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and the writers were men of the same class, or at least they were hommes déclassés, or pretended to be such by using fictitious names. Generally speaking, therefore, much vulgarity is palpable in this class of literature, in a somewhat similar way as the popular school of pictures betrays that taint when compared with those of other schools. Nevertheless, there is great merit to be found in these books. Their plots and representations are, in many cases, so good that they deeply touch our feelings.

Speaking of Bakin, who may be considered the greatest heroic romance writer of the period, a critic says, as quoted by Mr. Aston:

‘In short, Bakin comprises in himself the best points of many men. We see in him numerous resemblances to Shakespeare. It is not only women and children, tradespeople and peasants, who admire him. Even educated gentlemen are frequently moved to tears or laughter, or made to gnash their teeth and strain their arms (with rage) by his writings.’

This conclusion may fail in some respects to hit the exact mark, and it may be so considered by foreigners who are unable to understand precisely our modes of thought; but if it does not exactly reach the point, at least it is not far from it, and this remark may also be applied to many works of the same kind.

Perhaps I may here give, with advantage, a rough classification of these works. There are historical romances, comcal romances, and novels; the latter are called by us Ninjio-bon (book of human nature), and love affairs are their principal plots. Female characters in these novels generally do not belong to desirable classes, so that they are often at variance with modern tastes. If, however, we make allowances for the fact that it must have been exceedingly difficult for the authors of those days to make heroines always out of the daughters of the higher classes, just as we are ready to do for the introduction into their works by Greek and Roman playwrights of numerous courtezans and parasites, we shall not fail to find easily much merit in their depiction of human nature. From the literary point of view, moreover, we can find much to commend in many of these works of fiction, inasmuch as many of them, especially in the case of so-called ‘Kusazoshi,’ were written in the pure phonetic alphabet and colloquial Japanese. Historical romances of the Bakin school generally contain Chinese letters in their lines to an almost surprising degree, and, therefore, in the way towards a nationalization of our written language they have not much to deserve our future consideration. On the other hand, with regard to those that are written in the pure phonetic alphabet, they have succeeded to a very creditable