Sketch of Chikurigawa

Author: Torii Kitaro
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-06-01
Features: Sketches Along the Chikugo River not only includes Torii Kitaro's representative collection of essays Chikugo River Sketches, but also selects some pieces from other essay collections such as Letters from Shin-Kimachi, Letters from Later Shin-Kimachi, Iikura Correspondence, Waiting for Spring, Stories of Childhood, Hometown, and Kitaro's Civilization Essays. Chikugo River Sketches are works written by Torii when he taught at the Koshu Gakko from April 1899 to 1905. They mark his transition from the Romantic Poetry School to writing descriptive essays and hold greater significance for his emergence as a representative naturalist writer. According to Torii's chronology, while publishing Clouds in 1900, he began writing Sketches. Clouds was written in classical Chinese, while Sketches was his first attempt at writing in colloquial language. He imitated the method of John Ruskin's Modern Painters, observing the nature and life of the mountainous region with the attitude of an artist sketching. He not only described the natural scenery but also depicted individuals with distinct personalities against the backdrop of nature, with meticulous attention to every blade of grass, every frown, and every smile, combining both elements vividly. Torii's writing style is simple and unpretentious, presenting local customs and human life as if they were painted.