A Grassy Path and Other Writings

A little girl’s grave brings a family back to a sorrow long kept quiet. As her parents remember disgrace and loss, their younger daughter walks through a changing countryside with almost no sense of the past. On another grass-grown road, travelers anxious about bandits discover that a Chinese mother and child are more afraid of them than they are of her.

Eight writings by Tayama Katai move between intimate fiction, mountain travel, literary criticism, and reflections on the heart. “A Grassy Path” follows a family visit to a neglected grave. “From Kusatsu to Ikaho” remembers a vigorous day’s walk through mist and heat, while other sketches imagine journeys to remote hot springs and summer retreats. A substantial essay on Ihara Saikaku examines money, desire, storytelling, and the life beneath society’s appearances. The final writings consider trust, solitude, memory, and nature.

Katai (1872–1930), a central writer of Japanese naturalism, joins close observation with difficult philosophical questions. This complete new English translation includes all eight supplied works with brief notes on readings, literary references, and textual irregularities. AI-assisted translation, prepared and edited by Valentin Sarić.