Akita Ujaku, a novelist and dramatist, wrote stories for children most
energetically around 1920. According to his autobiography, he wanted to
write stories for children as a form of art in 1919. He was suddenly attracted
to them while reading Tolstoy's modern folktale as educational materials
for his daughter. He began to write several stories for children that year.
Akita had already contributed sixteen stories to children's magazines such as Nihon Shônen [Japanese Boys] and Akai Tori [Red Bird]. From 1919, he continually published stories in magazines, which were collected into two anthologies in 1921, Higashi no Kodomo [Children in the East] and Taiyô to Hanazono.
Nine stories for children and one children's drama are collected in Taiyô
to Hanazono. Stories are written in allegorical style. "Taiyô
to Hanazono" describes how the owner of a chrysanthemum garden is
disturbed by other people's opinions and changes the plants in his garden
one after another. "Hakuchô no Kuni" ["The Land of
the Swan"] is about a one-eyed swan couple who, meaning well, ruin
the one eye of their baby swans. The nine stories portray human folly sadly
but beautifully.
In the essay at the beginning of the book, Akita suggests that although
the stories for children are formally made for children, they are also
for grown-ups who have a child-like nature within themselves, and that
grown-ups in fact experience an eternal childhood. Thus, Akita's works
were also aimed at grown-ups. |
