The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi (Masterplots II: World Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
- First Published: 1931
- Type of Work: Historical fiction
- Time of Work: 1549-1559
- Setting: The Mount Ojika and Mount Tamon castles, Japan
- Principal Characters: Hoshimaru, Terukatsu, Tsukuma Oribensho Norishige, Lady Kikyo, Doami
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction
- Subjects: Sex or sexuality, Violence, Cruelty, Sixteenth century, Japan or Japanese people, Samurai
- Locales: Japan
The Novel
In his preface to The Secret Life of the Lord of Musashi, Jun’ichirō Tanizaki claims to have examined secret papers telling of the otherwise unknown masochistic sexual desires of the famous sixteenth century samurai, the Lord of Musashi. The purpose of his book, he explains, is to reveal the development of these sexual desires in the young Musashi. Tanizaki approaches his subject with formal respect, carefully placing Musashi in the context of other renowned and respected warriors who were known to have enjoyed cruel and unusual sex practices. The...
[The entire page is 2101 words long]
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