Chapter 274: A Personal Matter

There were two main reasons why Akiwara Yuto agreed to Yoshikawa Yuichiro's request so readily.

In the current literary world, the vitality of traditional literature is like cherry blossoms, about to fade away.

If he could make these cherry blossoms bloom a little longer, it would undoubtedly prove to the outside world that he possesses immense literary talent.

Besides that, Yoshikawa Yuichiro's sincerity toward literature also moved Akiwara Yuto to a certain extent.

After leaving the teahouse, Akiwara Yuto took a private car back home, returned to his study, and began to ponder.

How should he fulfill this request?

For example, should he continue to write more works by Kawabata Yasunari?

Should he further promote aesthetic literature?

After mulling it over for half a day, he abandoned this plan.

Among Kawabata Yasunari's many works, "Snow Country" can certainly be considered the most representative.

Apart from that, his other three representative works include "The Dancing Girl of Izu," "Old Capital," and "Thousand Cranes."

Although the literature and stories remain beautiful, they did not achieve a breakthrough based on "Snow Country."

One could only say they remain aesthetic literature representing "sorrow."

And in this world, Yoshikawa Yuichiro is already the representative of aesthetic literature; no matter what he writes, it will be considered by the outside world as a tribute and supplement to him.

Therefore, it would be best if he could write something different, preferably something that could pioneer a new genre based on the current traditional literature.

Akiwara Yuto took out a pen and wrote three names on paper—Natsume Soseki, Mishima Yukio, and Oe Kenzaburo.

Looking at the names, he began to think about them one by one.

Natsume Soseki, nicknamed the "Banknote Author," was the teacher of Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

He holds a high status in the history of modern Japanese literature and is known as a "national great writer," having written many works in his life, such as "I Am a Cat," "Botchan," and so on.

The styles of these works are not very uniform; some lean toward romanticism, while others are realism.

But the fact that his works became famous must have been related to his struggle against the mainstream naturalistic literature of Japan at the time.

In the current era, they might not have such a great impact.

So, for his purpose, it seems of little significance.

Akiwara Yuto thought for a moment and crossed out this name.

Mishima Yukio has the nickname "Seppuku Author," and it is said that his death scene was one of the indirect reasons that prompted Kawabata Yasunari to commit suicide.

He is one of the masters of post-war Japanese literature, possessing high prestige not only in the Japanese literary world but also receiving high praise in the Western world, with some even hailing him as the "Hemingway of Japan."

In Akiwara's view, his works are excellent, and his writing is characterized by being filled with violence, blood, and darkness.

However, such works are inseparable from his radical thoughts, which also led to his eventual death.

On November 25, 1970, Mishima led men to kidnap the commander of the Eastern Ground Self-Defense Force, then gave a speech to the Self-Defense Force officers, calling for "true warriors" to join him in a mutiny, demanding the overthrow of the constitution and the protection of the Emperor.

After all the soldiers remained indifferent, Mishima returned to the room, stabbed his abdomen with a short sword, and cut out his intestines.

To assist him in ritual decapitation, his followers struck him with a sword four times before successfully severing his head.

Undoubtedly, this scene was a tremendous shock to his close friend Kawabata Yasunari.

Akiwara Yuto naturally dared not use his works.

Otherwise, if any special right-wing ideology were interpreted from the content of the works, his literary path would undoubtedly be stained.

Thinking of this, he picked up his pen again, crossed out the name, and looked at the last one.

Oe Kenzaburo, the second Nobel Prize winner besides Kawabata Yasunari, was an old friend of Mo Yan and also an admirer of Lu Xun.

Compared to Mishima Yukio's right-wing ideology, he could be completely described as an anti-war writer.

And his anti-war background is closely related to the era he lived in.

When he was 10, Japan surrendered to the United States and was reformed by the latter, which issued a new constitution.

By the time he was 13, because of the influence of Chairman Mao, the "Red Army Movement" broke out in Japan, a movement that failed under the suppression of the government at the time.

But these two huge historical events had a profound influence on Oe Kenzaburo.

Because of his constant reflection on reality and the future, his works contain many anti-war styles.

Even he himself stated many times: "Japan should apologize for the war and settle the history of the past."

However, the key reason why Oe Kenzaburo's works are praised is actually the fusion of Japanese tradition and Western modernity.

Unlike Murakami Haruki's attitude toward traditional Japanese literary works, although Oe Kenzaburo also widely absorbed the ideas of foreign literary works, he held traditional Japanese literature in high regard.

In many works, he made extensive use of the symbolic techniques in "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" to create an imaginative world that tightly condensed reality and mythology.

It was precisely this characteristic that allowed his book "A Personal Matter" to successfully win the unanimous recognition of the Nobel Prize in Literature committee.

Akiwara Yuto pondered for half a day and found that Oe Kenzaburo's works were the most suitable for him to "transplant" at the moment.

First, the historical background of Oe Kenzaburo's era is almost the same as his own, and the time he won the Nobel Prize was also exactly 1994.

Second, although Oe Kenzaburo's works absorbed a large amount of Western literary thought, unlike Murakami Haruki, they were ultimately a development based on traditional Japanese literature and constituted a unique genre.

Having made his decision, Akiwara Yuto poured himself a cup of tea and began to write furiously.

This time, he intended to write Oe Kenzaburo's representative work, that is, "A Personal Matter."

In this story, the protagonist is surnamed Bird, and his wife gives birth to a disabled infant, causing Bird to suddenly fall into a difficult situation.

Bird wants the doctor to kill the infant through a delayed surgery, but the doctor states that he "cannot directly kill the infant," but privately suggests that Bird "adjust the amount of milk fed to the infant" or simply "replace the milk with sugar water."

Out of fear, Bird first chooses to escape.

He leaves the infant at the hospital and tries to let it weaken and die.

He himself hides in the bedroom of his old lover, Himiko, and falls into a sea of love and desire.

Himiko is both a savior and a witch; she gives Bird comfort, makes him forget his worries, and also lures him into constant depravity.

At this moment, a telephone rings in the darkness, but this long-awaited call does not bring the news of the infant's death from exhaustion.

On the phone, Bird is informed that the neurosurgery expert and the hospital's vice president have decided to operate on the infant.

No one dares to predict the result of the surgery; if the effect is not ideal, Bird will have to spend his life accompanying a vegetable-like child.

This is a reality that Bird refuses to face no matter what.

He rejects the doctor's suggestion and brings the infant back from the hospital.

Bird and Himiko plan several schemes, including burying the sick child through a black-market abortionist.

In the bitter wind and rain, the infant's crying causes a fierce struggle within Bird's heart.

Ultimately, he decides to send the child back to the hospital for treatment to take on his life's responsibility.

After about half a week, Akiwara Yuto finally finished this work.

After careful consideration, he did not publish the work immediately, but instead sent the manuscript to Yoshikawa Yuichiro first...