Horiki
Yōzō’s older bohemian companion, who introduces him to nightlife and repeatedly encourages his worst forms of escape.
To enjoy an easy bohemian life, keep Yōzō as a companion, and avoid responsibility when their amusements produce serious harm.
The book
At a glance
- Yōzō’s older companion
- Art students and Tokyo nightlife
- Drinking, prostitutes, and evasion
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeHoriki offers Yōzō an urban role built around drinking, women, art, and cynical amusement. He understands social life better than Yōzō and uses that advantage without becoming a reliable friend.
Calling him a corrupting influence is accurate but incomplete. Yōzō chooses to follow him because Horiki’s world provides temporary belonging and excuses that fit his existing wish to escape.
How the book draws them
- Slightly older manHe appears more socially practiced than Yōzō.
- Casual urban clothesHis style belongs to prewar Tokyo nightlife.
- Amused expressionCynicism appears as charm.
- Confident postureHe is comfortable with rules Yōzō fears.
- Close engraved bustNo bar, bottle, or city scenery appears.
- Muted umber accentEarthy warmth distinguishes his worldly ease.
Horiki remains one of the people involved in Yōzō’s decline and later intervention. The novel does not present him as a loyal rescuer or as the sole cause of Yōzō’s choices.
If you like No Longer Human
If you like Osamu Dazai
Explore authors with a similar voice, perspective, and influence.
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
The doctor of the Paris slums who wrote the century's blackest, funniest novel — and changed the sound of French prose.
View author
James Joyce
Dublin's great exile — he left Ireland at twenty-two, carried the city with him through Trieste, Zurich, and Paris, and rebuilt it entire in [Ulysses](work:ulysses).
View author
Henry Miller
The Brooklyn dropout who arrived in Paris broke at thirty-eight and wrote the exuberant, banned books that ended American censorship.
View author