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労働者の居ない船

by Yoshiki Hayama

The fate of the crew on a battered ship from Hokkaido to Yokohama.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Advanced3,538 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.

こう云うthis kind of船shipだったwas (copula, past tense)
It was this kind of ship.
北海道からfrom Hokkaido横浜へtoward Yokohama向ってheading toward航行するto sail時はwhen金華山の燈台はthe Kinkasan lighthouseどうしたってno matter what右舷にon the starboard side見なければならないmust see
When sailing from Hokkaido to Yokohama, the Kinkasan lighthouse must be seen on the right side no matter what.
第三金時丸Third Kintoki Maru (ship name)強そうなthat sounds strong名前だis a nameはas for (topic marker)三十分前にthirty minutes earlier金華山の燈台the Kinkasan lighthouseを(object marker)右にon the right見てseeing (and)通ったpassed
The Third Kintoki Maru—a name that sounds strong—had passed the Kinkasan lighthouse on the right thirty minutes earlier.
海はthe sea (topic)中どころだったwas moderate (sea condition)
The sea was moderate.

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About the book

This opening describes the rundown cargo ship Daisan Kinjimaru, with its broken compass and rusted hull, as it leaves Miike loaded with coal bound for Manila. The narration is heavily satirical, likening the ship to a drunkard stumbling through the sea, with a mocking tone that hints at the hard labor aboard.

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.

船舶好況時代 History

Refers to the First World War, when the European powers had no strength to spare for East Asia and Japan's shipping industry flourished as never before; even worn-out vessels were pressed into service. The phrase in the text about a 'league of righteous nations punishing an unrighteous militarist state' alludes to Allied wartime propaganda against Germany and Austria-Hungary.

プロレタリアは「鰹節」だ。 Style

Katsuobushi (dried bonito) is shaved into thin flakes and boiled to make dashi stock, after which it is used up. Through this everyday foodstuff, the author likens the way the bourgeoisie treat workers to material that can be consumed and discarded once exhausted.

足駄 Customs

Tall-toothed wooden geta, often fitted with iron plates on the soles for grip and durability, worn mainly by labourers and sailors. Here the word describes the outfit of a sailor chipping rust off a ship.

About the author

Yoshiki Hayama (March 12, 1894 – October 18, 1945) was a Japanese author associated with the Japanese proletarian literature movement. He is best known for his 1926 novel Men Who Live on the Sea, about appalling labor conditions on a cargo ship, and for the 1925 short story The Prostitute, an early example of proletarian literature in Japan.

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 “Advanced”. 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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