In the autumn of 1909, Natsume Soseki, already a well-known author in Japan, was invited to tour Manchuria and Korea. The invitation was extended by the South Manchurian Railway Company, the president of which was an old school friend. The company picked up all expenses, and the Asahi Shimbun, which published Soseki, encouraged the project. The young railway would profit by association with the author's name, the newspaper would sell more copies when the results were published, and government policy would be gratified.
Soon, however, things went wrong with this plan. For one thing, Soseki was not well. He suffered much from stomach ulcers (a complaint that would eventually kill him) and every page is as devoted to the trials of gastritis as it is to the glories of the far-flung Japanese empire.
The author also seems to have been at least somewhat aware that he was being used for political purposes. A particularly sincere author, he coped with this by fully revealing his former schoolboy association with the railway president and picturing himself as awkward, a jocular ploy that had proved popular in such works as "Botchan" and "I Am a Cat."