Shiki drew 18 pictures of vegetables and fruits with watercolors, which were titled "Kudamono-cho," from June 27 to August 6, 1902, the year he died. Since Sosanjin, a haiku pupil of Shiki, to whom Shiki asked to write calligraphy on this picture album (12 cm high and 9 cm wide, boxed) died in his father's country (Ching), Shiki used it for himself. Two haiku paintings by Izan Shimomura, a friend of Sosanjin's and a painter, are also included in it. At this time, Shiki's caries worsened further, so he took morphine daily for pain relief. Shiki lay on his back, and awkwardly drew pictures while being supported by his sister when morphine worked.
小生唯一の療養法は「うまいものを喰ふ」に有之候 （『墨汁一滴』）
The only remedy for me is to "eat good meals" ("Bokujyu Itteki")
Shiki found a zest for living in foods. He wrote that sashimi was tasty even though he daily ate it, and that fruits, confectionery and tea were also tasty even though they were not digested well. A doctor advised him not to eat fruits. When we take a look at his daily menu written in "Gyoga Manroku," his diary, we are surely surprised by the meal sizes that were too large for a seriously ill person.
Meals that Shiki ate are reproduced in miniature in Shikian.
In his essay "Kudamono to Yo" included in the serial "Kudamono," which he wrote in the year before his death, his obsession with fruits and his unique analytical ability are expressed:
"I do now know the reason I like to eat fruits? Is it due to my illness or other causes? I have liked fruits since my childhood and even after becoming a student, so when I got money for school expenses, I usually bought and ate fruits after eating beef. (...) I have not been able to leave my bed and go out to enjoy something after becoming ill, so eating is now my only pleasure, and eventually I eat fruits daily. When I have come to eat fruits daily, I just find rare fruits to be more delicious, and have no opinion of them. I never get tired of eating sour fruits because I think I have a fever. Although ordinary people do not eat Chinese citrons because they are too acid, I feel they are tasty when I have a fever. On the other hand, I feel that a fruit, such as an apple that is less acid and juicy, tastes good when I begin to eat it, but I get tired of it soon if I continue eating it for two to three days. A persimmon is very sweet and not so dry as an apple, so I can eat it without getting tired of it. (...) A banana is also tasty. A pineapple and a mulberry are also very tasty. A seed of Chinese black pine is also very tasty. I guess the only seeds that I have not eaten are seeds of Japanese cedar and rohdea." (The old forms of Chinese characters are changed to Semi-Simplified Chinese characters)
In his short essay "Onjiki Ko" (owned by the National Diet Library), he also explained about words related to eating and drinking and their usage examples. Those 36 words include "salt," "chikuwa," "crab," "sea bream," "eel," "scallion," "Nara Chazuke," and "Yuzuke." Although it is not known how he chose those words, his enthusiasm for food and considerations about it are unique.
As with "Kudamono-cho," Shiki entitled a picture album "Kusabana-cho," which was given by Fusetsu Nakamura, his friend, and drew 17 flowering plants in short bursts from August 1 to 20 in 1902, the year of his death. A "morning glory" was brought by daughters of Katsunan Kuga, his neighbor. He died at the age of 34 and 11 months on September 19 at Shikian a month after earnestly drawing the "morning glory," which was his swan song.
Illustrations of a hardy begonia at the beginning "Kusabana-cho" (right) and garden nasturtiums (left)
An illustration of a morning glory, which was Shiki's swan song
