This book is the outcome of a decade of research and writing, during which I received assistance, advice, support and encouragement from countless people and institutions.
First of all, I wish to express my utmost gratitude to Giorgio Amitrano for fifteen years of mentorship: nothing would have been possible without his help and advice. He has been guiding me through the best and the worst of time, always knowing—and often far better than myself—what I wished to sing with the clip-clapper of my tongue of wood.
With financial support from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, I had the opportunity to study for two years at Waseda University, where my research work on Nagai Kafū began in the spring of 2007. A very warm thanks go to my supervisor, Professor Chiba Shunji, for his intellectual generosity and wise guidance, and to Gaye G. Rowley, for encouraging and inspiring me since we first met, two years earlier.
They are the three persons whose love for literature constantly fuels my own: I look up to them and admire them deeply.
In my Alma Mater, “L’Orientale” University of Naples, I had the good luck to find a welcoming and supportive environment first as a student, and later as a researcher and lecturer of Japanese Language and Literature. Special thanks go to my colleagues of Japanese Studies and in particular Jun’ichi Ōue and Silvana De Maio for continuous help, friendship and kindness: being able to work with—and to learn from—them is a privilege. I also wish to thank Adolfo Tamburello, Lucia Caterina, Franco Mazzei, Patrizia Carioti, Noemi Lanna, Giacomella Orofino, and the Department of Asian, African and Mediterranean Studies.
I was fortunate enough to benefit from the friendship and dialogue of several scholars in Japan, Italy and elsewhere. I am grateful for their cooperation, advice and moral encouragement: Hori Makoto, Wada Atsuhiko, Hashimoto Kenji, Komiya Chizuko and Kanai Keiko at Waseda University; Thomas Harper, Adriana Boscaro, Maria Teresa Orsi, Matilde Mastrangelo, Steven Ridgely, Andrea Maurizi, Paolo Villani, Maria Chiara Migliore, Maeda Yoshikazu, Benedetta Lomi, Rebecca Suter, Shindō Masahiro, Wada Tadahiko, Paolo Calvetti, Donatella Natili, Silvio Vita, Qian Xiaobo, Matthew Fraleigh, Mibu Atsushi, Roberta Strippoli, Gianluca Coci, Carla Negri, Luca Milasi and Dario Minguzzi. With Stefano Romagnoli and Antonio Manieri I have shared precious moments of scholarly and human confrontation through which we all grew up a little; I cherish those moments and hope there will be more in the future. During my
A very special thanks go to Rachael Hutchinson and Atsuko Sakaki, two excellent and passionate scholars whom I admire and respect greatly.
Some parts of this book were originally developed as presentations or lectures which benefited from discussion in a number of occasions: I wish to thank the hosts, audiences and co-panelists, and all those who offered suggestions and observations, often leading me to reconsider my arguments and points of view.
Publishing with Brill has been a wonderful experience, so I wish to thank Wiebke Denecke and Zhang Longxi for believing in my book project, and Qin Higley, Victoria Menson, and Maria Baluch for their kindness, patience and help through the whole process. I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to the anonymous reviewers, who generously provided insightful comments and suggestions that contributed greatly to improving the final version of my work; with their observations about my manuscript they have been a precious model of scholarly commitment, and I hope this book will meet their expectations.
I am indebted to Ayabe Yōko, who let me use the beautiful and evocative photograph of Nagai Kafū taken by her father, Kotaki Atsushi, for the cover of my book, and to my contacts at Iwanami for their permission to reprint Kafū’s photographs from the zenshū.
I am very grateful to the staff of the Libraries of “L’Orientale,” Waseda University, The Japan Foundation in Rome, and the Ichikawa City Museum of Literature and greatly indebted to Adrian Bedford and the late Mark Weir, who carefully proof-read an earlier draft of this book, suggesting useful improvements.
Finally, I wish to thank those closest to me, without whose love, encouragement and patience I could have accomplished nothing: my parents and my partner, Simone. The only regret I have is that my father is no longer around to see this work completed: he was my biggest supporter and would have been proud of it. The least I can do is to dedicate this book to his loving memory.
Naples, March 2017