# Zenchi Naigu — Short Fiction character guide

> Zenchi Naigu in Short Fiction by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** The Naigu, the old Naigu

**First appearance:** 0005-the-nose

## Snapshot

A fifty-year-old priest at Ike-no-O whose five-inch nose hangs past his chin, and whose secret grief over it outlasts any sermon on the Western Paradise.

## Who they are

Everyone in Ike-no-O knows Zenchi Naigu's nose, a sausage dangling from his upper lip, and he has grieved over it since his acolyte days. At meals a disciple must hold it up with a stick so he can eat; in conversation he dreads the very word. He wears outward indifference like a robe, but his self-respect is wounded daily, and he schemes in mirrors for some way to make the nose look shorter.

## Relationships

### [Strindberg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/characters/strindberg)

_psychological_

Strindberg is obsessed with Zenchi Naigu, viewing him as a mirror of his own inner turmoil.

## In the story

### [Short Fiction](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/chapters/short-fiction)

A Buddhist priest whose long nose causes him daily troubles, leading to a futile attempt to shorten it.

### [The Nose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/chapters/the-nose)

The protagonist, a priest tormented by his long nose, whose attempts to shorten it lead to unexpected social consequences.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/characters/zenchi_naigu
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/characters