The novel was first published serially in the magazine "Kaizō" between 1928 and 1930. An English translation by Howard Hibbett was published in 1994 by Alfred A. Knopf. The novel has been adapted to film several times. The first was the 1964 film "Manji", directed by Yasuzo Masumura, written by Kaneto Shindo and starring Ayako Wakao and Kyōko Kishida. The film was remade in 1983 and 2006. In 1985 the novel was adapted into the Italo-German film "The Berlin Affair", which changed the setting to Nazi Germany.