There was a well known auther Koyo Ozaki(1868-1903) in the Meiji Era. His most renowned works were 'Konjiki Yasha' which literally means 'The Golden Demon' but its English title is 'Usurer'. This novel made Atami so famous that many people began to visit this town. The main characters were a young man named Kan-ichi and his girl friend O-Miya. In Atami there are a statue of 'Kan-ichi and O-Miya' and a pine tree nicknamed O-Miya's pine tree.
A pine tree and a wooden plate saying ' O-Miya no Matsu'. 'Matsu' is a Japanese word for a pine tree and 'no' is a possesive particle such as 'of' in English. Miya was this female character's first name, but people called women's first name with a prefix 'O'.
Do you understand why Kan-ichi is kicking O-Miya with his wooden sandal? For Kan-ichi, O-Miya was a betrayer. Although they were once engaged, O-Miya got married to another man who was a billionaire. Kan-ichi met O-Miya in Atami and asked her the reason but she held her real intentions. So, Kan-ichi lost his temper and kicked her.
O-Miya must have been a pretty woman.
After Kan-ichi was snubbed by O-Miya, he became an 'userer', the English title of this novel.
Koyo Ozaki's monument also stands near the statue.
Written and posted by Mitsutoshi Masunari.
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