Memories - Omoide no Ki

A full-length novel by Tokutomi Roka. It was serialized in the Kokumin Shimbun newspaper from March 1900 (Meiji 33) to March of the following year. It was published by Minyusha in May. Kikuchi Shintaro, a Kyushu samurai, experienced the bankruptcy of his family business and the death of his father when he was a child. His mother urged him to restore the family name, which inspired him. He eventually left his hometown. After many hardships, he graduated from the Faculty of Letters at the Imperial University, married his beloved O-Toshi, and established himself as an independent critic. During that time, he came into contact with Christianity and awakened to a free-spirited way of life. At the end of the book, in a scene of a return home, Shingo's coal mine management and Matsumura's farming style were Roka's ideals. It is a masterpiece of romantic literature that brightly depicts the upward momentum of the early Meiji period. It was written based on Dickens' David Copperfield and using fragments of Roka's own memories.

[Masanobu Yoshida]

"Memories" (included in Modern Japanese Literature Series 9, 1971, Chikuma Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

徳冨蘆花(とくとみろか)の長編小説。1900年（明治33）3月から翌年3月まで『国民新聞』に連載。5月、民友社刊。九州の士族、菊池慎太郎は、幼時、家業の破産と父の死にあい、母に家名再興を迫られて発奮。やがて出郷。苦難を重ね、帝国大学文科を卒業し、愛するお敏(とし)と結婚、在野の評論家として身をたてるまでになる。その間、キリスト教に触れ、自由人的な生き方に目覚める。巻末、帰省の場面に描かれている新吾の炭鉱経営と松村の農業形態は、蘆花の理想であった。明治前期の時代の上昇気運を明るく描いた浪漫(ろうまん)主義文学の傑作である。ディケンズの『デビッド・カパーフィールド』に学び、蘆花自身の思い出の断片を生かして書かれたもの。

［吉田正信］

『『思出の記』（『現代日本文学大系9』所収・1971・筑摩書房）』

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