The Similitude of Blossoms: A Critical Biography of Izumi Koyka (1873-1939), Japanese Novelist and Playwright

440 Pages·1998·187.226 MB·English

by  Charles Shiro Inouye, Kyōka Izumi

The Similitude of Blossoms
Harvard East Asian Monographs, 172

The Similitude of Blossoms
A Critical Biography of Izumi Kyoka (r873-I939),
] apanese Novelist and Playwright
Charles Shiro Inouye
~
Published by the Harvard University Asia Center
and distributed by Harvard University Press
Cambridge (Massachusetts) and London, 1998
© 1998 by the President and Fellows ofHarvard College
Printed in the United States of America
The Harvard University Asia Center publishes a monograph series and, in coordination with
the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, the Korea Institute, the Reischauer Institute of
Japanese Studies, and other faculties and institutes, administers research projects designed to
further scholarly understanding of China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, and other Asian countries.
The Center also sponsors projects addressing multidisciplinary and regional issues in Asia.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Inouye, Charles Shiro.
The similitude of blossoms: a critical biography ofizumi Kyoka
(1873-1939), Japanese novelist and playwright I Charles Shiro
Inouye.
p. em.--(Harvard East Asian monographs: 172)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN o-674-80816-9 ( alk. paper)
1. Izumi, Kyoka, 1873-1939· 2. Authors, Japanese--2oth century
-Biography. I. Title. II. Series.
PL 809.2927396
985.6'342--dc21 98-35543
CIP
Index by the author
@ Printed on acid-free paper
Last figure below indicates year of this printing
o8 07 o6 05 04 03 02 01 oo 99 98
TO HOWARD HIBBETT AND
MURAMATSU SADATAKA

The twofold world of our ancestors has vanished like a mist. In this time
at the end of all time, we show respect for the dead by recording tales of
banished dreamers and by searching out the unfinished dreams
of those who have gone on.
Orikuchi Shinobu, 'To the Land of the Dead Mother,
to the Eternal Land-Vicissitudes of Trespass"
(Haha ga kuni e, tokoyo e-ikyo-ishiki no kifuku)
I came to believe in a Great Memory passing on from
generation to generation. But that was not enough, for these images
showed intention and choice.
William Butler Yeats, "Anima Mundi"

Acknowledgments
I began thinking about Izumi Kyoka as an undergraduate at Stanford, en
rolled in Makoto Veda's course on modern Japanese literature. I read a short
story that Edward Seidensticker had translated for Donald Keene's anthol
ogy, Modern Japanese Literature. At that time, "A Tale of Three Who Were
Blind" was the only piece ofKyoka's work widely available in English; had it
not been for Professor Seidensticker's fine rendering of that story, and for
Professor Veda's inspirational guidance, I might not have been prepared for
what was to come.
I wrote a senior thesis on Nagai Kafii and then went as a Monbusho
scholar to study in Japan with Noguchi Takehiko at Kobe University, who
immediately rejected my initial research proposal. He was of the opinion
that there were plenty of other writers to think about other than the one I
had in mind at the time. He happened to be writing about Kyoka and was
planning to teach a seminar on the author's short fiction. It was in that
course that I discovered for myself the genuineness that I had sensed in Sei
densticker's translation. Here was an artist who knew what he was doing,
someone wildly innovative yet true to his tradition and sincere about the
possibilities of art.
Acknowledgments
X
Like Professor Ueda, Professor Noguchi proved to be a wonderful men
tor. He was both an engaging teacher and a productive scholar who played
as hard as he worked. Our backgrounds could not have been more different,
but our aesthetic and intellectual interests meshed well. I should also men
tion my other teachers at Kobe: Professors Soma and Ikegami. All three
men were patient and encouraging. I thank them for teaching me the general
contours of Japanese literature, and for allowing me to become one of the
crowd. I also thank my colleagues at Kobe Daigaku, especially T akakuwa
Noriko, who has since become an important Kyoka scholar.
I wrote a master's thesis on Kyoka's plays and returned to the United
States. Having earlier been a visiting scholar in America, Noguchi recom
mended that I continue my graduate studies with Howard Hibbett. Like my
other mentors, Professor Hibbett had one foot in the Edo period and one in
a more recent era. This breadth proved to be a crucial advantage as I began
to look for the sources of Kyoka's roots in a "visual tradition," and as I now
continue my search for early configurations ofJ apanese modernity. Howard
proved to be an insightful critic and unfailing supporter, and it is to him that
I dedicate this book. To my other teachers at Harvard-Gen Itasaka, Don
ald Shively, Haruko Iwasaki, and Edwin Cranston-! also owe my heartfelt
thanks. Itasaka-sensei was always engaging. Professor Shively taught me the
importance of accuracy in scholarship. Haruko shared my interest in Kyoka
and has been a generous friend. Professor Cranston, who suffered through
my hastily written dissertation, has continued over the years to be a common
literary spirit. My thanks also to George Potter, Ho Ch'ien, Timothy Con
ner, Aoki T oshiyuki, and the others of the Harvard-Y enching Library staff
who have provided me with access to that wonderful resource.
Grants from the Social Science Research Council and the Fulbright
Hayes made it possible for me and my family to spend some time in Tokyo
to work on the dissertation that became the embryo for this book. I was
fortunate enough to study with Muramatsu Sadataka, who was introduced
to me through the graces of the late T amae Kensuke. Professor Muramatsu
is the "godfather" of Kyoka studies in Japan, having begun his lifelong study
of the author and his work while Kyoka was still alive. He generously took
me under his wing and introduced both me and Cody Poulton, who was
there to work on the plays, to the members of the Kyoka Kenkyu Kai. This
group took Cody and I seriously, even to the point of listening to us stumble
through papers at their semi-annual meetings. For their support, I owe