On the Last Day of the Year
On the Last Day of the Year is a short story by Japanese writer Ichiyō Higuchi first published in 1894. It tells the story of a young housemaid, Omine, who steals money from her employers to help a sick relative.
Plot
Omine works as a maid in the strict household of Mrs. Yamamura, the rigid wife of a wealthy Tokyo businessman. On her day off shortly before New Year's Eve, she pays a visit to her uncle Yasubei, who raised Omine after the death of her parents. Yasubei has fallen ill and was forced to close down his food store and move into a smaller flat with his family. He begs Omine to keep her job, which she contemplated quitting, and asks her to lend him money, as he is indebted to a loan shark whom he must pay on the thirty-first of the month. Also, he wants to buy some traditional New Year's rice cakes for his little son Sannosuke. Omine agrees to help, announcing that she will ask Mrs. Yamamura either for a loan or an advance on her salary, and tells Yasubei to send Sannosuke at noon on the thirty-first to collect the money.On the thirty-first, Ishinosuke, Mr. Yamamura's careless son from a previous marriage, shows up at his parents' house after a drunken night out, to the consternation of the other family members. Omine reminds Mrs. Yamamura of the advance she had been willing to pay, but her employer pretends not to remember having made such an offer. Out of desperation, Omine steals two yen from a drawer and gives it to the waiting Sannosuke. Knowing that the money in the household will be counted on this last evening of the year, she fears the moment her embezzlement will be revealed, and even contemplates suicide. Fortunately, Ishinosuke has taken the remaining money from the drawer, thus obliterating all traces of Omine's misdemeanour. Omine speculates if Ishinosuke's action was by pure chance and simply for his own purposes, or if he had witnessed her theft and taken the remaining money to protect her.