Relay Column: The Mask as a Symbol of Everyday Life in Contemporary Literature (Yutaka Kurihara)

This passage refers to a scene from Tengai Kosugi's "Makaze Koikaze," which became a significant topic when it was serialized in the Yomiuri Shimbun in 1903, featuring the female student Hagiwara Hatsuno. In this impactful scene, Hatsuno, described as a "colorfully beautiful and elegant young lady of eighteen or nineteen," appears gracefully pedaling a "bicycle" in front of a crowd. Notably, the richness of the descriptions regarding her appearance stands out. For most contemporary readers, specific cultural references might not be immediately understood, but terms like "brown-hued hakama," "pure white ribbon," and "dressed in yagasuri fabric" represent the typical mode of female students from that era. Moreover, considering the scene is set at the gates of a girls' academy, it’s likely that many readers at the time could easily imagine the character of this "young lady" based on these symbolic cues.

Additionally, Hatsuno's somewhat casual hairstyle called "flowing manner adorned" and her use of the cutting-edge mode of transport, the "bicycle," would have categorized her as quite edgy among her peers, possibly even perceived as decadent or delinquent by more conservative readers (in a way, the symbols hinted at how Hatsuno’s fate spiraled negatively from the bicycle accident).