Chapter III
Katai's Motive for Writing Futon
Katai reminisces about his motive for writing Futon in his memoirs:
In every respect, it must have been Hauptmann's Sabishiki Hitobito [Einsame Menschen] which suggested to me most of the ideas for writing Futon. Needless to say, if my own Anna Mahr had not shown up in my actual life, Futon would not have been written even though I already had that idea.[1]
From this statement it seems that when writing Futon two conditions were necessary for Katai. First, it was necessary to have Hauptmann's Einsame Menschen as his reference. Second, it was advantageous for Katai to have met Michiyo who became Katai's counterpart to Anna Mahr in Hauptmann's Einsame Menschen. Therefore we should trace how and when these conditions came together in Katai's thoughts.
Hauptmann's Einsame Menschen was published in 1891. Katai says it was about 1899 or 1900 that he first heard the name of Hauptmann mentioned among the literati.[2] However, the actual date when Katai read Einsame Menschen is not known. Yet as far as can be ascertained, there is evidence that Katai had a copy of Einsame Menschen which he loaned to his friend Tōson as mentioned in a letter from Tōson to Katai dated October 26, 1901.[3] In this letter it is clear that Tōson is
- ↑ Tayama Katai, Yaza ("Seated All Night Without Sleep") (Tokyo: 1925), quoted in Wada, op. cit., p. 159.
- ↑ Tayama Katai, Chōhen Shōsetsu no Kenkyū ("Study of Novels") (Tokyo: 1925), quoted in Wada, op. cit., p. 160. (See additional information, footnote 1, p. 9.)
- ↑ Shimazaki Tōson, Shimazaki Tōson Zenshū, (19 vols.; Tokyo: Shinchōsha, 1951), XIX, 49–50.
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