OMOIDE NO KI

Omoide no ki (1901; tr. Footprints in the Snow, 1970), by Meiji writer Tokutomi Roka, is a semiautobiographical story of boyhood experiences during the Meiji era. After the loss of his father and family fortune, the hero Kikuchi Shintaro and his mother move in with Shintaro’s accomplished uncle. Shintaro is there refined through formalized education until he is asked to become his uncle’s heir through adoption and marriage into his uncle’s family. Shintaro runs away, overwhelmed with the situation presented to him. Following a trail of adventures Shintaro transfers from Doshisha University to Tokyo University, where he eventually becomes a writer. The story finishes with his marriage to his sweetheart, showing romance triumphant amid adversity.

See also I-NOVELS.