Football in 1860

Kenzaburō Ōe is one of the best-known Japanese writers of the 20th century and a Nobel Prize in Literature laureate.

The novel “Football 1860” was especially recognized among the works that won Ōe the Nobel Prize.

Published in 1967, “Football 1860” instantly became a national bestseller: in the space of one year it went through 11 reprints, and then brought its creator the prestigious Jun’ichirō Tanizaki Prize.

The novel tells the story of two brothers whose destinies bring them back to their hometown village in search of the true meaning of life and their own “self.” And while one tries to cope with a wave of misfortunes—his friend has died, his wife is quietly drinking herself away, and the child has had to be placed in a hospital—the other organizes a football team with the goal of uniting the villagers and staging a revolt, inspired by an uprising that happened in these parts back in 1860…