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大川の水

by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

The author recalls his love for the Sumida River of his childhood.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate2,772 characters · ≈ 11 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.

自分はas for me; I大川端the bank of the big riverに近いnear to町townにin (place of birth)生まれたwas born
I was born in a town near the bank of the big river.
家を出てleaving the house椎の若葉young oak leavesにおおわれたcovered with黒塀の多いwith many black walls横網の小路the lane of Yokozunaをぬけるとpassing through, and thenすぐat onceあの幅の広い川筋that broad river channelの見渡されるthat can be seen (over)百本杭の河岸the riverbank of a hundred stakesへ出るcome out ontoのであるit is that (explanatory)
Leaving home, I passed through a narrow path in Yokozuna, covered with young oak leaves and lined with many black walls, and soon came out to the wide riverbank of a hundred stakes, where the broad river could be seen.
幼い時からfrom childhood中学を卒業するまでuntil I graduated from middle school自分はI (as for myself)ほとんど毎日のようにalmost every dayあの川をthat river (object)見たsaw
From childhood until I finished middle school, I saw that river almost every day.
水waterとand船boatsとand橋bridgesとand砂洲sandbarsとand水の上on the waterにon (location marker)生まれbornてand (linking form)水の上on the waterにon (location marker)暮しlivingてand (linking form)いるare (continuing state)あわただしいbusy人々peopleの's (possessive)生活livesとandを(object marker)見sawた(past tense)
I saw water, boats, bridges, sandbars, and the busy lives of people born on the water and living on the water.

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About the book

The text is a recollection by someone who grew up by the Sumida River, remembering daily views of the water, boats, bridges, sandbars and the people living on the water, and confessing an attachment to the river. It describes the comfort and loneliness stirred by each look at the water, and reads as quiet and nostalgic.

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.

百本杭 History

A place name on the bank of the Sumida River in Tokyo. From the Edo period onward, many wooden piles were driven into the bank here to protect it, which is why the spot came to be called Hyakuhongui ("a hundred piles"). Akutagawa grew up in the nearby Honjo district.

河竹黙阿弥翁 Allusion

A kabuki playwright of the late Edo and Meiji periods, whose representative works drew much of their material from murders and crimes among the townspeople. Akutagawa refers to him with the honorific title "ō" (venerable old man), placing him alongside Edo-period joruri playwrights.

大川 History

"Ōkawa" (the great river) is the old name for the lower reaches of the Sumida River, used since the Edo period and still current after the Meiji era. In the text, "kono kawa" (this river) refers to the Sumida River.

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.

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

Is this the original text?

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

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What level is it?

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

Can I use another gloss language?

English and Chinese glosses are prepared in advance; signed-in readers can generate other languages.

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