午夜剧场

Great artists often possess both feminine and masculine elements. This is true of Leonardo da Vinci, Oscar Wilde, Mori Ogai, Yosano Tekkan, and our own Nagai Kafu.

Kafu, in particular, possesses the deep sensibilities of a young girl. His literature is steeped in girlhood. Kafu is positioned in literary history as a libertine writer. However, when I read his work, the "prostitutes" he depicts lack much sex appeal. Komayo in "Udekurabe" and Kimie in "Tsuyu no Atosaki" are both women with the air of selfish, eternal girls who are obsessed with true love regardless of profit or loss.

In fact, the group of novels written by Kafu in his 20s as he aimed for his debut depicts only young girls. The representative work is Kafu's debut book "Jigoku no Hana" (Flowers of Hell, 1902), which was also endorsed by Ogai. The year before this, Yosano Akiko published the poetry collection "Midaregami" (Tangled Hair), appealing the single-minded love of a "girl" to an old society. Many young people empathized with the girl warrior in love. This is a fateful composition when considering the launch of Kafu's literature.

Though overlooked in conventional literary history, Kafu was one year younger than Yosano Akiko, a contemporary of the same era. He was strongly stimulated by Akiko's girl revolution. Regarding a girl's straightforward love as human truth, he called for the renewal of society through the cries of girls resisting marriages decided by families or parents. He wrote about girls from his early years until his later years. This book re-examines Kafu not as a member of the libertine school, but as part of the "Girl Party" alongside Akiko and Ogai.

The book consists of two parts. Part 1 follows how Kafu used peace-loving maidens as a shield to criticize a society plunging into world war. Part 2 follows Mori Ogai and Ueda Bin, who were close to Kafu, and Yosano Akiko, who received passionate support from both, as the "Girl Party" shouting for non-war and peace through the same wishes of maidens.

The rich atmosphere of the Meiji and Taisho eras is also breathed into this single volume. The German-style flower garden that Ogai planted and raised himself. The various sweet kisses in the Western novels he translated. The dozens of loving letters Ueda Bin wrote to his only daughter. Akiko going to the Paris Opera wearing a pearl necklace...

Kafu loved the stars. Even during the Pacific War, he prayed for peace to the distant stars in the sky. I compared such a man to the shining constellation of Virgo. So, what was his true birth sign? The answer lies within this book.

Nobuko Mochida

午夜剧场 Press

258 pages, 2,970 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are those at the time of publication.