Sachiko

In novels such as Silence, Endō Shüsaku examined the persecution of Japanese Christians in different historical eras. Sachiko, set in Nagasaki in the painful years between 1930 and 1945, is the story of two young people trying to find love during yet another period in which Japanese Christians were accused of disloyalty to their country.

In the 1930s, two young Japanese Christians, Sachiko and Shühei, are free to play with American children in their neighborhood. But life becomes increasingly difficult for them and other Christians after Japan launches wars of aggression. Meanwhile, a Polish Franciscan priest and former missionary in Nagasaki, Father Maximillian Kolbe, is arrested after returning to his homeland. Endō alternates scenes between Nagasaki-where the growing love between Sachiko and Shühei is imperiled by mounting persecution-and Auschwitz, where the priest has been sent. Shühei's dilemma deepens when he faces conscription into the Japanese military, conflicting with the Christian belief that killing is a sin. With the A-bomb attack on Nagasaki looming in the distance, Endō depicts ordinary people trying to live lives of faith in a wartime situation that renders daily life increasingly unbearable. Endō's compassion for his characters, reflecting their struggles to find and share love for others, makes Sachiko one of his most moving novels.

“There's such a profound kindness in these pages...[S]itting with this novel is much like sitting at a master craftsman's table. One sitting is insufficient to learn its lessons.”

An extraordinary novel by one of Japan’s literary masters, Sachiko is a testament to shared experiences, cruelty, loss, and the persistence of love and faith. Foreword Reviews, Starred Review
A profound meditation on the meaning of love, sacrifice, and the spiritual dilemma of Christian beliefs vying against the demands of the nation-state. . .Sachiko is yet another example of Endō Shūsaku’s stunning literary artistry that demands more than one reading. Highly recommended. Historical Novels Review
Haunting in its content and breathtaking in its prose. . .This is a book I will be thinking about for a long time. Dynamic Book Nerd
In telling the story of two friends wrestling with faith and their lives in a nationalistic state, Endō offers a morally dense and thought-provoking read. Sachiko does not shy away from the horrors of war or genocide, and Endō’s novel unsettlingly depicts the ways in which people can become complicit in horrific political systems. Words without Borders
There’s such a profound kindness in these pages...[S]itting with this novel is much like sitting at a master craftsman’s table. One sitting is insufficient to learn its lessons. Englewood Review of Books
Sachiko is a beautiful work, part love story, part tragedy, a tale of two young people caught in the wrong moment of history Tony's Reading List
An important work of historical fiction that raises profound questions about the moral legitimation and human cost of war, transnational relationships, and the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. -- Kevin M. Doak, author of A History of Nationalism in Modern Japan: Placing the People
Beautifully translated by Van Gessel, the doyen of Endō scholars, Sachiko confirms once again the stature of this prolific author. The parallel stories bring a fresh urgency to Endō’s profound understanding of the conflicting aims of culture and spirituality. -- J. Thomas Rimer, coeditor of The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature
Set during World War II in Nagasaki and Auschwitz, Endō’s novel Sachiko provides a powerful portrait of a woman who pursued a life of faith, hope, and love. This translation highlights Van Gessel's deep compassion and understanding of Japanese history, tradition, and culture. I cannot more highly recommend this outstanding and delicate translation. -- Emi Mase-Hasegawa, author of Christ in Japanese Culture: Theological Themes in Shusaku Endo's Literary Works
Ever since his arrival on the literary scene in the 1950s, Endō has continued to fascinate and challenge his readership in equal measure. In the wake of Martin Scorsese’s recent movie adaptation of his best-selling work, Silence, interest in Endō‘s oeuvre has been renewed and Sachiko provides us with further evidence of the author’s extraordinary storytelling ability. -- Mark Williams, author of Endō Shūsaku: A Literature of Reconciliation
Sachiko is the best Catholic novel I have read in a long time. Avoiding a sappy and simplistic depiction of a harsh reality, Endō honestly presents the doubts and dilemmas of Christians – Japanese, American, Polish – amidst hostile surroundings in a world where violation of the Fifth Commandment was the norm. Catholic World Report
Endō presents a touching study of the spiritual and moral dilemmas faced by a community forced to confront the very meaning of patriotism and Christianity during a time of war. Times Literary Supplement
If you read only one new novel this year, let it be the great Japanese novelist Shusaku Endo’s Sachiko . . . The novel is the achievement of a master of world literature, a work that, rooted in time and place, speaks movingly to persons and places far beyond the Japanese islands. National Review

Endō Shūsaku (1923–1996) was Japan’s leading Christian writer, a prolific author of novels, stories, and plays. Among his translated works are The Samurai, Deep River, Wonderful Fool, and Foreign Studies. His best-known novel, Silence, was adapted into a film by Martin Scorsese in 2017.

Van C. Gessel is professor of Japanese at Brigham Young University. He has translated eight of Endō’s works, including Kiku’s Prayer (Columbia, 2012). In 2018 he received an imperial decoration, Order of the Rising Sun.

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