A spring-time case
Jun'ichiro Tanizakilife of Japan was enriched by a wealth of many notable
productions, worthy of a place in the atheneum of the world;
but strange to say, no attempt has, as yet, been made to
embody them into any part of the works forming an
international library. It is true, that some Japanese novels have
been rendered into English, but such ventures have been few
and far between, and in any case, they have been of a
fragmentary nature and cannot be considered as a part of any
systematic attempt.
Literature is the mirror of a living age in which is reflected the
life of a people. It is through literature, more than any other
medium, that students of the present and future eras may
more readily gain an insight into the characteristics and life of
a people. The publishers are convinced that the placing before
the world, of representative Japanese writings and fictions, will
render an inestimable service by bringing to it fuller and better
understanding of Japan and the Japanese.
“Masterpieces of the Contemporary Japanese Fiction” comprises
a few of the most representative works of the age, embodying
as it does, the favourite productions of those authors, and
which have been rendered into English as faithfully as it has
been within the power of the translators to do so.
In this present undertaking, the publishers are not actuated by
any other motive but to allow the world to understand, and to
see Japan, as she really is.