In the early years of the twentieth century Japanese authors redefined the Western literary concept of naturalism in various ways, but perhaps the work of no author more clearly and intensely seeks a place for Man in the natural world than does that of Kunikida Doppo. In his early years as a lyric poet, in his embrace of Christianity because of its emphasis on individual freedom, and in the dark, cruel fate that haunts his later stories, Doppo consistently sought (and often found wanting) in Nature a refuge from the wounds of human interaction. His pen name, Doppo, means "one who walks alone," and as a solitary poetic figure he left his mark on Japanese literature of the early twentieth century.

Kunikida Doppo (whose given name was Tetsuo and whose childhood name was Kamekichi) was born in Chshi, in Chiba Prefecture. His father, Kunikida Senpachi, was a samurai...