Ichii Fuurusho--Nagai Kafu and Scenes of Ruin (1879-1959)

Ichii Fuurusho--Nagai Kafu and Scenes of Ruin (1879-1959)

Nagai Kafu was born in Tokyo in 1879, and was a man of letters who equally observed the light and shadow of civilization's opening to the world. He became familiar with Western languages early on, and through his studies at Columbia University and in Paris, he developed a growing sense of discomfort with the rapid modernization of Japan. His eyes were drawn to the atmosphere of Edo left in a corner of Tokyo and the joys and sorrows woven by geisha, private prostitutes, and others. In "Armbarbe" and "Bokuto Kitan," the beauty of the cityscape sinking under the waves of civilization is alive, and Shofu carefully described the fading scenery with a Chinese tone. In his later years, he kept a diary titled "Danjentei Nippori" (The Diary of an Intestine), in which he kept a record of Tokyo as it was transformed by the war and air raids. His literature was not mere nostalgia, but the pride of a chronicler fighting against oblivion, transcending the clamor of the times. His love of p
erdition and his oblique view of the world still strikes the hearts of those who read his work.