Nureki Chimuo Archive

Last time, I wrote that I’m currently working on “The Tengu’s Mischief: Continued” and have been struggling through a week or more of sheer agony…

To tell the truth, it’s been far longer than a week. In fact, it’s been going on for over a month, nearly two months. I just can’t seem to find a breakthrough.

The fact that I wrote that this struggle had been going on for a week might be another example of my foolish vanity.

It might be one of the traits of a boastful, arrogant fool.

It’s not just “might be.” It is.

I’m a fool through and through.

No matter how far I go, I remain arrogant.

Vanity is a form of arrogance.

I wrote that I am currently exchanging letters with Mr. Otaguro, but in my letters to him I’m, unusually for me, venting my frustrations.

I hope you can imagine what kind of complaints someone as arrogant as I am might be voicing.

With his permission, I am reprinting Mr. Otaguro’s second letter here.

Nureki Chimuo Sensei.

Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply, even though I’m currently struggling with a particularly difficult manuscript that just won’t move forward no matter how hard I concentrate.

I understand you’re going through a serious creative slump, and I would be delighted if my letter helped you break out of it.

“The Tengu’s Mischief: Continued.” I’d definitely love to read that. As for your writing… I apologize for using such a cliche, but… please keep up the good work.

I’ve analyzed that your works almost always offer redemption in the end, and I believe that, unlike the works of Dan Oniroku or Tadao Chigusa, is the secret to why your stories are so comforting to read.

(Please forgive me for being so presumptuous.)

I’m not denying the works or style of Dan-san or Chigusa-san, but among the aesthetic and erotic literature, which is often branded as “perverted novels that do nothing but torment women” (and is generally lumped together by the public as SM novels or adult perverted fiction), it is a fact that I feel your works possess a charm that draws readers in not only with a dark atmosphere but also with a bright, refreshing sense of catharsis.

Not limited to “The Tengu’s Mischief,” the detective and historical novels you published in “Uramado” and “Abument” are of exceptionally high quality, in particular, the “Isaburo of Hanakawado” series was a masterpiece on par with Seishi Yokomizo’s “The Adventures of Ningyo Sashichi.”

I absolutely love your full-length historical novel “The Legend of the Demon’s Breasts.” It is just as entertaining as Akimitsu Takagi’s full-length historical novels “The Demon Comes” and “The Wild Furisode.”

Your talent, writing novels that stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the masterpieces of full-time authors while working as an editor, is truly rare.

I look forward to your future creative endeavors, not just “The Tengu’s Mischief: Continued.” Please keep up the good work. As a fan, I’m rooting for you.

Regarding my recent decision to join a publishing company, I apologize to you for any worry or inconvenience this may have caused. I was able to join the publisher I had hoped for, and from now on, I intend to work tirelessly to achieve results.

If our mystery-related publishing activities, which had been on hiatus, get back on track, we may also be able to release the “Uramado” Masterpiece Collection (featuring works by authors such as Kon Marikoji and Haruo Shimamoto, among others).

At a recent “Shin Seinen” Research Group meeting, I presented a summary of our research to date on “Uramado” and “Suspense Magazine.”

While I regret not having been able to fully utilize the valuable information you taught me, it was a good experience for me personally. I hope to make a comeback with my next presentation, taking into account the lessons learned from last time, I aim to make it an even better research presentation.

There are many other things I’d like to write about, but since it might end up sounding disjointed, I’ll put down my pen for now.

I’m so excited about the letter I received from you that my writing has become rather messy and disorganized. I look forward to the day we can meet.

Akiyoshi Otaguro.

To Mr. Akiyoshi Otaguro. From Nureki Chimuo.

Thanks to your letters, this one and the previous one, I’ve finally begun to understand your point of view a little better.

That’s because you included a few of your impressions after encountering the works of Dan Oniroku-san and Tadao Chigusa-san.

Until now, I hadn’t understood anything at all.

For example, “I love, love, love the magazine ‘Shin Seinen!’”

Just saying that left me completely in the dark about what you were thinking, what you actually liked, and exactly what aspects of “Shin Seinen” you found appealing.

Why do you like it? And not just “Shin Seinen,” why do you like “Uramado?”

Why are you so eager to know about the “Uramado” era and the past? As the person being asked, it feels unsettling not to understand your reasons. I honestly can’t bring myself to reply.

Actually, besides you, there are others who ask me to tell them about the past and who are eager to know more and more.

Since I don’t understand why they want to know, neither the reason nor the purpose, I have no choice but to ignore them. It just feels creepy.

I think it’s a very selfish and rude attitude to want to get something from me without even trying to convey your own feelings to me.

Don’t you agree?

(There may be a certain type of know-it-all who wants to know absolutely everything, but to me, they’re just creepy. I, that is, Nureki Chimuo, have had the experience of being stalked and hounded by a middle-aged woman who wanted to know absolutely everything about me. She was a truly creepy and terrifying presence.)

In your latest letter, you once again mentioned wanting to know more about Hikaru Iwahori-san.

“No matter how much I research, I can’t find any details, and I’m at a loss,” you wrote. Depending on how you look at it, this goes beyond just being creepy. It’s downright scary.

Why are you so persistently and endlessly eager to ask about Hikaru Iwahori-san? (Sure you’re not seeking revenge for a parent’s death, are you?) What exactly do you want to know about him? (I assume it’s about his novels.) What are you going to do with that information? What is your purpose in wanting to know? I have absolutely no idea what’s going on inside your head.

Unless you clearly explain your purpose and reasons to me and convince me, I cannot, from my position, say anything without thinking it through.

In fact, I still haven’t grasped what exactly you find so appealing about “Shin Seinen” that you continue your enthusiastic research. Please be sure to tell me that in your next letter.

It seems the conversation has veered off in a different direction partway through, but since it was on my mind, I ended up writing something unnecessary.

Thank you for praising my novel.

Personally, I’m quite fond of my own historical mystery novel, “Nakibei Machi-bayashi.”

look.

If you haven’t read it yet, it’s available at the Sex Industry Museum, so please do take a

Thanks to you, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel for “The Tengu’s Mischief: Continued.” I’m truly grateful and would like to express my thanks.