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おぎん

O-Gin

by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Under persecution, a Christian girl gives up her faith for family.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate3,590 characters · ≈ 14 minSource: 青空文库

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Sample: three-line reading

Each word has its meaning in this sentence underneath, and each sentence has a full translation. Read the original and glance down only when you need to.

元和かGenna (era name) or寛永かKanei (era name) orとにかくin any case遠いdistant昔the pastであるit was
Genna or Kanei — in any case, it was a long time ago.
天主のおん教the Lord's sacred teachingをobject marker奉ずるto follow / profess (a faith)ものthose whoはtopic markerその頃in those days / at that timeでもevenもうalready見つかりwere found (from 見つかる)次第as soon as火炙りburning at the stakeやand (listing)磔crucifixionにinto / to (marker of the fate suffered)遇わされていたwere made to suffer / were subjected to
Those who followed the Lord's teaching were, even then, burned or crucified as soon as they were found.
しかしhowever迫害persecutionが(subject particle)烈しいfierceだけにprecisely because万事にin all thingsかない給うgraciously governsおん主the revered Lordもalsoその頃はin those days一層even moreこの国の宗徒にto the believers of this countryあらたかなclear and remarkable御加護をdivine protection加えられたらしいseems to have been given (honorific)
But just because the persecution was fierce, the Lord who rules all things seemed then to give even more clear protection to the believers of this country.
長崎あたりの村々にはin the villages around Nagasaki時々sometimes日の暮の光the light of duskと一しょにtogether with天使や聖徒のof angels and saints見舞う事があったthere were visits (they would visit)
In the villages around Nagasaki, sometimes together with the light of dusk, angels and saints would visit.

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About the book

"Ogin" is a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, published in Chūō Kōron in 1922 and part of his "Christian-themed" works. Set against the suppression of Christians in the early Edo period, it follows Ogin, a young Christian girl who abandons her faith for the sake of her parents. The story depicts the clash between Christian ideals and Japanese sentiment and the family system, which is what makes it worth reading.

Cultural notes (selection)

Background a translation can’t carry: social roles, history and allusions. While reading, tap “Note” at the end of a sentence to see them all.

元和か、寛永か History

Gen'na (1615–1624) and Kan'ei (1624–1644) are both era names from the early Edo period. In 1614 the shogunate issued edicts banning Christianity and rigorously hunted down Catholics in the Nagasaki area; the story is set against this age of persecution.

天主のおん教 History

「天主」 was the Japanese term for the Catholic God from the Sengoku period into the early Edo period, and believers were called 「吉利支丹」 (Kirishitan). After the shogunate's total ban on Christianity in 1614, believers went underground, and the Urakami area of Nagasaki was a well-known settlement of hidden Catholics.

網代の乗物 Customs

A palanquin (「乗物」) ridden by people of relatively high rank in the Edo period, with the body woven from bamboo strips in a net pattern (「網代」).

About the author

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1 March 1892 – 24 July 1927), also known by his art name Chōkōdō Shujin, was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period who is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story". He died by suicide at the age of 35 through an overdose of barbital, and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him.

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: おぎん (CC BY-SA)

How the glosses are made

Word glosses and sentence translations are generated in context by AI models (DeepSeek and Zhipu GLM), and every word is checked to have a gloss. AI can make mistakes; you can report problems from the book page.

FAQ

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Yes. The library holds the opening section of the public-domain original, taken from 青空文库.

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This one is marked “Intermediate”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.

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