novel of the civil wars which preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa Shōgunate.
The general impression left by a very imperfect examination of the drama and fiction of the last twenty years is on the whole favourable. The moral standards are less artificial, there are fewer offences against good taste and decency, and there is a prevailing sobriety of tone and an avoidance of the glaring improbabilities of every kind which abound in the writings of such authors as Chikamatsu and Bakin. We no longer meet with such monstrously long drawn-out stories as the Hakkenden. Comparatively much shorter than its predecessor, the recent novel shows more signs of conscientious care in its composition.
The social position of Japanese writers of fiction has of late been completely revolutionised. In the Yedo period they were Bohemians or hommes déclassés, who were in constant trouble with the police, and were classed, along with actors, among the lowest of the people. Now they are respectable members of society; some of them, like Tsuboüchi, being graduates of the Imperial University. Notwithstanding the low prices at which their works are issued,[1] a popular novelist now commands a fair income from his works. Yano Fumiō, out of the proceeds of the sale of his Keikoku Bidan (a novel of Theban life, with Epaminondas for the hero), was able to treat himself to a tour in Europe, and to build a fine house with the balance.
The art of writing history has not made much progress in recent years. Modern methods of investiga-
- ↑ The Tajōtakon, of five hundred pages, with illustrations, is published at about 1s. 6d. of our money.
