ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Shimazaki Tōson’s encounter with Calvinism at Meiji Gakuin, his sexual awakening and first discovery of the natural world, and his development of a pantheistic notion of nature that became the trademark of his Christian experience. The chapter examines the place of Christianity in the narrative fabrics of Tōson’s novel Hakai (The Broken Commandment), and provides a detailed analysis of his work Sakura no mi no jukusuru toki (When the Cherries Ripen) that sheds light on how love and religion competed for space in Tōson’s process of self-construction during his formative years.
