Tōson Shimazaki: 4 works in the original Japanese, with translation
Tōson Shimazaki (25 March 1872 – 22 August 1943), the pen-name of Haruki Shimazaki, was a Japanese writer active in the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He began his career as a Romantic poet but went on to establish himself as a major proponent of Japanese Naturalism, and his most popular work is the historical novel Before the Dawn (1929–1935), about the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Works in the library
- 朝飯Tōson Shimazaki · Intermediate
- 桜の実の熟する時Tōson Shimazaki · Advanced
- 藁草履Tōson Shimazaki · Advanced
- 新生Tōson Shimazaki · Advanced
Cultural notes (selection)
技手 (gishu) was a technical staff rank in Japanese government offices from the Meiji era to before the war, ranking below 技師 (gishi) and responsible for hands-on work such as field observation. Local weather stations were often set up on high ground in cities, making regular daily observations of气压, wind, and cloud forms and reporting them to the Central Meteorological Observatory in Tokyo.
A jinrikisha (rickshaw). A common means of transport in Tokyo in the Meiji and Taishō periods, with one man pulling the vehicle and the passenger riding in it. Here "カタ、コト" is the sound of the wheels striking stones and of the puller's footsteps.
Itinerant merchants from Echigo Province (present-day Niigata Prefecture). Echigo faces the Sea of Japan, and its merchants crossed the mountains into Shinano and other regions to sell salt, dried fish, and other goods. They were renowned for their tenacious long-distance trading, which is why the author describes them as 「忍耐力に富んだ」 (rich in endurance).
A Buddhist term referring to the fleeting, ever-changing nature of all things in this world, arising and passing away moment by moment; it is often used together with the phrase “諸行無常.” Here, “無常の鐘の音” turns this abstract doctrine into an audible sound.