The Voice of a Transgressive Young Man

This chapter focuses on Nakagami's early writings and a short story titled “Rakudo” (1976). A number of prominent themes feature in his late 1960s writing. These include criticism of Japanese New Left writers, recollections of his “uneducated” half-brother's violence and suicide, and reflections on then nineteen-year-old Nagayama Norio, who shot and killed four people in 1968. First, through an analysis of nonfiction material produced by Nakagami from 1965 to 1969, the chapter profiles two elements that were frequently represented in literary production and discussed in academic writing during this period: the masses (taishū) and loss (sōshitsu). It also provides a detailed discussion on the intertextual relationship between Nakagami's late 1960s texts and the contemporaneous perspective of two Japanese critics. By referencing these scholars' texts, the chapter articulates Nakagami's motives for writing—giving representation to—hidden voices that express a sense of loss. Finally, the chapter focuses on Nakagami's short story “Rakudo.” Through reading this “autobiographical” yet fictional shōsetsu, it demonstrates how Nakagami represents the voices of a violent young husband and the silence of his battered wife.