Chapter 273: Cherry Blossoms and Traditional Literature

Yuichiro Yoshikawa? He was actually calling him?

Akiwara Yuto was momentarily confused.

However, since the other party was an elder, Akiwara Yuto said politely, "Hello, Mr. Yoshikawa, is there something you need?"

A coughing sound came from the other end of the line, but it stopped quickly.

Immediately after, Yuichiro Yoshikawa extended an invitation: "Would this Saturday be convenient?"

Akiwara Yuto deliberated for a moment, but still agreed.

Yuichiro Yoshikawa was, after all, a titan of the literary world, and he had played a part in whether Akiwara Yuto could be recognized by the traditional literary circles previously.

Both in terms of reason and sentiment, he should not decline this invitation.

After the two agreed on a time and place, Yuichiro Yoshikawa took the initiative to end the call.

Time quickly reached Saturday afternoon; Akiwara Yuto, dressed in a formal suit, arrived at a high-end teahouse located in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.

After stating his name, he was led by a host to a tea room.

Here, he met Yuichiro Yoshikawa.

The man was sitting and drinking tea, with a middle-aged woman attending to him nearby.

Unlike what he had seen in news photos before, Akiwara Yuto found that Yuichiro Yoshikawa looked much "older."

Not only were there many age spots on his face, but even the skin exposed to the air was wrinkled and looked somewhat dark.

Akiwara Yuto stood on the tatami, bowed deeply, and offered his greetings.

The man was, after all, an "old senior" of the literary world, and as a young writer, he still had to fulfill his responsibilities regarding etiquette.

"No need to be formal, sit down."

Yuichiro Yoshikawa waved his hand, signaling Akiwara Yuto to be at ease.

However, his listless appearance made Akiwara Yuto worry about his health.

Akiwara Yuto nodded, then sat down in the formal kneeling position.

"Mr. Akiwara, I invited you here this time mainly because I wanted to see what kind of person the author of *Snow Country* is."

Yuichiro Yoshikawa smiled with his wrinkled face.

"Secondly, I want to ask you a question."

"Please go ahead."

"What do you think Japanese traditional literature is?"

Akiwara Yuto was silent for a long time, not knowing how to answer.

If he were to define it using academic terminology, he could undoubtedly find many answers, but he could also see that the old man before him did not seem to want those canned responses.

Yuichiro Yoshikawa smiled, signaled the woman nearby to fill their tea cups, and then said, "If you don't have an answer, I hope you can slowly realize it through your writing."

"But for me personally, traditional literature is the ultimate beauty."

Akiwara Yuto was puzzled and asked in a confused tone, "Beauty?"

Yuichiro Yoshikawa nodded and began to explain.

"Our lives are fleeting, and many things are often impossible to grasp in the end. But traditional literature is different; it can capture this fleeting beauty and turn it into a kind of eternal beauty."

"This is the literary Dao that I pursue!"

Hearing these words, Akiwara Yuto recalled the characteristics of Japanese literature he had studied during his graduate studies in his previous life.

In the eyes of many famous Japanese figures, life is always fleeting, so one should live like a cherry blossom and die brilliantly, achieving ultimate beauty within a limited life.

The worship of this concept even reached a "pathological" level.

Taking *Shunkinsho* as an example, it writes about a servant who loves and worships his mistress, placing her on a lotus pedestal to pay homage to her.

When one day the mistress is disfigured, the first thing the servant does upon hearing the news is to blind himself.

Just like that, the beauty was preserved in his heart forever.

Regardless of whether it was "pathological," Akiwara Yuto still held Yuichiro Yoshikawa's persistence in high regard.

Although he had heard that the man's private life was flawed, he could never compare to his persistence in the literary Dao.

However, Akiwara Yuto also became confused because of this.

Would such a person really suppress him just because he refused to become his apprentice?

Yuichiro Yoshikawa took a sip of tea and continued to ask, "Mr. Akiwara, what do you think the future of traditional literature will be?"

Akiwara Yuto hesitated upon hearing this question.

In this current era, traditional literature had long been squeezed into a niche by popular literature represented by mystery novels, and in the future, it would be further squeezed by light novels.

It could be said that the number of people who love traditional literature would only decrease until it became a plaything for a very small number of people.

Even if a batch of popular books under the name of traditional literature were published at that time, they might have nothing to do with traditional Japanese thought, but would instead lean more toward the category of popular literature.

Because Akiwara Yuto did not answer for a long time, Yuichiro Yoshikawa stared at him with his cloudy eyes.

After a long while, Akiwara Yuto spoke the truth: "I don't think traditional literature has much of a future."

Although he could make up some lies, he did not think his lies would have any meaning here.

As a titan of traditional literature, Yuichiro Yoshikawa should be clearer about the changes in the industry than he was.

After all, in an increasingly impetuous era, popular literature would inevitably crush traditional literature.

However, to Akiwara Yuto's surprise, after hearing his answer, Yuichiro Yoshikawa did not show disappointment or thunderous rage.

He just smiled and said in a calm tone, "Just like cherry blossoms."

After hearing these words, Akiwara Yuto immediately understood his intention.

The so-called cherry blossoms actually have a blooming period of only 4 to 10 days.

So the other party's meaning was that traditional literature was about to face its curtain call, just like cherry blossoms.

But how should he respond?

With comfort, with regret?

Akiwara Yuto did not know what to do for a moment and could only lower his head and take a sip of tea.

Dealing with a writer like this, any superfluous nonsense he said might be seen through directly.

"Let's stop here for today."

Just then, Yuichiro Yoshikawa stood up unsteadily, and the middle-aged woman beside him immediately supported him.

The two walked around the low table toward the direction of the shoji door.

Seeing their actions, Akiwara Yuto was dumbfounded.

Was the reason he was called over today just to be asked these baffling questions?

This was too ridiculous, wasn't it?

Or was it that he hadn't given the answer the other party wanted?

He couldn't think of an answer, so he could only stand up as well, preparing to walk out the door and bid farewell to Yuichiro Yoshikawa.

Just then, Yuichiro Yoshikawa stopped outside the shoji door and turned around with the help of the woman beside him.

He looked at Akiwara Yuto and said in a gentle and sincere tone.

"Mr. Akiwara, could you let this cherry blossom bloom a little longer?"

Hearing this request, the confusion in Akiwara Yuto's heart immediately vanished.

He stood up, bowed respectfully, and replied, "Of course, no problem!"