Kitan Club · Kitan Club, February 1955 Special Enlarged Issue

The Bride Has Arrived

Author: Shirogane Kōji Printed pages: 56–63 PDF pages: 49 –56

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[PDF viewer page 49]
きものシリーズ
『姑娘来了』
白金麗紅子・画　滝金次

「ねえ、それからどうしたのよ」
「どうしたって？　大方苦力か馬車挽きかの嫁さんになったろうよ、きっと」
「だって、随分酷な話ね、本当か知ら」
「本当らしいね、ちゃんと、これ、ほら大公報記事翻訳抄よりって書いてあるんだ。支那語は珍紛漢紛だけどさ、面白いだろう」
「ちっとも面白くないわ。だけど、どうして連れて来るのか知ら、そんなに大勢？」
「そこが商売さ、網を張って、それからそれへと仲間があったりしてさ、簡単らしいね。すぐ騙されて、君みたいにさ」
「冗談云わないで。あたしは大丈夫、片っ端から手脚にかみついてやるわよ。けど、あなたでもやる？　お金になるって云ったら……」
「さあね、きれいな娘さんだったら判らないね」
「あら嫌よ、嫌よ、そんな眼付きして、男って嫌な気性ね、みんな。お紅茶冷えちゃったわ、熱いの、いいでしょう？」

十月と云えば、東京の街はそろそろ寒くなる。菊人形だの紅葉見物だのと都人士が浮かれ出るのをよそに、油臭い工場から、ひけて帰る途中の喫茶店すゞらん亭は、紅葉に優る私のオアシスの一つでもあった。三人いる女給のピカ三位と申せば、美貌を通り越して肉体美か御愛嬌か何かの取り得がなければならまい。御多聞に洩れず、愛想がよくて肉体美、赤い帯揚げに白エプロン姿が重量感で押して来る処が、私の気を引いたポイントでもあった。今晩は主人が買出しか何かで留守、あとはマントを着た学生がおとなしくレコードを聴いている閑散さ、週の始めの静けさという店内、だから「かおる」嬢と寸刻が楽しめるという寸法である。

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「ビールの樽って小さいんでしょう。ころころしないか知ら」
「小さくたって、入れようと思えば入るさ。女は其処がいいとこだよ」
「だってお了さん、死んだ時、骨をぽきぽき折ったわよ」
「おいおい、生きているんだぞ、こっちは」
「ずっとそのままか知ら？」
「そんなことはないよ。積み込めば、あとは自由だろうよ。じゃないんだ、えいと、出ろ、あまっ子、と一人ずつ身体検査をして、用便に行く奴に仲間がついて、暑い船倉の片隅にあるおまるを指さし、あそこで会図って……やっぱり船付きなんだね、美胡ってあるんだから、みんな長衫一枚らしい」
「嫌だわね、お怖い。それで何日目位に着いたんでしょう」
「舟山列島を経て、広東港は五十日途中で塩や米をどうとかするというから、そうなるんだろう。だけどこれは冬らしいね、甲板で船員の一人が滑って雪だらけになったと書いてある。ビール樽を岡上げする時に……」
「ねえ、それから先、マダムが邪魔したんだから、あんたの話を聞きそこなったのよ。面白いから聞かせて」
「おいおい冗談云うなよ。さっきはお嫌だのということを云ったじゃないか」
「怖いけど聞きたいの、そこが女同志」
「今日はよそう。ねえ、それはまたの事にして、本式の支那料理食べたいと思わないか。いつか食べたいって云ったろう。うまくて安い店を知っているんだ」

暦の上で双十節も妙な巡り合わせだが、工場は休み、女房はお産で信州帰り、おまけにかおる嬢は店の大掃除の翌日とあってまたお休みと来たので、うまくて安く食わせる店を知っているんだと見得を切った手前、品川から先は正直な処初めての外出行と相成った次第で、仲秋ならぬ汗をかいたのは満員電車のせいかも知れない。

海岸通りを走っていると「寒いわね、着て来てよかったわ」と厚っぽい襟のあたりを直すかおるは、今日のアップの女性と違って、やっぱり大和撫子の部類に入るのだろう。桜木町か何かで電車が止まってどやどや人が出るのにつれられて駅を出ると、油臭い匂いがぷーんと鼻を突いたが、幾つかの町角をぐるぐる回って少し町並みが変っている横町から露地を入って、四つ目の電柱を右に折れると、「子飯店」と読める料理屋が隙間なく建つ町にあった。

「よく判りましたね、この町はなかなか判りません、初めてだと。さあ、お上んなさい。綺麗な姑娘さん一緒で……さあ遠慮はいりません、二階にしましょうか」
陳さんのでっぷり太った身体付きから脂がこぼれるようで、家全体が脂で固まって見えるものの、触れるものがエキゾチック風なのは当然としても、家の内外が馬鹿に派手なのは今日が双十節を祝う日だそうだ。
「今日はゆっくり遊んで帰って下さいよ。支那のお祝いの日ですよ。処で何御馳走しましょうか。支那そば、ラーメン、炒飯より上等な、まあお任せ下さいよ、ハッハッハ」
「陳さんのお店もなかなか繁昌ですね、お国の人が多いんでしょう」
「いや、日本の方、それ景気のいい議員さん、多いですね。まあ色々な国の人来ますよ。今日は特別賑やかです。夜までいらっしゃい。爆竹や踊りで一晩中賑やかです」

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「だからこの料理、本当の支那料理、北京料理と違うでしょう。判らない？」
「ええ、まあ……これは海娘ですね、はは」
「これ、怖ろしい話ですね。綺麗な日本姑娘持って来る。さあ商品になるか、ならないか、商売が商売だけにすぐ金談になるのはいいが、陳が案内だけに他人行儀で笑っている。」

陳に勧められた支那酒は強いと見えて、「初めまして」が「陳さんって仰言るの、とてもおいしくって、もう一杯頂きましたわ。ええ、とても結構。支那、それに東京と違って面白いわ」と、かおるは頬のあたりまで赤く色付いて大分お明るくなった。

次第にほぐれてこの調子で行けば、あと半時もすれば何でも判らなくなるのではないかと思われる。
「ねえ、陳さん、さっきのお話、いつかのあれでしょう。怖いけど、こんな処に連れて来るんでしょう、支那でもさ」
「さあね。いいから了さんに聞いて御覧」
「ませんよ。私の出身地ですよ、広東。あれは……」
陳の説明は早口で、かおる先生ばかりでなく第一食べ方を知らない私にも難解である。

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「嫌だわね」
「何です？」
テーブルの間を縫って忙しく指図をしながら顔を出した陳さんが例の調子で話を受け取った。
「ああ、あの話、昔の話ですよ。今はない。あんたみたいな美しい姑娘、危ないですよ、ハッハッハ」
「でね、陳さん、この娘、仲々芸人ですよ。ほら、競り市ね、あれ、面白がっているんだ」
「あたしやって見るわ」
「陳さん違うわよ、あたしの云ったのは……」
「云ったのは、お妾さんになるかと云うんだろう。でね、ビール樽に詰められるのかと聞くんですよ」
「ハッハッハ、樽に詰めるのね、そうらしいですね。一つビール樽見せましょうか」

料亭の薄暗い階段をとんとんと降りて、人がやっと通れるか通れないかの狭い廊下を用心して進み、湿っぽいドアを開けると、其処は料亭の倉庫兼事務室になっていて、スイッチをつけるとあかあかと電燈が点いた。悪く批評するならば、何か密談か賭博でもする部屋と思われた。

陳さんの指さすあたりに夏程のビール樽が積んである。
「これは奇遇です。洗ってありますから、あの話のビール樽と違いますか」
と陳さんはにやりとする。
「大きいものですね。どうだい、かおるちゃん、一つやってみるか」
酒を飲んだ勢いもあったが、店と隔離され、しかも存外道具が揃っているのは勿怪の幸い、とばかり、アルコールはどうやら男女の性を旅役者にさせるものらしい。
「あたしやって見るッ」
こうなってしまえば全然様相は一変するのが当然、方寸の何某の坪が独り演劇ならぬ大秘境と進展して来たから、万事は飛んだお土産付きで運んだのである。
「じゃ、かおるちゃんは誘拐されて来たんだよ。いいかい、そこから始めるから」
「いいわ」
「それじゃ……」
私は路傍にでもある物を探し、ロープ、テーブル、台と万事が即席の間に合わせ物。
「処で陳さん、あなた忙しい？　あの話をここでやろうって云うんですよ。えらくどうも騒がしてしまって」
「わたし、あとでまた来ます。部屋、かまいません。ドア、しっかり閉めときます。支那料理、必ず要る、よろしまた来ます」
陳さんは愉快そうに笑って部屋から店の方へ出て行った。

「あたし、すっかり酔っちゃった。よろよろしていい？　だって初めてだわ。じゃ、このままでビール樽の中へ入っちゃうか」
「おい、よせよ、まだ早い。誘拐されて来た娘さんはこうしてね、こういう具合に……」
「痛いわよ、着物のまんまで、両手を？　嫌ねえ、了さんたら」
「こうしなけりゃ感じが出ないだろう」
かおるの銘仙の袷の上から細いロープで胸から帯の上にかけて二巻かける。そして尻をぴしゃんと張って、
「さあ、汽船の波止場の倉庫に運ばれて来たと思うんだよ。いいかい、芝居は下手だけど……」
もしこの場に素晴らしい演出者が居たら、雰囲気満点で恐らく好事家垂涎のシーンが予期以上の成果を以て展開したに違いない。
「やいやい静かにしろ。お前たちはなあ、泣いたって、喚いたって、どうにもならねえんだぞ。おとなしく俺等の云う事を聞くんだ」

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「いやです、帰して下さい」
「帰せ？　冗談も休み休み云って貰おう。高い金で買って来たんだ。しばらくそのまんまで辛抱しろよ。そのうち楽にしてやる」
「親方、どうやら疲れがお迎えに参りやした」
「そうか。じゃすぐ支度しろ」

船倉から、泣き崩れている娘を一人ずつ曳き出して来る。
「さあ、少しの辛抱だ。着物のままじゃ暑苦しくってしょうがねえ。帯を解くんだ。恥しい？　今となって恥しいも糞もあるまい。さっさと脱いだ、脱いだ」

かおるは縛られて痺れた両の手をさすりさすり、西陣まがいの名古屋帯を赤の帯揚げ、矢模様の帯締めと共に一まとめにして、錦紗の袷をしぶしぶ脱いだ。目覚めるような朱の地に白く萩を浮き出した単衣の長襦袢は、
「借り物かい？」
「ううん、あたしのよ。どう、綺麗？」
と、この期に及んでも茶目気だ。
「よし、次、行くぞ」
「この野郎、来る早々から世話を焼かせやがって。さあおとなしく両の手を後に廻すんだ」
女の両手首を合わせて縛り、二の腕から乳房、羽織にかけてぎゅうと締め上げ、後手に二重に縛られてしまった。
「本当に縛るなんて、了さん、その位にして」
「甘ったるく喋らねえように、これでも咥えてろ」
口の中へ猿轡を押し込み、布巾みたいな布切れで口の上から巻きつける。
「お宝は重いぜ。手伝ってくれ。どっこいしょ。樽だ、樽、早く詰めんと危ねえぞ」
一人二役でずっしりしたかおるの身体を両手で抱き上げ、邪魔になる長襦袢の裾を前にはたいて、足袋はだしのまま樽の中へ入れようとする。

「五百元のもとが割れますぜ」
「心配するな。細工は流々、仕上げを御覧じろだ。金のかかった玉は大切に扱え。それ、陳さん、泣くんじゃねえ、綺麗なおべべが汚れねえように、おっと、そうもがくんじゃねえ」

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樽は思ったより狭く、後手に縛られた娘を入れるのは容易でない。哀れな眼付をするかおるの髪は焦れば焦るほど橋が崩れたように乱れ、ピンクの肌着がこぼれ、その下から真赤なメリンスの腰巻までちらちらし始める。恥しさに次第に紅潮して来た。ふっくらとした腰が樽の縁にぴったりついて、背中の伊達巻をつかんでぐっと下に滑らせると、すぽんと肥った女の身体は待望の樽の中に収まった。

「もう用はねえ。このままじゃちょっと可哀そうだからのう。あとは蓋をするばかり」
「どうだい、苦しいだろう」
「ううん。だってこうやって船へ積まれたんでしょう」
「可哀そうだが、もう一遍辛抱するんだ」
「女の人、眼かくし、眼かくし」
長襦袢の伊達巻が緩んでだらりと前が開き、両手で柱を抱くように後手に縛り上げられ、その上から小汚い布で眼かくしをされたかおるは、一寸見て可哀そうである。

重いかおるの身体を樽を横に転がして曳きずり出す途端、ドアを叩く音がして陳さんが顔をのぞかせ、にんまり笑いながら入って来た。
「これ、入りました、はいはい広東の町、競り市。ハッハッハ、なかなか面白いですね。お手伝い、とんでもない、わたし見ます見ます、見せて貰います。困りましたね、これ台本では海賊になったつもりで娘さん、支那語判らない、日本語で競り市、せりやりましょう」
「陳さん、ではわたし支那人あるよ」
場面が場面だけに、それに閉め切った部屋がむっとする位暑くなって来たので、上衣を脱いで胸をまくり、
「さあ、かおるちゃん、観念なさい。いよいよ広東の町で競り市にかかったんだよ」
かおるの髪の毛をつかんで尻のあたりを一つ叩き、豊満な身体を台の上に立たせた。
「駄目駄目、女逃げる、柱にくくりつける。それ、そこへ台持って行きましたよ」
陳さんの目くばせで、柱のそばに女を連れて行き、運んだ台の上にどっこいしょとかおるを乗せる。

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「可哀そうだが、もう一遍辛抱するんだ」
「女の人、眼かくし、眼かくし」
長襦袢の伊達巻が緩み、だらりと前が開いたまま、両手で柱を抱くように後手に縛り上げられ、その上から小汚い布で眼隠しをされたかおるは、一寸見て可哀そうである。

「見物の皆さん、これ上等あるよ。肌まだ柔らかいあるよ。買うか。さあ云い値、幾ら。五十元、まだ、まだ、どうだ品上等、安くまける。まだまだ、買わねえか」
陳さん、元の商売は若しやと思うほど競り口が流暢になる。
「陳大人、日本姑娘、くわしいある。この人、太丸い、よいところ話す。わたし喋る、任せる」
うまい処でバトンを私に渡してしまったのには驚いた。陳さんもなかなか隅に置けない曲者である。

熱演は現実感を増し、贅沢な大人の遊びとなった。私は如何に物好きでも、競り売りの口上のようには口が回らない。
「では、やるに、日本姑娘、とても綺麗あるよ。これ日本着物、支那絹子より上等。この着物めくる、桃色の布、これめくる、真の布出る。これ日本婦人皆しめてるよ。これめくる、無い。身体白い。身体付きとても上等。おっぱいあるよ、子供出来るな。よろしい。お腹、お尻みな上等……」
支那人の真似でかおるの要所要所を突いて見る。

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「陳さん、それからや」と額から流れ出る汗を手の掌で拭いながら聞く。
「よろしよろし、大変うまい。その通りです。あと買う人出てくる。五百元、そこで手を打つ。話まとまる。さあ買う人、どうする。判りませんね。ですけど、支那人よく品物見る。もう一度よく見る。やって見ましょうか」
私は台の上に上って、柱に縛りつけられたかおるの両手を解いて眼隠しを取り、台から下ろす。
「まだ女逃げる。もう一遍手をくくりなさい。そうそう、そこで……」
陳さん、まるで自分が娘を買い求めたかのように身振りうまく動かしながら、
「鼻よろし。お乳上等ね。指、ひい、ふう、みい、五本ある。胸、お腹、肉付いてるよ。ここ一番大切あるね」
とかおるの長襦袢の上から下腹部を調べる。
「嫌だ、くすぐったい」
「ハッハッハ。女のここ一番大切。笑っちゃ駄目、おかしくない、本当」
陳さんの脂切った太い指は真紅に燃える襦袢の裾端をつかんで、由面をうごめかして呵々大笑した。

安心し、シューマイの土産を片手に爆竹の音を抜け出して帰途についた頃は、とっぷり暮れて、心なし吹く夜風に酔いを醒ますかおるは、もう清楚たる大和撫子にかえっていた。

こいで蛇足ではあるが、新聞記事「姑娘売買」を肴に、大居で身をもって雰囲気を味わった感想を要約するならば、それは次のような潜在心理によって説明出来るだろうことを付記して筆を置く。

「随分ね、断りなしに誘拐なんかしたりしてさ、女の人縛るって卑怯よ。奥さんだって、小夜子に笑われかねないものよ。失礼しちゃうわ。お酒飲んだからって、そうね、あの時あたし見境いなく酔っていたのかしら。御免なさい、そうだとしたら……だけど陳さん、あたしの長襦袢どう？　綺麗と思う？　でも男の人って、女の着物を見たらすぐそこへ行くのね。馬鹿ね。すぐ男の人ったらそこに行くのね。腰やお尻の出てるのは昔からよ。よくして、嫌ね。また、そこへ行くわ。話を元に戻して頂戴。ねえ紅さん、女って露出狂か知ら。ホホ、こんな言葉使ったりして。でも、女って男の人から探されるの本当は待ってるの。あんたとこの間観た活動写真、そうじゃない？　あの娘みたいに粋な調子なら、この会話はさしずめ帰りの電車が品川に着くまで続けなければなるまい」
「だけどさ、あたしも一遍、ああやって売られて見ようか知ら」
「いいだろう。何なら売ってやろうか」
「あたしみたいな女が引っかかっちゃうのよ。支那の人って怖いわ。あのまんまお妾さんになっちゃうのか知らね」
「きっと可愛がって貰うんだね、そうなったら」
「紅さんは案外薄情だと云うの。女の気持も知らないで」
「まあいいさ。もうじき品川だ。シューマイでも食べて、またその着物脱いで、後手に縛られて御覧よ。僕がかおるちゃんを買っちまう。序でに腰の上から接吻したりしてさ、アハハハ」
「お馬鹿さんね、紅さんは……ホホ」

Draft Translation

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Kimono Series
The Bride Has Arrived
By Shirogane Kōji; illustrations credited in the scan to Takigane Kinji.

“So what happened after that?”
“What happened? She probably became the wife of some coolie or rickshaw puller.”
“But that is a dreadful story. Is it really true?”
“It seems to be. Look, it says it was translated and excerpted from a Ta Kung Pao report. The Chinese wording is all gobbledygook to me, but it is interesting, isn’t it?”
“I do not find it interesting at all. But how could they bring over so many women?”
“That is the business. They spread a net, and there are accomplices all along the route. It is apparently quite easy. A girl is quickly deceived, even someone like you.”
“Do not be ridiculous. I would be perfectly safe. I would bite every hand and foot that came near me. But would you do it too, if someone said there was money in it?”
“Who knows? I might, if the girl were pretty enough.”
“How awful! Do not look at me like that. Men are all hateful creatures. Your tea has gone cold. Shall I bring you a hot one?”

By October, the streets of Tokyo were beginning to turn chilly. While city people went off in high spirits to see chrysanthemum dolls and autumn leaves, the Suzurantei coffee shop, where I stopped on my way home from an oil-smelling factory, was one of my own oases, finer than the autumn foliage itself.

Among its three waitresses, Kaoru ranked perhaps third in facial beauty. To make up for that, she needed some other attraction, whether a fine figure or a winning manner. Like many women of her profession, she was friendly and possessed a strikingly substantial body. The full weight of her figure pressing forward beneath a white apron and red obi accessory was exactly what had first caught my attention.

That evening the proprietor was away buying supplies. Apart from us, only a student in a cloak sat quietly listening to records. The room had the deserted calm of the beginning of the week, and I could enjoy a few moments alone with Kaoru.

[PDF viewer page 50]
“Beer barrels are small, are they not? Wouldn’t they roll about?”
“They may be small, but a woman can be put inside if someone is determined. That is the convenient thing about women.”
“But when the girl in the story died, they had broken her bones one after another.”
“Come now, I am still alive.”
“Would she remain in the barrel the whole time?”
“Not necessarily. Once they had loaded the women aboard, they could take them out. The account says they were examined one by one. When one went to relieve herself, another accompanied her to a chamber pot in the corner of the sweltering hold. It sounds as though they were transported by ship. The reference to women from America, or perhaps ‘beautiful barbarians,’ is difficult to decipher, but it seems they wore only a single Chinese gown.”
“How horrible. How many days did it take them to arrive?”
“They passed the Zhoushan Islands and reached Canton after about fifty days. They had to stop for salt and rice, or something of that sort. The episode must have taken place in winter. It says a sailor slipped on deck and became covered with snow. When the beer barrels were unloaded ashore…”
“Tell me the rest. Madame interrupted before, and I missed it. It is frightening, but I want to hear it.”
“Do not be absurd. A moment ago you said you hated the story.”
“I hate it, but I still want to know. That is how women are with one another.”
“Let us leave it for today. Would you not like to eat genuine Chinese food instead? You said you wanted to try it sometime. I know a place that is cheap and good.”

By a curious coincidence, it was the Double Tenth holiday. The factory was closed, my wife had returned to Shinshū for the birth of our child, and Kaoru had a day off after the shop’s major cleaning. Since I had boasted that I knew a cheap and excellent restaurant, there was no retreat. In truth, I had scarcely ventured beyond Shinagawa before. The sweat I worked up had less to do with the autumn season than with the packed train.

As we rode along the waterfront, Kaoru adjusted the thick collar of her coat and said, “It is cold. I am glad I wore this.” Unlike the women in fashionable magazines, she still belonged unmistakably to the tribe of the Yamato nadeshiko.

When the train stopped around Sakuragichō, we followed the crowd out of the station. A strong smell of oil struck our noses. After turning through several street corners, entering a narrow alley, and turning right at the fourth utility pole, we found a restaurant whose sign could be read as something like ‘Zi Restaurant,’ in a district where the buildings stood tightly packed together.

“You found it very well,” the proprietor said. “This neighborhood is hard to understand on a first visit. Please come upstairs. You have brought such a pretty guniang. Do not be shy. Shall I put you in a room on the second floor?”

Mr. Chen was so stout and greasy that the whole house seemed congealed from the fat spilling out of him. Everything about the place naturally looked exotic, but its unusually gaudy decoration was apparently for the Double Tenth celebrations.

“Stay and enjoy yourselves,” he said. “It is a Chinese holiday. What shall I serve? Chinese noodles, ramen, fried rice, or something finer? Leave it to me. Ha, ha, ha!”

“Your restaurant seems prosperous, Mr. Chen. Do many people from your country come here?”

“No, many Japanese customers too, especially prosperous politicians. People of many countries come. Tonight is especially lively. Stay until late. Firecrackers and dancing all night.”

[PDF viewer page 51]
“This is real Chinese cooking,” Chen continued, “different from ordinary Peking-style food. Can you tell?”

Kaoru had already begun to relax under the effects of the strong Chinese liquor Chen kept pouring. What had started as a formal “Pleased to meet you” became: “So your name is Mr. Chen? This is delicious. I have already had another cup. It is wonderful. China is so different from Tokyo and very interesting.” Her cheeks were flushed, and she had grown considerably more animated.

At this rate, another half hour would leave her ready for almost anything.

“Mr. Chen,” she said, “that earlier story was the one we were discussing, was it not? It frightens me, but women really were brought to places like this in China, were they not?”

“Ask your gentleman. I am from Canton myself. Such things…”

Chen’s explanation came in such rapid speech that neither Kaoru nor I could follow it properly. I was already having trouble enough with the unfamiliar dishes.

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“How dreadful,” Kaoru said.

“What is dreadful?” Chen asked, appearing between the tables while issuing brisk orders to his employees.

“That old story,” he continued. “It is an old story. It does not happen now. A beautiful guniang like you, though, must be careful. Ha, ha, ha!”

“You see, Mr. Chen,” I said, “this girl is quite a performer. That slave auction in the article has fascinated her.”

“I want to try it,” Kaoru declared.

“That is not what I said!”

“You were wondering whether you would become someone’s concubine,” I teased, “and whether they would pack you into a beer barrel.”

“Ha, ha, ha! Pack her in a barrel? Very good. Shall I show you a beer barrel?”

We descended the restaurant’s dim stairs and made our way cautiously along a corridor scarcely wide enough for one person. Chen opened a damp-smelling door. The room beyond served as both storeroom and office. When he threw the switch, an electric bulb lit it brightly. A hostile observer might have taken it for a chamber used for secret discussions or gambling.

Several large beer barrels were stacked where Chen pointed.

“What a coincidence,” he said with a grin. “They have been washed. Are they not like the beer barrels in the story?”

“They are larger than I expected,” I said. “What do you say, Kaoru? Shall we try one?”

The alcohol certainly helped. We were isolated from the restaurant, and an unexpected collection of useful objects lay at hand. Alcohol, it seems, can turn men and women into itinerant actors.

“I will do it!” Kaoru said.

Once she had agreed, the entire atmosphere changed. Our little private corner grew into an unexplored theatrical world, and the evening acquired an entertainment none of us had anticipated.

“Then you are a girl who has been kidnapped and brought here,” I said. “That is where the scene begins.”

“All right.”

I gathered whatever could be found nearby: rope, a table, and a platform, all makeshift stage properties.

“Mr. Chen, are you busy? We want to act out that story in here. I am sorry to make such a commotion.”

“I come back later,” he said. “Use room. Shut door firmly. Chinese food still coming. Very good.”

He laughed cheerfully and returned to the restaurant.

“I am completely drunk,” Kaoru said. “May I stagger? This is my first time. Do I climb straight into the beer barrel?”

“Not yet. A kidnapped girl would first be treated like this.”

“That hurts! Through my kimono? And you are tying both my hands? You are awful.”

“It will not feel authentic otherwise.”

Over Kaoru’s lined meisen kimono, I wound a thin rope twice around her chest and above her obi. Then I smacked her backside.

“Imagine you have been carried into a warehouse on a steamer wharf. My acting is poor, but play along.”

Had a truly gifted director been present, the setting might have produced a scene beyond the expectations of even the most discriminating connoisseur.

“Quiet, all of you!” I shouted in character. “Crying and screaming will do you no good. Obey what we tell you.”

[PDF viewer page 53]
“No! Let me go home!”

“Let you go? Do not make me laugh. We paid good money for you. Bear it for a while, and eventually we will make things easier for you.”

“Boss, it seems the cargo has arrived.”

“Then prepare it immediately.”

I pretended that girls were being dragged one by one from a ship’s hold, collapsing in tears.

“Only a little longer. Your clothes are too hot and cumbersome. Undo your obi. You are embarrassed? It is far too late for modesty now. Take it off, quickly.”

Rubbing her wrists as though they had gone numb from the ropes, Kaoru reluctantly removed her imitation Nishijin Nagoya obi, the red obi accessory, and the arrow-patterned cord, then slipped off her lined silk kimono. Beneath it she wore a scarlet nagajuban patterned with white bush clover.

“Is that borrowed?”

“No, it is mine. Is it pretty?”

Even at this stage, she retained her playful spirit.

“Good. Next step.”

“You have caused trouble from the moment you arrived. Put your hands behind your back and behave.”

I brought her wrists together behind her, bound them, and tightened the rope around her upper arms and across the line of her breasts. Her arms were secured in a double rear binding.

“You are really tying me! That is enough.”

“To keep you from talking so sweetly, bite down on this.”

I pushed a gag into her mouth and tied a strip of cloth over it.

“This treasure is heavy. Give me a hand. Heave-ho! The barrel, quickly. We must pack her before anyone comes.”

Playing both roles, I lifted Kaoru’s heavy body. I swept the hem of her nagajuban forward out of the way and tried to lower her, still in her tabi, into the barrel.

“The five-hundred-yuan merchandise will be damaged,” I said in another voice.

“Do not worry. The workmanship is perfect. Handle expensive goods carefully. There now, do not cry. Do not dirty your pretty clothes, and stop struggling.”

[PDF viewer page 54]
The barrel was narrower than it had appeared. Putting a woman inside while her hands were tied behind her was not easy. Kaoru looked up with pitiful eyes. The more we struggled, the more her hair collapsed into disorder. Pink underclothing slipped into view, and beneath it flashes of a bright-red wool waistcloth appeared. Her face gradually reddened with embarrassment.

Her rounded hips fitted tightly against the rim. I took hold of the date-maki at her back and pushed downward. With a sudden pop, her plump body dropped into the barrel.

“We have no further use for her at present. It seems rather cruel to leave her like this, but all that remains is to put on the lid.”

“Is it painful?”

“No. This is how they were loaded onto ships, was it not?”

“Poor thing. You must endure one more step.”

“Blindfold the woman,” Chen called after returning. “Blindfold!”

The date-maki of Kaoru’s nagajuban had loosened, allowing the garment to fall open in front. We brought her arms up behind her as though she were embracing the pillar and tied her there. Then we covered her eyes with a grubby strip of cloth. She looked, for a moment, genuinely pitiable.

As we rolled the barrel sideways and began dragging her heavy body out, someone knocked. Chen peered through the door and entered with a broad grin.

“Very good! Now Canton street, slave auction. Ha, ha, ha! Very interesting. I will not help. I watch. Let me see. In your script you were pirates, but the girl does not understand Chinese. We do auction in Japanese.”

“Then you must act as the Chinese merchant.”

The closed room had become stiflingly hot. Chen stripped off his outer garment and rolled it back from his chest.

“Now, Kaoru, resign yourself. You have reached Canton and are being put up for auction.”

I caught her by the hair, struck her once on the buttocks, and stood her voluptuous body on the platform.

“No, no. Woman escape. Tie her to pillar. Bring platform over there.”

At Chen’s signal we led her to the pillar and heaved her onto the platform.

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“Poor girl, endure it one more time.”

“Blindfold the woman, blindfold.”

With the nagajuban loosened and hanging open, her arms were tied behind her around the pillar and the soiled cloth remained across her eyes. She made a pathetic spectacle.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Chen cried, “this is excellent merchandise. Her skin still soft. Who will buy? Name a price. Fifty yuan? More, more! Very fine quality, sold cheaply. Who else will bid?”

His auctioneer’s patter became so fluent that I began to wonder whether this might once have been his real profession.

“Honorable gentleman,” he said to me, “Japanese guniang. You explain details. She round and very good. You speak. I leave to you.”

With that, he unexpectedly handed the baton to me. Chen was clearly a sly and resourceful fellow.

The realism of our performance increased, turning it into an extravagant adult game. Yet however peculiar my tastes, I could not produce a proper slave dealer’s sales speech.

“Here we have a very beautiful Japanese guniang,” I began in a parody of Chinese-inflected Japanese. “This is Japanese kimono, finer than Chinese silk. Lift kimono, there is pink cloth. Lift that, true cloth appears. All Japanese ladies wear this. Lift it, nothing else. Body white. Very excellent figure. Fine breasts, good for bearing children. Stomach and hips also excellent.”

As I spoke, I poked at the corresponding parts of Kaoru’s body, imitating the Chinese merchant.

[PDF viewer page 56]
“What next, Mr. Chen?” I asked, wiping sweat from my forehead.

“Very good, very good. Exactly so. Now buyer comes. Five hundred yuan, agreement made. Buyer must inspect goods carefully. Shall we inspect once more?”

I climbed onto the platform, untied Kaoru’s hands from the pillar, removed the blindfold, and helped her down.

“Woman still may escape. Tie hands once more. Yes, there.”

Moving as skillfully as though he had personally purchased her, Chen continued the inspection.

“Nose good. Breasts excellent. Fingers: one, two, three, four, five, all present. Chest, belly, good flesh. Here most important.”

Through her nagajuban, he examined her lower abdomen.

“No! That tickles.”

“Ha, ha, ha! For woman, here most important. Do not laugh. This is serious.”

His thick, greasy fingers caught the hem of the brilliant scarlet under-robe, and he made an exaggerated motion of inspection before bursting into loud laughter.

Later, reassured that it had all been play, we left with a package of shumai while firecrackers exploded outside. Night had fallen. As the cool breeze sobered her, Kaoru once more became a demure Yamato nadeshiko.

It may be unnecessary to add more, but having used the newspaper report about the buying and selling of guniang as material for a game in which we physically sampled its atmosphere, I would summarize the experience as evidence of a certain latent psychology.

“You were terrible,” Kaoru said on the train. “Kidnapping me without warning and tying up a woman is cowardly. Your wife would not laugh if she knew. I must have been terribly drunk. Forgive me, if that was the reason. But tell me, did you think my nagajuban was pretty? Men always go straight to a woman’s clothes and body. Do women secretly want to expose themselves? Listen to me using such words! Still, perhaps women really do wait to be searched by men. Wasn’t the motion picture we saw the other day like that? If we continue in this fashionable style, this conversation will last until the train reaches Shinagawa.”

“But perhaps I would like to be sold that way once more,” she added.

“That can be arranged. I could sell you.”

“A woman like me would be caught in the trap. Chinese men are frightening. Perhaps I would end up as someone’s concubine exactly as I was.”

“You would probably be cherished.”

“You are unexpectedly heartless. You do not understand a woman’s feelings.”

“We are almost at Shinagawa. Eat some shumai, take off that kimono again, and let me tie your hands behind you. I will buy you myself, and perhaps kiss you above the waist while I am at it. Ha, ha, ha!”

“You are an idiot,” Kaoru answered, laughing.

Publication Translation

Optional. When this is blank, Publish Translation publishes the current draft. When present, this corrected version is published instead.

Article Summary

This illustrated comic-erotic story begins with a man and a café waitress, Kaoru, discussing a newspaper account of Chinese women allegedly kidnapped, confined in beer barrels, transported by ship, and sold in Canton. During a holiday visit to a Chinese restaurant, alcohol, an accommodating proprietor named Chen, a storeroom, ropes, and an empty barrel turn the reported trafficking narrative into improvised role-play. Kaoru removes her outer kimono, is bound over her scarlet nagajuban, gagged, placed in the barrel, blindfolded, tied to a pillar, and presented in a mock slave auction. The story ends with the participants returning safely to Tokyo and Kaoru admitting a conflicted fascination with being bound, inspected, and symbolically sold. Historically, the article is notable for showing how mid-1950s Kitan Club converted sensational newspaper material, orientalist images of China, kimono display, and bondage fantasy into a self-conscious theatrical scene. It also illustrates the magazine's recurring interest in the relationship between purported documentary reports and staged erotic reenactment. The comedy depends heavily on drunken banter, parody Chinese-inflected Japanese, and the unstable boundary between Kaoru's spoken objections, voluntary participation, embarrassment, and curiosity.

Translation Notes

The supplied English title, The Bride Has Arrived, has been preserved. The Japanese heading is 姑娘来了, a Japanese typesetting of the Chinese expression gūniang láile, more literally 'The girl or young woman has arrived.' 姑娘 is repeatedly treated as the Chinese loan guniang and means a young woman rather than specifically a bride.

The author credit requires human review. The title page visibly appears to print 白金麗紅子, followed by an illustration credit ending in 画 and the name 滝金次. This does not transparently match the supplied romanization Shirogane Kōji. The requested author name has therefore been retained in the author field, while the discrepancy is recorded in uncertain_readings.

The narrator calls the source a translated excerpt from 大公報, Ta Kung Pao, a major Chinese-language newspaper. The exact newspaper passage is not reproduced in full. The story refers to women placed in beer barrels, shipped through or near the Zhoushan Islands to Canton, and sold. These claims are presented as sensational source material inside the fiction and should not be treated as independently verified history.

双十節 is the Double Tenth holiday, October 10, commemorating the 1911 Wuchang Uprising and associated with the Republic of China.

銘仙 is meisen, a popular patterned silk textile. 袷 is a lined kimono. 長襦袢 is the long under-kimono worn beneath the outer kimono. 名古屋帯 is a Nagoya obi. 帯揚げ and 帯締め are obi accessories. 伊達巻 here means an under-sash used to secure the kimono layers, not the rolled omelet of the same name. メリンス is merinsu, a wool or wool-like fabric, here used for a red waistcloth or underskirt.

後手 refers to the hands being secured behind the back. 猿轡 is a gag, here an object placed in the mouth and held by an over-tied cloth. The article does not employ technical kinbaku vocabulary in the modern instructional sense; it describes improvised theatrical binding.

Chen's dialogue is written in deliberately broken, stereotyped Japanese, often omitting particles and using ある in place of ordinary copular forms. The translation reproduces some of that broken syntax without attempting a phonetic caricature. This language reflects period ethnic stereotyping and is central to the story's comedy, but it should not be read as realistic Chinese-accented Japanese.

苦力 is kuli or 'coolie,' a dated and often derogatory word for an unskilled laborer. 支那 is Shina, a period Japanese term for China that is now generally considered offensive. The translation uses 'China' or 'Chinese' except where the historical wording itself is under discussion.

The final authorial comment invokes 潜在心理, latent psychology, but does not develop a formal psychological argument. It instead frames Kaoru's mixture of resistance, curiosity, and renewed interest as evidence of concealed desire. That framing belongs to the narrator and reflects the sexual ideology of the magazine rather than a reliable account of consent or psychology.

Uncertain readings:
- PDF page 49: The visible author credit appears to read 白金麗紅子, but the supplied metadata identifies the author as Shirogane Kōji. The exact name and reading require comparison with the printed contents or a contributor index.
- PDF page 49: 滝金次 is the probable reading of the illustration credit, although one or more characters may be affected by scan blur.
- PDF page 49: 大公報記事翻訳抄 is read as 'translated excerpt from a Ta Kung Pao article.' The small type is imperfect but the newspaper title appears consistent with 大公報.
- PDF page 50: A blurred phrase concerning the transported women may read 美胡, 美国, or another term referring to foreign or American women.
- PDF page 50: The restaurant sign is described as 子飯店, but the first character may be incomplete, decorative, or misread.
- PDF page 51: Several words in Chen's rapid explanation of Canton and the source story are too degraded to transcribe confidently.
- PDF page 52: The phrase 方寸の何某の坪 is uncertain. It appears to describe the small storeroom imaginatively expanding into a theatrical world.
- PDF page 53: The exact noun in 五百元のもとが割れますぜ is unclear. Context indicates a warning not to damage merchandise worth five hundred yuan.
- PDF page 54: The comparison describing Kaoru's disordered hair as resembling a collapsed bridge is uncertain because one character is blurred.
- PDF page 55: The mock-auction form of address may read 陳大人 or another honorific construction.
- PDF page 56: The phrase 新聞記事『姑娘売買』 is legible in general sense, but the exact quoted title or punctuation may differ.
- PDF page 56: The personal name 小夜子 in Kaoru's closing remarks is uncertain and may be a different name.

Missing or illegible text:
- PDF page 50, upper-left column: Approximately one short phrase describing the transported women's clothing or nationality is too blurred for reliable recovery.
- PDF page 51, middle and lower columns: Several short clauses in Chen's rapid explanation of Canton and the source story are obscured by low contrast and dense type.
- PDF page 52, lower middle column: A figurative sentence describing the storeroom's transformation into an improvised stage contains two or three uncertain words.
- PDF page 53, text adjoining the illustration: A few words are obscured where the text runs close to the large illustration. The sequence of undressing, rear binding, gagging, and lifting Kaoru into the barrel remains clear.
- PDF page 54, text adjoining the central illustration: A small amount of text is difficult to read. No separate paragraph or major event appears to be missing.
- PDF page 55, text surrounding the central illustration: Several auction-patter particles and comic broken-Japanese forms are indistinct, so their exact wording cannot be guaranteed.
- PDF page 56, final lower columns: A few particles and one personal name in the train conversation are unclear. The closing exchange and its general meaning are otherwise recoverable.

Research Notes

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Status: Published

Published: July 31, 2026 at 8:54 AM by Zetsu

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