The view from the Japanese-style house

Among all, I chose the Komaba Park as a place to drop in for today. Because I had an appointment early in the afternoon at Shibuya, I thought of spending the time until then at the park. The Komaba Park is the site where the house of the Maeda family known for "Kaga 1-million Goku," once stood, and it has Museum of Modern Literature of Tokyo (Western-style building), and Museum of Modern Japanese Literature (Japanese-style house) within the park.

There were several families teaching some kind of game to the children on a grass plot. I wonder how they can play so calmly without even screaming. They were laughing merrily but quietly. I saw a young couple wheeling a baby carriage also in a quiet manner. There was even a younger couple chatting on a blanket spread out on the grass. With her eyes closed, an old lady was sitting on a chair placed in a balcony of the Western-style house facing toward the lawn. Everybody there had calm atmosphere. That might be a nature of such kind of people who would come up with a mind to spend a Sunday morning at a park. Since I was by myself, I of course could not be so noisy, and I was walking quietly as consciously correcting a stoop and rather sticking out my chest a bit. To tell the truth, it was such a nice day making me feel like skipping or something, but I was afraid I would destroy the quiet atmosphere by doing so.

I peeped into the Western-style house from the balcony. It was dark inside that I could barely see. I had to step round to the front door to go in. If you wish to experience an atmosphere of gorgeous house in Tokyo, there actually are various places available. For instance, there are Garden Museum in Meguro and the old Iwasaki house in Ikenohata. In addition, this Western-style house Museum of Modern Japanese Literature should also be counted among them.

Museum of Modern Japanese Literature (the old Maeda House)

Today's main point was this Western-style house. The Museum of Modern Japanese Literature falls under the jurisdiction of the Metropolis of Tokyo, but due to the policy of financial cutback, it has been arranged to close down in this March. So, I have been thinking of visiting here once again for the last time before it closes. According to a brochure, it is a European house built in British/Tudor style in Showa 4 for the purpose of treating distinguished guests from a foreign country. I found a scratch tile, which was popular in those days, being used. This alone makes me extremely pleased. It is merely a simple pattern drawn with a fork-shaped little tool, but what attracts me is the subtle change in its color as well as the moss lightly covering the design with the long passage of time.

I entered the building. There was no entrance fee. My favorite spot among all was a hollow on the left just by the entrance. That was in front of the mantelpiece where a sofa was placed at the foot of the magnificent stairs. Since it was a secluded spot, it would be a perfect place to think about something without bothering about people's eyes. Because it was not as open as the Salon, it made me feel as if I actually owned a part of the house. Before taking a look at an exhibition, I was already satisfied only to be in the house. Yet, the current exhibition was held on such an attractive subject as "Tokyo Literary Walk," and I could never allow myself to miss it. Making my mind up, I sprang to my feet and went toward the exhibition room.

Looking at the high ceiling and large window, I imagined how pleasant it would be by opening the curtain. Unfortunately, as the exhibition was full of paper items such as handwritten articles and illustrations, in order to protect those works, the curtain was kept tightly closed and the light was lowered as well.

Komaba Park: Ume blossoms

There were a great number of works done on the subject of Tokyo. By walking in a town and reading a book over and over in turn, you will be able to enjoy Tokyo even more. The exhibits were organized respectively for each town, and the literary factions of those days were made clearly understandable. As there also was a presentation of all the courses of literary walk that have been held in the past, it certainly appeared as a complete exhibition. Looking around the rooms both on the first and the second floors, I finished my tour of Tokyo. Probably because I traveled from place to place in my head, I felt like taking a break, and decided to move on to the Japanese-style house next door.

The first floor of the Japanese-style house was open to everyone. It seemed that, by sitting at the sunlit verandah, I would be able to be dozing off for hours as facing toward the garden. Since there was no other visitor besides me, I had the hall all to myself. The sliding doors were left open, and the sunlight pouring into the hall was creating an open atmosphere. I even felt as if I were visiting my friend's house. Just when my strained nerves, which I have never been able to get rid of, began to relax, the time was up. It was about the time I had to get going.

As I happened to relieve my tension as much as to this extent, I wondered if I would be able to push my way straight through the crowd in Shibuya. Thinking so, I tied laces of my leather shoes.

Translated by Maiko Noda