Mizutani's best-known collection of stories for children, Happa no Megane is representative of the realistic story for children of this era. Nineteen stories out of twenty three in this collection first appeared in a coterie magazine Dôwa Bungaku [Story for Children as Literature]. Mizutani used to write sentimental stories for girls, however, he wrote in the preface to this book that he tried to write a realistic, high-quality work. At the same time, he regarded emotion and imagination as important elements.
"Happa no Megane" is the story of a boy who is scolded by his
parent. He meets a strange old man, who makes glasses out of a leaf for
him and says that with these glasses, he can see an angel. "Buranko"
["A Swing"] is the story of a baby-sitting girl who gets on a
swing at night with her fellow babysitter so that they can forget their
hard life in the daytime. The influence of proletarian stories for children
can be seen in this piece.
As a whole, Mizutani's works describes children of various classes, whose sadness or regret was eased by other people or a fine landscape. Although his works are somehow sentimental, they well describe the children at the era. |
