Tayama Katai and His Novel Entitled Futon (“The Quilt”)

Front matter

Tayama Katai and His Novel Entitled Futon ("The Quilt")

by

Motoko B. Reece

Appendix B

Appendix B

A List of Japanese Persons Mentioned in This Text

Bakin. See Takizawa Bakin.

Chikamatsu Shūkō 近松 秋江 (1876–1944). A novelist. His real name was Tokuda Hiroshi. A graduate of Waseda University (1901) where he took a course in English literature.

Doppo. See Kunikida Doppo.

Futabatei Shimei 二葉亭 四迷 (1864–1909). Early Meiji novelist and translator of Russian literature. His real name was Hasegawa Tatsunosuke. He became famous with his epoch-making Ukigumo, the first novel written in colloquial Japanese analyzing human psychology using western methods.

Hōgetsu. See Shimamura Hōgetsu.

Ihara Saikaku 井原 西鶴 (1642–1693). Seventeenth-century prose stylist and haiku poet. One of the great literary figures of the Tokugawa period. Some of his works have been translated into English.

Kagawa Kageki 香川 景樹 (1768–1843). A waka poet who advocated a plain style of waka. He founded the Keien school of waka. Among his works are theories on waka and a commentary on Kokin Wakashū.

Kawazoe Kunimoto 川副 国基 (1896–). A scholar of modern Japanese literature. His books include Nihon Shizenshugi no Bungaku ("Literature of Japanese Naturalism") and Kindai Nihon Bungakuron ("The Theory of Modern Japanese Literature").

Kōyō. See Ozaki Kōyō.

Kunikida Doppo 国木田 獨歩 (1871–1908). A novelist. His given name was Tesuo. He attended Tokyo Senmon Gakkō but left to become a teacher, without graduating. Later he joined the editorial staff of Kokumin Shimbun. He was a skilled short-story writer, having the ability to give his story the lyrical quality of a long poem in prose. The influence of English literature, particularly the poetry of Wordsworth, is apparent in his work. His Gyūniku to Bareisho ("Beef and Potato"), Musashi-No, and Gen Oji ("Old Gen") were translated into English.

Masamune Hakuchō 正宗 白鳥 (1879–). A novelist. His given name is Tadao. After graduating from Tokyo Senmon Gakkō (1901) he became a literary critic for the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, but later resigned from this firm and devoted his full time to creative writing. In 1950 he was awarded an order of cultural merit. Among his many works are Torō ("Futility"), and Bikō ("Faint Light").

Mori Ōgai 森 鷗外 (1862–1922). Litterateur. His given mane was Rintarō. After graduating from Tokyo University with a degree in medicine (1881) he was appointed surgeon to the Imperial Army and soon after he was sent to Germany for further studies (1884).

Although Ōgai was a doctor by profession, he is best remembered as a man of letters. Among his works are Maihime ("Dancing Girl"), Gan ("Wild Geese"), and translations of German literature. Gan was translated by Kingo Ochiai and Sanford Goldstein and published by C. E. Tuttle Co., in 1959.

Nakamura Mitsuo 中村 光夫 (1911–). A literary critic. His real name is Kiba Ichirō. Graduating from the French Literature Department of Tokyo University (1935), he went to Paris (1938) as a scholarship student of the French Government. Among his works are Flaubert and Maupassant, and Fūzoku Shōsetsu Ron.

Okazaki Yoshie 岡崎 義恵 (1892–). A scholar of Japanese classics. A graduate of Tokyo University (1917). He was the first scholar to systematically study Japanese classics from the viewpoint of genre. His books include Nihon Bungei no Yōshiki ("Genres in Japanese Literature") and Nihon Geijutsu Shichō ("Ideas in Japanese Arts").

Ōhashi Otowa 大橋 乙羽 (1869–1901). Writer and publisher. His real name was Watanabe Matatarō. He was adopted by Ōhashi Sahei, the founder of the Hakubunkan Publishing House. It should be noted that Tayama Katai was employed by this house at the time he wrote Futon.

Oguri Fūyō 小栗 風葉 (1875–1926). A novelist. His real name was Kato Isoo. He was a disciple of Ozaki Kōyō. His Seishun ("Youth") was acclaimed.

Ōta Gyokumei 太田 玉茗 (1871–1927). A poet. He graduated from Tokyo Senmon Gakkō. At one time he was a reporter of the Kabuki Shimpō. In his later years, he was a resident priest in a Buddhist temple. He was a brother-in-law of Tayama Katai.

Ozaki Kōyō 尾崎 紅葉 (1867–1903). A novelist. His given name was Tokutarō. He attended the Literature Department of Tokyo University but left it without graduating to become a novelist. After organizing the Kenyūsha society of writers (1888) he started the magazine, Garakuta Bunko. He was a giant among the novelists of the Meiji period. Among his disciples were such well-known writers as Izumi Kyōka and Oguri Fūyō. Kōyō's style was polished and elaborate. His masterpieces include Tajō Takon ("Tears and Regrets") and Konjiki Yasha ("The Gold Demon"). Konjiki Yasha has been translated into English.

Saikaku. See Ihara Saikaku.

Senuma Shigeki 瀨沼 茂樹 (1904–). A novellist-critic. His real name is Tadanao Suzuki. Among his books are Kindai Nihon Bungaku no Kōzō ("The Structure of Modern Japanese Literature") and Shimazaki Tōson.

Shimamura Hōgetsu 島村 抱月 (1871–1918). Literary critic and writer. His given name was Takitarō. He was adopted by the Shimamura family (his former name was Sasayama). After graduating from Tokyo Senmon Gakkō (1884), he lectured at Waseda University and wrote novels and criticism for Waseda Bungaku. He studied in Britain and Germany.

After returning to Japan he was appointed to a professorship at Waseda University. He was a champion of naturalism and was regarded as the best literary critic of his time.

Shimazaki Tōson 島崎 藤村 (1872–1943). Poet and novelist. His given name was Haruki. He graduated from Meiji Gakuin (1891) and taught for one year, during which time he wrote Wakanashū ("Young Greens Anthology"). His Hakai ("The Broken Commandment") established him as a novelist. A partial translation of Hakai (Chap. VII) by Edward Seidensticker is available for English readers.

Takase Bunen 高瀨 文淵 (1864–1935). A critic. His real name was Kurokawa Yasuji. He had great influence on inspiring Tayama Katai's literary aspirations.

Takizawa Bakin 滝澤 馬琴 (1767–1848). A novelist in various fiction genres who, before he died, was the accepted leader of Edo literature. His favorite genre was the moralistic novel.

Tōson. See Shimazaki Tōson.

Tsubouchi Shōyō 坪内 逍遥 (1859–1935). Litterateur. His given name was Yūzō. After graduating from Kaiseikō (predecessor of Tokyo University) he was appointed as an instructor at Waseda University. His Shōsetsu Shinzui established his fame. He translated the complete works of Shakespeare.

Yanagida Izumi 柳田 泉 (1894–). Litterateur. A graduate of Waseda University with a degree in English literature (1918). Among his works are the Complete Works of Carlyle, Study of Greek Ideas, and Essays on Meiji Literature.

Yoshida Seiichi 吉田 精一 (1908–). A scholar in Japanese literature. Graduated from Tokyo University (1932). Among his works are Kindai Nihon Romanshugi Kenkyū ("Studies on Modern Japanese Romanticism") and Shizenshugi no Kenkyū ("Study of Naturalism").

Wada Kingo 和田 謹吾 (0000–). A scholar in modern Japanese literature. A graduate of Tokyo Kōtōshihan. His Shizenshugi Bungaku ("Study of Naturalism") is an outstanding study of Japanese naturalism.

Bibliography

Bibliography

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Hauptmann, Gerhart. Einsame Menschen ("Lonely Lives.") Translated by Mary Morrison. London: William Heinemann, 1898.

________. Einsame Menschen. With introduction and glossary by M. Blakemore Evans and Ernst Feise. New York: Hold, Rinehart and Winston, 1965.

Maupassant, Guy De. After-dinner Series. London: Mathieson & Co., 1896–97.

Okazaki Yoshie, ed. Japanese Literature in the Meiji Era. Translated by V. H. Viglielmo. Tokyo: Ōbunsha, 1955.

Ozaki Kōyō. Konjiki Yasha ("The Gold Demon.") Re-written in English by A. and M. Lloyd. Tokyo: The Yūrakusha, 1905.

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Futabatei Shimei 二葉亭 四迷. Ukigumo 浮雲. Futabatei Shimei Zenshū 二葉亭 四迷 全集. Vol. I. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1953.

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________, and Yoshida Seiichi 吉田 誠一, ed. Shizenshugi to Han-Shizenshugi 自然主義 と 反自然主義. Vol. II of Gendai Bungakuron Taikei 現代 文學論 大系. 8 vols. Tokyo: Kawade Shobō, 1953.

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Senuma Shigeki 瀬沼 茂樹. Kindai Nihon Bungaku no Kōzō: Meiji no Bungaku 近代 日本 文學 の 構造：明治 の 文學. Vol. I. Tokyo: Shueisha, 1963.

Shimazaki Tōson 島崎 藤村. Hakai 破戒. Shimazaki Tōson Zenshū 島崎 藤村 全集. Vol. III. Tokyo: Shinchōsha, 1949.

________. Shimazaki Tōson Zenshū 島崎 藤村 全集. Vol. XIX. Tokyo: Shinchōsha, 1951.

Tayama Katai 田山 花袋. Kindai no Shōsetsu 近代 の 小説. Tokyo: Daito Shuppansha, 1941.

________. "No no Hana Jo," 野 の 花 序 and "Rokotsu naru Byōsha" 露骨 なる 描写. Vol. II of Gendai Bungakuron Taikei: Shizenshugi to Han-Shizenshugi 現代 文學論 大系：自然主義 と 反自然主義. Edited by Nakamura Mitsuo 中村 光夫 and Yoshida Seiichi 吉田 誠一. 8 vols. Tokyo: Kawade Shobō, 1953.

________. Tayama Katai Shū 田山 花袋 集. Vol. IX of Gendai Nihon Bungaku Zenshū 現代 日本 文學 全集. 99 vols. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1955.

________. Tokyo no Sanjūnen 東京 の 三十年. Vol. XCVII of Gendai Bungaku Zenshū 現代 文學 全集. 99 vols. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1958.

________. Tayama Katai Shū 田山 花袋 集. Vol. XXI of Nihon Gendai Bungaku Zenshū 日本 現代 文學 全集. Edited by Itō Hitoshi 伊藤 整. 102 vols. Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1962.

________. Futon. Jūemon no Saigo 布団。重右衛門 の 最後. Tokyo: Shinchōsha, 1968.

Tsubouchi Yūzō (Shōyō) 坪内 雄蔵. "Futabatei no Koto" 二葉亭 の 事. Shōyō Senshū 逍遥 選集. Vol. XII. Tokyo: Shunyōdō, 1926.

________. Tōsei Shosei Katagi 當世 書生 氣質. Shōyō Senshū 逍遥 選集. Vol. XIII. Tokyo: Shunyōdō, 1927.

________. Shōsetsu Shinzui 小説 神髄. Shōyō Senshū 逍遥 選集. Vol. XV. Tokyo: Shunyōdō, 1927.

Yanagida Izumi 柳田 泉. Tayama Katai no Bungaku 田山 花袋 の 文學. 2 vols. Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1956–58.

Yoshida Seiichi 吉田 誠一. Shizenshugi no Kenkyū 自然主義 の 研究. 2 vols. Tokyo: Tokyodō, 1964.

________; Ishimaru Hisashi 石丸 久; and Iwanaga Yudaka 岩永 胖. eds. Tōson Katai 藤村 花袋. Vol. XIII of Kokugo Kokubungaku Kenkyūshi Taisei 國語 國文學 研究氏 大成. 15 vols. Tokyo: Sanshōdō, 1965.

Wada Kingo 和田 謹吾. Shizenshugi Bungaku 自然主義 文學. Tokyo: Shibundō, 1966.

II. Secondary Sources

C. Works in western languages

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Coar, John Firman. Studies in German Literature in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Macmillan Co., 1962.

Garten, Hugh F. Gerhart Hauptmann. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954.

Heller, Otto. Studies in Modern German Literature. Boston: Ginn & Company, 1905.

Hewett-Thayer, Harvey W. An Anthology of German Literature in the Nineteenth Century 1795–1910. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1932.

Ibsen, Henrik. Rosmersholm. The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen. Edited by William Archer. Vol. IX. New York: Charles Scribner' Sons, 1907.

Keene, Donald. Japanese Literature. New York: Grove Press, 1955.

Krikorian, Yervant H., ed. Naturalism and the Human Spirit. New York: Columbia University Press, 1944.

Siden, Margaret. Gerhart Hauptmann, the Prose Plays. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1957.

Stallknecht, N. P. and Harst Frenz. Comparative Literature Method and Perspective. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1961.

D. Works in Japanese

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Chikamatsu Shūkō 近松 秋江. Chikamatsu Shūkō Kasai Zenzō Shū 近松 秋江 葛西 善蔵 集. Vol XLV of Nihon Gendai Bungaku Zenshū 日本 現代 文學 全集. Edited by Itō Hitoshi 伊藤 整. 102 vols. Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1965.

Hisamatsu Sen'ichi 久松 潜一. Nihon Bungaku Hyōronshi 日本 文學 評論史. 2 vols. Tokyo: Shibundō, 1952.

Ihara Saikaku 井原 西鶴. Teihon Saikaku Zenshū 底本 西鶴 全集. Edited by Ebara Taizō 穎原 退蔵. 14 vols. Tokyo: Chūōkōronsha, 1951–60.

Ikegami Teizō 池上 禎造. Buntai no Hensen 文体 の 変選. Vol. XVI of Iwanami Kōza Nihon Bungakushi 岩波 講座 日本 文學史. 16 vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1959.

Itō Hitoshi 伊藤 整. Kōyō to Rohan 紅葉 と 露伴. Vol. XII of Iwanami Kōza Nihon Bungakushi 岩波 講座 日本 文學史. 16 vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1958.

Iwanaga Yudaka 岩永 胖. Tayama Katai Kenkyū 田山 花袋 研究. Tokyo: Hakuyōsha, 1956.

Karaki Junzō 唐木 順三. Kindai Nihon Bungakushi Ron 近代 日本 文學史 論. Tokyo: Kobundō, 1952.

Kataoka Yoshikazu 片岡 良一. Shizenshugi Kenkyū 自然主義 研究. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1957.

Kitamura Tōkokoku 北村 透谷. "Jōnetsu" 情熱. Tōkoku Zenshū 透谷 全集. Edited by Katsumoto Seiichirō 勝本 清一郎. Vol. II. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1950.

Nakamura Mitsuo 中村 光夫. Nihon no Kindai Shōsetsu 日本 の 近代 小説. Tokyo: Iwanami Shinsho, 1968.

Ōta Saburō 太田 三郎. Hikaku Bungaku 比較 文學. Tokyo: Kenkyusha, 1967.

Sakakibara Yoshibumi 榊原 美文. Shōyō Futabatei 逍遥 二葉亭. Vol. XI of Iwanami Kōza Nihon Bungakushi 岩波 講座 日本 文學史. 16 vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1958.

Yanagida Izumi 柳田 泉. Shōsetsu Shinzui Kenkyū 小説 神髄 研究. Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1966.

E. Lectures and Journal

Hayashi Ken'ichirō (Kyoto). "Style and Form in Modern Japanese Literature: Two Monumental Works." Lecture delivered at the seventh congress of the International Federation for Modern Languages and Literatures held at Heidelberg from the 26th to the 31st of August 1957, had for its central theme Problems of Style and Form in Literature. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitatsverlag, 1959. pp. 413–16.

Hibbett, Howard. "The Traditional Japanese Novel." Paper presented at the second conference on Oriental–Western Literary and Cultural Relations held at Indiana University from 23rd to 27th June 1958, Asia and the Humanities. Edited by Horst Frenz. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1959. pp. 3–14.

Sibley, William F. "Naturalism in Japanese Literature." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, XXVIII (1968), 157–69.

III. Dictionaries

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Dai Jiten 大 字典. Comp. by Ueda Kazutoshi 上田 萬年; Sakata Takeshi 栄田 猛猪; Okada Masayuki 岡田 正之; Iida Den'ichi 飯田 伝一; and Iijima Tadao 飯島 忠夫. Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1963.

Gendai Nihon Bungaku Daijiten 現代 日本 文學 大事典. Edited by Hisamatsu Sen'ichi 久松 潜一; Kimata Osamu 木俣 修; Naruse Masakatsu 成瀬 正勝; Kawazoe Kunimoto 川副 國基; Hasegawa Izumi 長谷川 泉. Tokyo: Meiji Shoin, 1968.

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Vita

Date of Birth: | November 4, 1926

Place of Birth: | Kyoto, Japan

|High School: | Horikawa Girls' High School Kyoto, Japan Graduation: 1944

|College: | Department of English Dōshisha Junior College of Dōshisha University Kyoto, Japan Graduation: 1953 | Department of English University of Tampa Tampa, Florida Graduation: 1960 B.A.

|Graduate School: | Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana February 1968 to present

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Introduction

Historians of modern literature have generally used the year 1885 to mark the inception of western style fiction in Japan. For it was in that year that one of the pioneers of Meiji literature, Tsubouchi Shōyō, published Shōsetsu Shinzui, or The Essence of the Novel, which contained the first literary theory that set forth the basic ideals of modern literature.

Shōyō, deploring the poor quality of Japanese literature of his time, sought to improve this situation by adopting realistic approaches to the western point of view by abandoning gesaku, or the demi-novel, as an instrument of didactic intent.

The contribution of Shōsetsu Shinzui to the development of modern Japanese literature was profound. Shōyō enhanced the status of the novel as one aspect of the fine arts, and by rejecting any didactic purposes utilized by the Tokugawa regime, paved the way for his fellow writers. His introduction of the literary techniques of Scott, Lytton, Smollet, Fielding, and others is well taken for illustrating his theory of "mosha," or "copying" of human behavior. Shōyō put into practice his theory of realism by writing his own novel Tōsei Shosei Katagi, or The Character of Modern Students, but "the material was still of the old gesaku genre, and his literary expression on many points resembled Bakin's style."

The shortcomings of Shōyō, pointed out in the above quotation by Dr. Okazaki, were refined by Futabatei's Ukigumo, or The Drifting Clouds. In 1886, Futabatei wrote this story in the colloquial language adopting both Shōyō's and Russian literary theories. In order to understand the scope of Futabatei's theory, let us read how Shōyō recalls Futabatei in his autobiography:

When I first met him in January of 1886, he was perhaps our leading authority of Russian literature. Among critics, he favored Belinsky, and among authors, he was fond of Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, and Goncharov. Of these, he esteemed Turgenev and Goncharov most highly....His very personality was markedly influenced by Russian literature.

I myself was quite inexperienced at the time. I had been made to read the standard classics at the university, but my own favorites were primarily from English nineteenth-century fiction. I was just beginning to read the great popular writers from Scott, Lytton, and Dickens to Dumas and Marryat. When I encountered Futabatei, I heard completely new literary theories and saw a completely new type of personality.

Shōyō's reminiscence of Futabatei elucidates the stature of Futabatei and outlines his Russian literary theory. Futabatei's knowledge of Belinsky and Kalkov imprinted so striking an impression on Shōyō that he encouraged Futabatei to publish his theory. Futabatei's explanation of "idea" and "forms" will permit us a glimpse into his theory which inspired Shōyō.

. . . the idea is present in all material objects and abstract concepts, and that it expresses the true nature of those things. The Idea is eternal and immutable and would exist even without any Form. The outward Form assumed by objects or concepts, in fact, tends to disguise the Idea and prevents our being clearly aware of its universality. Man is compelled by his nature to search out the unchanging factor among all the changing Forms of the world; scientists and scholars do this with the aid of their intellect, artists with their emotions or instincts. Both methods are necessary for complete understanding, but it is the great gift of Art that it can make the existence of the universal Idea, buried as it is in an infinite amount of Forms, clearly apparent to the most ordinary human being. . . . Its function is rather to perceive the Idea in all the numberless Forms in the world directly, instantaneously, and to transmit this perception to mankind. Realism, the only technique which can achieve this, should be adopted.

In "Shōsetsu Sōron" Futabatei theorized on the realism advocated by Shōyō through the adoption of the concepts of "idea" and "forms" of the Russian realists, who in their turn were inspired by Hegelian philosophy. Futabatei's Ukigumo was his experimental novel using this new theory. His purpose in writing Ukigumo was, therefore, not merely to describe characters, as was the case in Shōyō's Tōsei Shosei Katagi. On the contrary, Futabatei was trying to find an eternal "idea" which was manifested in his characters. He analyzed in Ukigumo the social effects of the Meiji Restoration on the lives of ordinary people. The main character, Utsumi Bunzō, a son of a former warrior, finds a civil service appointment after graduating from a college where he had been sent on a scholarship. For the sake of convenience Bunzō decides to leave his widowed mother in their home in Shizuoka Province and take up temporary lodgings in his uncle's home in Tokyo until such time as he finds a suitable home to which he can bring his mother. Most of the time his uncle, who is a brother of Bunzō's father, is away from home managing a business in Yokohama, leaving his wife O-Masa and their daughter O-Sei at home. Soon Bunzō and O-Sei are attracted to each other; this situation pleases both the uncle and aunt as they hope to marry their daughter in the not too distant future to their educated and filial nephew. But this desire for their daughter's marriage to Bunzō cools after the aunt hears that Bunzō has been discharged from his position. She now thinks that Honda, a co-worker of Bunzō, a man of pleasing manners and practical outlook, might perhaps be a better suitor for O-Sei.

At this point in the story Futabatei clearly shows the characteristic differences between Bunzō and his fellow worker Honda. Honda, while appearing to be a good fellow, has in reality an underhanded disposition, as he is shown to be constantly praising his superior and placing him on a pedestal. Sometimes Honda will even overpraise his superior for the most trivial matters. This attitude enables Honda to improve his position; he receives a promotion. Futabatei, while criticizing Honda, brings out the good points of Bunzō who, like a good descendant of the warrior class, refuses to praise anyone for the sake of promotion. His attitude costs him his position on which the livelihood of his old mother and his own future depend. Bunzō, in despair, believes it might be better for him to seek new living quarters; however, he can not tear himself away as he still has faint hopes of his uncle's faith in him as well as continued personal feelings for O-Sei.

The story of Ukigumo, after the setting and atmosphere are introduced, can hardly be said to have a plot. The efforts of Futabatei, as a writer who had studied Russian literature, seem to be placed on his observations and externalizations of the various psychological aspects of his characters as they react to constantly changing daily situations. The feelings of these people are well expressed by his use of colloquial language, as well as by his close observations of their behavior; consequently, the images of his characters take their own shapes organically as time progresses. These characters, in turn, realistically reflect life in the early Meiji era, progressively changing from a feudalistic to a capitalistic society, and its effects on their ideas of integrity, regarded as one of the virtues of the warrior in a feudalistic society. It would appear that Futabatei conveyed in his Ukigumo conditions as they existed by skillfully capturing man's fundamental problem, which was manifested in his characters: the struggle to maintain one's integrity despite the trend towards materialism of that time.

The significance of Ukigumo was recognized by intellectuals, but the story was left unfinished. Futabatei's aspiration to become a novelist faltered when he saw a dim future after four years of serious attempts. He did not give the necessary finishing touches to Ukigumo in spite of the popularity it had achieved. He finally accepted a position in the civil service in August, 1889. It was about this time that Shōyō also gave up his aspirations to become a novelist and turned his efforts to education and the translation of the works of Shakespeare. The meetings between Shōyō and Futabatei gradually became less frequent as each man followed his own interests.

The leading role in the westernization of Japanese literature was taken up by the writers of the Kenyūsha, who followed in the footsteps of Shōyō, but they, like Futabatei, failed in their endeavors. Their failure was partly due to their following too closely Shōyō's theory of realism.

As previously noted, Shōyō's ideals concerning modern literature were sound, but unfortunately, his literary theory contained many inarticulate ambiguities. This evaluation is further confirmed by Dr. Kawazoe Kunimoto.

. . . the ambiguity of the content of Shōsetsu Shinzui can be surmised from the fact that the persons who were inspired by this book included Futabatei Shimei and Ozaki Kōyō [a founder of the Kenyūsha] who were diametrically opposite in their literary attitudes. Had Shōyō been more thorough in implementing his theory of realism, he could have written in a manner of orthodox realism similar to that of Futabatei's Ukigumo. But some pre-modern commonplace elements to be seen in Shōsetsu Shinzui, which he had not been able completely to eradicate, were accountable for Shōyō's [later] unsuccessful semi-drama-like Shosei Katagi, and its simplistic comprehension of realism accounts for the production of neo-Genroku literature of superficial description by the Kenyūsha.

As Dr. Kawazoe states, the Kenyūsha showed respect for the demi-novel genre and they seemed to be working towards its restoration, although, at first, their attitude was a reaction against the awkward style of foreign literary translations. Nevertheless,the failure of the Kenyūsha resulted from their misconception of what Futabatei really tried to accomplish--the creation of a new form of narrative. There is no doubt that the Kenyūsha used a more plausible plot, discarding supernatural elements in their stories, and that they sought to renovate their writing by traditional rhetoric; however, these efforts could not meet the demands of modern literature. As a matter of fact, these new techniques were acquired as a result of having been in contact with western literature. Therefore, the writings of the Kenyūsha were ridiculed for containing such a term as "Yōsō Bungaku" by a group of writers who had been striving on their own accord to assimilate western concepts into their writings so as to liberate themselves from conventionalism. Tayama Katai was one of those writers who had accepted ideas from western literature as a means of awakening his mind.

In the preface of No no Hana, or Flowers of the Field, written in 1901, Katai points out that the literati of his day were "too romantic," emphasizing that "Nature is offered as a sacrifice for the sake of an author's trivial subjectivism," and he praises the writings of Maupassant and Flaubert, advocating his ideas in the following statement:

I wish Meiji literature would become a little less romantic and write more freely even of the secrets of human life and even of the whisperings of the devil. If they do, I think the outlook of nature will become visible, even though vaguely, among Meiji literary circles. The expression, "too romantic," which Katai used in this preface, boils down to "excessive embellishments" or "employing too much artifice," and his protest was directed against the leading novelists of his time, Kōyō and others of the Kenyūsha, without stating their names.

Three years later in an essay "Rokotsu naru Byōsha," or "A straightforward description," Katai reaffirmed his previous statement in the preface to No no Hana and advocated rejection of "mekki bungaku," or "belle-lettres," and the adoption of non-embellishment for the purpose of writing freely about one's feelings. This essay was Katai's second challenge to some leading novelists of the Kenyūsha who withheld their true feelings for the sake of imitation. Katai urged these writers to follow the European exemplars "Ibsen, Tolstoy, Zola, Dostoevsky, D'Annunzio, Hauptmann, Sudermann, Halbe, and Holz," whose descriptions were frank, true, and natural.

This "straightforward description" illustrates Katai's determination to depart from the traditional prose forms of his predecessors and to adopt European authors' techniques in order to westernize Japanese literature and reflect the true feelings of the author. Katai executed this literary theory in Futon, or The Quilt, as mentioned in his essay "My Anna Mahr;" he conceived the idea after reading Gerhart Hauptmann's Einsame Menschen, or Lonely Lives.

Despite the evidence of Katai's essay suggesting that Futon was patterned after Hauptmann's Einsame Menschen, scholars and critics had given relatively little attention to the comparative aspects of this work. Up to now the attention received by Futon has dealt mainly with its biographical allusions and historical meanings relating to other authors. With the appearance of Fūzoku Shōsetsu, or the Criticism on Modern Realism, by the critic Nakamura Mitsuo, it became evident what Katai had adopted from Einsame Menschen in Futon. Dr. Nakamura states:

First of all what becomes clear after reading Futon and from Katai's above cited statement is that he was inspired by and imitated Johannes who was portrayed in the drama, but it was not Hauptmann who wrote this drama.

But Dr. Nakamura's criticism of Futon fails to show the relationship between Futon and Einsame Menschen, despite the fact that he stresses the importance of this comparative study "in order to comprehend the characteristics of the Japanese modern novel in its initial formation."

The purpose of this thesis, therefore, will be to study what Katai could have learned from Einsame Menschen and to discover to what extent he applied this new knowledge when writing Futon.

In view of the fact that most of the Japanese books which will be used in this study are not available in English translations, quotations cited in this text will be translated by the writer unless otherwise noted. My translation of Futon from the Japanese book Futon is attached in for reference. An English version of Einsame Menschen translated from the German by Mary Morrison will also be used for this comparative study.

Chapter 2

Chapter II

Katai's Literary Background up to 1907

Tayama Katai was born near Tokyo in Gumma Prefecture in 1872, four years after the Meiji Restoration. His given name was Rokuya and he was the fourth of five children. His father Shōjurō was a lower class samurai and his mother Tetsu was a daughter of Tayama Gazō of a related samurai family. When Katai was five years old, he lost his father who had been a metropolitan police officer. His father was killed in Higo during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 in a fight between the government forces and the samurais; as a result of this misfortune Katai completed only three years of elementary schooling. When he was nine years old, he went to Tokyo with his grandfather to work as an apprentice in a bookstore. About a year later Katai, due to some wrong doing on his part, was sent home to Gunma prefecture accompanied by his elder brother Miyato.