Guest Editor's Note

It is my great pleasure to present this special literature issue of Japanese Studies. The last time a similar issue was published was in December 1994 (Vol. 14, No. 3). Of course, individual literature papers have been published regularly in subsequent issues, but many of us have been feeling that it is high time for another issue entirely devoted to literary studies. This feeling was reinforced at the Asian Studies Association of Australia Fourteenth Biennial Conference, Hobart, 30 June-3 July 2002. Despite the unfortunate cancellation of O¯e Kenzaburo¯'s keynote speech, Japanese literary studies were strongly represented at the conference.

It took several months after the excitement of the ASAA conference, however, for a more concrete plan for this issue to emerge. Once it was decided to allocate the December 2003 issue for this purpose, there was no time to waste. Being a complete novice in editing, I am deeply indebted to a number of people who worked very hard to make this issue possible. I am particularly grateful to the chief editor, Judith Snodgrass, for giving me this opportunity and for guiding me through this very rewarding operation. My big thanks go to all the contributors and anonymous referees, who are based in, or travelling in, various parts of the world, not only for their intellectual contributions but also for their cooperation in enabling us to meet the extremely tight schedule. I would also like to thank the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Queensland, for funding editorial assistance. Last, but by no means least, Anne Platt must be commended highly for her thorough and efficient editorial work.

The six papers are arranged roughly in chronological order. The first three deal with pre-war texts, beginning with Hiroko Cockerill's study of Futabatei Shimei's translations of Russian literature, with a particular focus on the development of narrative style. This is followed by Maria Flutsch's reading of Natsume So¯seki's less frequently discussed piece Omoidasu koto nado, which contains accounts of some crucial moments in his life and in the history of the nation. Tomoko Aoyama's paper examines the lack of romance in pre-war examples of 'gastronomic literature' written by Murai Gensai, Ko¯da Rohan, Tanizaki Jun'ichiro¯, and Okamoto Kanoko. Of the group of three papers on post-war literature, Erik Lofgren's presents an interesting analysis of Ichikawa Kon's film adaptation of O¯oka Sho¯hei's canonical and controversial novel Nobi, while Rio Otomo offers a provocative reading of Mishima Yukio's Kinkakuji. Barbara Hartley focuses on the corporeal experience of motherhood as represented in selected texts of Tsushima Yu¯ko, Ariyoshi Sawako, and Enchi Fumiko.