A novella about a young man who leaves postwar Taiwan for Hong Kong, following his ambition, loneliness, and beginnings as a trader. Against the backdrop of the end of colonial rule and cross-border displacement, it portrays a displaced youth searching for a way to live in a new city.

Driven out of Taiwan, a young man confronts ambition and the realities of survival in Hong Kong.

Gorikiden is Jiro Nitta's debut work and a mountain story. It depicts a mountain porter attempting to carry a massive stone to the summit of Mount Shirouma, powerfully linking extreme nature, human obsession, and craftsmanlike pride; the work received the 34th Naoki Prize.

On the back of a man carrying a huge stone to Mount Shirouma's summit rests both human pride and the mountain's severity.