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The proliferation in Japan of exclusive literary groups may require a few words of comment. The phenomenon of cliquishness is by no means limited to the world of literature; it exists in almost every sphere of Japanese life, including the academic world, politics, bureaucracy and business, as well as music, painting and all the traditional arts. The tendency of writers and others to band together in groups or societies derives directly from the pre-modern period, when the individual young artist had scant chance of recognition unless he could be identified with some established family or school that would give him its protection and encouragement. This relates to the feudal tradition of a close relationship between master and pupil which even today plays an important part in literature and other fields.

Japan, of course, is not unique in having literary coteries, but there can be few countries where their existence and the resulting rivalries have had so much influence. The ramifications of the various schools and factions need not concern the general Western reader, but some of the more important groupings, such as the Shirakaba and the Neo-Perceptionists, are identified in the biographical notes. The personal nexus, reinforced by bonds of loyalty and obligation, often plays at least as important a part in the development of these cliques as does common adherence to a literary programme. This also applies to the fields of politics and elsewhere.

The Great War was on the whole a material boon to Japan and the outbreak of hostilities (in which Japan participated on the Allied side) possessed none of the disruptive significance that it did for English, French or German literature. Far more important was the unrest subsequent to the end of the war. Inflation and economic dislocation produced considerable social turmoil; this combined with the repercussions of the Russian Revolution to stimulate left-wing and labour movements. A large part of the Japanese intelligentsia, including not a few writers, was affected by these developments and during the years following 1918 several of them participated directly or