In the current study, I examined the symbolic expressions found in Yoshiyuki Junnosuke’s 1950’s novels.
In the first chapter of this study "The symbols of the time found in his novels", I studied the symbols that signified the time found in "the rose seller", "sudden shower", and "in flames". In this chapter, I explored how the post-war era was portrayed in his works. The period was represented by a conflict between traditional values and new values and by a clash between native culture and imported culture.
First, I contemplated the meaning of plaster color that signified the time. The plaster color was introduced to indicate everything that was not relevant to the self in the context of the post-war era. The way he portrayed the time with plaster color was nothing but the application of the features of plaster (Biologically lifeless matter, psychological depression, environmental contamination, hard texture, cold color, stagnation) to humans to symbolize a being that did not have dynamics, warmth, voluntary thinking, and sensitivity.
In "birds,animals,insects,fish", he criticized the time that had no demand for books. He used plaster color to signify a sense of emptiness and futility that was rampant at the time, which was derived from the gradual loss of human values and the decline of humanities values in the process of industrialization.
The change of time was portrayed in "sudden shower" in which people abandoned traditional values to run after material values against the backdrop of a brothel. The change of time was also symbolized by ideological conflict and cultural acceptance that main characters went through. Furthermore, the nature of the time was shown in excessive censorship, established human rights in the system, and acceptance of the Western culture.
In the second chapter of this study “The symbols of social conditions found in his novels”, I examined the symbols that signified the social conditions of the time found in "uncertain room", "in flames", "the rose seller" and "troubled land".
Tuberculosis at the time was a deadly disease which was also a symbol depicting post-war Japan. The patient coughing blood was the symbol of the time because the disease had the images of agony, blood, and scream.
A drifting image of people riding the escalator in a Sunday afternoon depicted in "sudden shower" was the symbol of a day off in the midst of busy life.
The unemployed and yet with higher education shown In "in flames" was the symbol of intellectuals who were drifting without a hope in the industrialization period.
In the third chapter of this study “The symbols of the multifaceted human psyche”, I examined the symbols of the mentality of people who were experiencing inner conflict between social adjustment and instinct and between love and tradition found in "in flames", "sudden shower", "the rose seller" and "uncertain room".
The main character in "uncertain room" revealed his equivocal mentality through an episode in which a doctor notified him that his rib bone had to be extracted. The scene showed the main character’s complicated psychology in which he wanted to give his lover earrings as a present made of his rib bone and at the same time he could not help recalling the pain he had to go through during a surgery.
The main character in "sudden shower" felt jealousy to a prostitute although he made clear in his mind that a simple affection was essentially different from love.
In "the rose seller", male and female characters showed how differently men and women could feel in love using numbers of Paul Morand Game. In this work, the existence of youth was dealt with through a paradoxical situation in which the main character’s suicide attempt made him live. He went through adaptation problems and felt a sense of loss and emotional distress to show his complicated mentality.