<p>Houtarou is reading <strong><em>On Decadence</em></strong> (堕落論 = <em>Daraku-ron</em>, sometimes also translated <em>Discourse on Decadence</em>), by Ango SAKAGUCHI. </p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/PjXj8.png" alt="On Decadence"></p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HDuZsm.jpg" alt="photo of an actual copy of the same edition of On Decadence"></p>

<p>(image source: <a href="http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/chanchan_yanagi/52389941.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this blog</a>)</p>

<p>Sakaguchi was a novelist, essayist, and critic who lived from 1906-1955. He gained immense popularity in the immediate post-war period with his 1946 essay <em>On Decadence</em>, which criticized pre-war Japan as too heavily steeped in <em>bushido</em> culture, and argued that though post-war Japan was decadent, it was better than what came before.</p>

<p><em>On Decadence</em> is not mentioned in the <em>Kotenbu</em> series of novels on which <em>Hyouka</em> is based.</p>

<p>In an amusing connection, the anime <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un-Go" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Un-Go</em></a> (written アンゴ = <em>ango</em> in Japanese and hence pronounced identically to Sakaguchi's given name) was based on one of Sakaguchi's period novels - <em>Meiji Kaika Ango Torimono-chou</em>, loosely "Ango's Tales of Detectives from the Dawn of the Meiji Period". </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-21T00:55:31.930Z
2013-09-21T00:55:31.930Z
senshin
<p>In episode 2 of Hyouka, Houtarou is shown reading a book throughout the episode. What book is it?</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Z6V3xl.jpg" alt="Houtarou reading"></p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/mTwiC.png" alt="Houtarou being prevented from reading"></p>

<hyouka>
What book is Houtarou reading in episode 2 of Hyouka?
# What book is Houtarou reading in episode 2 of Hyouka?
Posted by: username_0 on 2013-09-21
In episode 2 of Hyouka, Houtarou is shown reading a book throughout the episode. What book is it?

![Houtarou reading](https://i.sstatic.net/Z6V3xl.jpg)

![Houtarou being prevented from reading](https://i.sstatic.net/mTwiC.png)
**Tags:** hyouka
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_0 on 2013-09-21. Score: 2
Houtarou is reading ***On Decadence*** (堕落論 = *Daraku-ron*, sometimes also translated *Discourse on Decadence*), by Ango SAKAGUCHI.

![On Decadence](https://i.sstatic.net/PjXj8.png)

![photo of an actual copy of the same edition of On Decadence](https://i.sstatic.net/HDuZsm.jpg)

(image source: [this blog](http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/chanchan_yanagi/52389941.html))

Sakaguchi was a novelist, essayist, and critic who lived from 1906-1955. He gained immense popularity in the immediate post-war period with his 1946 essay *On Decadence*, which criticized pre-war Japan as too heavily steeped in *bushido* culture, and argued that though post-war Japan was decadent, it was better than what came before.

*On Decadence* is not mentioned in the *Kotenbu* series of novels on which *Hyouka* is based.

In an amusing connection, the anime [*Un-Go*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un-Go) (written アンゴ = *ango* in Japanese and hence pronounced identically to Sakaguchi's given name) was based on one of Sakaguchi's period novels - *Meiji Kaika Ango Torimono-chou*, loosely "Ango's Tales of Detectives from the Dawn of the Meiji Period".
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