Tokyo: The life of a literary giant begins with home self-defense!

Chapter 104: Editor and Author
Waseda University is located in Totsuka-cho 1-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo.

Although it is located in the bustling Shinjuku, the streets here are quiet and leisurely.

Not far away are the historic shrines and temples, and on Waseda Avenue there are cafes and dessert shops that mix Japanese and Western styles.

It is not busy, and even with so many publishing houses and museums nearby, it still has an elegant and romantic literary atmosphere.

At the entrance of the French cafe in front of the school, next to a small bush, Chiyo Tanabe found her editor and talked to him.

"Takeda-senpai, Miss Matsueda is here, shouldn't we go over?"

I never expected that Matsueda Haruyuki was Ryuukawa Toru's girlfriend.

Mrs. Takeda hid in the bushes and watched Ryukawa Toru get out of the car hand in hand with their target person.

The girl from the sports department wore a plush coat and the same light-colored scarf as the boys. The sunlight shone on her ironed skin and her smile was very lovely. Mrs. Takeda looked at Ryukawa Toru holding the girl's hand and accidentally cut off the head of a wild flower in the grass.

"and many more."

Takako Takeda took out her cell phone to make sure no man from Yamanashi Prefecture had contacted her.

"Let's wait and see! Wait and see!"

The woman's teeth were chattering as she clenched her teeth, and Chiyo Tanabe frowned.

This movement, this sound.

"A rat has grown up at Waseda University?"

Ryukawa Toru, who came from Yamanashi, didn't know that he was being targeted as soon as he arrived in Tokyo.

He got out of the car and walked along Waseda Avenue with Taro Ono.

"I have asked about the conditions for participating in the National Essay Competition's Youth Award."

The sunlight shines on the dark brown bronze statue at the entrance of the campus, and new buds sprout from the ginkgo trees on both sides.

This university, which ranks among the top universities in Japan, was founded in 1882 and has four campuses and 13 faculties. At this time, the main street was crowded with high school students who came to take the written examination.

Most of them go to the Faculty of Literature. Waseda University’s literature major is no worse than that of the University of Tokyo.

Walking among a group of high school students, Ryukawa Toru looked at Ono Taro with some curiosity.

"Are there any conditions?"

The country's youth essay contest is aimed at the new generation of young people aged 18 to 24. The Ministry of Education's intention is very clear: it's time to change the trend in the literary world.

The bigger the event, the better. But from what Ono Taro said, it seems that not everyone can participate.

"If you start from the auditions, then there is definitely no chance."

Taro Ono looked around. There were hundreds of people on this street. Those who dared to come to Waseda to participate in the independent enrollment interview were basically the most outstanding among the young generation in terms of literary literacy.

Countless writers and literary masters were born here. There are very few unconventional people in the field of pure literature. Those winners of major domestic and international awards basically all come from well-known universities.

"Like them."

Ono Taro pointed to the students holding various papers and pens.

"It takes several rounds to set the topic, submit the articles, select the articles, participate in the city competition, and then go through the provincial and county screenings to be shortlisted."

"So troublesome?"

Long Chuan Che frowned.

He originally thought that the National Youth Award was a large-scale essay competition similar to a publishing house's newcomer award.

Write an article and submit it, then directly select the best part and then conduct a closed-ended selection.

"The people from the Ministry of Education have really been ruthless this time."

Thinking about the news he received two days ago, Ono Taro sighed.

"47 prefectures held simultaneous auditions. The intensity and scale of the elections are unprecedented. Perhaps they really annoyed the class faction that always opposes the government."

Under the influence of Western culture, Japan also advocates freedom of speech, but when intellectuals can speak freely, they themselves are in trouble.

Covered with ugly scars, he was beaten to nothingness by the criticism of literati. This time he wanted to clean up the literary atmosphere through a writing competition, and it was definitely a big move.

"So I have to start writing from the audition?"

Longchuan Che's eyelids twitched. If he started from the auditions, how many manuscripts would he have to write?

"You don't have to." Ono Taro patted the other person's shoulder with a smile.

"If you have published outstanding works, you can directly participate in the writing competition in a week. If you didn't live in Yamanakako, I would suspect that you have relatives in the Ministry of Education."

Longchuan was stunned when he heard the other party's words.

The condition of having excellent works sounds simple, but there are only a few young people who can be selected by publishing houses and magazines.

"Good luck." Longchuan Che smiled.

The lucky Ryukawa Toru didn't know that while he was walking and smiling on Waseda Avenue, someone was watching him in the main building of the school.

The building was built by the Prime Minister a hundred years ago, and an old man was sitting inside. He was wearing black and a kimono, and a middle-aged man was pouring tea for him. He didn't seem angry even though his seat was taken.

"Mr. Kujo."

Principal Katsuhiko Shirai called out to Kujo Fujitaka who had been looking out the window for some reason.

"You can just let me know about Ms. Imamura's enrollment. You don't have to come all the way here."

The principal's office is decorated in a classical style with luxurious leather goods, and there are many photos of famous people on the wall.

A rising star in politics and sports.

The most prominent ones are the photos of the seven prime ministers.

In addition to being a nursery for Japan's elites, Waseda University is also the cradle of Japanese politicians.

Although Katsuhiko Shirai has a high status outside, he can only pour tea for the old man here. The old man didn't say anything, and the girl sitting next to him smiled.

"It's the Heisei era now. We can't do things the same way as before, Mr. Shirai."

It seems that she can be admitted just by saying hello, but the girl still came for the admission interview today.

Katsuhiko Shirai personally entertained the guests and could only smile and say yes when he heard the girl's words.

"The written exam for the Department of Literature will be in the morning. I'll say hello to Professor Akechi Jin for the interview in the afternoon."

Others say that, but I have to do it. After saying this, the president of Waseda University nodded to the two of them and went out to his office.

The air is filled with the faint fragrance of Kyoto's Gyokuro tea.

After two or three minutes, Natsuko Imamura sighed.

"Grandpa, you've gone too far this time."

Katsuhiko Shirai was speechless when he opened his mouth, but when his granddaughter started talking, the old man smiled like a flower.

"What's wrong, Xia Zi?" The old man half-coaxed her, as if he was afraid that she would be angry.

"I don't want to participate in the Youth Award." Natsuko Imamura curled her lips.

“Why not join in?” The old man looked serious, as if he was looking at a younger family member who was having a quarrel.

"47 prefectures, four major publishing houses, the cabinet's request, the Ministry of Education's execution." Imamura Natsuko turned her head, "I don't want to be a big star."

A youth essay contest involved almost all cultural institutions. The old man rubbed his hands and smiled awkwardly.

"What a great opportunity! Look, grandpa is afraid that you'll get into trouble, so he even added a rule that authors who have published excellent works don't have to go through the audition."

If their words were to get out, it would probably shock many people.

Not only is this national essay contest likely written by an old man, but he also arbitrarily changed the entry requirements for the sake of his granddaughter.

The brilliance of power was fully reflected in the two of them, but Natsuko Imamura did not appreciate it.

"Then change it back."

The girl puffed her lips and sat there like a little girl.

"Then why not limit it to pure literature? Grandpa knows that you've been writing popular literature recently."

The old man tried to negotiate, and Natsuko Imamura, who had been more interested in popular literature recently, raised an eyebrow.

"If he writes this, he may not be able to beat me."

The girl smiled cunningly, like a fox passing through the forest.

"Who is he?" The old man was stunned, with a look of confusion on his face.

"He's my great-grandson." Natsuko Imamura rolled her eyes and walked out of the principal's office.

The old man was not angry even though he suddenly had a father.

He slowly asked the people around him to publish a manuscript that blurred the lines between pure literature and traditional literature.

The largest national essay contest was changed casually, and the old man took out a painting from his arms.

On the painting by the famous artist, there is the word "Shuzenji".

The old man's fingers passed over the body of the young man who was portrayed as a demon.

"If you don't fight, you have nothing."

The old man looked at the torn scriptures and the weeping monk was very satisfied.

"Words of contention"

The old man narrowed his eyes in the direction of the Imperial Palace.

"It's all yours."

(End of this chapter)