Writers of the Meiji Dawn

Eight memoirs of the men who made modern Japanese literature, by a critic who knew them. Uchida Roan recalls the Rokumeikan fever that bred the new fiction, then Tsubouchi Shoyo the pioneer, Ozaki Koyo and the Ken'yusha coterie, the fallen star Yamada Bimyo, Koda Rohan's sudden debut, Mori Ogai at his all-night desk, the satirist Saito Ryokuu, and Natsume Soseki, recalled weeks after his death. Roan writes with affection and with unsparing candor: anecdotes of first meetings, quarrels and last visits sit beside frank verdicts on each writer's worth. Endnotes identify the people, places and books of Meiji Tokyo.

A New English Translation by Valentin Sarić. AI-assisted translation.