u/menheramar

I finished reading the book Naomi by Tanizaki recently and I have some thoughts and theories. There will be spoilers for the book Naomi, and also, trigger warning for grooming.

The BSD cover version of the book \"Naomi\" (\"A Fool's Love\" in Japanese)

Context/Summary

So, the book is about a 28 year old man, Jōji Kawai, who takes a 15 year old Naomi from her uncaring family into his care in order to groom her into his ideal western-style wife. The book takes place in the 1920s, so there are several references to western cinema of the time, which Jōji is obsessed with, he wants her to be like one of the western actresses on screen. As the story progresses and Naomi grows older, Jōji is shown to be very insecure and criticizes Naomi a lot, but is easily used by her for his wallet. They often go out to western-style dances together, where he meets some of her guy friends. Eventually, when she is around 19, Jōji discovers that Naomi has been cheating on him with multiple other guys. Even when he tries to get her to stop, she doesn't.

They argue, and Naomi leaves him. During this time, Jōji talks to one of the other guys Naomi was cheating on him with, and he finds out that Naomi's biological family was a low-ranking samurai family who ran a brothel. Earlier in the book, it's also stated that they wanted her to become a geisha, but she didn't want to.

When Jōji is doing his best to move on from Naomi, she suddenly reappears in his life. Under the guise of being "just friends," she teases him constantly. So much so that he genuinely starts to become insane, and have fits of hysteria, and soon becomes completely obsessed with her. By the end of the book, he agrees to do whatever she wants, and he pretty much becomes a walking wallet and slave to her while she is still allowed to see other men, which she does openly. He is so obsessed with her that he doesn't care. She ends up living the most high class western lifestyle possible in Japan at the time, according to her wishes, funded by the desperate Jōji.

This line explains the logic behind Jōji so obsessed with Naomi after she left him and then came back.

https://preview.redd.it/irbjspqy59zg1.jpg?width=2330&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c297b652b0ae8160412b638d31bda6a0be54be2c

Thoughts

I think that the book tries to imply that Naomi became a player, so to speak, due to it being in her blood since her family ran a brothel.

From a modern lens, I think that it might be more like a case of Naomi being exposed to those kinds of things as a child, and as an adult, she behaves how she does because that's how the adults in her life when she was a child behaved. I also think that Jōji, having taken her in so young, gave her literally no other choice for a partner, so Naomi never got a real chance to explore what she wanted, and as a result she did that exploration behind his back.

I also think that BSD Tanizaki is "pathetic" around Naomi in a similar way that Jōji is with his version of her, which was probably done on purpose, but I think that BSD Naomi cares a lot more about Tanizaki than book Naomi does for Jōji (who is a pedo and also groomed her, BSD Tanizaki would never...).

Theory

So, to build on the context from the book, here's my theory... I think that BSD Naomi was perhaps rescued by Tanizaki from her original family who may have been involved in sex work, who might also have intended to marry/sell her off to an older man. That's why in chapter 118 (spoilers), >!Tanizaki mentions Naomi's "real family," hinting that they are somehow relevant.!<

Maybe the reason they larp as siblings is because Tanizaki legally became her brother so that she would not be forced to live with her original family or marry an older man.

There's also the fact that Book Naomi is based off irl Tanizaki's sister-in-law, so the BSD Tanizaki "siblings" might actually be brother and sister in law. As in, what if Naomi's family did marry her off to an older man, but she was rescued by the older man's younger brother Tanizaki, who is technically her brother-in-law?

The actress Hayama Michiko, irl Tanizaki's sister-in-law, whom book Naomi is based off of.

There might've also been a traumatic incident between BSD Naomi and Tanizaki, where they became separated for some time and as a result became overly obsessed with each other, which explains why they're so attached.

There's also a small detail I noticed, but in the book, Naomi originally wanted to be a student, but her family didn't seem to have the means. I think it's nice that Naomi in BSD gets to be a student : )

https://preview.redd.it/6qgy5lx2c9zg1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a4cf563b3aa9079f451246e8221630e575a4f3c

Tbh, I think this theory paints BSD Tanizaki and Naomi in a better light. What do you guys think? Any better theories?