Research on Frontispieces and Illustrations in Higuchi Ichiyō’s Fictions—On the Relations between Higuchi Ichiyō and the Illustrations

Higuchi Ⅰchiyō is one of the foremost representatives of the second generation writers in modern Japanese literature. Various frontispieces and in-text illustrations were attached to her serial novels, and almost all of them were created according to her instructions. In these illustrations, we can sometimes find scenes that differ from the fictional narrative. One may surmise that the author gave instructions as early as before the beginning of the writing, and thus the original train of thought shifted during the writing process. This also means these illustrations preserve the original conceptualization of the work. On another front, some images in discord with the story were intentionally designed by Ⅰchiyō herself to help readers understand the complexity of the story or the characters. Through these illustrations, they were allowed to capture the underlying motifs and prior events in the story without being informed by conspicuous statements in the text. This double aesthetic effect was a heritage of the Edo Period, a time during which writers were intimately involved in writing with illustrations. If one focuses on the texts alone, it would be impossible to understand the works accurately and comprehensively.