Although he was named Kinnosuke at birth, he assumed the pseudonym Sseki in 1889 and later adopted it as his pen name. Because Sseki's father was fifty-three and his mother, at age forty, was old-fashioned enough to feel ashamed rather than pleased to deliver a child so late in her life, the infant was not welcomed into such a large family. Great sociopolitical changes were sweeping Japan at the time, and the fortunes of the family were also beginning to decline. The newborn Sseki was therefore soon placed in a foster home, and two years later he was adopted by Shiobara Shnosuke and Yasu, a couple who were acquainted with his family and who tried to buy the young boy's love by showering him with material things. In
Michikusa (1915; translated as
Grass on the Wayside, 1969) Sseki later wrote about his unhappy childhood with his adoptive parents, whose marriage ended in divorce when he was nine years old. Sseki then returned to his biological parents' home, although he did not know for some time that they were his real parents. In
Garasudo no naka (1915; translated as
Within My Glass Doors, 1928) he writes that, having heard this truth from a maid in the house, he was grateful for her kindness in sharing the story with him.
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