In this paper, I continue along the lines of earlier critics, who have considered the literature of Tanizaki Jun'ichirō in the context of the historical period in which they were written.. However, I go further by examining how Tanizaki articulated the theme of history within his own literature, specifically through a close reading of several parts in Shunkinshō 春琴抄 (1933)..I suggest that the appearance of a photograph in the text points to social and economic factors that helped determine Tanizaki's representation of the tensions between real- ity and fiction..I also explore how the author uses the trope of blindness as an ultimately vain attempt to escape a world shaped by historical reality.. And I argue that Tanizaki's interest in aesthetic beauty should be interpreted not as a sign of the author's successful avoidance of an increasingly intrusive social and political environment of early 1930s Japan..Rather, this interest serves as an important key to understanding how Tanizaki's literary work engaged deeply in the currents of the time in a far more effective and meaningful way compared to many of his contemporaneous fellow writers who were aligned to the Nihon Rōman-ha 日本 浪曼派 (Japan Romantics).
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