I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 99 "I am a Cat" is really good! Hey, why is there a haiku at the end?

I wonder if the major publishing houses have agreed to launch a brutal attack on Hide Kitagawa's new book.

Since the release of "Qun Xiang" on September 9, "Xinchao", "Wenxuejie" and "Qunxing" have announced that this month's new issue will be released in advance.

Then the 16th, 17th and 18th became a carnival holiday for readers of pure literature. After the leading publishing houses came together to release new publications, long queues outside bookstores in Tokyo never disappeared.

Everyone wants to see what content the other four publishing houses will use to target Kitagawa Hide.

After reading these four magazines, readers were satisfied and looked forward to "Wenyi" which will be released on September 9.

The Oricon chart shows that "Gunzo", the first novel to open up a new haiku genre, sold an astonishing 4.2 copies on its first day of release!
Of course, this is also closely related to the fact that "A Wild Sheep Chase" has been serialized to its finale.

Hide Kitagawa's "Youth Trilogy" is about to come to an end, and the main characters throughout the trilogy, such as "I" and "Rat", will also reach their respective endings. This gimmick alone is enough to make most of Hide Kitagawa's fans run to buy this issue of "Group Portrait".

The other three magazines did not have any particularly eye-catching novels, but the intention to target Kitagawa Hide was very obvious. "Shincho" and "Qunxing" both called back their most famous "middle-stream writers" and serialized their new books, which created a huge wave of popularity.

Perhaps they have already had an agreement with Kodansha, and they have also opened their own haiku columns. However, since it is still in the early stages of the market, what they publish are either old haiku or new poems written by famous poets. There is little creativity, and compared with "Tora no Tanka", the gap between the two is similar to that between Qianlong and Li Bai.

This time, "Literary World" became the big brother leading the charge.

The Literary World, which was originally scheduled to be released on the 28th of that month, was released 10 days earlier. This issue has two major gimmicks:

The award-winning work "The Threshold of This Person" by Akutagawa Prize winner Kazushi Hosaka is officially published!
The judges of the Akutagawa Prize selection committee's long reviews of each unsuccessful work were also published in this issue of "Literary World".

Therefore, even though there were no outstanding novels in this issue, "Literary World" was snapped up crazily when bookstores opened in the morning!

On the morning of September 9th, Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore.

The store manager who attempted suicide failed and directed the staff to quickly restock the five major pure literature magazines on the bookshelf at the door.

On the front stand, there were only three magazines on display this time - "Qun Xiang", "Wen Yi", and "Literary World".

"Wenyi", which serializes Kitagawa Hide's new book, is placed in the center. Not only this magazine, but all of Kitagawa Hide's books are in the absolute center on any bookshelf in Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore.

It is said that after watching "No Longer Human", the store manager ran home and committed suicide. Fortunately, he was found by his neighbors and sent to the hospital for treatment in time, thus saving his life.

Since then, the store manager Sang seemed to have had an epiphany. He said that he was redeemed by Mr. Kitagawa's "No Longer Human" and became a die-hard fan of the book.

He joined the anti-cult organization united by bookstores and secretly visited the graves of Takuya Yanjing's family. After his soul was cleansed, he became a new person.

Then, Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore became Kitagawa Hide's exclusive display bookstore, and all magazines and books had to give way to Kitagawa Hide!

"Ah, so 'Rat' chose to commit suicide in order to prevent the Sheep from entering his body and controlling him! What an ending!" Qian Hehui couldn't help but shout out, holding the latest issue of "Group Portrait" with a lost look, and then her head was hit hard.

"Ouch! Li-chan, why did you hit me!" Qianzuru Hui complained, covering her head.

Jaburi Rei grabbed five magazines with one hand and hammered Chizuru Hui's head with the other hand, mercilessly: "This is a bookstore! Bookstore! Bookstore! If you want to be beaten to death by other book fans for spoilers, don't drag me into it, stupid Hui!"

"Okay, okay, let's pay the bill and go back to read~" Agatsuma Yumeko pushed her best friend. Since that social death, Jabami Rei never dared to see Kitagawa Hide again. Fortunately, social death is social death, and her identity as the number one Kitagawa fan at the University of Tokyo is well known, but no one knows the relationship between her and Kitagawa Hide.

As the crowd grew larger and larger, Qian He Hui did not dare to stay any longer, so she walked out with them, holding the book.

Halfway through the walk, the three of them realized that Tomoyo Kobayashi, who had come with them, seemed to be missing, so they hurriedly squeezed back to look for her.

"Hey, isn't it said that Mr. Kitagawa's new book is being serialized? The new book is called "I am a Cat"? Is this an animal novel?"

There were all kinds of doubts and exclamations all around. Readers who were supposed to leave after buying the magazine stopped in their tracks after flipping through the magazine in their hands, as if there was something magical inside that attracted their attention.

Jabami Rei relied on her 1.72-meter height to lead the way for the chubby Chizuru Hui and the delicate Agatsuma Yumeko, and then found Kobayashi Tomoyo who was squatting in the corner of the bookstore reading a magazine carefully.

"Captain Kobayashi!" Jabami Rei shouted at her.

Kobayashi Tomoyo, who was immersed in Literature and Art, was suddenly awakened. She quickly closed the book and stood up to respond, "Jabami-san? My wife-san, Chizuru-san, I'm sorry, I see I was lost in thought, I'll be right over."

Tomoyo Kobayashi, who is about 1.5 meters tall, squeezed out of the crowd. The readers around her were still discussing the latest serial "I Am a Cat", but she was unexpectedly attracted by the new haiku section on the last few pages of the magazine.

This issue of "Literature and Art" also follows the trend and opened a new haiku section at the end, which also includes five haiku with different styles.

This is nothing. Since "Thor's Song" became popular in Tokyo through the Internet, more and more literature lovers have begun to pay attention to these "tears" that have been eliminated by the times.

With a market and popularity, new works will naturally emerge.

Unfortunately, no matter which magazine the haiku is serialized in, it cannot compare with the once popular "Thoriumin Tanka".

The flavor of the hazy beauty interwoven with modern Japanese is simply not something that an ordinary poet can imitate.

Tomoyo Kobayashi deeply loves haiku and hopes that haiku can be promoted again.

And now, haiku has the possibility of taking off, and the one who created all this is the Tokyo University haiku master Agatsuma Yumeko who is standing next to her.

Unfortunately, Mengzi seemed to be very resistant to fame, and no new poems were published after that.

She originally thought that the popularity of haiku would gradually decline as "Tora no Tanka" was no longer sung, but she didn't expect that!
"Wenyi" not only opened a haiku column, but the author of the five newly published haiku was actually Kitagawa Hide!

Has Mr. Kitagawa also started to get involved in this subject?
Tomoyo Kobayashi immediately became interested and couldn't wait to watch it.

Readers who shared the same curiosity as her spread the word and turned to the last few pages of "Wenyi".

"I Am a Cat" was serialized in four sections in this issue of "Literature and Art", totaling 54 pages, about 10 words, which almost occupies most of the capacity of this -page magazine. It is impossible to finish reading it in a short time.

The haiku on the last few pages are different. There are only five haiku in total, so you can read them quickly. "Akibuka, Neighbor, and Nana

(The morning is slightly chilly, autumn is deepening, and I am spending my leisure time with a pretty lady)

Qiu Shen し, 情けは人の, 为ならず

(I didn’t realize autumn had deepened in my dream, how could my feelings be for others?)——"Autumn Beauty"

What a beautiful haiku. It feels different from the haiku in other magazines."

Tomoyo Kobayashi was reciting Kitagawa Hide's new work with her eyes blurred, and she instantly turned into a fangirl.

Jabami Rei was shocked when she heard this and turned to look at her: "Captain Kobayashi, are you reciting a haiku?"

The artistic conception and flavor of this song "Autumn Beauty" are similar to those of "Thor's Song", which makes people instantly immersed in it and unable to extricate themselves.

The most ingenious part is the second half of the sentence, "How can my remaining feelings be for others?" This is actually a paraphrase of a Japanese proverb. The original context means "good people will be rewarded", but in this haiku, it can be understood as "the rest of my feelings in this life are focused on you and will not be distracted by others."

This is a special usage in a different context, directly mixing together the two completely different Japanese styles of classical and modern.

Especially now it is September and autumn has arrived, which makes them feel more involved.

"Yes, this is Kitagawa teacher's new work! It feels similar to 'Thoraga Tanka', the artistic conception and poetic rhythm." Kobayashi Tomoyo tilted her head, her eyes full of stars.

Haiku, like its ancient counterpart, is a cultural product with very local characteristics. As a poetic genre, it is so popular because of its seemingly simple but actually extremely difficult writing technique.

It is simple because its sentences are short, easy to read, and easy to understand, and anyone can read it.

Moreover, the quality of this type of poetry can often be judged at a glance, and people who are not very interested in literature can also instantly appreciate its pros and cons.

It is difficult because it pursues the beauty of rhythm and has to quickly express a certain artistic conception in a short sentence.

Japanese haiku has a very strict standard, the so-called "five-seven-five" rule.

A haiku poem consists of three lines and seventeen syllables, with the first line having five syllables, the second line having seven syllables, and the last line having five syllables.

The requirements are strict and are also restricted by "seasonal language", which refers to words that are similar to the artistic conception of the season.

Because the original classical haiku was used to praise all kinds of beautiful things, mostly beautiful scenery, which was deeply affected by seasonal changes.

For example, it is September now, which is called "Nagatsu" in Japanese. The weather is clear and cool in autumn. "Autumn wind", "Autumn chrysanthemum" and "Deep autumn" are seasonal words that suit this time of year.

It is precisely because of these restrictions that haiku is dead.

It is ridiculously difficult to create something beautiful and moving within a given framework.

Beginners or ordinary people can only write poems like Mengzi did.

But because of this, Kitagawa Hide's skills in writing this haiku can be better reflected!
"Was this also written by Mr. Kitagawa?" Jabami Rei keenly realized that "Tanka of the Thunder God" and this "Autumn Beauty" might have been written by the same author.

Their styles are too similar.

She turned her head stiffly to look at Mengzi, and then found that she was chuckled "Ku Ku". Suddenly, her eyes went dark and she almost fell down.

It turns out that after going around in circles, I can't escape from this parasite, right?

"Yes, not only this one, but also the following four, are all signed by Mr. Kitagawa. Oh, if I had known this, I should have asked Mr. Kitagawa to write a haiku on the spot during the open class!"

Kobayashi Tomoyo was filled with regret. The haiku master next to him seemed to have stopped writing. If he could have invited Mr. Kitagawa to write something for the haiku research group, perhaps the haiku trend could have become more popular.

But it seems pretty good now?
Everyone was immersed in Mr. Kitagawa's new haiku. Such wonderful artistic conception will surely make haiku flourish again!
There are die-hard haiku fans like Tomoyo Kobayashi, and there are also readers like Chizuru Hui who have no "poetic cells" at all and are not very interested in haiku.

She chewed over those haikus over and over again. "Poetic Beauty" was okay, with its beautiful artistic conception, but "Salad Day" sounded very ordinary.

"'It tastes good' you said to me

From now on, July 6th will be our Salad Day."

This haiku is more like a simplified colloquial poem than a haiku, and it doesn't even follow the "five-seven-five" rule.

She shook her head, not understanding why most people around her were commenting on this haiku and seemed very excited.

Qian Hehui's attention was fixed on the new novel "I am a Cat".

While everyone was still arguing about a few haiku, she read straight through the first section and was immediately drawn to this bizarre novel!

"I am a cat. I don't have a name yet."

This new novel is actually written from a cat’s perspective!
It’s not like there haven’t been similar novels in the Japanese literary world, but they were generally poorly written, because first-person novels require the author to have extremely strong writing skills to create a sense of immersion, and the first-person perspective is from a cat’s perspective, which means doubly difficult!
"Ahui, are you reading a novel? How about this one?" Jabami Rei came back from her shock and turned to ask Chizuru Hui who was reading a book next to her.

Qian Hehui's eyes sparkled as she answered simply and directly, "Teacher Beichuan's new book is interesting! It's great! I really want to keep reading it!"

The operation went smoothly, thank you very much for your support!
The follow-up is a matter of continued medication, at least his life is no longer in danger.

Bow again and thank you!

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(End of this chapter)