One of the adventure stories favored by children in 1930's. Hoeru Mitsurin reached at least 130th printings in seven years. The author, Minami Yôichirô
also wrote under the pseudonym Ikeda Nobumasa. While Minami was a writer
of adventure stories, Ikeda wrote biographical stories.
Minami enjoyed reading Robinson Hyôryûki [Robinson Crusoe] and Shôkôshi [Little Lord Fauntleroy] in his childhood. He admitted that those books inspired him to become
an adventure story writer and biographical story writer.
Hoeru Mitsurin is based on the recollections of the American explorer, Joseph Wilton.
The story begins with an episode in which "I" (Wilton) and his
friend Frank encounter and fight with a man-eating lion in the jungles
of Africa. They then meet a big snake, leopard and a huge rhinoceros. While
the scene shifts from Africa to Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, episodes
of fighting with fierce animals continue. The story played a part in exciting
the minds of Japanese boys whose country had just plunged into war in Manchuria.
Detailed and vivid illustrations contributed to livening up the story.
Later it was criticized that the protagonists lacked motivation for going on explorations. |
