臺灣文學虛擬博物館

Beginning of a Journey

By 1920, the Empire of Japan had gone from the Meji Restoration to the Taisho era, where culture and entertainment were celebrated. In the literary world; famous writers such as Natsume Sōseki, Ogai Mori, Kafū Nagai, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, and Jun'ichirō Tanizaki had already provided readers with topical, story-rich modern novels.

Haruo Sato (1892-1964) was a poet, novelist, and literary critic, whose active years spanned from the pre-war period to the post-war period. Sato was born in the currently-known Shingu City, Wakayama Prefecture, a harbor area between the towering Yamagata mountains and the vast Pacific Ocean. Legend has it that Xu Fu, sent by Qin Shi Huang (the first emperor of a unified China) to search for the elixir of life, landed on Shingu. Before the war broke out, a large amount of wood was imported and exported between Shingu and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the people of Shingu were proud of their anti-authoritarianism and pursuit of freedom and autonomy. Sato's family had long practiced Chinese medicine before his father changed to western medicine, and the clash and combination of Chinese poetry and western knowledge and art were embodied in Sato's varied lifestyle and literary style.

Haruo Sato (1892-1964) February 1920, 28 years old, Photo taken during Haruo Sato's return to his hometown Shingu before his trip to Taiwan.(Provided by Sato Haruo Memorial Museum)