Originally published as Omoide nO Ki in
l901,Footprints in the Snow is the story of the struggle of a
penniless boy,Shintaro Kikuchi,for education and
emancipation.Determined tO re— build the family fortunes after his
father’S bankruptcy,Shintaro runs away from his home in a remote
corner of Kyushu in the hope of making his way in the world.After
various trials and tribulations he eventually succeeds in reaching
a Christian college in Kyoto where he accepts Christianity
enthusiastically,but iS SO repelled by the arrogance of the Western
missionary teachers towards aJapanese colleague,that he later walks
out in protest.Four years after leaving home.he finally arrives in
Toky0,the City of his dreams.Yet his life iS far from peaceful here
and he has to struggle to keep himself at university,tO pur-sue his
career as a writer and journalist,and to marry the girl he
loves.Footprints in the Snow became one of the most popular novels
in modern Japan,conveying what it felt like tO be young in the days
ofJapan’S great transformation from feudal to mod-ern state and
reflecting the experience of countless young men attracted by
Western technology and culture。