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Kimura can see Ikuko naked, starting with making her drunk which leads to her repeated collapsing and need to be looked after. Also, he has sex with his wife while she is unconscious, during which she utters the name of Kimura. At Kimura's offer, the professor borrows his polaroid camera, which he uses to make nude photographs of Ikuko. Later, he switches to negative film, making sure that Kimura sees the pictures. At the same time, he has his doctor inject him hormones to improve his potency, which result in dangerously high blood pressure and memory defects.
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diaries in full knowledge that the other side reads them, that her states of unconsciousness were at times faked, and that
Toshiko possibly made arrangements so that her mother and Kimura could meet. Ikuko speculates that Toshiko will eventually marry Kimura as a pretence so her mother and he can continue their affair.
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gained attraction and was widely discussed for its explicit eroticism. Yet, although formally "brilliantly handled", the novel is missing typical
Tanizaki themes like the longing for a mother or worshipping of a cruel woman, concluding that it was, compared to others of the writer's works, "not very
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The entire story is told in diary form, switching between the entries of a 55-year-old university professor and his 10 years younger wife Ikuko. Both claim that they want to keep their notes secret from another, and complain about the difficulties in their sex life: she about her husband's inability
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Toshiko moves out of her parents' house, while Ikuko starts meeting Kimura on a regular basis. The professor suffers a stroke due to his blood pressure; although he first seems to recover, he dies after a second stroke. In her last entries, Ikuko reveals that both she and her husband wrote their
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The couple has chosen teacher Kimura as a possible marriage prospect for their daughter
Toshiko, but Toshiko shows no interest in him. Instead, the husband believes to sense a mutual interest between Kimura and Ikuko, and realises that his jealousy stimulates him. He provokes situations in which
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to satisfy her, he about her insatiability, mixed with her oldfashioned attitude and rejection of his erotic preferences. At the same time he is convinced that, would she allow him to act out his wishes, he would be able to fulfil her desires.
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The
Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature. Volume 1: From Restoration to Occupation, 1868-1945
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203:, starting with the magazine's January issue which quickly sold out. It was translated into English by
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The novel's title refers to the key to the compartment in which the professor keeps his diary.
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459:"Visions of Desire: Tanizaki's Fictional Worlds". Ito, Ken. Stanford University Press, 1991
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Hibbett, Howard, trans. "The Key". Tanizaki
Junichiro. New York: Vintage, 2004
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Tanizaki's novel first appeared in serialised form in 1956 in
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Modernity in East-West
Literary Criticism: New Readings
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243:has repeatedly been adapted into films, including:
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390:. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 20.
658:Works originally published in Japanese magazines
401:Rimer, J. Thomas; Gessel, Van C., eds. (2007).
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423:McClellan, Edwin (1960). "Review of The Key".
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545:The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi
405:. Columbia University Press. p. 939.
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663:Novels first published in serial form
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668:Japanese novels adapted into films
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358:Hakutani, Yoshinobu, ed. (2001).
653:20th-century Japanese literature
388:Five Modern Japanese Novelists
221:Five Modern Japanese Novelists
165:is a novel by Japanese writer
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312:The Key: Professor's Pleasure
673:Novels by Junichiro Tanizaki
285:, directed by Akitaka Kimata
553:A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
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16:Novel by Junichiro Tanizaki
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569:Captain Shigemoto's Mother
314:, directed by Hiroki Inoue
31:Cover of the first edition
648:Works by Japanese writers
620:Childhood Years: A Memoir
169:first published in 1956.
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119:Published in English
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585:Diary of a Mad Old Man
386:Keene, Donald (2003).
612:In Praise of Shadows
561:The Makioka Sisters
529:Some Prefer Nettles
498:Jun'ichirÅ Tanizaki
425:Monumenta Nipponica
193:Publication history
167:Jun'ichirÅ Tanizaki
47:Original title
41:Jun'ichirÅ Tanizaki
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265:Tatsumi Kumashiro
207:and published by
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643:1956 novels
343:26 November
306:Jefery Levy
277:Tinto Brass
637:Categories
333:"éµ (Kagi)"
319:References
200:ChÅ«Å kÅron
94:ChÅ«Å kÅron
72:Translator
623:(1955â56)
593:The Maids
564:(1943â48)
537:Arrowroot
524:(1928â30)
521:Quicksand
496:Works by
445:0027-0741
223:, author
215:Reception
211:in 1961.
90:Publisher
596:(1962-3)
462:See More
337:Kotobank
173:Synopsis
145:Japanese
85:Japanese
82:Language
20:The Key
577:The Key
453:2383364
301:The Key
290:The Key
283:The Key
272:The Key
261:The Key
241:The Key
229:The Key
153:Hepburn
139:The Key
615:(1933)
588:(1961)
580:(1956)
572:(1949)
556:(1936)
548:(1935)
540:(1931)
532:(1929)
516:(1924)
505:Novels
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310:2022:
298:2014:
288:1997:
281:1983:
269:1983:
259:1974:
247:1959:
37:Author
604:Other
513:Naomi
449:JSTOR
131:Print
113:Japan
441:ISSN
364:ISBN
345:2021
158:Kagi
123:1961
105:1956
54:Kagi
433:doi
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378:^
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149:éµ
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61:éµ
58:(
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