Hatsukoi（First Love）
【Masterpieces of Modern Japanese Literature㉓】
By Doppo Kunikida
Narrated by Nana Nagao
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A short story by Doppo Kunikida
“tI was fourteen at the time. Imagine that in my village, there lived an old man named Osawa-sensei. Well, in fact, he really did live there, but for now, just assume it as a hypothesis. The extent of this old man’s stubbornness was evident in the fact that, despite being a distinguished scholar of Chinese classics, no one wanted anything to do with him. Even when he encountered the village farmers, he would immediately overpower them with logic, making him someone they respected from a distance. If anyone happened to meet him along the narrow paths between the rice fields, they would step aside from a good distance away and wait for him to pass. Pleased with this, the old man grew ever more self-satisfied, striding through the village with an air of complete indifference to those around him. His house stood at the foot of the mountain, no more than three chō from mine. Though it was a small building, only about four ken wide, it was quite refined in its design. The garden was full of trees, and a variety of flowers and plants seemed to be growing there. At the time, he lived with just two others: a manservant of about forty and his twelve-year-old granddaughter. To outsiders, their household might have seemed lonely and gloomy, but perhaps in reality, it was not so at all.”
Author : Doppo Kunikida
Narrator : Nana Nagao
Produced by：Koé no Shoten
Special Thanks：Shigoto, Inc.
Listening Length：00:08:32
Release Date：2024/12/27
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
1871 – 1908
Born in Chōshi, Chiba Prefecture. Raised in Yamaguchi and Hiroshima Prefectures. His real name was Tetsuo, and his childhood name was Kamekichi. He attended Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō（now Waseda University）but dropped out. While in school, he was baptized by Uemura Masahisa. In 1894, he joined Kokumin Shimbun newspaper and served as a war correspondent during the First Sino-Japanese War. That same year, he published Aitei Tsushin,（”Communiques to a Dear Brother”）, a collection of letters written in an epistolary style. In 1897, his poetry was included under the title Doppogin in Jojoshi（”Lyric Poems”）, a collaborative work with Tayama Katai and Yanagita Kunio. In 1901, he published his first short story collection, Musashino. He later released works such as Gyuniku to bareisho（Meat and Potatoes）and Haru no Tori（”Spring Birds”）, becoming a pioneer of naturalist literature in Japan. His notable works include Wasure-enu hitobito（”Unforgettable People”）,Shuchu nikki（”A Diary under the influence of Sake ”）, Unmei（”Destiny”）,Haru no Tori （”Spring Birds”）, and Take no Kido （ “The Bamboo Gate”）.