&sq=&lang=&file=File:Hototogisu_first_edition_cover_cropped.jpg) Cover of the first edition (1900) | |
| Author | Kenjirō Tokutomi |
|---|---|
| Original title | 不如帰 (Hototogisu) |
| Set in | Tokyo, 1893–1895 |
Publication date | 1898–1899 |
| Publication place | Japan |
Published in English | 1904 |
The Cuckoo (不如帰, Hototogisu), also called Nami-ko in English, is a Japanese novel first published by Kenjirō Tokutomi (under the pen name Rōka Tokutomi) in serialized form between 1898 and 1899. It was republished as a book in 1900 and became a bestseller. Beginning in 1904, it was also widely translated and read in the United States and Europe. The story is a tragic melodrama about the family conflict that ensues when Namiko, a young wife, contracts tuberculosis. Her husband initially resists his mother's pressure to end the marriage, but when he is drafted into the First Sino-Japanese War, his mother dissolves their marriage and Namiko dies. The novel critiques Japanese feudal values, especially the vulnerable social position of women.