Abe Kobo
Columbia University Press
10 March 2026
384
eBook - PDF
Modern Classic
ARC via Edelweiss
In postwar Japan, a writer meets a small-town innkeeper who is obsessed with a tale from the nineteenth century. He relates the saga of Enomoto Takeaki, an admiral in the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate who regained authority under the Meiji government. A former member of imperial Japan’s military police, the innkeeper dwells on the question of loyalty even as he struggles with his responsibility for the arrest and murder of his brother-in-law during the war. Later, he sends the writer a mysterious manuscript purporting to be the account of a peddler turned samurai whom Enomoto betrayed.
Part historical fiction, part detective story, The Traitor is a remarkable novel about navigating changing political landscapes by one of the most significant modern Japanese writers. In his only historical novel, Abe Kōbō turns to a pivotal moment in Japan’s past to explore profound questions about the nature of loyalty and the choices that people must make when they encounter forces beyond their control or understanding. Published in 1964, when a new generation had begun asking their parents about the war, Abe’s tale of betrayal sparked controversy across the political spectrum. The great writer’s most important previously untranslated novel, The Traitor displays Abe’s literary mastery from a new angle.
The Traitor was an interesting book in someways but a difficult read in others. The difficulty stems from the amount of assumed knowledge both about the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and life in Japan during the second world war. I went into this book knowing a little about the former (thanks to previous reading and viewing set in that period) but next to nothing about the latter. While I could still understand the parallels being drawn, not having all that background information made the experience of reading this book different than if I'd had such knowledge, as the translator also acknowledged in his afterword. The style of the narrative was interesting and overall the story was engaging. It was a work that questioned ideas of loyalty and ideology. However, I do not think it will be for everyone, and some readers may struggle with a lack of understanding of the periods in which it is set. I am giving it four stars. It is certainly a worthwhile read, but bear in mind that some background historical knowledge will aid you in appreciating it.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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