Lo scopo dell ’Autore di questo articolo è di chiarire brevemente， la questione se Natsume Soseki， sia stato veramente influenzato dalla letteratura italiana o no. Avendo contato le parole di origine italiana che si trovano nell’opere del Soseki， ne ha trovato 159. Cifra veramente rimarcabile， specialmente se si paragona con l’uso di vocaboli di origine italiana， fatte dagli scrittori contemporanei del Soseki， l’Autore però fa osservare che questo non sarebbe sufficiente， per concludere che il Soseki abbia necessariamente subito l’influenza della letteratura italiana.　

　Riguardo agli scrittori italiani conosciuti dal Soseki， l’Autore dell’articolo ci fa’ sapere， che il Soseki， non solo aveva letto Dante， Boccaccio， e Gabriele D’Annunzio, ma che aveva scritto anche degli studi su’ i sopradetti autori.

　Secondo l’opinione generale degli studiosi giapponesi， il Soseki avrebbe subito principalmente l’influenza dello scrittore inglese George Meredith (1828-1909) l’Autore dell’articolo fa’ osservare， che George Meredith era stato in Italia come corrispondente del Morning Post， e che le due opere “Sandra Belloni” e “Vittoria” erano state scritte dopo questo viaggio， come frutto della sua esperienza della vita italiana. I passaggi che il Soseki cita tolti dalle opere di George Meredith， provengono in generale， sia da “Sandra Belloni” o da “Vittoria，” l’Autore pensa che si possa concludere， che sia piuttosto l’elemento italiano， in George Meredith， assorbito da lui durante il suo viaggio in Italia， che abbia influenzato il Soseki.

　A l’égard de ce roman historique écrit en 1889 par Bimyo， qui s’est libéré de toutes conventions littéraires du temps féodal， la plupart des comparatistes sont d’accord pour y reconnaître la première influence de “Nana.” Il est pourtant douteux que Bimyo ait jamais lu du Zola avant l’accomplissement de son ouvrage. De plus, l’examen intérieur révèle entre eux plus de différences que de ressemblences. Ce n’est que le témoinage tout suspect d’un ami de Bimyo qui a donné lieu à cette légende. On ne saurait nier， pourtant， que “Mademoiselle Fraise” a pour source quelque roman occidental， surtout dans le caractère de l’héroïne. Quel roman est-ce, si ce n’est pas “Nana” ？― C’est “Vanity Fair.”

　De tous les romans européens, Bimyo admirait le plus ce roman anglais. “Mademoiselle Fraise” de Bimyo est une historie navrante d’une jeune fille intelligente， courageuse et un peu intrigante qui erre dans le Kyoto dévasté du moyen âge et meurt de misère. Une comparaison analytique montre bien l’influence du roman anglais sur ce roman de Bimyo, dont l’héroïne est l’imitation curieuse de Becky Sharp.

　After four years’ stay in England, Fumio Murata (1836-1891) edited Seiyo-Bunken-Roku (1869-1871), in which he briefly alluded to Western prosody. In 1873，Hiraku Toriyama (1837-1914) published Seiyo-Zasshi drawing materials from Western books. It had an excellent article on Western prosody.

　In 1876, Kiyoshi Nakane (1893-1913) issued Nihon-Bunten which was a book on Japanese grammar treated in the same way as English grammar, and in which he touched upon prosody and said, “ Japanese poetry has no rhyme.” Shuji Izawa (1851-1917), who had studied music in the United States, emphasized the importance of rhyme and published rhymed songs in Japanese in 1878.

　Shoichi Toyama (1848-1900), Ryokichi Yatabe (1852-1899) and Tetsujiro Inoue (1855-1944) took interest in English poetry, and, in imitation of it, they invented and published the new-style poetry in Shintaiishi-Sho (1882). Kencho Suematsu (1855-1920), while staying in England, contributed “Kagaku-Ron” to Tokyo-Nichinichi-Shimbun (1884-1885). He said, “Japanese poetry usually has no rhyme.”

　Indeed Japanese poetry had no rhyme though it was sometimes rhymed unintentionally， but these poets attempted to write verses modelled on Western poetry, and even composed rhymed verses in spite of the characteristics of the Japanese language. At first the new-style poetry was generally crude, but it developed into present Japanese poetry.

　Akinari Ueda (1734-1810)， distinguished man of letters in the Yedo Period， was also well known as a master of the Sencha-do (one of the tea ceremony schools in Japan). He published， in the evening of his life， a book entitled “Chashin-Monogatari ” (A Tale of Tea-Seed Spirit).

　This is the story of a Buddhist priest who is haunted， when he is wandering in the mountains， by a man who turns out to be the spirit of tea. And this is one of the best known writings about tea and tea cult in Japan.

　In China， there was a book entitled “Ch’a-ching ” (Chakyo, the Book of Tea) by Luyü (Rikuu)， founder of the tea ceremony à la chinoise in the time of the Tang Dynasty. This is a history as well as an encyclopedia of tea， and is believed to be the oldest book in the world on tea.

　In this article which is a comparative study of these two works， the writer has tried to delineate the influence of the culture and literature of China on those of the Yedo Period in Japan.

　Engelbert Kaempfer，naturaliste et voyageur allemand，après avoir séjourné au Japon pendant trois ans de 1690 à 1692，écrivit un vaste livre sur l’histoire japonaise，The History of Japan. Cette oeuvre，publiée en 1727 après la mort de l’auteur，connaissait immédiatement le plus vif succès，par sa documentation et sa description objectives，auprès du public européen du XVIII^e siècle.

　Vers 1760，Diderot，rédacteur en chef de l’Encyclopédie，rédigeait consultant toujours l’oeuvre de Kaempfer， un article sur l’histoire des idées japonaises sous le titre de ((Japonais (philosophie des) )).

　Nous présentons d’abord，en le confrontant avec l’History of Japan de Kaempfer，le texte de Diderot dont les matières sont en majeure partie empruntées à l’oeuvre de Kaempfer. Puis, en analysant un peu attentivement l’article de Diderot，et dégageant ainsi certains traits caractéristiques de sa composition : l’arrangement des matières，la manière des citations，ainsi que les réflexions semées par endroits，nous y remarquons quelques intentions cachées de l’auteur，disons mieux，quelques aspects mal connus des idées sociales，politiques et religieuses de Diderot lui-même.