Yoshimi Mita, a curator at Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum
Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum
Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum was built at the site where Ogai's former residence "Kancho-ro" previously stood. He lived in the residence for 30 years from 1892 to his last years. It is said that, since the sea off Shinagawa could be seen from the second floor of Ogai's former residence located at the top of Dango Hill, Ogai named the residence "Kancho-ro." General materials related to Ogai and literary materials that have connection with Bunkyo City are collected and exhibited in Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum. (1-23-4 Sendagi, Bunkyo City)
We talked with Yoshimi Mita, a curator at Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum. (This interview was conducted on April 26, 2019.)
About "Maihime," the first novel by Ogai
Q: "Maihime," the first novel by Ogai, was written at Ogaisou in Ikenohata. What kind of circumstances surrounded Ogai at that time?
Mita: Ogai published "Maihime" in January 1890. He got married with Toshiko, the eldest daughter of Baron Yoshinori Akamatsu, a vice admiral, in the year before publication. Although he initially lived in Negishi, he moved to a residence in Ikenohata, which was owned by the Akamatsu family. While housemaids from the Akamatsu family worked in the residence, two sisters of Toshiko and two brothers of Ogai also lived together in it. It is said that Ogai enjoyed living with them.
Tokujiro (Takeji Miki (a pseudonym)), a brother of Ogai, became a drama critic and doctor, and had a funny personality, which was contrary to Ogai's serious character. Tokujiro loved dramas so much that he became a drama critic, and mimicked actors, making others laugh. On the other hand, Toshiko used to sing nagauta songs. Her home seemed to be lively. There was an anecdote that a sister of Toshiko playfully jumped up on Ogai who was cherished as the eldest son of the Mori family, and Kimiko, a sister of Ogai, was surprised to see that.
When "Maihime" was written, Toshiko was pregnant with "Oto," the eldest son. Since her husband (Ogai) published the novel in which Toyotaro, a protagonist, had a romantic interest in Eris, a beautiful young girl, Toshiko might feel uneasy though it was not clear because her words were not recorded.
As to Ogai in those days, he edited and published "Shigarami-zoshi," a literary magazine, while working as an instructor at the army medical school. He also got involved in medical journals, "Eisei Shinshi" and "Iji Shinron," besides the literary magazine "Shigarami-zoshi," he was very busy. He was engaged in medicine and literature at the same time, so his friends in the fields of medicine and literature used to visit him and have a lively conversation until 2 to 3 a.m.
"Shigarami-zoshi," vol. 1 (Owned by Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum)
Q: How was Maihime evaluated in the history of Japanese modern literature?
Generally, a novel initially appeared in a literary magazine, and then it was published as a book. "Maihime" appeared in a literary section called "Moshiogusa" in "Kokumin no Tomo," a general magazine run by Soho Tokutomi who was active as a journalist in the first line. "Maihime" attracted broad attention at the point when it was featured in the magazine that affected the intellectual class in the Meiji Period. I think it was recognized as a great novel. That was the evaluation at that time.
Although its contents were controversial, since the era was still the 1880s, in terms of the evaluation, it was an incredible and rare thing that a person who went to a Western country published an original novel of which setting was a foreign country. The fact that people who knew foreign countries only through books could read the literary work with such detailed descriptions was a big surprise for Japanese.
"Kokumin no Tomo" (Owned by Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum)
Literary works by young and energetic writers of those days appeared in "Moshiogusa," a literary section in this magazine.
The early-modern literature is called "Gesaku," or light literature, and many of those novels attached importance to didactic stories. However, I think, when modern times arrived, various writers struggled to depict the self. Shoyo Tsubouchi tried to objectively depict it. On the other hand, Ogai tried to depict the youth ego in a romantic way. In terms of that, I think, he played an important role in the history of Japanese modern literature.
Also, what kind of theme should be depicted was an important attempt in Japanese modern literature. Another important aspect was a style. The unification of the written and spoken language, which means that a story is expressed in colloquial style, was promoted in the modern age. Ogai attempted to write about the youth ego in modern times and beautiful scenes in foreign countries, using a classic style (so-called literary style) that was an old way of expressing things. Such attempts laid the foundations for Japanese modern literature, leading to the present literature while moving forward and backward.
Q: Could you talk about Ogai's position in the literary world?
The 1880s was the decade in which ways of wring modern novels were groped for. The first writer who started wring a modern novel was Shoyo Tsubouchi. Writers who made modern novels widely known through the media, such as a newspaper, were Koyo Ozaki and Rohan Koda. They wrote for the Yomiuri Shimbun. Koyo Ozaki also organized a literary association called Kenyusha, and taught young followers his literary theory. Shoyo, Koyo, Rohan and Ogai appeared in the 1880s, so the decade was called "age of Ko-Ro-Sho-Oh," that is to say, Ko for Koyo, Ro for Rohan, Sho for Shoyo, and Oh for Ogai. Ogai was one of the four great writers who tried to wrote new novels in the 1880s. It was the position of Ogai in the literary world at that time. Since a small number of people were involved in and familiar with literature and studied abroad as with Ogai at that time, he might be counted one of the four great writers who represented the 1880s.
"Shosetsu Shinzui" by Shoyo Tsubouchi (Owned by the National Diet Library)
"Shincho Hyakushu," vol. 1, a monthly collection of novels in which "Ninin Bikuni Irozange" by Koyo Ozaki appeared (Owned by the National Diet Library).
Later, "Fumizukai" by Ogai Mori also appeared in "Shincho Hyakushu."
From the days in Kancho-ro to the establishment of the memorial museum
Q: Under what circumstances did Ogai move to Kancho-ro?
It seems that Ogai's father liked this place, so the family moved to the house.
Q: I heard that Ogai lived in another house before moving from Ikenohata to Kancho-ro.
Ogai moved to a house called "Neko no Ie," or cat's house, which is famous for being also lived in by Soseki Natsume, after a divorce, and lived with his brothers in that house for a short period. Now, only a cat statue and a monument stand at the site. The building itself was relocated and reconstructed at Meiji Mura in Aichi Prefecture. (continued in the right column)
Ogai called this house "Senda Sanbo," and lived in it for about one year from 1890.
This house was a setting for "I Am a Cat," a masterpiece by Soseki, so it is called "cat's house."
Q: Does buildings of Kancho-ro remain?
Unfortunately, all buildings of Kancho-ro suffered war damage and were burnt down. It is said that the sea off Shinagawa could be seen from the second floor. Although it is not clear whether the sea could be actually seen, there is "Shiomi Elementary Schoo" (Shiomi means "seeing the sea") in the neighborhood, so it seems that the house stood on a place with a fine view. It seems that Ogai initially named only the second floor "Kancho-ro." Now, the sea cannot be seen from here by any possibility, and Tokyo Skytree can be seen at best. However, this memorial museum has large openings to imitate the fine view and create an atmosphere at that time when Ogai named it Kancho-ro.
Q: Does the grounds of this memorial museum remain the same as those of Kancho-ro in those days?
The grounds are slightly narrower than those at that time.
Plan of Kancho-ro (from an information board on the outside of the memorial museum)
Q: When did this memorial museum open?
It opened in 2012. Prior to that, Ogai was publicly honored here, and an association to prepare for opening the memorial museum was organized in 1949. People who associated with Ogai, including Kafu Nagai, a master writer who greatly adored Ogai, Nobutsuna Sasaki, a poet, and Mokichi Saito, a poet, were involved in the inauguration of the association. Although this neighborhood was a burned-out area at that time, Oto, the eldest son of Ogai, and Rui, the youngest son, donated this land to Bunkyo City in 1950.
Then, Bunkyo City developed this land as a park for children. Although all the buildings were burnt down, paving stones at the entrance, foundation stones for gateposts, a ginkgo, and a garden rock on which Rohan Koda, Ryokuu Saito and Ogai sat and had their picture taken were not lost. Also, the bust of Ogai, which is now displayed in the exhibition room, was placed in the garden. This bust was presented to Ogai in response to a result of a popularity vote conducted by "Bunsho Sekai," a literary magazine. The first place among novelists was Toson Shimazaki. Ogai was acclaimed for his translation of "The Improvisatore," ranked first as a translator though he might be disappointed with the result. The bust was created by Kozaburo Takeishi, a sculptor.
"San-nin Jogo no Ishi," a garden rock on which Ogai, Rohan and Ryokuu sat and had their picture taken, still remains in the garden of the memorial museum.
The large ginkgo that rises to the sky beside the garden rock has stood in this place since the days of Kancho-ro.
Bust of Ogai by Kozaburo Takeishi (1914) (Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum)
The paving stones at Ogai's feet still remain at the entrance of the memorial museum. (Taken in 1912, Owned by Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum)
Paving stones that retain remnants of Kancho-ro
Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Hongo Library was founded in 1962 in this place that was previously a park for children on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Ogai's birth, and the Ogai memorial room, which publicly honors him, was set up in one of rooms in the museum. The library was designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi. Although the library continued to exist for a long time, its library function was separately relocated in 2006. With the move, it was renamed Bunkyo City Hongo Library Ogai Museum that was a place only to publicly honor Ogai. Later, the building became older, and a facility for storing materials needed to be built, so it was newly opened as Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of Ogai's birth in 2012. Therefore, it has continued to exist as a facility to publicly honor Ogai after the Second World War.
Q: What kind of belongings of Ogai does the museum have?
Besides this museum, there is another Ogai memorial museum in Tsuwano, a hometown of Ogai. However, this museum (including the days of the library) opened earlier. The core of materials that this museum has are those kept by Oto, the eldest son of Ogai. This museum has many letters and postcards sent from friends of Ogai. Although not so many manuscripts by Ogai are preserved, this museum has several manuscripts.
Q: Did you establish a foundation?
No. Everything was donated to Bunkyo City. Although this area was destroyed by a wartime fire, fortunately, Oto taught students at the imperial university in Taipei at that time, so he brought Ogai's belongings to Taiwan. Those belongings are the core materials stored in this museum.
Yoshimi Mita, a curator at Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum
Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum
Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum was built at the site where Ogai's former residence "Kancho-ro" previously stood. He lived in the residence for 30 years from 1892 to his last years. It is said that, since the sea off Shinagawa could be seen from the second floor of Ogai's former residence located at the top of Dango Hill, Ogai named the residence "Kancho-ro." General materials related to Ogai and literary materials that have connection with Bunkyo City are collected and exhibited in Bunkyo City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum. (1-23-4 Sendagi, Bunkyo City)