Lost Leaves

Acknowledgments

xiii Acknowledgments I am indebted to numerous people, organizations, and grants. Washington University, my present employer, supplied me with a Grimm Traveling Fellowship for research in East Asia. This grant, buttressed by an AAS–NEAC short-term travel grant, permitted me to begin my original inquiry into Seitō, an inquiry that led me to Jogaku zasshi and a host of Meiji women writers. The Midwest Japan Seminar generously invited me to speak to its members in March 1993, providing me with an opportunity to present my fledgling work on women and journalism in Meiji–Taishō Japan. The encouragement I received at that forum persuaded me to continue my research. My determination was further bolstered by Eiji Sekine of Purdue University, who invited me to contribute a paper to the volume of Review of Japanese Culture and Society that he was editing for Josai University. When I told Eiji that I wanted to write on Shimizu Shikin but still had precious little material, he contacted Professor Sachie Kitada, presently of Josai University, and she sent me copies of what seemed to be every article ever published on Shimizu Shikin. There were surprisingly more than a few and, moreover, from a diversity of journals. Inspired by these many kindnesses, I published my first article on a Meiji woman writer: “Shimizu Shikin’s ‘The Broken Ring’: A Narrative of Female Awakening.” Sections of this article are reprinted with revisions in Chapter Four. Kokugakuin University in Tokyo was next to lend assistance when it offered me a guest researcher position in the spring of 1995. The research that I was able to conduct was invaluable, and the faculty and staff members I met during my stay at the university were accommodating and cordial. In this capacity I am especially grateful to Mr. Nobukatsu Shimoyama of the International Exchange Program. My research there contributed to a paper that I read at the 1995 Association for Asian Studies in Washington, D.C., “Meiji Journals and the Construction of the ‘Woman Writer.’” Eventually I was to publish a revised and expanded version of this paper in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, a privilege for which I am indebted to Professor Howard Hibbett, editor of the journal, and to the anonymous readers of my manuscript. Portions of the Introduction and the Conclusion to this present study are taken from that article; permission to reprint this material is gratefully acknowledged. Ultimately it was a six-month research grant from the Japan Foundation in 1997 that provided me with the means to finalize my research and begin transforming all the materials into readable drafts. During this period I once again benefited from the kindness of Kokugakuin University, where it was xiv Acknowledgments my great pleasure to work once again with Professor Yasuyuki Ogikubo. Despite his hectic schedule, Professor Ogikubo met with me weekly to read through the obscure and difficult Meiji-era texts that I would bring to him. Carefully and patiently he would explain each detail of the texts, giving me mini–history lessons along the way, searching for books with illustrations of the coiffures or garments—now long forgotten—that appeared in the stories we read. It goes without saying that this study would not have been possible without him. I am also grateful to Ms. Kazuko Nakayama of Ferris Women’s College, who helped me sort my way through the library’s holdings on Wakamatsu Shizuko. This book has been a long time in the making. Along the way I have been buttressed and guided by sympathetic friends, patient family members, and generous colleagues—more than I can acknowledge here. My colleagues at Washington University have been inexpressibly helpful. Sally Hastings of Purdue University has been ever generous with her time and wisdom. The two anonymous reviewers provided insightful suggestions for improvements. Edward Seidensticker and Donald Keene have been constant sources of inspiration and support. Sharon Yamamoto, my editor at University of Hawai‘i Press, has been incredibly patient and reassuring. My sister Judy not only read my drafts but carefully edited my HJAS article (and other less successful journal submissions). My parents were a trusted refuge. My husband, Rick Ruby, has provided that ever important space for play—an invaluable haven away from the rigors of academe. And he preserves this space for me while I’m off on my research jaunts in Tokyo, taking special care of Naya, Taru, and Lance. ...