ABSTRACT
Between 1885 and 1887 the journalist Shiba Shirō (1852-1922) published serially his novel Kajin no kigū (Chance Encounters with Beautiful Women). The work became an instant success, even though, despite its titillating title, it is actually a seiji shōsetsu (political novel), one of many didactic works on contemporary world society and politics that appeared in the Meiji period. Kajin no kigū attempts to educate its readers on such historically important topics as the American Revolution, the political crisis in Ireland, and Japanese interests in Korea. As for the “women” of the title, they are indeed beautiful and exotic (one of them, Crimson Lotus, possesses long yellow hair and green eyes), but they are essentially one-dimensional mouthpieces, existing largely as attractive conveyors of information on international subjects. For example, the book’s male protagonist, known only as “the Wanderer,” meets the yellow-haired lady at Valley Forge and she uses this opportunity to relate Ireland’s oppression at the hands of the English.
