Hori Tatsuo is not typically thought to be a writer with significantly overt Christian ties. His fascination with Christianity was however real and distinctive. Although he technically never converted, his writings were dotted with religious signifiers, mostly of a Catholic imprint, and in fact his life-long flirtation with Catholicism would become a significant trait pervading his entire oeuvre. Hori's personal negotiations with native religious sensibilities and his efforts to pursue a dialogue between these sensibilities on one side and his Catholic inclinations on the other represented his most tangible contribution to the literary discourse that shaped the interwar years.

Introduction

Although included in the Kindai Nihon kirisutokyō bungaku zenshū (Collected Works of Modern Japanese Christian Literature) series, next to authors like Kitamura Tōkoku (1868– 1894), Kunikida Doppo (1871–1908), Shimazaki Tōson (1872–1943) and Arishima Takeo (1878–1923) who all had meaningful Christian experiences as reflected in their works, Hori Tatsuo (1904–1953) is not typically thought to be a writer with significantly overt Christian ties.1 The pieces included in the series—his 1930 story “Sei kazoku” (The Holy Family), his 1940 short essay “Emao no tabibito” (The Travelers on the Road to Emmaus) and his 1946 work “Yuki no ue no ashiato” (Footprints in the Snow)—may not even be known to the nonspecialist, as they are seldom cited by scholars, particularly overseas, in connection with this topic. In addition, the vast majority of Meiji (1868–1912) and Taishō (1912–1926) authors who were influenced by the Christian faith exhibited a number of shared traits in their process of conversion—such as an early infatuation with politics and the desire to uphold the ideals of freedom and self-determination—that cannot be detected in Hori's oeuvre, and the tensions and motifs typical of Meiji Christian discourse—the debate on the awareness of sin and that epistemological urge to be true to the self—never seemed to concern his artistic output. There was no true confrontation between man and God in Hori's literature and, compared to his own, the literary voices of Meiji Protestantism were merely echoes from a distant past, even though they had been heard only a few decades prior. Nevertheless, Hori's ties with the Christian religion were real and distinctive.