Some Prefer Nettles (蓼喰う虫, Tade kū mushi, Historical orthography: 蓼喰ふ蟲) is a 1929 novel by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.
Misako's father is a traditionalist who attempts to keep the couple engaged in the arts of Japan in order to purge the negative influence from the West.
The "old man" (he is fifty-six or fifty-seven) has a deep interest in many forms of traditional Japanese performance, from samisen and song to rustic puppets.
In many ways, from local accent to clothing, the central characters assume roles they need and can hardly bear, making the story a series of mirrors in which artifice and reality become interwoven.
His romanticized version of it is manifested in the western wing of his house, in particular the veranda on which he likes to sit, in his fascination with American movie stars, and in his skimming through an English translation of the Arabian Nights for lewd passages.
When his father-in-law makes some disparaging remarks about the humble offerings, Kaname compares O-hisa's cooking favorably to the restaurant Hyotei where the "old man" will be dining with his daughter.
[2] Other scenes in the book detail how O-hisa was trained by Misako's father to prepare food catering to his preference for traditional Kyoto-style cuisine.
[2] In contrast to the symbolism of Kyoto-style cuisine as authentic Japanese fare, Tanizaki disparages Kobe as "foreign" including items like liver sausage from a German butcher.
The conception of womanliness that Koharu inspires in Kaname is what lies at the heart of his Madonna-Harlot conflict, and makes him attracted both to an image of the Virgin Mary and to Hollywood movie stars.
The passage that follows provides enchanting musings as to what might actually be going on behind the house's curtains, deep in the shadows beyond its latticework, as readers are given the opportunity to glance briefly into Kaname's world of fantasy.