TOKAI SANSHI

(1853–1922)

   Tokai Sanshi is the pen name of Shiba Shiro, a politician and novelist from Chiba Prefecture. In the early years of the Meiji era, Tokai studied abroad in the United States, graduating with a business degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and returned to Japan in 1885. Thereafter, he published the exotic novel Kajin no kigu (1885–97; tr. Strange Encounters with Beautiful Women, 1948), which met with popular acclaim. Over the next 12 years, Tokai extended the series into eight more works, including Toyo no kajin (Beauties of the Orient) and Ejiputo kinseishi (Modern Egyptian History). Tokai’s political career began in 1892 when he won election as a Lower House representative for Fukushima Prefecture. He was reelected seven times and went on to hold other esteemed political offices.

   See also POLITICAL NARRATIVES; WOMEN IN LITERATURE.