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In May 1907 he wrote Shōjo Byō, or The Maiden's Malady, in June Negi Hitotaba, or A Bunch of Green Onions, and in September Futon.
To recapitulate, then, Katai's literary career before the publication of Futon can be broken down into three periods according to the nature of his work and his intentions: (1) His early period began in 1885 when he started composing Chinese poems, as befitted the son of a samurai, and ended in 1889, the year he married. (2) His formative naturalistic period ended in 1905. (3) His experimental stage began in 1906. In September 1907 he was recognized as a naturalist with the publication of Futon.
(1) The characteristics of Katai's early works were those of a "nature" poet who was taught to express his emotions freely.
(2) Katai started as a writer at an early age, but during this period he had not grasped an understanding of the prose medium. It was in this formative naturalistic period (1900–05) that Katai was inspired by Maupassant's works. Katai relates his impression of Maupassant in his memoir Tokyo no Sanjūnen:
How my mind, eyes, and body were struck with wonder at these twelve volumes of exciting After-Dinner Series![1] I had previously been deeply moved by Emile Zola's Térèse Raquin but my wonder at After-Dinner Series was not at all that sort of thing. . . .
Perhaps my state of mind might have reached the right sort of transitional stage. In any case I was completely changed by these After-Dinner Series.[2]
Katai was searching for a new descriptive style, a new path initially opened up by Zola's naturalism, but it was Maupassant who
