Endō Shūsaku’s Wonderful Fool: Gaston, a Christ-Figure for Japan

Abstract

This article aims to identify the hidden and obvious parallels between Endō Shūsaku’s Christ-figure and Gaston Bonaparte in Endō Shūsaku’s novel Wonderful Fool. I argue that the post-war writer develops and realizes a Christ-figure that would take root in the Japanese religious landscape through the character of Gaston. Building on the late author’s literary works and other scholarly reflections, this study attempts to piece together and reorganize Endō’s inculurated Christ-figure in relation to the French protagonist in Wonderful Fool. Tracing the Catholic author’s literary and theological development of Gaston enriches the research into Endō’s Christology and Japanese Christianity.