A must-read classic of Japanese picaresque literature that portrays, with sharp irony, the eternal comedy of humankind.

These are cold, hectic days in the bustling cities. The last day of the year is approaching, and their busy inhabitants must settle their accounts and pay off outstanding debts. For all of them, whether rich or poor, samurai or commoner, money dictates the rules, and cunning becomes the currency. Astute merchants, sly courtesans, stingy wives, and sharp apprentices move with dexterity through the intricacies of business, pleasure, and survival.

With agile prose, brimming with humor and exceptional critical insight, Saikaku portrays the most human and often most cynical side of an era in which virtue is negotiable and wit, a vital necessity.

Like Lazarillo de Tormes or Guzmán de Alfarache, his characters glide through a world where cunning is worth more than honor, and success is measured by the ability to exploit the cracks in the system, revealing the social mechanisms that operate beneath the surface of appearances.