Nekohachi and Impressions of Sapporo

An animal mimic meets an acquaintance on a streetcar and accepts an invitation to a gathering of writers. Their discussion of a story about an actor playing a tiger touches Nekohachi’s private sorrow: he earns his living by making people laugh, yet hopes his children will escape the same profession. As the evening continues, performance, pride, payment, and his love of growing vegetables reveal different sides of a man accustomed to hiding his feelings behind jokes.

The collection opens with Impressions of Sapporo, a lineated portrait of the northern city. Vegetable sellers, poplars, roasted corn, and approaching snow mark a wanderer’s attachment to streets he must eventually leave.

First published in 1909 and 1918 respectively, these two works show Iwano Hōmei moving between restless observation and a performer’s inward life. This complete English translation preserves the original order, every line of Impressions of Sapporo, and all seven sections of Nekohachi, with concise notes on period references and textual uncertainties.