KEIKOKU BIDAN

Keikoku Bidan (Inspiring Tales of Statesmanship, 1883) is an adaptive political novel by Yano Ryukei published during the height of the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement. In the tradition of Tokugawa literature, the novel addresses many contemporary political concerns but is reset in a different time and place in order to evade possible censorship. The work, written in a mixture of styles, contains a number of tales from Greek history, including the rise and fall of Thebes, which resonated with the contemporary world of Japanese politics. Despite its unevenness, it was very popular and inspired many young readers, including Tsubouchi Shoyo, to try their hand at writing novels.

See also ADAPTIVE TRANSLATIONS; TRANSLATION.