35 pages 1 hour read

John Okada

No-No Boy

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1956

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Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 4 Summary

Ichiro and Kenji begin their evening at a gambling house but only stay briefly. Ichiro is more interested in drinking than gambling as a distraction from his angst. They go to a nightclub, Club Oriental, where they encounter an old acquaintance, Bull, who ridicules Ichiro, saying, “No-no boys don’t look so good without their striped uniform.” Ichiro offers to leave so Ken can fraternize with Bull but Ken tells him to stay. Shortly after, Taro approaches them at the bar and asks to speak to Ichiro outside. Ichiro follows his younger brother down a nearby alley and soon realizes that he has been set up. A gang of young men begins to humiliate and attack Ichiro, but they are soon stopped by Kenji, who uses his cane to beat them away.

Kenji proposes that they get out of town, and Ichiro, fairly intoxicated, agrees. When he comes to, they are in the countryside, outside a little farm. Kenji goes inside first to talk with the attractive young owner, Emi, and Ichiro joins them shortly thereafter. When Emi goes to bed, Kenji encourages Ichiro to follow. Ichiro is stunned and outraged at first but eventually goes into the bedroom where Emi is already sleeping.