Translation Craft · 2026-05-01 · Reading time ~ 8 min

A Primer on Meiji Classical Prose — Comparing Endings in Ichiyō, Kyōka, and Shimei

How does Meiji-era Japanese classical-flavored prose move into Korean? A comparison of three writers — Higuchi Ichiyō, Izumi Kyōka, Futabatei Shimei — and the Korean endings that match each.

Pagera Editorial

Meiji writers consciously borrowed Heian-era endings — nari-keri, zo-kashi, kerashi, tozo — to give prose a classical flavor. Even after Futabatei Shimei's 1887 attempt at unified-language fiction, this style persisted. How does it move into Korean?

Three writers, three registers

Ichiyō — classical endings + waka rhythms + four speech modes inside one short piece.

Kyōka — classical flavor on top of fantasy.

Shimei (1886) — a classical-Chinese-flavored register, used for a theoretical essay on the novel — twenty years before he moves to lecture-style prose in 1906.

Browse Meiji-Taishō works on Pagera

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