Previously
You wake up at night (2 Start) and fear the plight of persecuted priests when Japan was closed to the world. You still want to continue.
You wonder how did Japan respond to the end of closed country policy (2A, 2B). And preserve its identity (2C)?
At lunch (2 Middle), there is a Quiz from the librarian.
You study and find books are the key (2D). With sincerity, disclosure (2E), and emptying self (2F), autobiographical novels express Japanese culture.
You take a bus ride home and question how these novels are relevant to your life (2 End).
Story
You are assaulted on a bike ride (3 Start). You still study how Japan industrialized (3A), but also skepticism about that material growth (3B, 3C, 3D).
You find a smaller library and pick up writings by Fukuzawa, a educational reformer who welcomed the world in (3E, 3F).
But you are confronted, interrogated, and attacked by guards (3 End), but do not yield. You pass out injured, but remember old poetry in your dreams (3G).
Skills to Hone
- 1.1: Recognize how Soseki Natsume wrote novels to challenge the import of foreign technology and ideas in the Meiji era.
- 1.3: Connect the Japanese autobiographical novel (shishosetsu)’s three main traits (sincerity, disclosure, emptying self) to novels, personal writing (zuihitsu), and poetry (haiku, tanka).
- 2.2: Explain Japan imported foreign technology.
- 2.3: Describe how Fukuzawa Yukichi embraced education while Soseki Natsume was skeptic of foreign technology and ideology.