POLITICAL NARRATIVES

   The short-lived genre of Japanese political narratives (seiji shosetsu) appeared during the 1870s, fed by a contemporary popular interest in politics in the wake of the Meiji Restoration. The stories, whose flat characterizations and simple, propagandistic plots lacked serious literary quality, nevertheless helped shape readers’ thoughts on Meiji politics. Author Yano Ryukei (1851–1931) helped establish the genre with his Keikoku bidan (Inspiring Tales of Statesmanship, 1883). Other key authors include Tokutomi Soho, who edited Kokumin no tomo (The People’s Friend) from 1887 to 1898, Suehiro Tetcho, whose science fiction work Setchubai (Plum Blossoms in the Snow, 1886) envisaged a futuristic Japan, and Tokai Sanshi, whose Kajin no Kigu (1885–97; tr. Strange Encounters with Beautiful Women, 1948) included a bevy of foreign protagonists. Flagging popular interest in politics following the establishment of the Diet, as well as the rise of newspapers as a vehicle for political discourse, led to the rapid decline of political narratives by the end of the 19th century.

   See also MODERN THEATER.