FAMILIAL LOVE
Nazuna
[Nazuna]
Shūeisha (Shūeisha Bunko), 2014. 464 pp. ¥740. ISBN 978-4-08-745248-8.
Also published in: n/a
Social and economic changes in Japan are propelling a gradual shift in gender roles, particularly with regard to childcare. In some cases, the father takes leave to look after the children while the mother continues working. Two signs of this phenomenon are the rise of the punning neologism iku-men (men who enjoy ikuji, or childcare) and the emergence of iku-men as fictional protagonists.
Horie Toshiyuki’s novel is an example of an emerging genre, the iku-men novel. The main character is an unmarried man working for a regional newspaper who takes in his infant niece Nazuna when his brother’s wife is hospitalized. It is supposed to be a short-term arrangement, but when the child’s father is involved in an automobile accident overseas, circumstances conspire to keep the infant in the protagonist’s care much longer than expected.
The novel describes the sometimes humorous struggles of a man with no previous childrearing experience to meet the challenges of parenthood. But its real strength lies in its sensitive, lyrical depiction of a new human life from a man’s point of view. “The tiny wrinkles in her lowered eyelids filled him with wonder. How gently a baby closed its eyes!” Few novels convey so vividly the preciousness and fragility of life. (NM)
Horie Toshiyuki’s novel is an example of an emerging genre, the iku-men novel. The main character is an unmarried man working for a regional newspaper who takes in his infant niece Nazuna when his brother’s wife is hospitalized. It is supposed to be a short-term arrangement, but when the child’s father is involved in an automobile accident overseas, circumstances conspire to keep the infant in the protagonist’s care much longer than expected.
The novel describes the sometimes humorous struggles of a man with no previous childrearing experience to meet the challenges of parenthood. But its real strength lies in its sensitive, lyrical depiction of a new human life from a man’s point of view. “The tiny wrinkles in her lowered eyelids filled him with wonder. How gently a baby closed its eyes!” Few novels convey so vividly the preciousness and fragility of life. (NM)
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