Morrison

Study Guide: Izumi Kykas The Saint of Mount Kya (Kya hijiri; 1900)1

Izumi Kyka (1873-1939): Novelist born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. A

disciple of Ozaki Ky, Kyka made his debut as a writer of the socially oriented

problem novels (kannen shsetsu) Gekashitsu (The Operating Room, 1895) and Yak

junsa (Night Patrolman, 1895), but his true forte was the creation of a romantic (and

melodramatic) world of fantasy described in a densely imagistic style. Works in this

vein include Teriha kygen (The Teriha Troupe, 1896), Kya hijiri (The Kya Saint,

1900), Uta andon (Song of the Troubadour, 1910), and Mayukakushi no rei (The Ghost

with Hidden Eyebrows, 1924). (Source: www.jlit.net). (Click here for original texts.)

Study Questions

1. Discuss Narrator 1. What is his function in the narrative?

2. Discuss the itinerant priest Shch (the saint of Mt. Kya). Where does Narrator 1

first meet him? Where do they stay together? How is he different from most priests?

3. Describe the frame-story structure. Note the frequent interruptions in the frame story.

4. Describe the seedy medicine peddler from Toyama. What provocative comment does

he make to Shch? What fate does he ultimately meet?

5. Summarize Shchs story (pp. 5-33: his encounter with seedy medicine peddler; his

decision to follow him down dangerous narrow road; the insects/snakes/caterpillars/bird

eggs/leeches he encounters along the way; the hut; woman; the bathing scene; the

dinner scene; his feelings for the woman; his crisis of faith; etc.).

6. Discuss the idiot. Describe his relationship with the woman.

7. A weary traveler from the city descends into the provinces and stumbles upon a lone

hut in the middle of a forest with a beautiful/mysterious/elegant woman in itwhere

have we seen this basic storyline before? How is this story similar/different from these

1 Translated by Stephen Kohl in The Saint of Mt. Koya and The Song of the Troubadour

(Kanazawa, Takakuwa bijutsu insatsu, 1990). A more recent translation is by Charles

Inouye, included in his Japanese Gothic Tales (University of Hawaii Press, 1996).

other stories? Is this story also didactic? Why is this basic story structure so common?

8. Discuss the woman (her personality/cravings/situation/powers/etc.). What multiple

female archetypes is she a combination of? Explain.

9. Discuss the nude bathing scene. Why do the animals (toads, bats, rodent-monkeys,

etc.) gather around as she, naked, washes the naked Shch?

10. Discuss the representations of nature in the work. What kind of nature are we

dealing with here? How is nature contrasted with culture? Which is privileged?

11. Discuss the bestiality scene. The horseOld Blueis the present manifestation of

whom? How/why was he transformed into a horse?

12. Why do the animals (sheep, birds, squirrels, cows, etc.) gather at night once the

woman, Shch, and the idiot go to bed? How does Shch quiet them down?

13. Discuss the old man. Summarize the story he tells Shch in Episode 26. Is his story

about the woman believable?

14. Discuss the ending. Did Shch make the right choice? What effect does his story

have on Narrator 1?

Place Names

Fill in as you read.

1. Hida : Today northern Gifu prefecture.

2. Shinsh (also ): Today Nagano prefecture; where the main road leads.

3. Tsuruga: city in Wakasa region, present-day Fukui prefecture; where Narrator 1

and Narrator 2 spend the night.

4. Kakegawa: 5. Shimbashi Station:

6. Eiheiji: Zen monastery in

7. Wakasa Region: Present day Fukui prefecture; Narrator 1s hometown.

8. Mount Kya: 9. Shizugatake: 10. Lake Biwa:

11. Rikuminji Temple: Temple to which Shcho belongs.

12. Tsuji: village in . 13. Matsumoto: village in .

14. Rendaiji Temple in Mino: 16. [add to list as you read ]