In 1903, the young man who was to become one of Japan's finest writers left for the United States. He did not particularly want to go -- he would have much preferred France -- but his father insisted.
Kafu, the pen name the young man was later to take, had proved to be a disappointment to his bureaucrat father. The trip was to give him enough prestige to return as a "kichosha" (a person who had been abroad) and settle down as a respectable businessman.
This he was determined not to do, and though he moved around the country (Tacoma, Seattle; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Washington, D.C.; New York) he wasted no time learning trading expertise or American knowhow. Instead, he profitably spent his years (five, including one in France) by observing what he saw and jotting it down.