"The Strange Tales of the Ghostly Literary Master" is a series of short dramas adapted from famous works by renowned authors. The final episode, titled "The Day After Tomorrow," has a core story that is heavy and sorrowful. However, under the lens of director Hiroshi Kore-eda, it resembles a flowing watercolor painting, beautiful and slightly warm. A man who has lost his son often visits the grave to pay his respects. One day, on his way home, he discovers a child following him. Upon reaching home, the child joyfully reunites with his mother, showing no signs of the years of separation between life and death. In this tranquil space and time, the naturally flowing water and wind, along with the echo of wooden clogs striking the stone steps, resonate in his ears. The barefoot child appears from nowhere, bringing warmth and joy to the family, yet he will soon disappear quietly, only to reappear on another day. On the seventh day, the child tells them, "I have to go back," with a calm expression and gentle eyes, unburdened just as he was when he first arrived. The mother puts socks on him, echoing the scene when she washed his feet upon his arrival.

Still from "The Day After Tomorrow"

Four High Memorial Hall and Ishikawa Modern Literature Museum

The original author of this short film is Hoshino Risshō. How does this relate to his personal experiences? This modern literary master was born in Kanazawa City in August 1889, in the 22nd year of the Meiji era. His original name was Michiteru, and Risshō is his pen name, with "Risshō" derived from a river near his hometown in Kanazawa, and "Hoshino" representing his desire to shine like the stars in the sky forever. He had a rather tragic and difficult childhood, being the illegitimate son of Yoshitane, a 64-year-old former samurai of the Kaga domain, and a 33-year-old maid in his family. He was sent to a nearby temple just a week after his birth, where he was adopted by the temple's head priest, Muroo Shinjo, and his wife, in the rain treasure temple along the banks of the Sai River, marking the beginning of his lonely life. His adoptive mother was a woman named Akai Hatsuko, who often drank during the day and was as wild as a shrew. Risshō often suffered from unwarranted beatings as a child.

Childhood family photo

"My mother would hit me for the smallest things. If I was naughty and talked back, she would surely retaliate with fists and kicks. My mother smoked from a long pipe with a brass bowl, and the impact of the pipe on my still-developing body at around ten years old was significant, leaving me with bruises and new scars. (Omitted) Above me, a woman in her forties named Kawase would curse sharply, tearing her apron in anger, not realizing that the other party was still a child. This hatred made her strike hard." He described his adoptive mother negatively in his autobiography "Lion Tamer" (1936), which is chilling. After finishing this novel, Risshō communicated with his adoptive mother, saying it was a novel, which allowed him to write. Akai Hatsuko sent him his favorite fish and snacks while he was living in Tokyo, saying, "I don't mind how Michiteru writes, even if he becomes famous, I will remain calm." From this perspective, Akai Hatsuko also had a kind side.

Risshō was filled with longing for his biological mother, showing no resentment. In his debut work "Childhood" (1919), Risshō wrote about meeting his biological mother: she was short, with a pale, tight face. Compared to his adoptive mother, his biological mother was more serious, but the atmosphere was relatively relaxed, "You have to act like an adult; you can't come twice a day," "But I still want to come." However, it is difficult to find evidence of his frequent meetings with his biological mother.

The abandoned child wrote negatively about his adoptive mother to fill the emotional void left by his biological mother's absence. Akai Hatsuko might have understood his feelings. Risshō was abandoned by his mother as a child, and he had little interaction with his biological mother. He often sat under a tree to pass the time, gently surrounded by an apricot tree. When he was nine, his biological father passed away, and his biological mother left home, disappearing without a trace. He found a Jizō statue by the Sai River and believed that within this ordinary stone lay an inexplicable Zen essence. Thinking of his mother, whose fate was uncertain, he prayed for her. In this emptiness, he sketched a touching scene; to satisfy the irreparable void in his heart, he could only create a new world distinct from reality, giving flesh and life to the mother he had no impression of.

Ancient book of works by Muroo Risshō

"Home is the longing for a distant place / A sad song softly murmured in the heart / Even if I wander and beg in a foreign land / It is probably difficult to return / The lonely dusk in the capital / Tears flow endlessly in nostalgia for home / With this feeling / I want to return to the distant capital / I want to return to the faraway capital." In the second year of Taisho (1913), this poem "Little Scenery, Different Feelings" was published in "Shuran," edited by Kitahara Hakushu. At the same time, the poet Ōgihara Sakutarō, who also published poems, was deeply moved after reading it and began to befriend Risshō, and they became lifelong friends.

Young Muroo Risshō's "Lyric Collection" Emotional Poetry Society, September 1918 (Taisho 7)

For me, what allows me to fall into endless nostalgia is this collection of Risshō's lyrical pieces. Among all the poems he has published in the past, there is truly no poem more filled with endearing emotions than this lyrical poem. The poems in this collection are transparent and blue, like beautiful shells. Moreover, the rhythm of these poems possesses a rare sensitivity that cannot be found in any previous Japanese lyrical poem. This poetry collection is the only beautiful lyrical collection in Japan after Kitahara's "Memories." I think it will never be easy to find an excellent work above this in this genre of art. — Ōgihara Sakutarō

Poet Ōgihara Sakutarō with his wife

In the fifth year of Taisho (1916), the two co-founded the poetry magazine "Emotion," advocating that the essence of poetry lies in emotion, a new style of lyrical poetry. In the sixth year of Taisho (1917), Ōgihara Sakutarō's first poetry collection "Howling Moon" was published, and a special issue was published in "Emotion." His free verse style and straightforward expression of love garnered significant attention. The July issue of the third year of "Emotion" featured a special issue on Risshō's poetry. In 1918, Risshō's "Collection of Love Poems" and "Lyrical Collection" were published, establishing both him and Sakutarō's positions in the Taisho poetry scene. In 1919, influenced by writers such as Sato Haruo and Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, he began writing novels, and his autobiographical trilogy "Childhood," "Before a Girl Dies," and "The Stolen Incense Burner" ("The First Love") further solidified his status as a novelist.