St. Patrick¡¯s Day is the time of year when many raise a glass in their local ¡°authentic Irish¡± pub to Ireland¡¯s literary greats, from master satirist Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) to poet Seamus Heaney (1939-2013). In Japan too, the dynamic interaction of Ireland and Japan¡¯s literary traditions is a rich one; from William Butler Yeats adapting Noh plays to novelist Yasunari Kawabata and his modernist contemporaries being inspired by James Joyce¡¯s ¡°Ulysses.¡±
The literary link between these two nations is strengthened further by the story of William James Craig, an obscure, unsung Irishman who had an extraordinary impact on one of Japan¡¯s greatest writers.
At the center of this story is the novelist Natsume Soseki (1867-1916), who burst into profuse literary activity at the belated age of 37 with his landmark novel ¡°I am a Cat,¡± (1905) marking the beginning of Japan¡¯s literary golden age.
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