Masks, By Enchi Fumiko

Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter

(1958, translated 1983)

(Novel)

A wicked study of men and women in the thrall of an obsessive, charismatic she-monster, a mother who may be a Freudian villain or the embodiment of a Japanese sorceress. Where does one begin? Two years before, Akio, the son of the widow Mieko and newlywed husband of the beautiful Yusako, is killed in an avalanche on Mount Fuji. Devastated, Yusako does not return home; instead, she chooses to live with her mother-in-law and pursue the academic research project that her husband was pursuing with his mother: a study of Japanese shamanism and spirit possession. Lovely Yasuko lives in the shadow of her mother-in-law’s obsessive influence and seems to be trapped in a kind of perpetual grieving, yet her isolation and introversion do not stop two men from falling in love with her. The two are old friends from college: Ikame is a bachelor and psychologist, and Ibuki, a college professor, is a husband and father. We see much of the tale through their eyes. They are frank about their common desire and share their knowledge of Yusako and her mother-in-law in the sporting spirit of ‘let the best man win.” They also inform us about the seance they participated in where Yusaka and Mieko made an attempt to contact the poor man who died on Mount Fuji. Enchi shocks at every turn. As the mother’s obscene goal manifests itself and her perverse vision comes to fruition, we wonder if she is the embodiment of a fistful of psychological manias or a true demon. A wonderfully evil Gothic tale!  

“What would Mikamé say if he could see her now? Against the pallor of her face, lusterless and empty as a blank white wall, her big dark eyes and heavy eyebrows stood out exactly like those of an ukiyo-e style beauty drawn in india ink on fine white Chinese paper. There was something vaguely disturbing about her face, a sort of incoherence, as though the pitiable slumber of her mind had disconnected each vivid feature from the other.” (70)