is a novel by the Japanese author Jun'ichirō Tanizaki. This short story was written in 1926. He influenced by Plato

Plato

Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...

's Theory of Forms

Theory of Forms

Plato's theory of Forms or theory of Ideas asserts that non-material abstract forms , and not the material world of change known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality. When used in this sense, the word form is often capitalized...

. This novel has feature of Tanizaki's Aestheticism

Aestheticism

Aestheticism was a 19th century European art movement that emphasized aesthetic values more than socio-political themes for literature, fine art, the decorative arts, and interior design...

.

Plot

Yurako is an actress, and her husband, Nakada, was movie director. After Nakada died, she found his testamentary diary. There is a fact, that Nakada believed, that caused his death directly. The diary explained what happened to him that he did not talk to anyone. Long time ago, Nakada met a middle-aged guy in a restaurant, and he said that he watched all movies that Yurako has been in and knows all about Yurako's body. The middle-aged guy talked how he knows about Yurako's body and also said Yurako is not only Nakada's but also the middle-aged guy's. Furthermore, the middle-aged guy said he has his own "Yurako" in his house. He invited Nakada to his house to show his Yurako. Although the middle-aged guy's story was creepy, Nakada had curiosity about his story, then he went to his house. The things that he saw there were number of dolls that are perfect copy of Yurako. Nakada saw the middle-aged guy's abnormal fetishism behavior in there.

Characters

Yurako — Nakada's wife. A famous actress.

Nakada — Yurako's husband, and a movie director. He died for disease. He left a diary to Yurako, and the diary said what happened to him.

Middle-aged guy — A guy who Nakada met in a restaurant. The guy said he knows all about Yurako's body, and also he has his own Yurako as his wife in his house. He has abnormal fetishism.

Title

There are no person who called Mr. Bluemound in the text. However, readers can know the middle-aged guy is Mr. Bluemound by reading the story.