Botchan is one of Japan's most popular novels for young people for its
meditations upon Japanese culture, lively characters, and coming-of-age
theme. The titular character is a young, headstrong and reckless youth
who is nevertheless possessed of a serious sense of honor and integrity.
Although his temper and impulsiveness create problems, Botchan's moral
convictions underpin his journey: indeed, whether he will compromise his
morals is the central question. After taking a job as a junior teacher
in a local middle school, Botchan comes into conflict with Red Shirt;
his school's eloquent but manipulative and conniving head teacher. Vying
for the hand of a local beauty, Red Shirt will stop at nothing to
achieve his aims, using his position and the system to undermine or
defeat others. However a hot tempered but justice-seeking mathematics
teacher, Yama Arashi, is determined to oppose such underhand behavior.
Who will Botchan side with in the end?