Sexuality and Space: Tokyo and Karuizawa in Mariko Koike's 'Koi'

Abstract

Th is article employs Koike Mariko's novel Koi [1995] as a case study to explore the functions of urban space in contemporary Japanese fi ction. It examines the way that urban space works as an axis upon which the characters in Koi interact, and analyses how those interactions function in direct proportion to the nature of the urban space through which they move. Th is article also analyses the plot paradigm of 'sexual deviance/transgression during periods of social turbulence', and identifi es the interrelations between sexuality and socio-political factors. Th e representation of urban space in Koi, together with the socio-political backdrop of the 1970s student movements, is shown to complement the construction and development of the characters' sexualities, thereby enriching the narrative and supporting Ai Maeda's claim of urban space's impact on literature.