The first modern pieces of writing, the foundation of modern literary genre in Japan,Tsubouchi Shoyo. The Drifting Cloud (浮雲) by Futabatei Shimei (二葉亭 四迷)

Tsubouchi Shoyo is one of the founders of the modern novel in Japan, the genre that revolutionized the way Western and Eastern patterns were perceived. “The Essence of the Novel” is a masterpiece, an introduction to modernism and modern literary genre in Japan. The “The Essence of the Novel” describes everything that stands for modern notion, it does have a background, its focal point from which everything has its onset, the history, its moment in the past,  the reader notices a boom of something new and profound. The age of modernization and age of changes Japanese people were so afraid of marked Japan forever. Western literature seemed to push back the original Japanese genre of ‘gesaku’ one, which, symbolized frivolous, cherry and merry fiction so typical for Meji era. “The Essence of the Novel” focuses on the language, on the pattern, on the protagonist’s character, symbols and meaning. The feelings and emotions are the core of the plot, the descriptions are rich in adjectives. This schema shapes the unique novel of modern times. Yes, the “The Essence of the Novel” is not the only one sophisticated piece worth reading, namely, another one appears; written by Futabatei Shimei “The Drifting Cloud” makes a tremendous impact of how writing starts evolving in Japan, it is indeed a first modern novel in Japanese literature. The plot of the novel is very simple, one would call it trivial, yet, important in notion.

The main character of the novel Utsumi Bunzo is a son of a Tokugawa shogun. The young man is having a tough time, he lost his job as a government official, he blames everyone around him for his misfortune, yet, he doesn’t see his own mistakes. Omasa. Utsumi’s guardian is very disappointed, she wanted to marry her daughter with Utsumi, now, when he is disrespected by losing his job and unprivileged – her plans will not come true, her daughter mustn’t be unprivileged, discomforted by improper marriage. The love is too strong to be left behind, our protagonist has to prove he is a worth person to be trusted again.  He is having a rival, Noboru, whom he fiercely competed at work and private field. He also want to be with a beautiful girl – Osei, he even made a progress to become much more closer to her, gradually he thinks he will win her heart over Utsumi. So does the novel develops, so does the feelings between Osei and Noboru changes, until one decisive moment, when, Utsumi finally realizes that most of the mistakes that had happened were of his fault – now aware of them all, he wants to repair the damage and prove he is a distant man, a proper person for Utsumi, the novel is not at all a happy ending one, it ends with a question mark, a doubt, an uncertainty and regret. Utsumi knows that he lost his battle with shrewd Noboru, a success-orientated man, unscrupulous and over-ambitious.

Utsumi is an intellectual protagonist, day dreamer, a visionary, not a voucher. He feels, he suffers, he regrets, he loves so strong that it is felt only once in a lifetime. The novel “The Drifting Cloud” is not as at first it may be felt as “I novel” genre – but to be very specific – ‘genbun’itchi’ a representative of spoken and writing language all together.