A narrator living in a thatched hut near Shibuya walks the oak woods and fields of the Musashino plain through autumn and winter, quoting his diary for the sound of wind in the leaves, the low sun and the quiet. He finds the poetry of a place in its crossroads, village edges and small streams, and in a Russian birch wood he first learned to hear.
Books mentioned in Musashino (2)
The Tryst by Ivan Turgenev: “This is the opening passage of a short story written by Turgenev and translated by Futabatei under the title "Aibiki" (The Tryst). It is largely thanks to the power of that subtle landscape writing that I came to appreciate woods of fallen leaves. [auto-translated]”
Taiheiki: “Beside the Iruma district the old map is annotated: "Kotesashihara and Kumegawa are old battlefields; the Taiheiki records that in the fifth month of Genkō 3 the Genji and Heike fought at Kotesashihara thirty times in one day," which must refer to this area. [auto-translated]”
Books that mention Musashino (1)
A Country Teacher by Tayama Katai: “Tired of marking daily grades, Seizo took Musashino out of his bundle and read it eagerly, like a man thirsty for fresh taste. The author's feelings in Unforgettable People matched his own. [auto-translated]”