A classic of modern Japanese literature, this enchanting autobiographical novels tells the story of 7-year-old Kosaku and his coming to terms with the adult world in turn-of-the-century rural Japan. Because of Japan's often complex kinship arrangements, Kosaku is raised by the redoubtable, often infuriating, but lovable Granny Onui. His affection for Granny Onui, his fear and fascination with the forbidding personality of his natural mother, and his infatuation with his young aunt Sakiko enmesh Kosaku in a complicated web of conflicting emotions that are finely realized and beautifully conveyed by one of Japan's foremost modern novelists.