SOURCE: "Higuchi Ichiyo," in Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. XII, Nos. 3-4, October, 1956-January, 1957, pp. 3-26.

In the following essay, Tanaka discusses the relationships between events recorded in Higuchi's diary and themes in her short stories and novels.

With the beginning of the Meiji era Japan entered upon a new epoch of her history. The sudden impact of Western ideas made itself felt in many phases of life, and it took quite a time until the people had adjusted themselves to the changes which the restoration had brought to the nation.

This early Meiji era gave to Japan a woman writer, Higuchi Ichiyō (with her personal name called Natsu), who, during the short span of her life from 1872 to 1896, created a genre of stories which is unique in Japanese literature. Her life was full of suffering, part of which was shared by fellow men of her time. However, much of...