Kunikida Doppo (1871-1908) was despatched by the Minyusha to accompany Japanese troops during the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), and on his way to the scene of the fighting, he stopped along the banks of the Taedong River. This was the first time in his life that he had set foot upon Korean soil and he had a sense of sorrow for the Koreans he watched, peacefully going about their business, as they had no way of knowing what was to befall their country. The Koreans he saw at that point left upon him an unforgettable impression. Some years later,in his “Shonen no Hiai” he portrayed a poor Japanese who was drifting through Korea, and later, in his “Kikyorai” he portrayed Japanese who were making their living in the Korean trade and these stories brought back the memories of the Koreans he had seen but could not forget during his days as a war correspondent. With his views of Korea and her people, his literature transcended time and national boundaries, being read by many students of modern Korean literature. However, not only did this give him the chance to be accepted but it also enabled a distinction to be drawn between his and other Japanese works of that era.
Doppo developed a new style of short novels, opening a new field in the process of forming modern Japanese literature. His new form of short novel was accepted by Korean and Chinese novelists who were then searching for a new style and he exerted a great influence over their production of modem literature.
It can now be seen that his international vision, based on the warmth he felt in his heart towards the struggling soldiers, women and children he had seen during the war, provided the Koreans and Chinese who were living under the cruel colonial occupation, with a sense of solidarity and brotherhood and through his new style in writing short novels, he exerted an incalculable influence upon the development of modem East Asian literature.
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