Nami-ko: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Nami-ko, credited to Kenjiro Tokutomi, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Nami-ko by Kenjiro Tokutomi. (Translated by Sakae Shioya; Edwin Francis Edgett.) Read in English by Availle Nami-ko, a young woman of a noble Japanese family, has recently married the naval officer Takeo, the only heir of a friend of her father's. The couple is very happy together and Takeo is doing everything to create the perfect life for his wife, even more so when she contracts tuberculosis. Takeo's mother, however, sees Nami's illness as a threat to the survival of the family line. Egged on by Chijiwa, a spurned lover of Nami's and Takeo's cousin, she uses her son's absence to send Nami back to her family, thus effecting a divorce. Upon his return, Takeo is furious, but, unable to undo the divorce, he goes off to the front line in the war with China. Meanwhile, Nami is getting worse, and her only wish is to be able to see Takeo one more time... This is the best known novel by Kenjiro (pen-name: Roka) Tokutomi. Written in 1899 as Hototogisu (The Cuckoo), it deals with the life of the upper classes in the early years after the Meiji Restoration, when Japan was torn between ancient traditions and modern Western influences. The novel was translated several times soon after its publication. This translation is by Sakae Shioya and E. F. Edgett from 1904. (Summary by Availle)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Nami-ko
• Author credits: Kenjiro Tokutomi
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 28
• Listed recording duration: 7:23:40

Catalogue topics

• Japan
• Meiji era
• war
• nobility
• family relations

Opening tracks: first 24 of 28

1. 00 - Introduction and Author's Preface — 7:47
2. 01 - Bk I, Ch 1: The Honeymoon — 13:04
3. 02 - Bk I, Ch 2: Nami-ko — 8:15
4. 03 - Bk I, Ch 3: The Fern Gathering — 14:48
5. 04 - Bk I, Ch 4: The House of Yamaki — 23:38
6. 05 - Bk I, Ch 5: The General at Home — 23:17
7. 06 - Bk I, Ch 6: The Mother-in-Law — 19:46
8. 07 - Bk I, Ch 7: On Duty — 9:21
9. 08 - Bk. II, Ch 1: Home Life — 19:13
10. 09 - Bk II, Ch 2: Yamaki Entertains — 20:38
11. 10 - Bk II, Ch 3: Confidences — 18:33
12. 11 - Bk II, Ch 4: Zushi Days — 28:37
13. 12 - Bk II, Ch 5: Revenge — 8:34
14. 13 - Bk II, Ch 6: Mother and Son — 22:21
15. 14 - Bk II, Ch 7: A Prospective Bride — 16:48
16. 15 - Bk II, Ch 8: The Recall — 9:11
17. 16 - Bk II, Ch 9: The Home-Coming — 11:28
18. 17 - Bk II, Ch 10: Takeo and His Mother — 6:32
19. 18 - Bk III, Ch 1: Battle Off Yalu-River — 31:22
20. 19 - Bk III, Ch 2: In Time of War — 21:18
21. 20 - Bk III, Ch 3: Convalescence — 10:33
22. 21 - Bk III, Ch 4: Temptation — 19:41
23. 22 - Bk III, Ch 5: The Yaso's Story — 23:26
24. 23 - Bk III, Ch 6: Port Arthur — 9:18

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.