Novel
The Crab Cannery Ship
蟹工船
Takiji Kobayashi · 1929
Opening lines
「おい地獄さ行ぐんだで！」
“Hey, we're off to hell!”
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from aozora.gr.jp
Synopsis
A factory ship, the Hakkō Maru, catches crab and cans it in waters disputed between Japan and Russia, according to The Asia-Pacific Journal. Its crew brings together destitute fishermen, very young labourers and students who were led to believe in a good summer job; the story opens on the port of Hakodate, littered with rubbish. The superintendent Asakawa, the only named character, behaves like a monster, and the captain puts the catch before the lives of the men.
Context
The narrative appeared in the Communist magazine Senki in May and June 1929, then in book form in September; it was inspired by a newspaper article about another factory ship, the Hakuai Maru. Banned by the censors after some fifteen thousand copies, it continued to circulate in abridged versions, and the full text did not reappear until 1948. For its author, this collective hero marked a step forward for proletarian literature.
Who it is for
A short novel with a collective hero, for those interested in working-class literature and in working conditions at sea.
Prizes and reception
Its sales, until then five thousand copies a year, exceeded five hundred thousand in 2008; it was adapted for the cinema in 1953 and in 2009.