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words. Works of fiction have been, and are being, written a good deal. We have not yet produced any great genius such as the geniuses produced in the Tokugawa period, but in some ways we have made improvements. Whilst writers of works of fiction in the Tokugawa period had no great enlightenment in themselves, as I have described above, modern writers are mostly men of proper training and regular education; many of them are graduates of the University, and many of them have knowledge of Western literature. If only the public would give more encouragement to them to continue their toil, I have every confidence that they would succeed. I may also say that theatrical plays are being written by the new men of the present generation. They have not, however, up to now turned out much that can be considered a success. The ‘Chiushingura’ (48 Ronin) or the ‘Sendaihagi’ (Lespedeza bicolor of Sendai) of the Tokugawa period have been surpassed by no works of our own day as yet.