman'".
       Both soon face a great upheaval in their respective lives. As a consequence of a local power-struggle, Sukezaemon is charged with treason, and sentenced, along with several others, to commit seppuku. His death also means that his wife and son must move to a shabby barrack block apartment, and that the family stipend -- the money they live off -- is reduced by three-quarters. Bunshirō continues his studies -- especially of swordsmanship -- but he and his mother live, for a time, in greatly reduced circumstances. Eventually the family-stipend is restored and Bunshirō comes to serve under the district commander; his prowess with the sword help smooth his path some, and he patiently, slowly advances.
       Fuku, meanwhile, is sent to Edo, to serve at an Edo mansion -- soon becoming the favored concubine of His Lordship. She had come to say her farewells before she left, but Bunshirō had not been home when she did, and in the years that follow he only hears bits and pieces of what has become of her. His Lordship's passion for her has apparently riled up his wife, Fune; a first pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage, but Fuku became pregnant again -- putting her in even greater danger from Fune.
       Bunshirō and Fuku's paths are long separate. Bunshirō eventually gets married -- though it's certainly no great passion: "If this was a bride that would please his mother, then he had no objection" -- and his wife barely rates a mention after being brought on the scene (though they do have two children -- who also don't really figure in the story).
       Bunshirō is a man who, in his teens: "for years had driven mind and body mercilessly for the sake of the sword", and there are several bouts and confrontations that are significant, but Semishigure is hardly just a swordfight-novel; Fujisawa doses the swordplay carefully, and what there is of it is quite well done; it helps that most of the confrontations are quick. Still, when necessary, Bunshirō's sword- (and other) skills come in handy.
       At one point Fuku and her baby need to be brought to safety, and Bunshirō is the one who does so; it's also part of the political power-plays going on which will eventually see his family name fully restored and allow for revenge of sorts for his father's undeserved death.
       While Bunshirō saves Fuku and her baby, there is no possibility of their remaining together; each has a role they must continue to play, and they do so. Almost (seemingly) anticlimactically, after saving Fuku and then dealing with a threat to his own life that follows, the novel simply jumps in its concluding chapter twenty-some years ahead -- to a final meeting between Fuku and Bunshirō. The story here comes full circle, the mutual passion that was in the air in its opening pages now fully acknowledged, the two expressing their regrets over what might have been but never could be. Fuku's lament sums up what has weighed on them all these years: "There's no one in the world who has no regrets; there's no other way ...". So also, there can be no happily everafter for them -- and yet, in parting, Fuku can say: "Now I have no more regrets."
       Semishigure is a love story -- and, ultimately, a surprisingly effective and moving one, despite the two would-be/can't-be lovers only being together a handful of times, and Fuku barely a presence for most of the novel. Focused entirely on Bunshirō and his path, Fujisawa offers an entertaining story with a good variety of episodes, ranging from the mundane -- Bunshirō going out with his buddies -- to political intrigue and a variety of physical confrontations -- but, really, all the action mainly serves as supporting material for this love-that-can-not-be story that shimmers always in the background.
       There is an odd sense of some things being underplayed -- even the tragedy of Sukezaemon's forced suicide is largely taken in stride (though Fujisawa does manage a few, short heart-breaking scenes around it, not least the appearance of Fuku on the scene), and many characters are barely developed (not least, Sukezaemon ("a man of few words, but very manly"), much less Bunshirō's siblings, but also, for example, Bunshirō's wife), but it does not matter that much. Even Fuku remains an almost unknown character -- certainly once she leaves Unsaka at age thirteen --, but then this is also how, from the first, Bunshirō sees her, mystified by her behavior when they are neighbors and then only learning about her life in Edo second-hand. Fuku remains more fantasy-figure than real to him -- as also, it turns out, does he to her --, contributing to the poignancy of this impossible-love story. The fact that the romance part of the story remains almost incidental -- Bunshirō occasionally thinks of Fuku, but he does not pine endlessly for her, and he mostly keeps himself and his mind occupied with any number of other things -- keeps Semishigure from becoming sappy as well. One wouldn't expect it to work as a love story, much less such a powerful one, but it does.

- M.A.Orthofer, 3 April 2025

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Links:

• Honford Star publicity page
• 文藝春秋 publicity page

• NHK information page

• IMDb page

• Fujisawa Shuhei Memorial Museum

• See Index of Japanese literature

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About the Author:

       Japanese author Fujisawa Shuhei (藤沢周平) lived 1927 to 1997.

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© 2025 the complete review

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