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乙女の本棚 #4
魚服記
人気シリーズ「乙女の本棚」第20弾は太宰治×イラストレーター・ねこ助のコラボレーション!
小説としても画集としても楽しめる、魅惑の1冊。全イラスト描き下ろし。
「おめえ、なにしに生きでるば」
地図にも載っていないような山のふもとの村で、炭焼きの娘・スワは、父親と2人で暮らしていた。
太宰治の『魚服記』が、書籍の装画、ゲーム、CDジャケットなどで美麗な人や獣を描き、本シリーズでは中島敦『山月記』と新美南吉『赤とんぼ』を担当する大人気イラストレーター・ねこ助によって、鮮やかに描かれる。
名作文学と現代の美麗なイラストが融合した、珠玉のコラボレーション・シリーズ。
自分の本棚に飾っておきたい。大切なあの人にプレゼントしたい。そんな気持ちになる「乙女の本棚」シリーズの1冊。
小説としても画集としても楽しめる、魅惑の1冊。全イラスト描き下ろし。
「おめえ、なにしに生きでるば」
地図にも載っていないような山のふもとの村で、炭焼きの娘・スワは、父親と2人で暮らしていた。
太宰治の『魚服記』が、書籍の装画、ゲーム、CDジャケットなどで美麗な人や獣を描き、本シリーズでは中島敦『山月記』と新美南吉『赤とんぼ』を担当する大人気イラストレーター・ねこ助によって、鮮やかに描かれる。
名作文学と現代の美麗なイラストが融合した、珠玉のコラボレーション・シリーズ。
自分の本棚に飾っておきたい。大切なあの人にプレゼントしたい。そんな気持ちになる「乙女の本棚」シリーズの1冊。
56 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1933
1 person is currently reading
248 people want to read
About the author
Osamu Dazai
1,130 books9,547 followersOsamu DAZAI (native name: 太宰治, real name Shūji Tsushima) was a Japanese author who is considered one of the foremost fiction writers of 20th-century Japan. A number of his most popular works, such as Shayō (The Setting Sun) and Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human), are considered modern-day classics in Japan.
With a semi-autobiographical style and transparency into his personal life, Dazai’s stories have intrigued the minds of many readers. His books also bring about awareness to a number of important topics such as human nature, mental illness, social relationships, and postwar Japan.
With a semi-autobiographical style and transparency into his personal life, Dazai’s stories have intrigued the minds of many readers. His books also bring about awareness to a number of important topics such as human nature, mental illness, social relationships, and postwar Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
February 28, 2025
Pre-review: Look at the artwork, just look at it!!!
The Maiden Bookshelf series did it again, such gorgeous artwork that my heart aches!!!!^_^
(1.1) Exquisite artwork!
(1.2) Plus you know that I only started reading contemporary Japanese literature seriously because of the Bungo Stray Dogs manga series...and you should read it too if you still haven't. XD
(1.3) Plus I never like Dazai Osamu's stuff, and never managed to tune into his channel even when I tried to read No Longer Human, but for the beautiful artwork I will try again!
(2) the landscapes of the mountains and the waterfall are exquisitely drawn!!!
(3) I like the drawing of the fish and the serpent so much!!!!
(4) Maybe underneath everything, it's a ghost story or a story about a girl encountering the demons/yokai in the forest?
(5) Overall it's a clever litter short story about....coming of age (?) and the meaninglessness of life (?), although I am not sure I would have enjoyed the story as much as I currently am with it, if it weren't so beautifully illustrated.
A few words of comment in Chinese:這個《淑女書櫃》系列華麗插畫版的《魚服記》很好看，將在美麗大自然拱託下的青春的虛無及絕望寫得很詩意。
Review for Nakajima Atsushi's The Moon Over the Mountain (illustrated version).
The Maiden Bookshelf series did it again, such gorgeous artwork that my heart aches!!!!^_^
"Dad," Suwa called to her father from behind. "What are you living for?"
..."How should I know?"
..."Then why bother living at all?"
(1.1) Exquisite artwork!
(1.2) Plus you know that I only started reading contemporary Japanese literature seriously because of the Bungo Stray Dogs manga series...and you should read it too if you still haven't. XD
(1.3) Plus I never like Dazai Osamu's stuff, and never managed to tune into his channel even when I tried to read No Longer Human, but for the beautiful artwork I will try again!
(2) the landscapes of the mountains and the waterfall are exquisitely drawn!!!
(3) I like the drawing of the fish and the serpent so much!!!!
(4) Maybe underneath everything, it's a ghost story or a story about a girl encountering the demons/yokai in the forest?
(5) Overall it's a clever litter short story about....coming of age (?) and the meaninglessness of life (?), although I am not sure I would have enjoyed the story as much as I currently am with it, if it weren't so beautifully illustrated.
A few words of comment in Chinese:這個《淑女書櫃》系列華麗插畫版的《魚服記》很好看，將在美麗大自然拱託下的青春的虛無及絕望寫得很詩意。
Review for Nakajima Atsushi's The Moon Over the Mountain (illustrated version).
August 27, 2023
魚服記 METAMORPHOSIS: OSAMU DAZAI, Witten in 1933, early in Dazai's career.
"Mahageyama has something of a reputation in this area for its scenic beauty. The village itself is nothing to speak of, with twenty or thirty dilapidated houses huddled by the bank of a river. But about four miles upstream is a sparking white waterfall nearly a hundred feet high... toward the end of summer this year a fellow died in the waterfall. He didn't jump; it was quite accidental."
"He plummeted to the bottom of the pool. Then suddenly his torso came dancing up out of the water. His eyes were squeezed shut, his mouth pursed, his blue shirt torn in several pieces... That was the end of him."
An eerie, dark short story about a rural mountainside village, a popular tourist destination for hikers, with a strange unpredictable girl named Suwa. It reminds me so much of some of the works and paintings of Michizou Tachihara.
"Suwa has always gazed at the waterfall pouring forth at the water, never doubting that it would run dry. And why, she wondered, did its shape never change? But lately, she had grown more contemplative."
"She stared at the reverie, a glint of suspicion crackled in her eyes. The waterfall was whispering."
""Pa?" suwa called to her father from behind. "Why were you ever born... You'd sure be better off dead.""
I've always been engrossed by the way Osamu Dazai makes all of his characters portraitures of himself in some way. They're all him. He and his mysteriousness will always be famous to me.
"Mahageyama has something of a reputation in this area for its scenic beauty. The village itself is nothing to speak of, with twenty or thirty dilapidated houses huddled by the bank of a river. But about four miles upstream is a sparking white waterfall nearly a hundred feet high... toward the end of summer this year a fellow died in the waterfall. He didn't jump; it was quite accidental."
"He plummeted to the bottom of the pool. Then suddenly his torso came dancing up out of the water. His eyes were squeezed shut, his mouth pursed, his blue shirt torn in several pieces... That was the end of him."
An eerie, dark short story about a rural mountainside village, a popular tourist destination for hikers, with a strange unpredictable girl named Suwa. It reminds me so much of some of the works and paintings of Michizou Tachihara.
"Suwa has always gazed at the waterfall pouring forth at the water, never doubting that it would run dry. And why, she wondered, did its shape never change? But lately, she had grown more contemplative."
"She stared at the reverie, a glint of suspicion crackled in her eyes. The waterfall was whispering."
""Pa?" suwa called to her father from behind. "Why were you ever born... You'd sure be better off dead.""
I've always been engrossed by the way Osamu Dazai makes all of his characters portraitures of himself in some way. They're all him. He and his mysteriousness will always be famous to me.
September 27, 2023
Incredibly beautiful book that makes very little sense on the first read.
My interpretation is the ocean calls to people in one way or another and encourages them to jump. Over time there have been several who have succumbed to this: the boy who picks ferns, the twin who ate all the fish and now, Suwa herself. The ocean helps you escape and similarly also helps Suwa escape her unhappy existence too.
Who knows if this is really the correct interpretation. I have visited Osamu Dazai's memorial in Aomori and wow. It gives this book more context on how terrible his mind was and how unorganized his life was.
My interpretation is the ocean calls to people in one way or another and encourages them to jump. Over time there have been several who have succumbed to this: the boy who picks ferns, the twin who ate all the fish and now, Suwa herself. The ocean helps you escape and similarly also helps Suwa escape her unhappy existence too.
Who knows if this is really the correct interpretation. I have visited Osamu Dazai's memorial in Aomori and wow. It gives this book more context on how terrible his mind was and how unorganized his life was.
January 23, 2024
She would sprinkle bits of fern moss over her basketful of mushrooms before heading back to the hut, and this always made her smile.
November 26, 2024
Haunting. Just...haunting.
October 7, 2024
This is the story of Suwa, the young daughter of a charcoal maker. During the summer months, when visitors come to the area to see the local waterfall, Suwa's father has her run a small tea stand. Although she obediently does as she's told, her voice is drowned out by the sound of the falls and she rarely sells anything. One day, while staffing the tea stand, she witnesses a student accidentally fall and drown.
This gets tied in with a story Suwa's father once told her, about two brothers, one of whom was transformed into a serpent, as well as Suwa's eventual fate.
I have no idea what this story means, although it seems possible, to me, that Suwa supposedly becoming a fish was actually a very pretty and fantastical way of saying that she drowned just like the student who fell and drowned. Maybe I'm being too bleak, but hey, it's Dazai.
The full-color illustrations accompanying the text are lovely. They don't exactly match the text, although I suppose they fit the overall feeling.
I plan to try more works in the "Maiden's Bookshelf" series, mostly because I'd like to see more of the artwork. I just wish the books themselves were a bit larger, to properly show off the artwork.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
This gets tied in with a story Suwa's father once told her, about two brothers, one of whom was transformed into a serpent, as well as Suwa's eventual fate.
I have no idea what this story means, although it seems possible, to me, that Suwa supposedly becoming a fish was actually a very pretty and fantastical way of saying that she drowned just like the student who fell and drowned. Maybe I'm being too bleak, but hey, it's Dazai.
The full-color illustrations accompanying the text are lovely. They don't exactly match the text, although I suppose they fit the overall feeling.
I plan to try more works in the "Maiden's Bookshelf" series, mostly because I'd like to see more of the artwork. I just wish the books themselves were a bit larger, to properly show off the artwork.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
August 6, 2025
This is filled with so much symbolism, probably over 60% of which went over my head. A girl from a poor village sells from a tea stand at the bottom of a waterfall all summer and gathers mushrooms in the winter to help her father earn a meager living. She feels hopeless with such a lonely life and becomes a fish (drowns?) at the end of the story. The art was pretty, but some of it didn’t match the story and seemed out of place. Some of the themes of the story reminded me a little bit of princess kaguya movie.
January 23, 2026
Dazai’nin İngilizce olarak okuduğum ilk kitabıydı ama son olabilir, Türkçe olarak okuduğum kitaplarına göre biraz daha yavan hissettirdiği kesin.
Kitabın resimlerini çok beğendim, keşke tüm öyküleri resimli kitaplardan okuyabilsek.
Suwa’nın ergenlikten kadınlığa geçmek yerine balıklığa geçmesine de bayıldım, 10/10.
Kitabın resimlerini çok beğendim, keşke tüm öyküleri resimli kitaplardan okuyabilsek.
Suwa’nın ergenlikten kadınlığa geçmek yerine balıklığa geçmesine de bayıldım, 10/10.
January 1, 2024
The 4th of the Maidens Bookshelf, possibly the penultimate depending on if they keep going after Spring Comes Riding in a Carriage, it's one by a author a lot of people should be familiar with, Osamu Dazai. I've only read his famed No Longer Human, and this doesn't have much similiarity in terms of what that is going for, but it has a atmosphere of generally something being off. While reading, the title is constantly in the back of my mind, the ending being on the cover just leaves you wondering how it'll get to that conclusion. Despite its short length, theres a dread I got while reading it, hearing the fates of other people around this area, and the eventuality of what will happen, it's engaging.
There's alot of ways to read what this is trying to say, a reason why it's a classic. You might come out of it not feeling anything, or getting nothing out of it at all, but not all art resignates with everyone the same way. Out of the 4 I've read, I'd still say Hell in a Bottle is the best, but if someone was to think one of the others is better, its because they spoke to other people in different ways.
Also just to get the obvious out the way, the arts still stunning as always. Still similar issue as to where it feels more like art inspired by whats happening and not illistrations of the story itself, in the moments they're used, but it's a pedantic issue most people won't care about.
There's alot of ways to read what this is trying to say, a reason why it's a classic. You might come out of it not feeling anything, or getting nothing out of it at all, but not all art resignates with everyone the same way. Out of the 4 I've read, I'd still say Hell in a Bottle is the best, but if someone was to think one of the others is better, its because they spoke to other people in different ways.
Also just to get the obvious out the way, the arts still stunning as always. Still similar issue as to where it feels more like art inspired by whats happening and not illistrations of the story itself, in the moments they're used, but it's a pedantic issue most people won't care about.
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August 21, 2025Suwa discovered that the shape of the falling water really wasn't the same all the time: everything from the patterns of the spray to the breadth of the falls was constantly in flux. She came to the realization that the waterfall wasn't even water at all, but cloud - she could tell from the white mist that billowed up as it cascaded over the cliffs. After all, Suwa told herself, nothing so white could really be water.
August 4, 2024
Review of Books 1 to 5 in the Maiden's Bookshelf series here.
In the mountains where there are only about twenty to thirty homes, lives a girl called Suwa and her father. They’re so poor that they can barely get by and with a life so meagre, so nearly nonexistent on its own, Suwa ponders the point of living the way her father has resigned himself to and finds herself drawn, as always, to the crashing waves of the nearby waterfall.
It’s an eerie tale that weaves folklore in its narrative — a short story that suffuses a hopelessness so magnetic and nihilistic that it makes sense why Suwa rejected growing and maturing and instead, escaped reality.
In the mountains where there are only about twenty to thirty homes, lives a girl called Suwa and her father. They’re so poor that they can barely get by and with a life so meagre, so nearly nonexistent on its own, Suwa ponders the point of living the way her father has resigned himself to and finds herself drawn, as always, to the crashing waves of the nearby waterfall.
It’s an eerie tale that weaves folklore in its narrative — a short story that suffuses a hopelessness so magnetic and nihilistic that it makes sense why Suwa rejected growing and maturing and instead, escaped reality.
December 14, 2024
As expected of Dazai, the story has his usual dark elements, such as the meaninglessness of life. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this to someone who is just starting with Dazai’s works, since it can be confusing.
I’m giving it a 5 star for the reason that it’s interesting and well written, even though you don’t get a lot of information. I usually enjoy Dazai’s books and this didn’t disappoint me. I will definitely come back to this story for a better understanding of it, since it left me with some questions.
Also the art is phenomenal, it helps with imagining the whole story.
I’m giving it a 5 star for the reason that it’s interesting and well written, even though you don’t get a lot of information. I usually enjoy Dazai’s books and this didn’t disappoint me. I will definitely come back to this story for a better understanding of it, since it left me with some questions.
Also the art is phenomenal, it helps with imagining the whole story.
December 19, 2024
The rating is largely for the artwork, which is simply stunning all the way through. The story itself is either sad or lovely, depending on how you read the message. It could simply be an expression of the author's own depression, foreshadowing his decision. Alternatively, it could be read as diving into oneself, water being a common symbol of the unconscious and the fish often being a symbol of the inner self or even the soul. Perhaps the author had both interpretations in mind.
February 29, 2024
The short story by Osamu Dasai (Tsushima Shuji) is beautifully illustrated by Nekosuma. One of the Maiden's Bookshelf series published by Kodansha in 2023 and 2024.
I give the art by Nekosuma 5 stars but the translation by Yui Kajita 2 or 3 stars.
I also strongly disagree with the English version publisher's rating of 13+ for age appropriateness.
They clearly did not understand the Dazai story. I would find it difficult to explain the story to a 13 year old and would not without a parent's permission. Unless one understands the story, the Sura's transformation makes no sense.
Readers should look for the James O'Brien translation of the story titled "Transformation" in the Cornel University East Asian Papers, Number 33 collection (1983).
I give the art by Nekosuma 5 stars but the translation by Yui Kajita 2 or 3 stars.
I also strongly disagree with the English version publisher's rating of 13+ for age appropriateness.
They clearly did not understand the Dazai story. I would find it difficult to explain the story to a 13 year old and would not without a parent's permission. Unless one understands the story, the Sura's transformation makes no sense.
Readers should look for the James O'Brien translation of the story titled "Transformation" in the Cornel University East Asian Papers, Number 33 collection (1983).
March 17, 2024
A beautiful little modern fairytale from the author of ‘No Longer Human’. This is my first encounter with this story, and it felt like there must be a lot of context that I’m missing that would explain more of the narrative. But, a lot of European fairytales also have unusual transformations that occur without explanation, or follow a dream logic. This book is beautiful and poignant.
March 7, 2025
Love the illustrations + the story is eerily haunting. Sounds like a fairytale I’d hear about as a kid. I love the theme of the ocean being some sort of escape for people whether it’s an escape they wanted or not. A good short read. Reading this feels a little nostalgic, but probably because, like I said, it sounds like a fairytale I’d read about if I was still 9 years old.
October 8, 2024
The rating basically because of the illustration. the illustration is beautiful, I don’t deny that. However, it is kind of disturbing. But, it was Dazai’s work…
Nothing less expected from the author of ‘No Longer Human’
Nothing less expected from the author of ‘No Longer Human’
January 7, 2026
Dark and introspective, 'The Girl Who Became a Fish' really got me thinking. Nekosuke’s illustrations are gorgeous, and the last one… honestly, chef’s kiss. The whole book leaves a lingering feeling. 4 stars from me!
July 24, 2021
変身もの
本文から
「お父ど」
スワは父親のうしろから声をかけた。
「おめえ、なにしに生きでるば」
父親は大きい肩をぎくっとすぼめた。スワのきびしい顔をしげしげ見てから呟いた。
「判らねじゃ」
スワは手にしていたすすきの葉を噛みさきながら言った。
「くたばった方あ、いいんだに」
本文から
「お父ど」
スワは父親のうしろから声をかけた。
「おめえ、なにしに生きでるば」
父親は大きい肩をぎくっとすぼめた。スワのきびしい顔をしげしげ見てから呟いた。
「判らねじゃ」
スワは手にしていたすすきの葉を噛みさきながら言った。
「くたばった方あ、いいんだに」
September 3, 2023
3.5 stars
March 9, 2024
Creepy and haunting story with beautiful illustrations.
June 9, 2024
even tho I dislike Dazai's writing, this one is by far my favorite story from the Maiden's Bookshelf collection
June 23, 2024
I don't think I'll fw dazai
June 28, 2024
This feels like an old tale that your grandma would tell you before going to sleep,beautiful writing as always,and the artwork is breathtaking.
July 10, 2024
This is absolutely incredible and the illustrations are beautiful and I can see this becoming a frequent reread of mine!!
April 19, 2025
cerpen fiksi
July 9, 2025
From whatever little understanding I have of Dazai's work this one is equally haunting.
November 30, 2025
three cheers for the artwork…that’s about it
January 20, 2024
Μια σύντομη whimsical ιστορία με πανέμορφες εικονογραφήσεις που συνδυάζει τη λαογραφία με το θλιμμένο πνεύμα του δημιουργού.
March 5, 2025
Short read, but great story telling as to be expected from Dazai. The illustrations though were absolutely breath-taking.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews