Kept man

The kept man is a recurring state of dependency in Yozo's life, defined by his reliance on women for shelter, money, and emotional stability, which deepens his shame and reinforces his self-perception as a social outcast. This condition emerges as a direct consequence of his inability to sustain himself independently, his fear of human society, and his compulsive need to please others, leading him into a series of relationships where he is financially and emotionally supported by women. Each instance of being kept marks a distinct phase in his descent, from a brief period of stability to a deeper entanglement in addiction and degradation, ultimately confirming his belief that he is "disqualified as a human being."

Origins and First Experience as a Kept Man

Yozo's first experience as a kept man begins after he runs away from Flatfish's house, following a humiliating dinner where Flatfish mocked his ambition to become a painter. With nowhere to go and no money, he visits Horiki, who is cold and dismissive, but a woman journalist named Shizuko takes him in. She is twenty-eight, a widow with a five-year-old daughter, Shigeko, and lives in an apartment in Koenji. Yozo leads "for the first time the life of a kept man," staying at home while Shizuko goes to work, looking after Shigeko. He feels a sense of loss and emptiness, haunted by the memory of his lost self-portraits, which he calls his "ghost pictures." Shizuko flatters him, saying that most women want to do things for him because of his timid and funny nature, and he calmly accepts this, sinking deeper into depression. He plans to escape and make his own living, but his struggles only entangle him more in dependence on her, making him more timid than ever before her.

Life with Shizuko and the Role of Dependency

During his time with Shizuko, Yozo's dependency takes on a routine. He draws cartoons for her children's magazine, and the money allows him to buy liquor and cigarettes, but his gloom intensifies. He often thinks of home and weeps while drawing. The only relief is Shigeko, who calls him "Daddy," but even this relationship becomes fraught when Shigeko says she wants her real father back, shocking Yozo and making him feel that even she is an enemy. Horiki visits again, acting as a benefactor, and Yozo feels a tremor of anguish. He continues to drink heavily, sometimes spending nights out, pawning Shizuko's clothes for money. One day, he steals her underrobes and sashes to pawn, and after two nights away, he returns to hear Shizuko and Shigeko happily playing with a rabbit. Realizing they are happy without him, he leaves for good, going to a bar in Kyobashi.

The Second Kept Man Phase and the Bar in Kyobashi

After leaving Shizuko, Yozo becomes a kept man at a bar in Kyobashi, simply telling the madam, "I've left her and come to you." He lodges on the second floor without ceremony, treated like a customer, owner, errand boy, or relative. The regular customers treat him with kindness, and he gradually relaxes his vigilance towards the world, though he still needs to drink before meeting customers. He draws cartoons for cheap magazines and pornographic pictures, and his life becomes a debased routine of drinking and meaningless chatter. During this period, he meets Yoshiko, a seventeen-year-old girl who works in a tobacco shop across the street. She pleads with him to stop drinking, and he jokingly proposes marriage, but he continues to drink. After falling into a manhole in front of her shop, she bandages his arm, and he decides to marry her, seeing her virginity as a holy thing. The madam of the bar helps him marry Yoshiko and rent an apartment near the Sumida River.

Marriage to Yoshiko and the Collapse of Trust

Yozo's marriage to Yoshiko initially brings a semblance of stability. He gives up drinking and devotes himself to drawing cartoons, enjoying simple pleasures like movies and walks. He feels a faint hope that he might become a human being. However, Horiki reappears, and they resume drinking together. One summer night, Horiki comes to the apartment, and they drink gin on the roof. Horiki goes downstairs and discovers Yoshiko being violated by a shopkeeper. Yozo sees them through a window and feels overwhelming fear, not anger. His hair turns prematurely grey from that night. Yoshiko's trustfulness is shattered, and she becomes anxious and fearful. Yozo begins drinking heavily again, his teeth fall out, and he draws pornographic pictures to sell. He suspects Yoshiko of further infidelity but cannot confront her. He attempts suicide by overdosing on Dial sleeping pills, but survives. After recovering, he asks the madam to take him away from Yoshiko, and he goes to a hot spring in Izu, but returns sicklier.

Final Dependency and the Pharmacy Woman

After the suicide attempt, Yozo's dependency shifts to a new figure: the pharmacist woman, a widow with a crippled leg who runs a pharmacy. She gives him morphine, claiming it is no more harmful than liquor. Yozo becomes addicted, injecting the drug multiple times a day. He feels his insecurity and timidity swept away, but he quickly becomes a confirmed addict, needing the drug to work. He has an affair with the woman, kissing her and weeping. His debt at the pharmacy grows, and he decides to write a letter to his father confessing everything, but receives no answer. He plans to give himself ten shots and throw himself into the river, but Flatfish and Horiki arrive and take him to a hospital. He is admitted to a mental hospital, where he realizes he has become a "reject." His father dies, and his brother takes him to a house in the country, where he lives with an old servant, Tetsu. He reflects that he has "neither happiness nor unhappiness" and that "everything passes."