Shugoro Yamamoto (1903–1967) was a Japanese novelist born in Yamanashi Prefecture. After completing elementary school, he became a live-in apprentice at the Yamamoto Shugoro shop in Kobikicho, Tokyo. His story “Sumadera Fukin,” meaning “Near Suma Temple,” appeared in Bungeishunju in 1926 and brought him literary recognition. Working mainly in historical fiction, he portrayed samurai, artisans, and ordinary people confronting poverty, restrictions imposed by social status, and unjust treatment. His collection “Nihon Fudoki,” about women supporting their families within samurai society, was selected for the Naoki Prize in 1943, but he declined the award. In “Mominoki wa Nokotta,” whose title means “The Fir Tree Remained,” he revisited the seventeenth-century succession dispute in the Sendai domain known as the Date Disturbance. He recast Harada Kai, traditionally portrayed as a villain, as a man confronting political intrigue to protect his domain. Through a character who accepts responsibility without gaining the understanding of those around him, the novel explores the relationship between loyalty and political maneuvering. “Sabu” follows the friendship between Eiji, a skilled and proud young artisan, and Sabu, his less capable but sincere fellow worker at a paper-mounting shop in Edo. After being falsely accused of a crime, Eiji loses his trust in others. His gradual recovery through his relationships with Sabu and those around him reveals the difficulty of accepting help and the significance of learning to trust people again.
