Look for his discussion of Lacquerware. He explains how lacquerware looks gaudy in bright electric light but truly beautiful in the flicker of a candlelight or shadow, where the gold flecks seem to float in the darkness.
If you are reading this for a class or book club, consider these questions:
If you are using the PDF for a paper, here is the standard MLA citation format for the common Seidensticker translation: the key junichiro tanizaki pdf
Tanizaki, Jun'ichirō. In Praise of Shadows. Translated by Thomas J. Harper and Edward G. Seidensticker, Leete's Island Books, 1977.
Searching for a PDF of The Key because you want pornography will lead to disappointment. Tanizaki is not interested in describing the act of sex; he is interested in the mechanics of desire. Look for his discussion of Lacquerware
Here are the psychological pillars of the novel that make it a masterpiece:
Title: The Key (Japanese: Kagi) Author: Junichiro Tanizaki Year of Publication: 1956 Tanizaki, Jun'ichirō
It is important to clarify the title before searching for a PDF, as this causes the most confusion.
There is no physical abuse in The Key. Instead, the sadism is psychological. The husband’s masochism lies in his jealousy. The wife’s sadism lies in her obedience—she obeys his unspoken fantasy so thoroughly that it destroys him.