Some Prefer Nettles

Some Prefer Nettles, autobiographical novel by Tanizaki Jun’ichirō, published in Japanese in 1928–29 as Tade kuu mushi. It originally appeared as a newspaper serial, and it is generally considered one of the author’s finest works.

Anticipating a common theme of post-World War II Japanese novels, Some Prefer Nettles examines the conflict between traditional and modern (i.e., Westernized) culture in Japan. The protagonist, Kaname, considers himself to be a modern man in a modern marriage. The novel’s other characters, including his wife, mistress, and father-in-law, and even the cities in which they live, each symbolize either modernity or ancient ways of life. In time Kaname, by degrees, resumes traditional attitudes and tastes. Eventually he makes love to his father-in-law’s old-fashioned mistress and abandons the modern world entirely. Tanizaki’s characteristic irony and eroticism are notable elements of the novel.