Title of Volume One Still Undecided
On woven straw mats, slender young men rest —
Spring is awaited behind paper doors without flowers.
Drawn backward, the palanquin of Oryū arrives,
Its scent lingering in the village stage’s tall goblet.
In the sleeve box, incense burns along the moonlit country road.
In the corner, vassals narrow their seats,
Opening tickets to await the season—chrysanthemum wine is poured.
Hemp kamishimo robes, wind-stained from travel,
Zori sandal straps in woven hues,
Dancing in the night’s darkness to the beat of clappers,
Their shoulders clad in kamishimo—sleeves fluttering like banners.
The Legacy of Jun'ichi Iwata
② Research on Male-Male Love
In 1925, when Rampo and Junichi reunited in Tokyo, they began visiting secondhand bookstores together around 1927–28 to collect literature related to nanshoku (male same-sex love). Their findings were compiled in a work titled A Study of Native Nanshoku, which was serialized in the magazine Criminology beginning in 1930. The article caught the attention of Minakata Kumagusu, who in 1931 sent a letter to Junichi through a folklorist friend. At the time, Kumagusu was 64 years old and Junichi 31. Their correspondence, spanning generations and centered on the study of nanshoku, continued for ten years—up until shortly before Kumagusu’s death.
Additionally, Rampo’s index cards on nanshoku-related literature were passed on to Junichi. Junichi’s research was compiled into a manuscript titled Later Azaleas on the Rocks and was published in 1956, under Rampo’s editorial guidance, as A Bibliography of Nanshoku Literature in a limited edition of 350 copies.
One collaborative work that reflects the scholarly exchange between Rampo and Junichi on nanshoku is a linked-verse composition titled Shudō Kasen (Poet Immortals of Shudō).
* Shudō refers to male-male love.