The Innocent marks the first complete English translation of Saneatsu Mushanokoji’s Omedetaki Hito (1911), often referred to as The Good-Natured Person. This celebrated novella explores identity and self-cultivation during the late Meiji period (1868 –1912), a time when Japan opened up to Western influences in art, culture, and thought. As a quintessential I-novel, it captures the emergence of the “modern self” with a mix of profundity and humor.
The story follows a young scholar’s obsessive infatuation with Tsuru, a seventeen-year-old schoolgirl he idealizes but never speaks to. For him, she becomes an unattainable symbol of purity, blurring the line between reality and imagination. The narrative spirals inward, unraveling into an intense introspective journey about love, desire, and the cultivation of the individual self. Through this, Mushanokoji reflects vividly Japan’s cultural transformation while foreshadowing themes central to global modernist literature. The Furin Chime editions include a translator’s preface incorporating historical and cultural contexts.
This series will investigate The Innocent chapter by chapter, through notes, curiosities, and thematic connections. I hope to create a space that fosters appreciation for this unique piece of literature, teasing out its rich background and themes through reflections, citations, and images. My goal is to spark an open-ended, reflective dialogue around the narrative.
As the translator of The Innocent, I welcome queries and criticisms of any nature via the comments box at the bottom of each post.
It’s not necessary to read the novella to engage with these reflections on literature and Japan. For each chapter, I’ll provide a brief, occasionally whimsical index of significant incidents. This blog series is less a study guide and more an open exploration: an exploratory companion: a way to probe the text’s layers and offshoots, sparking curiosity and multifaceted reflections on its themes and context. For those interested, The Innocent is available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover formats from Amazon and other global retailers (Furin Chime editions).
Furin Chime Press™ 