Naomi (novel)

is a Japanese novel by Japanese writer Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965). Writing of the novel began in 1924, and from March to June, published the first several chapters of the serial. Four months later, the periodical started to publish the remaining chapters. Various Japanese and United States publishers have compiled the chapters and published them as a book since 1947.

Narrated in the first person by the protagonist, a salaryman named Joji, the novel follows his attempt to groom a Eurasian-looking girl, the titular Naomi, to be a Westernized woman. Naomi is a significant work in its comic depiction of Japanese culture of the era and its fascination with the West. The clash between older and newer generations over the more progressive depictions of women, such as Naomi, has been viewed as a clash over Japan's transition into the modern period.

Plot summary

Naomi's story is focused around a man's obsession for a modan garu or modern girl. The main character, Joji, is a well-educated Japanese man who is a middle management white collar worker in the city, and comes from a wealthy landlord family. Joji wishes to break away from his traditional Japanese culture, and becomes immersed in the strange new Westernized culture which was beginning to form in Japan. The physical representation of everything Western is embodied in a young girl named Naomi. Joji sees Naomi for the first time in a café and instantly falls for her exotic "Eurasian" looks,...
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