Kenzo, a scholar back in Tokyo after years abroad, is ambushed in the rain by Shimada, the foster father who cut ties with him fifteen years ago. As Shimada and a ring of needy relatives keep demanding money, Kenzo's sour marriage and cramped finances show that nothing from the past is ever really settled.
Books mentioned in Grass on the Wayside (4)
Jōzan Kidan by Yuasa Jōzan: “Hida smiled, took the book lying face down on his desk and handed it to Kenzo. To Kenzo's surprise it was the Jōzan Kidan, and he was a little startled that a man could read such a thing so calmly while his own wife was coughing herself breathless in the next room. [auto-translated]”
Nansō Satomi Hakkenden by Takizawa Bakin: “"He must be a scholar, that man, mustn't he? Which of them is better, him or Kyokutei Bakin? I own Bakin's Nansō Satomi Hakkenden too, you know." Sure enough, in his paulownia bookcase he had a neat stack of the subscription edition of the Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, printed in movable type on Japanese paper. [auto-translated]”
Edo Meisho Zue by Saitō Gesshin: “"Do you own the Edo Meisho Zue, Ken?" He took one or two old volumes in pale-blue covers from another bookcase on the alcove, treating Kenzo as if he had never even heard the name of the Edo Meisho Zue. [auto-translated]”
Azuma Kagami: “It was written on fine paper in a formal square hand and looked very imposing, but it was of no practical use at all, since the only precedent it cited was the Azuma Kagami. [auto-translated]”