"Kataude" is a controversial work written by Kawabata in his later years. It is often interpreted as "perverted," "luscious," "decadent," "unethical," or even "immoral." Taking the perspective of ethical literary criticism, this study is to make a reinterpretation of this surrealist work. It is argued that the protagonist held a complicated, both adoring and reflective, attitude towards the borrowed "Kataude" (which means an arm). In the end, he abandoned the borrowed arm, and reinstalled his own to his body. This plot symbolizes the course of ...
